An exploratory study of the academic journey of successful twice exceptional students at a selective institution of higher learning

This study was designed to identify inhibitors and facilitators o f the educational journey o f twice exceptional students at a selective institution o f higher learning. Questionnaire and interview techniques were used to elicit responses from 13 qualified students about their talent development journey. Five cases were selected based on their uniqueness and their ability to articulate. Parents were also interviewed to provide verification for student commentary and additional insights. Results of the study across the five cases focused on key themes facilitating the development o f these college students as well as those that inhibited their talent development. Factors facilitating student development included: parent support, appropriate accommodations, teacher support and positive regard, perseverance, and the willingness to make changes in their major or career path in order to succeed. Factors inhibiting student development were: the role of the disabilities office as gate keepers, late identification, lack o f accommodations at key junctures, feelings o f differentness, and resource/time management. Implications for practice include, the need for educators to acquire a deeper understanding o f twice exceptional students to ensure sensitivity to their condition, awareness of the twice exceptional student’s need for appropriate accommodations, the need for practitioners to work closely with parents o f twice exceptional students, the need for programs and provisions targeted to address both the disability and the high Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TWICE EXCEPTIONAL STUDENTS 10 ability o f the twice exceptional student, and the need to develop support systems for twice exceptional students lacking parental involvement. Implications for future research would include: an exploratory study designed to probe the experiences o f the parents of twice exceptional students, a prospective study of recently identified twice exceptional students in regard to cognitive and social emotional dimensions of their functioning at key transition points, creation and validation o f a scale for characteristics o f twice exceptional students that could be used at the elementary level, a longitudinal study of successful twice exceptional students through age 40, and a study targeting counseling interventions for twice exceptional students at the middle school level. PAULA KAY GINSBURGH DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL POLICY, PLANNING AND LEADERSHIP THE COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY IN VIRGINIA Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TWICE EXCEPTIONAL STUDENTS 11 Chapter One: Introduction Introduction to the Problem This dissertation constitutes a qualitative research study that examines the factors that both inhibit and facilitate the successful talent development journey of high ability twice exceptional juniors and seniors at a selective institution o f higher learning. The study uses Gagne’s theory o f talent development (2003), focusing particularly on the intrapersonal and environmental catalysts to illustrate how these catalysts propel or inhibit these students to success in educational environments. Researchers who have studied gifted students with learning disabilities have reported that these students are often productive in nonacademic environments (Baum, 1984; Brody & Mills, 1997; Fox, Brody & Tobin, 1983; Reis, Neu, & McGuire, 1995; Schiff, Kaufman, & Kaufman, 1981; Whitmore, 1980). Even though this productivity has been observed in nonacademic arenas, often they underachieve in the school setting. Reis, McGuire, and Neu (2000) state: Limited research has been conducted on how these high-ability students with learning disabilities succeed in school. Even less research exists among college students with learning disabilities who also exhibit attributes associated with giftedness. Given the recent trend o f increasing numbers of students with learning disabilities enrolling in postsecondary settings (Henderson, 1995), it is likely that high ability students who also experience learning disabilities are represented among this population. Without information that sheds light on the variables affecting the success of these students in post secondary academic setting, both secondary and Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TWICE EXCEPTIONAL STUDENTS 12 postsecondary personnel are left to speculate about interventions that will facilitate the effective transition to an environment characterized by vastly different demands ” (p. 123-124). This researcher hopes that the outcomes of this study will assist programs and providers for twice exceptional students by demonstrating more clearly the struggles, as well as the victories these students experience across their educational journey. The importance of this qualitative research is its ability to provide more insight regarding successful students at the collegiate level who are gifted and struggle with impacting disabilities. Survey and interview techniques were used along with parent input. Parent interviews were used for triangulation of student data. Background o f the study There is a population of students across the educational milieu that exhibit high ability but struggle or underachieve in the typical classroom setting. These students represent a hidden and underserved group since their needs often are unattended to by those agencies within the school system that serve students with special needs (Silverman, 1989: Brody & Mills, 1997; Fox et al, 1983; Cline, 1999). Students who fall in this category are often referred to as twice exceptional (Brody & Mills, 1997). Twice exceptionality refers to those students who show exceptional ability in academic or intellectual capacity, yet are also exceptional due to learning disabilities that impact their intellectual capacity in profound ways (Silverman, 1993). These academically gifted and learning disabled students present different profiles than a typical learning disabled or gifted student. This creates difficulty identifying them within the school population. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TWICE EXCEPTIONAL STUDENTS 13 The first group includes students who have been identified by school personnel as academically gifted through appropriate assessments, yet continue to exhibit difficulties in school usually performing well below their assessed potential. A second group includes students whose learning disabilities are strong enough that they have been identified as having learning disabilities, but whose exceptional abilities have never been recognized or addressed. The third group is perhaps the largest group of un-served students, those who have been neither identified as gifted or disabled. These students are those whose abilities and disabilities mask each other; these children sit in general classrooms, ineligible for services provided for students who are gifted or having learning disabilities and are considered to have average ability (Brody & Mills, 1997, p. 282 283). They are all races, all genders, and all cultures. They are children o f high-ability, yet they struggle in the shadows o f the daily classroom environment and the larger school context due to hidden disabilities which cause them to appear average (Baum, 1994; Baum, Owen, & Dixon, 1991; Fox Brody, & Tobin, 1983; Landrum, 1989; Starnes, Ginevan, Stokes, & Barton, 1988). Twice exceptional children present in unique and confusing ways or merely remain hidden by their disabilities. Student may suffer silently as they struggle to keep up in the regular classroom. Fox, Tobin, and Schiffman, (1983) suggest the following characteristics that might signal the presence o f a twice exceptional child. Sloppy handwriting, difficulty in following directions, bizarre or phonetic spelling of words on writing assignments, or numbers placed in wrong Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TWICE EXCEPTIONAL STUDENTS 14 columns are some o f the subtle indications that the problem is deeper than just an unwillingness or inability to work hard enough to excel. These students may be deficient in selectively attending to relevant and irrelevant stimuli, they may have inefficient learning strategies, they may have short or long-term memory processes, and they may suffer auditory and visual perceptual processing problems. They often wrestle with counter­ productive behaviors such as withdrawal, clowning, hyperactivity, task avoidance, and slow impulse control (p. 20). Twice exceptional students not only struggle with academic inefficacy, they also struggle with social and emotional issues that create problems for them in the classroom. They may engage in aggressive disruptive habits that make it difficult for them to focus on their work and to succeed socially with their peers. The stress and failure they experience at school are sensed by classmates, teachers, and parents alike, and the general feeling that these children are inept tends to diminish their self-esteem. In her book, Smart Kids with School Problems, Vail (p. 1, 1987) identified specific social-emotional issues that these students battle. “Anger, fear, self-doubt, frustration, and pressure are typical o f the reactions that intensify when an intelligent student has a school problem. Negative responses contaminate the classroom; invade the home, and squeeze the spirit and intelligence o f smart-kids” (p. 1, 1987). Given the nature o f these internalized emotional states, many twice exceptional students are extremely vulnerable to loneliness and isolation. The total number of students in K-12, according to the National Center for Education Statistics in the United States is 74.7 million as of