Gifted Identification Considerations
| Site: | Colorado Education Learning Management System |
| Course: | 2e (Open Access) Supporting Twice Exceptional Learners |
| Book: | Gifted Identification Considerations |
| Printed by: | Guest user |
| Date: | Friday, 22 November 2024, 8:01 AM |
Description
You will encounter 2e students who are gifted but not identified--perhaps even the student you have chosen as your "case study" student in this course. This course can only give you an overview. You'll need to work with a gifted specialist in order to get a 2e student identified.
Why identify 2e Students?
Twice-exceptional learners are often at risk of academic underachievement or failure and mental health problems. Identification can help them become more successful in school, and the understanding of themselves that comes from their disability being recognized and supports being put in place can help with social-emotional and mental health issues. In essence, Identification of 2e learners helps them get their needs met, especially as they progress through multiple grades, multiple schools, and sometimes multiple districts.
Your AU Resources
Because Colorado is a local control state, it is best to start with your district/administrative unit to find information about the process for gifted identification procedures and to become acquainted with your GT coordinator. You will also need this information for your student study. If you are not sure how to access your district's website, please see the following CDE list of District and BOCES Web Sites.
Check your AU's gifted education page now.
Colorado Gifted Identification
The Exceptional Children’s Educational Act (ECEA) requires all administrative units (AUs) in Colorado to identify and serve students between the ages of five and twenty-one, and age four in administrative units with Early Access, whose aptitude or competence in abilities, talents, and potential for accomplishment in one or more domains are so exceptional or developmentally advanced that they require special provisions to meet their educational programming needs. Administrative units include: school districts, Charter School Institute (CSI), multi-district administrative units and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES).
ECEA Rules specify the areas for gifted identification in Colorado. A student may be identified in one or more of these domains (areas):
General Intellectual Ability
Intellectual ability is exceptional capability or potential recognized through cognitive processes (e.g., memory, reasoning, rate of learning, spatial reasoning, ability to find and solve problems, ability to manipulate abstract ideas and make connections).
Specific Academic Aptitude
Specific academic aptitude is exceptional capability or potential in an academic content area(s) (e.g., a strong knowledge base or the ability to ask insightful, pertinent questions within the discipline). Academic areas for identification are: mathematics, readings, writing, science, social studies, and world languages.
Specific Talent Aptitudes
Creative or Productive Thinking
Creative or productive thinking is exceptional capability or potential in mental processes (e.g., critical thinking, creative problem solving, humor, independent/original thinking, and/or products).
Leadership Abilities
Leadership is the exceptional capability or potential to influence and empower people (e.g., social perceptiveness, visionary ability, communication skills, problem-solving, inter- and intra-personal skills, and a sense of responsibility).
Visual arts, performing arts (theater, speech and debate) music, dance or psychomotor abilities are exceptional capabilities or potential in talent areas.
For more information on identification within a talent area, see "Specific Talent Aptitude" on the Office of Gifted Education's webpage.
On the Colorado Department of Education's website, under the Office of Gifted Education, you will find many resources to assist you in the identification process. Chapter 3 of our Gifted Identification Guidebook contains information on how to identify twice-exceptional learners by looking at CDE's gifted and special education guidelines.
Gifted Body of Evidence
Collecting a body of evidence (BOE) is a necessary step in the identification process. Data can be gathered in the following four categories: Intellectual Ability, Achievement, Behaviors/Characteristics, and Demonstrated Performance. In this short lesson, we won't make you a gifted specialist if you aren't one, but we can give you a brief overview of gifted identification in Colorado.
As a local-controlled state, Colorado districts have a choice as to what assessment tools are used in the student’s body of evidence as long as they meet state criteria.
A collection of data for a body of evidence should include assessment results from multiple sources and multiple types of data (e.g., qualitative and quantitative data about achievement, cognitive ability, performance, parent and teacher input, and observations of gifted characteristics/behaviors).
Note: Quantitative assessment data provides numerical scores or ratings that can be analyzed or quantified. Qualitative assessment data provides interpretive and descriptive information about certain attributes, characteristics, behaviors, or performances.
Gifted education specialists in districts develop seek referrals from a variety of sources used for conducting identification assessment along with universal screening in elementary and middle school. Parents are often the first identifiers of giftedness. Parental collaboration and input are essential in identifying a twice exceptional student. The complexity of identifying 2e students requires the observation, recommendations, and support of parents. While classroom teachers are in a position to provide not only academic but also social/emotional feedback, research has shown they are most likely to refer high-achieving students and not potentially struggling 2e students. It is important, therefore, to receive feedback from specials/elective teachers, support staff, and gifted education resource educators because these individuals may be in a unique position to observe strengths which might go unnoticed in the classroom setting. Students, especially at the secondary level, can provide key information regarding their strengths/talents. Providing the opportunity to self-advocate regarding their needs based on strengths is a critical element in identification.
Some examples of evidence that might be included in a robust BOE are the following:
Academic Data - For aptitude in a specific content area, normed tests are used, such as CMAS data.
Cognitive Data - Universal screeners such as CogAT or NNAT and/or individually-administered tests, such as WISC-V are used for assessment of cognitive ability.
Interviews/Questionnaires - All relevant stakeholders at the school/district as well as community members, family, and students themselves--when appropriate--should be involved.
Portfolios and Juried Performances - in the talent identification areas, a portfolio of work and performance judged by experts are used to build a body of evidence for identification purposes.
For a list of the most commonly used assessment measures, click HERE
In the BOE must be at least one piece of evidence that is nationally normed. The Rule reads: "Qualifying criteria for gifted identification which must be a part of a body of evidence for a student to be formally identified may be any of the following:
95th percentile or higher on a standardized nationally normed test
A rating on a performance assessment that indicates exceptionality/distinguished compared to age mates
Rule also states:
"Not meeting criteria on a single assessment tool shall not prevent further data collection or consideration for gifted identification, if other indicators suggest exceptional potential as observed in a body of evidence" (CO Gifted Education Guidance Document).
Identification is not just a moment in time or the use of data from one assessment.
Consider Equity When Choosing Assessments
It is also important to make sure that your tests are reliable and accessible to diverse populations of students.
These are the guiding principles for equitable and culturally responsive assessment: (Donna Y. Ford, 2005)
Every school system must be committed to equity in finding potentially gifted students.
Test bias and test fairness should be explored. Just because a test is unbiased doesn’t always mean it is fair.
Other relevant information should be taken into account if it will enhance the overall validity of the decision of the test score.
A wide range of information about the test taker should be taken into consideration on their performance, (i.e. cultural background, language, racial ethnicity, socioeconomic background).
Test scores should be used to help students, not hurt them.
- Every effort must be made to eliminate prejudice, racism, and inequities.
Once a body of evidence is collected, it must be reviewed by a team of professionals which must include at least one gifted education specialist. To identify 2e students, experts in the field recommend having professionals on the team who are trained in the ID protocols for each nominee based on the suspected area(s) of exceptionality, for example music or Language Arts, keeping in mind that some students, especially some 2e students, do not perform well on standardized tests but may show evidence of exceptional ability in other ways. Having multiple professionals able to identify exceptional ability in diverse populations and not simply relying on just test scores is necessary when working to identify 2e students, English language learners, and children from marginalized or low-income backgrounds.
"Only through a combination of formal and informal assessments can a full picture of an individual 2e student emerge" (2e Newsletter).
For more information on gifted identification in Colorado, click Here
Response to Intervention and Gifted Student Identification
Many administrators and educators don't realize that Colorado law includes RtI as one possible means for identifying gifted students. For hard-to-identify gifted students, and this often includes twice-exceptional students, using a response to intervention may be a needed pathway to gather data for the body of evidence.
Colorado Law
Identification Procedures 12.02(2)(c)
The program plan shall describe the assessment process used by the AU for identifying students who meet the definition specified in section 12.01(16) and for identifying the educational needs of Gifted students. The assessment process shall recognize a student’s exceptional abilities or potential, interests, and needs in order to guide student instruction and individualized planning and programming. In traditionally underrepresented student groups and visual/music/performing arts student groups or talent pools, identification may require the collection of student information over time, using additional data points from a response to intervention approach, or additional assessment.
Identification Considerations for Culturally Diverse 2e
Identification Considerations for all students, including twice -exceptional are:
- Gender
- Race
- Class
- Culture
- Ethnicity
- Socioeconomic Status
In research, there are three different labels/terms (3E, Gifted Cubed, and Tw(y)ce-exceptionality) used to define 2e students from marginalized groups, and their definitions vary. One term, used by some researchers is 3e:
“The 3e label signifies three exceptional conditions: being culturally diverse (members of socially oppressed group); being gifted or having high potential, and simultaneously being LD (learning disabled) or having another disabling condition (such as dyslexia)” (Lawson-Davis & Robinson, 2018, p. 279) (Bonner 2019).
Bonner writes about how often males who are Black--even advanced and gifted Black males--are often treated as if they have a disabling condition simply by being black. "Said differently, racism and ethnic bias toward gifted Black boys can exact a similar impact as autism and ADHD experienced among their White male counterparts" (Bonner, 2019). Davis (2018) states that establishing trust, high expectations, and engaging instruction in classrooms, will lead to being able to see traditionally disadvantaged students' strengths.
Joy Lawson Davis and Shawn Anthony Robinson examined the issues and solutions in their article: Being 3e, A New Look at Culturally Diverse Gifted Learners with Exceptional Conditions. In this article they looked at two students and the impact of gifted programming (or its lack) them. They emphasize the need for teachers to be trained in cultural pedagogy (Ford, 2013) as well as the impact of high expectations for their students. "Using culture brings the student into the learning process with familiarity and increases interest and the likelihood of attention, and it improves racial identify and self-esteem" (Delpit & Dowdy, 2008).
Davis (2018) makes the following suggestions for supporting 3e learners:
• Help them embrace their own giftedness, their areas of strength may need more emphasis than those of other students
• Accept opportunities to take cultural competency training
• Help 3E students feel a sense of belonging in advanced learner classrooms by including them in the conversation, pairing them with sensitive students or students who have something in common with them
• Invite culturally diverse guest speakers who can talk about their own experience with education and how they became successful over time
• Engage mentors to work regularly with your students
• Ensure that students have the resources they need for in-school and out-of- school enrichment
• Engage parents and help them understand the full evaluation and placement process, the laws, and their role as advocates
• Provide a resource library for family and community use • Use family members to assist as ‘cultural agents’ by providing resources within the community and information about community leaders who may be able to provide support and share the message about specialized services
• Provide opportunities to allow students to demonstrate their giftedness in front of their peers (school programs, bulletin boards, class presentations, competitions, etc.) to increase their self-esteem
• Empower students with self-advocacy skills so that they can play an active role in determining what kind of in- struction and activities are most effective for them
"To help with these talent search efforts, educators are encouraged to look more deeply at students who have been labeled with special or disabling conditions to determine if there are students within these groups who may also have high potential in a particular content area. These 3E students deserve attention for their gifts as well as the support needed to address their special needs" (Davis, 2018).
English Language Learners:
Recommendations and Best Practices from the National Association of Gifted Children
for developing culturally sensitive identification protocols for identifying English language learners (ELL).
- NAGC recommends that states and school districts critically examine policies and practices related to identification to determine where and how diverse students are excluded from gifted programs.
- To capture a holistic profile of all students, multiple criteria should be the norm. Qualitative and quantitative information gathered from families, teachers, and students should be part of the evaluative process.
- All instruments used for screening and identification (e.g., checklists, referral forms, assessments) should be valid, reliable, and culturally and linguistically sensitive.
Identification Considerations for Culturally Diverse 2e Learners
- A student may be gifted and bilingual.
- Giftedness is found in all language groups.
- Students are not less intellectual or less gifted if they do not speak the majority language.
- Assessment should be given in the student's heritage language when possible and instructions should be available in the heritage language.
- Assessments should be culture-fair.
- Develop a robust body of evidence that includes examples of student's culture as an asset.
(Lewis, Rivera, & Roby. (2012). Identifying & Serving Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Gifted Students.) (DuBois, M.P., & Greene, R.M.(2021). Supporting Gifted ELLs in the Latinx Community. Practical Strategies, K-12. Routledge.)
Questions to consider for culturally responsive assessment practices:
Although these questions are for cognitive tests, they can also be considered with other assessments
- Does the student need the content to be administered in their heritage, or native language? If so, is an interpreter needed?
- Does the student receive extended time on assessments due to limited English skills?
- Does the student have any accommodations due to a Section 504 Plan or Individualized Education Plan?
- Does the student need a paper and pencil version of the assessment?
- If giving an online assessment, is the student familiar with online testing and the use of technology?
- Is the student familiar with the examiner?
- Does the student need a scribe to assist with writing?
- Are there practice tests or sample questions if the student has had the opportunity to review prior to the administration of the test? By showing students the types of questions they will receive, the examiner is giving an opportunity to review the type of question and the way questions are structured. This research-based practice is aimed at mitigating questions about how to take the assessment, not what it is asking.
“It is not a matter of whether giftedness exists among bilingual, poor children, but a matter of sensitivity of evaluators and the instruments they select to use for a specific purpose and in a specific manner" (Virginia Gonzalez).
How is your district doing in equitable identification? You can use this tool to see.
For more (optional) resources, see the document in our Google folder.
The Talent Pool
The body of evidence for some students may not lead to formal gifted identification, but data may demonstrate the student should be included in a “talent pool” which should be utilized while you are building the student’s body of evidence to formally identify the child as gifted (or not).
A talent pool is defined as a group of students who demonstrate an advanced or exceptional ability in a particular area, but do not meet the criteria for gifted identification at the moment. Students in a talent pool should be provided advanced or gifted programming services (as deemed appropriate - think program first, identify later). As students are presented with additional levels of challenge and rigor, increased achievement may occur perhaps leading to the student meeting the criteria for gifted identification at a later date.
Some of our 2e learners may not always have the full BOE to be identified as gifted, however they exhibit incredible talents/strengths when the opportunity is provided for them. This is why we want to make sure that programming is available for them to provide opportunities and to "grow their strengths" which may ultimately provide the data that will qualify these students to be identified as gifted. If the student exhibits strengths, we want to make sure they are not forgotten but kept in a talent pool. One recommendation among national experts is that the top 5% of your students in each of the identification domains be identified as members of your talent pool.
With the 2e student, qualitative assessment will more than likely be your driving force in the identification process. While some people consider that quantitative is considered objective and qualitative is subjective, qualitative assessments can provide interpretive and descriptive information about certain attributes, characteristics, behaviors, or performances that can help determine the child’s eligibility for identification. Even if your gifted identification team cannot identify a suspected 2e students as gifted at this time, it is still important that the student gets the services that he/she needs.
Does your school or district program have a talent pool and does it program to develop their strengths/talents?
Optional: If you are interested in how one district created a talent pool, you may see this optional presentation with embedded resources on work being done in Jefferson County with building their talent pool, shared at the CAGT 2020 conference by Jennifer Mulhern, Ginny Grimes and Tonia Heffley see HERE
Optional Reading
Note (optional reading for depth of understanding):
To learn more about identification of giftedness, read CDE's Gifted Identification Guidebook, Chapter 3,