Rena Ingram

Literature Review

Annotated Bibliography #1 (Twice Exceptional)

Krochak, L.A. & Ryan, T.G. (2007). The Challenge of Identifying Gifted/Learning Disabled
Students. International Journal of Special Education, 22 (3), 44 – 53. Retrieved from
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ814509.pdf

In this article, Krochak and Ryan highlight several of the identification and assessment methods
that have been deemed successful when accurately determining students that are twice
exceptional, otherwise known as 2e (students that are gifted and have a learning disability). More
specifically, the article describes a multi-faceted approach as the best way to identify a twice
exceptional student as it applies a set of characteristics that seemingly applies across all
gifted/learning disabled students: evidence of an outstanding talent or ability, evidence of a
discrepancy between expected and actual achievement, and evidence of a processing deficit. Yet,
the article also points out how the selection of screening and assessment tools for these students
are not an easy task as these students have two special education identities that lie on opposite
ends of the spectrum as it makes programming both complicated and tedious. Thus, students of
this nature often go unidentified as they are noted for what they can’t do rather than for what
they can, so the attention becomes more focused on their problems and not their potential. Lastly,
in the article, Krochak and Ryan address what they believe needs to be done in order to advance
the identification and assessment of gifted/learning disabled students which includes the
development of more concrete definitions regarding the specialized group of students, the
ongoing collection of data, and the creation of a comprehensive identification and assessment
package that incorporates positive and negative behavior scaled based on identified
characteristics of twice exceptional students.

Reflection:

Although some areas of the discussion have improved in the 13 years since the article’s
publication, it remains relevant in a lot of its discussion points as it touches on the identification
and screening needs of 2e students. Twice exceptional students are a unique group of students
with unique educational needs; however, they often go unidentified due to their unique nature as
they require opportunities that enhance their areas of giftedness while also needing remediation
in their areas of disability. Furthermore, as stated in the article, the lack of referrals for 2e
students brings about the identification and characteristics of three GLD (gifted/learning
disabled) identities that I was unaware of prior to: mild learning disability students who are
identified as learning disabled, severe learning disability students who are identified as both
learning disabled and gifted, and masked ability and disability students who are identified as
neither. This article relates to my current perspective of a twice-exceptional student based on its
expression of student performance and emotions. Gifted students with learning disabilities may
demonstrate declining achievement over time as their particular learning disability comes more
into play and can be prevalent both across grade levels and within a single year. For example, as
a Chemistry teacher, my class is both concept and math based. The struggles of students that lack
in ability when it comes to math will heighten as we dive deeper into exploring those concepts.
Additionally, a twice-exceptional student can present negative emotions and behaviors that range
from frustration, anger, depression, carelessness, off-task behavior, and classroom disruption
which can derive all from low self-esteem and disappointment of letting teacher and/or parents
down based on lack of ability. So, as we dive deeper into the math concepts, these associated
behaviors can arise and instead of focusing more so on the negatives, the onset of these
characteristics can actually be used as a screening tool and an inclination for further testing.

Question:

Several 2e students go unidentified based on the prevalence of their disability while others, even
though they are able to compensate for (or mask) their disability, still remain unidentified
because of it. What operational criteria should be implemented to accommodate for the
characteristics of this group of students in order to “break the cycle?”

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Annotated Bibliography #2 (Black & Gifted)

Luckey Goudelock, J.D. (2019). Nurturing Gifted African American Children. National
Association for Gifted Children. Retrieved from
https://www.nagc.org/sites/default/files/Publication%20PHP/NAGC-TIP%20Sheet-Nurturing
%20Gifted%20African%20American%20Children.pdf

In this article, Lucky Goudelock highlights how giftedness may appear different in the African
American student and why. Intelligence testing can create barriers for identifying gifted African
American students as intelligence test scores are sometimes lower for racially and culturally
diverse students due to a variety of factors that range from schooling and psychological/social
issues to their environment and family issues. Moreover, the article discusses how many districts
rely on verbal abilities tests and high cutoff scores that can unfairly discriminate amongst
students, thus, a better solution for identifying African American gifted students is to use non-
verbal tests, universal screening and local norms, rating scales, and/or portfolios. Lastly, the
author provides tips on how to support the emotional needs of the African American gifted
student as they may potentially encounter race-related issues at school, such as deficit thinking,
microaggressions, stereotype threats, and a societally labeled characteristic of “acting white”.

Reflection:

This article was a powerful read for me in many ways, not only because I am an African
American who was once a student that faced a lack of identification methods, but because I am
now a TAG teacher of predominantly African-American students who face issues regarding their
giftedness. Thus, as I reflect on its key points, I can wholeheartedly say it relates 100% to current
perspective and understanding of what it means to teach these types of students, students that
look like me. A lot of poor, minority students are in schools that lack rigorous curriculum and the
necessary education resources such as textbooks and technology. Moreover, in some cases,
minority school are filled with teachers that are less experienced/qualified and even if the school
does have gifted programs, students aren’t as likely to be referred by teachers – which relates
most to my case now as a teacher. Throughout my matriculation in the TAG certification
program, I had to be more hands on with my school’s Reported Screening process and numerous
teachers failed to identify potential gifted students using our CISS system despite having an
extended two-week deadline to do so. Moreover, there are several common race-related issues
that gifted African American students face based on their high level of achievement, a lot of
which they experience at school which can be observed in numerous classrooms around the
world, and unfortunately, some come from their teachers. For example, some teachers blame the
student’s circumstances for their deficit instead of addressing their academic and affective needs
head on and other teachers – whether intentional or not – make assumptions about Black
students’ intelligence based on the way they dress and talk. Additionally, in our community
(African American) it is often that mannerisms that excuse speaking standard English properly,
the tone in which it’s done, and choosing to follow rules or get high grades deems you to be
“acting white.” Ultimately, all of these examples aforementioned, as well as those that weren’t,
feed into the psychological and social reasons as why many gifted African American students,
even if they are the ones that choose to not participate.

Question:

In addition to racial/ethnic background, issues with schooling, psychological/social issues, and

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Annotated Bibliography #3 (ELL & Gifted)

Yaafouri, L. E. (2019). Identifying and Supporting Gifted ELLs. Edutopia. Retrieved from
https://www.edutopia.org/article/identifying-and-supporting-gifted-ells

In this article, Yaafouri highlights ways in which we can progress towards English language
learners having a fair chance at being identified as TAG and becoming more represented within
the program. According to Yaafouri this can only begin to happen if we analyze our current
gifted screening process and determine not only how we can increase the visibility of diverse
learners, but how we can actively improve culturally responsive supports for exceptional ELLs
within our classrooms. Current, conventional markers for giftedness are rooted in assessment
data and previous high academic achievement that are not equitable for ELLs whose output of
language of cultural orientation often mask their exceptional high level of potential. Thus, the
article explained that a more inclusive framework, which is needed, includes three vital
components: 1) a comprehensive definition of exceptional ability that encompasses a spectrum of
cognitive, social and emotional, artistic, linguistic, and logical-reasoning capabilities; 2) multiple
avenues and entry points that reach beyond standardized assessment data for gifted
identification; and 3) a system for mindfully growing the exceptional talents and gifts of all
learners that includes ELLs.

Reflection:
This article definitely introduced a different way of thinking regarding inclusivity of gifted
English language learners by expressing what would be needed to establish a true, inclusive
framework; however, what was most significant about this article is that it called out the way in
which ELL students are screened for giftedness – not in a negative way, but by demanding that
we face the uncomfortable truth of what our current collective picture of giftedness looks like.
Although teachers are the sole participants of reported screening, are our reports based on certain
perceptions and identities or influenced in any other way? Although some would say no, it would
be very ill of us to deny that there would be others that will say yes. Although my school is
mainly populated by students mostly of African American and Hispanic/Latino descent, I’ve
only encountered more so of the African American gifted student and I believe that is partially
due to the way our screening is incorporated with inclusivity. For example, even though all ELL
students that I’ve encountered have learned to speak English very well by the time they’ve reach
high school, that doesn’t include our parents who we expect to get a written confirmation from
for testing via a English-written form. However, I wasn’t surprised to see the article state that
traditional concepts of giftedness cast a narrow net of what distinguishes giftedness into
homogeneous compartments that are reserved for white, English-speaking students which is also
reinforced by current gifted screening protocols as there continues to be an ongoing discussion of
unmeasured and unequitable differences based on minority groups. Moreover, this article
impacted my current perspective and classroom practice in teaching high achieving students by
expressing what is needed to provide ELL students with a culturally responsive process of gifted
identification. Not only should we move more toward an qualitative portfolios of potential, such
as summative, formative and anecdotal data, instead of isolated quantitative data points, but we
must draw out their latent talents by ensuring our classroom teachings are culturally responsive,
provide opportunities for self-directed learning that apply low-risk to expression and encourage
students to demonstrate their abilities in creative ways, utilize assessment that allow for diverse
expressions of understanding, and continuously work toward the elimination of educator bias.

Question:

ELL students who have yet to gain confidence in their linguistic abilities or those from rich
linguistically backgrounds often avoid standing out in the classroom. What could be done to help
them feel more comfortable and vocal with their giftedness so that they don’t slip through the
cracks?

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Annotated Bibliography #4 (Identification of the Highly Gifted)

Munro, J. (2019). How to Identify, Understand, & Teach Gifted Children. The Conversation.
Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/how-to-identify-understand-and-teach-gifted-
children-107718

In this article, Munro highlights the need for nourishing the minds of our young learners who
have the capacity to achieve at high levels regarding their talent, creativity, and innovative ideas.
Additionally, the article explores the need for teachers to be intentional with how we provided
instruction to these learners as, otherwise, they’ll go overlooked and/or ignored. Gifted students
often express a distinct mismatch between how they prefer to learn and how they are actually
taught, and teachers must better understand the gifted student in order to better understand the
way they need to be taught. The article defines giftedness as the capacity to learn in more
advanced ways as they not only learn faster but are more likely to draw conclusions from
evidence and reasoning rather than from explicit statements. It continues by describing two
major facets of the gifted learner – verbally gifted (students who infer topic and subsequent ideas
after being exposed to text) and visual-spatially gifted (students who infer intuitive theories that
are more lateral and creative based on imagery). Lastly, the article expresses that we should be
open to learning from the abilities of gifted students and provides tips on how we can be
intentional as teachers.

Reflection:

This article is a strong choice because it focuses not only on an essential issue with identifying
gifted students, but because it analyzes an ongoing issue of the need of rigorous curriculum
within the classroom. Problems that come with identifying and educating gifted students are
driven by the various types of giftedness and the influence of different cultural backgrounds, yet,
it is partially up to teachers to identify and nurture their abilities within the classroom. While
reading this article, I learned more about the characteristics that lie within the verbally gifted and
visual-spatially gifted student; yet, what really stood out to me was its dissection of the use of
assessments for any student. The article doesn’t bash the idea of assessments as we utilize them
to gauge how well a student has a learned a particular piece of content, but it does rightfully
claim that in order to be an efficient assessment for all learners inside the classroom, they must
be designed in a way that will assess the quality, maturity, and sophistication of the students’
thinking and learning, their capacity to enhance knowledge, and what they know or believe is
possible about a topic or an issue. Moreover, they should be open-ended task, such as complex
problem-solving activities, that allow them to freely show what they know. This concept strongly
relates to my current understanding and perspective of what it means to be a teacher as I truly
believe in the implementation of differentiation. Just as the article states, “Gifted children need
adequate educational opportunities to develop their inborn abilities.” Teaching. in its most
inclusive and effective form, is not a one size fits all model and in order to address the overall
needs of any learner, we must acknowledge and respect their individual differences. It is our duty
to nourish the minds of young learners and provide them with equitable methods that allow them
to show their own creative level of achievement. For example, regarding assessments, just
because a student gets one piece of the question incorrect, it doesn’t mean that they don’t
understand the underlying concept or are aware of its interconnected ideas that have yet to be
taught, and if I’m grading based on accuracy, I’m holding them accountable for their deficit
thinking and not their potential. Additionally, as we accommodate our assessment methods, we
must also support them emotionally through the administering of rigorous, differentiated
curriculum so that they understand and are comfortable in knowing everyone learns differently
so that some of the problems associated with identifying the gifted learner subside.

Question:
Identify and describe a moment in your teaching career when a gifted learner challenged you to
adjust your curriculum to become more adaptive and creative for students who learning
trajectories are far from the regular.