Inclusive support to safeguard the strengths of twice-exceptional students

Twice-exceptional (2e) students are blessed with both a gift and a persistent developmental problem like Specific Learning Disorders, ADHD or Autism Spectrum Disorders. To appropriately include these 2e students and to provide equitable quality education schools should accommodate them within a child-centred pedagogy to meet both their strengths and needs to prevent early school dropout. Even with a needs-based and increased focus on inclusive education, this still is a huge challenge, likewise in Dutch education. Unfolding major insights stemming from recent literature reviews on 2e students, it was concluded that school counselors and teachers in cooperation with parents can play a vital and tailored role in helping these students overcome their frustration and negative school-related emotions, to prevent early school dropout, and to reduce the loss of talent to our society. Research aiming at 2e students’ profile of both strengths and weaknesses might pave the way to effective psycho-educational interventions

The Netherlands gets 2e inclusive:Shifting from multitrack toward inclusive education

The Dutch education system has a long history of segregating special education, but it has recently turned toward a more inclusive model. Policies such as the Salamanca Statement (1994), the Passend Onderwijs Act of 2014 (translated as“Befitting Education”), and the Incheon Declaration (2015) have offered a variety of responses to questions about appropriate programming for students with special needs. The number of students in special schools has slightly decreased over the last 10 years, and advocates continue to push for additional support and accommodation for special education students through a child-centered pedagogy. Toward this end, Evelyn Kroesbergen, Agnes Burger-Veltmeijer, Minnaert,and Lianne Hoogeveen obtained a three-year grant from the NetherlandsInitiative for Education Research in 2019 to explore questions about twice exceptional students’ characteristics and developmental challenges,in order to glean insights about possible identification processes.The investigators also seek to lay the groundwork for programs thatmore adequately accommodate the educational needs of 2e students, findfactors to reduce frustration, increase talent development, and contributeto a successful school career for these students

Needs-based assessment of twice-exceptional gifted students:The S&W-Heuristic

Misdiagnoses and missed diagnoses of gifted students with co-occurring learning-, developmental and behavioural disorders are often mentioned in literature and practice. Consequently, these Twice-Exceptional (2E) students often fall between two stools regarding appropriate psycho-educational interventions. This article offers a research and practice informed assessment procedure, namely the Strengths and Weaknesses Heuristic (S&W-Heuristic), that can help to tackle such problems in case giftedness or any 2E is suspected. This S&W-Heuristic was developed via the method of design research. Initially the S&W-Heuristic was developed to assess students with (suspicion of) the co-occurrence of intellectual giftedness (IG) and autism in a needs-based way, though, subsequently to assess (potential) 2E-students in general. The systematicity of the S&W-Heuristic may help psychologists and special remedial educationalists to reveal hitherto camouflaged strengths or weaknesses in underachieving smart students and to understand their ambivalent psycho-educational needs. Being the product of design research, this article also offers a prelude to new theoretical perspectives regarding the concepts IG and 2E. By shifting from a ‘classification-based’ to a dynamic ‘dimensional-based’ definition of 2E, camouflaged talent will be recognised more effectively and will get more opportunity to flourish. Accordingly, it is proposed to consider IG and 2E as constructs on a continuum

OFC

Studies show a decrease in students’ motivation in secondary education. Hence, it was investigated whether training of teachers could stop this decline. Two interventions were implemented in prevocational secondary education, being self-regulated strategy instruction and behavioral consultation combined with strategy instruction. The longitudinal effects of the two interventions were tested on the goal orientations of 279 students. The growth curves show a long-term effect of the intervention combining teacher consultancy with strategy instruction on task orientation, ego-enhancing orientation, and ego-defeating orientation as compared to the control condition. For the strategy instruction only condition, only effects on ego orientation were found. The outcomes suggest that combining the instruction of self-regulation strategies with teacher consultation on student problem-solving can stop the downward trend in student motivation, even on the long term

Voices from practice:When is the gap between diagnosis and intervention apparent?

Aim: In this manuscript an overview is provided of the current state of psycho-educational practice in the Netherlands, in particular the role of test outcomes considered. In order to detect clues for bridging the gap between diagnosis and intervention, one should investigate the ecology in which this gap is apparent. Method: Two in vivo studies have been carried out. In a first study, a questionnaire has been administered to a total of 36 school psychologists, 21 special care coordinators, and 44 teachers. Results: A qualitative analysis of the answers, by means of a classification scheme (κ.82), revealed questions about the specific role of intelligence tests and its consequences to educational practices. Therefore, a case study has been carried out in a second study. The case study provided in-depth information about the targeted care process around a grade 1 student. Conclusion: Results indicated a gap between diagnosis and intervention that followed after the administration of the intelligence test. Suggestions are proposed for improvement, and the need for interventions at the level of educational professionals is highlighted