EDGL 520 Twice-Exceptional Learners

This course provides an overview of twice-exceptional (2e) learners and their unique educational and social/emotional needs. Emphasis is placed on the importance of recognizing unidentified strengths and underlying disabilities, as well as the role of collaboration among general educators, special educators, and gifted educators in order to design educational programs that meet the diverse needs of gifted students with disabilities. 

There is an increasing awareness of the number of students who are gifted with disabilities. Unfortunately, 2e learners often only receive support for their giftedness or their disability, as a student’s giftedness may be overshadowed by their disability, or conversely, they may be able to mask their disability by using their giftedness to compensate. Currently, programs preparing teachers to work with students with exceptionalities are often either trained in special education or gifted education. Educators need to be equipped to meet the diverse academic and social/emotional needs of 2e learners.

Textbook Readings

No details available.

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the candidate will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (4)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the candidate is required to create a thread in response to the provided prompt for each Discussion. Each thread must be at least 400 words and demonstrate course-related knowledge. Follow-up posts to classmates are expected with a minimum of two replies of at least 200 words. For each thread, the candidate must support their assertions with at least four scholarly citations in APA format. Each reply must incorporate at least one scholarly citation in APA format. Each initial thread must include support from the assigned course text readings for that module and/or a specified assigned reading, at least one peer-reviewed journal article from the field of gifted education published within the last 10 years, and the Bible. (CLO: A, B, C, D)

Quizzes (4)

Throughout the course, the candidate will complete quizzes that correspond with the textbook readings. All quizzes are open-book/open-notes and contain multiple-choice questions. The candidate will have 50 minutes to complete each quiz. (CLO: A, B, C)

The candidate will craft a letter to the school leadership team introducing the latest research about 2e learners and how a team approach can best support them. The letter will make the case to serve the whole student rather with appropriate instruction and enrichment. APA formatting is required and the course texts and assigned readings are to be used as sources of support. (CLO: A, B, C, E)

The candidate will select and adapt an existing lesson plan to address the exceptionalities of a prescribed student using best practices based upon the latest research. (CLO: A, B, C, D)

The candidate will complete a provided matrix identifying the characteristics, scores, challenges/needs, and recommended supports/services for a 2e individual with comorbid exceptionalities. This will be a realistic scenario where a student has completed some form of formal assessment (candidate will create the scores) and the student has exhibited some form of success and challenge.  This information will provide the descriptive details for the Evidence and Plan of Action Video for Parents Assignment. (CLO: A, B, C, F, G)

Building upon the 2e Learner Background and Matrix assignment, the candidate creates a video showing themselves using visuals (via PowerPoint slides) discussing prescribed information that replicates how a teacher would communicate student behaviors, strengths and needs, mock standardized assessment results, and the recommended actions that the school and parents/guardians will take to address the student’s challenges. It is understood that the student currently has at least one documented LD. (CLO: A, B, C, D, E, F, G)