Special Education and Gifted and Talented Students Research Paper

Special Education and Gifted -- Talented Students

Over the last several years, the issues surrounding gifted and talented as well as special needs students have been continually brought to the forefront. Part of the reason for this, is because a number of different pieces of legislation have been directing educators to improve the various techniques that they are utilizing to reach out to these individuals to include: IDEA 2004 along with the Gifted and Talented Students Act of 1988. This is just one part of the larger effort to address a host of issues that are affecting these students. These pieces of legislation are significant, because they are having a major impact on the way educators are reaching out to these individuals when addressing the different needs that they have.

As a result, number of themes and trends has begun to develop in effectively dealing with these students. A few of the most important include: how to reach out to these individuals and customizing various programs that will cater to each person's unique learning style. At the same time, various questions have emerged from our research that is indicating that a transformation is taking place to include:

How can educators effectively address the requirements of special needs students based on maintaining the basic curriculum objectives?

What kinds of techniques can be utilized to: identify, support and deal with issues that are unique to gifted and talented students?

The various findings of the studies that we were looking at are indicating that a unique approach must be taken when examining: the social background of the student, their individual needs, conducting an effective assessment, utilizing various troubleshooting techniques that are a part of a larger group effort and the effect that it is having on the person. The relevance of this research is illustrating how educators must have the flexibility to adapt to a host of situations that they are facing. These different elements are important, because they are highlighting how the techniques and the way they reaching out to students, will be continually changing based upon these factors.

Coleman (2009) suggests that teachers must be using a variety of tactics to reach out to different special needs students to include: a tiered support system, early intervention, screening / assessments / progress monitoring, the use of standard protocol interventions and collaborative problem solving that is working with parents. The tiered support system is designed to provide educators with a way of effectively introducing concepts that will help these students to understand the information that is being presented to them. Early intervention is when you are reaching out to these students in a way that will effectively address the various problems that are unique to them. While at the same time, they are focused on how to provide special needs students with those concepts that will help them to understand the different material that is being presented to them. Screening / assessments / monitoring are way of effectively evaluating the progress of the student, so that adjustments can be made if there are various difficulties that are being faced. The use of standard protocol interventions is when you are developing practices that can be utilized to effectively reach out to the student through consistent approaches and techniques to reinforce what they are learning. Collaborative problem solving is when you are working with parents to help them understand how they can help to improve learning and address the needs of their children. These different elements are important, because they are showing how this kind of approach is being utilized, to illustrate the way the combination of them can effectively address the needs of the children they are working with. (Coleman, 2009, pp. 14 -- 18)

As a result, we can take the ideas that are presented in this article and use them to build upon the findings from other research that…