FOCUS ON PRACTICE: Teacher nomination of ‘mathematically gifted children with specific learning difficulties’ at three state schools in Jordan

Abstract

In this article, Anies Al‐Hroub, assistant professor of educational psychology and special educational needs at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, and David Whitebread, senior lecturer in psychology and education in the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education, discuss the identification, by teachers, of children who are gifted in mathematics and who also experience reading difficulties or specific learning difficulties. The findings reported here are based on research carried out in three state schools in Jordan, and reveal the extent to which teachers accurately nominated the ‘dual‐exceptional’ children studying in their classes. The paper reviews the issues and evidence relating to teacher nomination of these children and examines the quality of teacher nominations by comparing them with identification procedures using psychological and dynamic testing. Anies Al‐Hroub and David Whitebread reveal that the accuracy of the teacher nominations recorded in their research was highly variable and explore a series of factors influencing the processes of teacher nomination. They argue that teacher nomination is an essential first element in the identification process and can be easily improved. The authors call for professional development for teachers in order to raise awareness and to enable them to provide support for children with complex special educational needs more effectively.