The Incidence of Potentially Gifted Students Within a Special Education Population

Abstract

From a sample of 13,176 children with disabilities who were a part of the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study, 330 students achieved a score at the 90th percentile or higher on the Woodcock-Johnson III. These children represent some 9.1% of children who have disabilities nationally and who might be identified as gifted or academically advanced. Only 11.1% of these students were participating in programs for gifted and talented students with African Americans, Hispanics, or females significantly less likely to participate. The discussion considers the reasons behind these results and possible approaches for identifying and serving students within a current response-to-intervention approach.