Exceptional Students Research Articles

Undergraduate superstars: What makes them stand out?

Although previous research has examined the characteristics of exceptional graduate students (Bloom & Bell, 1979; Grover, Leftwich, Backhaus, Fairchild, & Weaver, 2006), very little research has studied such qualities as they apply to undergraduate students. The current study replicates and extends the methodology of Grover and colleagues but focuses on undergraduate students rather than graduate students. Findings revealed several important qualities including intelligence, conscientiousness, motivation, intellectual curiosity, strong work ethic, and others. Although several of these overlap with the qualities found in research with graduate students, some new qualities emerged. Additionally, as expected, outstanding students were very involved in a variety of curricular and extracurricular activities (e.g., honor societies/clubs, independent studies, research assistantships).

Student life - Outstanding beginnings.

The Cavell nursing student awards are given to recognise exceptional nursing and midwifery students. Each year, five scholarships are offered for placements in the UK or abroad.

The Effect of Life Skills Training on the Mental Health and Level of Resilience among Teachers of Normal Students and Teachers of Exceptional Students in Zahedan

This is an experimental study conducted on two groups of control and experimental using pretestposttest design, applying psychological intervention on the study sample. The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of collective education life skills on mental health and resilience of teachers in Zahedan. The population of the study included all teachers at schools with normal students and teachers at schools with exceptional students in Zahedan, among which 60 teachers at normal schools and 20 teachers at exceptional schools were selected and placed in two groups of experimental and control, respectively. Initially, members of the experimental group were taught 10 basic life skills in 10 2-hour sessions. Mental health and resilience questionnaires were distributed and gathered before and after the training sessions. Results indicated the positive effect of life skills training on mental health of teachers at schools with normal students and teachers at schools with exceptional students, which meant that the more the life skills training to teachers at schools with normal students and teachers at schools with exceptional students, the lower their mental health scores would be. Results also indicated the positive effect of life skills training on resilience of teachers at schools with normal students and teachers at schools with exceptional students, which meant that the more the life skills training to teachers at schools with normal students and teachers at schools with exceptional students, the higher their resilience scores would be.

Unlocking Creativity in the Instruction of Exceptional Students

Unlocking Creativity in the Instruction of Exceptional Students

The Possible Impact of Problem-solving Method of Instruction on Exceptional Students’ Creativity

The current study aimed at investigating the possible impact of the problem-solving method of instruction on the exceptional students’ creativity. A sample of 50 male exceptional (Mild intellectual disability) students studying in the third grade of junior high school was chosen and divided into two equal groups. Both groups filled out the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) in pre- and post-test stages. They also completed the Raven Standard Progressive Matrices (RSPM) as a covariate variable. The results of covariance analysis revealed that the mean value for creativity score was higher for the students provided with the problem-solving method of instruction than that of their counterparts provided with the traditional method of instruction while the effect of intelligence was controlled. The scores obtained for the factors including fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration also increased through problem-solving method of instruction.

Diversifying Kinesiology: Untapped Potential of Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Increasing the involvement of African Americans in the field of kinesiology has been an ever present issue. While many colleges and universities are making attempts to diversify their undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty, many are finding this a difficult task due to the lack of minority undergraduate kinesiology majors pursuing advanced degrees. There is a body of evidence that suggests that kinesiology programs should find ways to recruit African American students to undergraduate and graduate programs as a basis for diversifying the field. The three related problems discussed in this article are: (a) how to attract quality African American physical education teacher education students to the field of kinesiology; (b) how to identify African American students with the potential to thrive in graduate level coursework; and (c) how to recruit exceptional African American students to participate in professional organizations, such as the National Association for Kinesiology in Higher Education (NAKHE). Ultimately, I provide suggestions for recruiting African Americans to the field of kinesiology and ideas for involving them professionally in NAKHE.

Being Twice Exceptional: Gifted Students with Learning Disabilities

Gifted students with learning disabilities are a heterogeneous group of children, often described as twice exceptional students. They exhibit puzzling patterns of behavior, higher-level intellectual abilities, advanced vocabulary, and exceptional comprehension of abstract ideas and concepts intertwined with poor reading and writing skills, and poor phonemic awareness. Current identification procedures fail on certain children because of the “masking” effect (due to the compensation process). Some controversial issues regarding identification of gifted students with learning disabilities are discussed, as well as some common intervention strategies.

Student life - Learning opportunity of a lifetime

The Cavell Nurses' Trust supports nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants. Its student awards are intended to demonstrate students' commitment to caring and compassion in their community. In 2013, five exceptional nursing and midwifery students were awarded scholarships.

Differences Between Children With Dyslexia Who Are and Are Not Gifted in Verbal Reasoning

New findings are presented for children in grades 1 to 9 who qualified their families for a multi-generational family genetics study of dyslexia (impaired word decoding/spelling) who had either superior verbal reasoning (n=33 at or above 1 2/3 standard deviation, superior or better range; 19% of these children) or average verbal reasoning (n=31 below population mean, but above - 2/3 standard deviation, average range; 18% of these children). Evidence-based rationale and results supporting the tested hypotheses are provided: (a) twice exceptional students with superior verbal reasoning and dyslexia significantly outperformed those with average verbal reasoning and dyslexia on reading, spelling, morphological, and syntactic skills, (b) but not on verbal working-memory behavioral markers of genetically based dyslexia related to impaired phonological and orthographic word-form storage and processing, naming orthographic symbols (phonological loop), writing orthographic symbols (orthographic loop), and supervisory attention (focus, switch, sustain, or monitor attention). Superior verbal reasoning may mask dyslexia if only very low achievement is used to identify this disorder of oral word reading and written spelling. Instruction for twice exceptional students who have dyslexia, but are also verbally gifted, should focus not only on oral word reading and written spelling but also the impaired working memory components within intellectually engaging lesson sets. These findings for gifted students with dyslexia are situated within the broader context of the many kinds of twice exceptionalities related to specific learning disabilities that exist in school-age children and youth.

A Model for Screening Twice-Exceptional Students (Gifted With Learning Disabilities) Within a Response to Intervention Paradigm

The purpose of this article is to present a model for screening for twice-exceptional status (i.e., gifted students who have a learning disability). Curriculum-based measures (Monitoring Instructional Responsiveness: Reading and Monitoring Instructional Responsiveness: Math) were administered to 1,242 third-grade students within a Response to Intervention paradigm. When gifted status is tentatively defined as high performance (i.e., 84th percentile and higher) on a Monitoring Instructional Responsiveness reading probe, 5.48% of students exhibited deficits in (math) performance consistent with a significant discrepancy between reading and math (i.e., reading score – math score); 4.83% exhibited a discrepancy in reading (i.e., math score – reading). These values are based on observed scores using the following formula to define a discrepancy: 1.5( SD) × SEe. Only 2.1% exhibited a math discrepancy and 1.13% a reading discrepancy based on predicted scores, which takes regression to the mean into account. Using various cut score criteria, practitioners can select from less than 1% to about 10% for screening purposes. When using predicted (rather than observed) scores and more stringent cut score criteria, percentages decline, as expected. Recommendations for using this process for screening are provided, as are implications for best practice, particularly the impact of using more or less conservative criteria for screening twice exceptional students.

Profilo sociale e scelte formative dei diplomati eccellenti

Are exceptionally talented students leaving upper secondary education cycles any different from other school-leavers in terms of their post-secondary education choices? One would assume so and expect them – for example – to express a higher inclination for continuing their studies, engage in early decision-making, prefer more challenging and rewarding degree programmes, as well as enjoy more advantageous social origins. These expectations can be empirically tested by using a data-base built up within an initiative promoted by the Italian Federation of Knights of Industry, which collects – annually and at a nation-wide level – information on “top-of-the class” students from Italian upper secondary schools. Over the past five years these exceptional students – a total of over 5,200 individuals – have been interviewed one year after earning their upper secondary school diploma in order to ascertain their actual choices and record crucial aspects of their decision-making regarding their post-secondary education. Special emphasis is placed on perceptions and behaviour concerning “halls of excellence” which attempt to recruit promising students. On the whole, findings suggest that the Italian educational system is not making the most of its talented youth, a goal that is all the more important in the current context of social and economic turbulence.

Labelling and self‐esteem: does labelling exceptional students impact their self‐esteem?

The purpose of this investigation was to explore the existing relationships between main concepts associated with labelling exceptional students and impact on their self‐esteem. The aim was to examine how these concepts are presented in the existing research literature, and what the implications are for educational practice of labelling exceptional students. This area of research is important for educators, researchers, practitioners, parents and advocates of exceptional students. By understanding the psychosocial and educational aspects of labelling and stigma, we can all contribute in different ways to address the unique particularities of exceptional students.

Exploring gains in reading and mathematics achievement among regular and exceptional students using growth curve modeling

Using four-wave longitudinal reading and mathematics data (4th to 7th grades) from a large urban school district, growth curve modeling was used as a tool for examining three research questions: Are achievement gaps closing in reading and mathematics? What are the associations between prior-achievement and growth across the reading and mathematics domains? Is there an association between the receipt of additional services (special education, English-as-second-language, free and reduced lunch program) and reading and mathematics achievement? Results showed that rates of growth in achievement diminished over time and achievement gaps closed in reading, but not mathematics. Reading ability was directly related to gains in mathematics. Analysis of the time-varying covariates showed that there tended to be positive effects of the receipt of English-as-second language instruction on both reading and mathematics achievement, whereas students receiving special education and free and reduced lunch programs consistently had lower academic achievement levels. Implications for the achievement literature are discussed.

Bridging the gap between Religious Education and gifted education: theory and praxis in three secondary school programmes in Cambridgeshire

Religious Education (RE) has the potential to identify as gifted many students who might otherwise be missed. The findings discussed here are based on a study of Heads of Department in three very different secondary schools in Cambridgeshire, which investigated how their training and praxis affected the way they identified and challenged students gifted and talented in studying religion. Reasons are given for the gap between RE and gifted education, internationally, nationally and regionally. The lack of student challenge in much RE is identified and ways are suggested to extend and enrich all. Strategies are discussed for doubly exceptional students, with profound insights but poor written skills. Questioning the dominance of pragmatic approaches in the UK, the article suggests how the RE profession could develop a critical and theoretically informed approach to giftedness, with direct implications for classroom practices.

The “Slow Learner” as a Mediated Construct

Seeking to make a contribution to Disability Studies in Education research, this paper opens up for conversation, via descriptive illustrations, how and why our societal, cultural and educational conceptions and perceptions of human capacities and abilities need to attempt to be firmly rooted in everyday relations, in the realm of possibility (Gadamer, 2004), subject to constant critical inquiry and revision. From an educator perspective, the term/concept “slow learner” is, potentially, one such relation. Establishing the general, ubiquitous nature of the term/concept as it is historically and culturally evident, as it is currently framed by educational psychology via psychometric categorization, and as it is complexly lived within the school system, the authors offer a critical examination of the cacophony of discourses emanating from the disciplines of educational psychology, special education and education, regarding what counts within the enterprises of identifying, classifying, programming and accommodating for exceptional students in learning institutions. By utilizing the increasingly popular analytic deconstruction and discourse analysis methods for researching special education topics, the authors assert that the term “slow learner”, despite an apparent, recent, solidification of its meaning, is itself as a categorical inheritance that must be challenged as a mediated and mediating cultural, psychological and educational referent and descriptor. This challenging of the term/concept reveals its complicatedness and how the professional and intellectual use of the term remains riddled with hegemonic assumptions and self-fulfilling strangeness and monstrous misinterpretations of who “slow learners” actually are. The authors explore the “slow learner” in public discourse and in popular fictional North American media representations of “slowness” and “slow leaner” in such films as Being There and Forrest Gump and in the novel Lottery reflect and but also augment its uses in educational discourse. The intent of this inquiry is to invite a conversation between disabilities and special education studies researchers, practitioners and educators to re-theorize mediated depictions of “slow learner”. Specifically, “slow learner” as a concept reminds us that, despite the more inclusive rhetoric of current iterations of educational classification processes, troubling, privileging assumptions may still linger. “Slow Learner” may also suggest that, as with other concepts deficit-based discourses of disability have given us, an important agitation to the unsettling of the power relations of “slow learner” that can be found in critical / novel uses of the phrase itself.

Students Classification With Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy

Identifying exceptional students for scholarships is an essential part of the admissions process in undergraduate and postgraduate institutions, and identifying weak students who are likely to fail is also important for allocating limited tutoring resources. In this article, we have tried to design an intelligent system which can separate and classify student according to learning factor and performance. a system is proposed through Lvq networks methods, anfis method to separate these student on learning factor . In our proposed system, adaptive fuzzy neural network(anfis) has less error and can be used as an effective alternative system for classifying students.

Equality dichotomies in inclusive education: Comparing Canada and France

Two general philosophical positions regarding inclusive education have moved to the forefront of inclusive education discourse in Western countries since the debate about inclusive education has begun. One is a moral doctrinal position advocating full inclusion and contending that integration is necessary to maintain universal norms of non-discrimination. The other is an ethical position advocating partial inclusion. This latter position argues that exceptional students should receive accommodations specific to their individual needs through a combination of general classroom instruction and specialized instruction within segregated settings. Taken to their individually reasoned ends, these two philosophical approaches represent opposing ideological views and suggest a largely irresolvable debate regarding how exceptional students are best served. This paper presents a comparative analysis examining the underpinnings of these dichotomies within Canada and France.

The Comparison of Behavioural Disorders of Special Educational System of Exceptional Students with Integrated Educational System

The ultimate goal of present research is to compare the quantity of behavior disorders of exceptional students in special and integrated educational system in Hamedan. This research which is based on causal comparative research classifies the whole exceptional students into two categories of blind and deaf students and three courses of elementary school, guide school, and high school. Fourteen students of integrated educational system and fourteen students of special educational system were selected through cluster sampling. Suppose that the P value and the q value is/05. Collecting information was done via questionnaire of Achenbach experiment, teacher's form. We deal them with independent t-test and α was assumed/05. The results show that there is a significant difference between behavior disorders of the students in special education and integrated education in terms of quantity and type. And behavior disorders of exceptional students in integrated educational system are less than their homogeneous in special educational system. Generally, integrated educational system is more successful than special educational system concerning behavior disorders of exceptional students (blind and deaf).

ON BECOMING A PASSIONATE LAWYER

As a lecturer, however, I have come to the realisation that the hallowed halls of academia have, of late, become hollow with the apparent lack of interest in the law by many law students. Many of them have become disengaged, disinterested, and dare I say, disenchanted with the study of law. Very few ‘live and study law deliberately’ and certainly only the exceptional students ‘suck out the marrow of the law’! Why is this so? Why has the study of law apparently become institutionalised, monotonous and, ultimately, mediocre? What has happened to the ‘starry-eyed’-first year student who enrolled for law ‘in the pursuit of justice and the truth’, who, fuelled by an undaunted idealism, wanted to study law ‘for the greater good of society’? This idealism seemingly evaporates over the years of the study of law, and many senior law students are reduced to credit-collecting, minimalist survivors who resist attendance of lectures, the research of case law and materials, lamenting about time tables, and only thriving on the memorising of previous test and examination-papers. Why, on a dramatic note, have they become so disillusioned? The answer in my opinion is simple: it is a matter of passion (or rather the lack thereof)!

Gifted Students and Advanced Mathematics

The extension to a wide population of secondary education in many countries seems to have led to a weakening of the mathematics curriculum. In response, many students have been classified as “gifted” so that they can access a stronger program. Apart from the difficulties that might arise in actually determining which students are gifted (is it always clear what the term means?), there are dangers inherent in programs that might be devised even for those that are truly talented. Sometimes students are moved ahead to more advanced mathematics. Elementary students might be taught algebra or even subjects like trigonometry and vectors and secondary students taught calculus, differential equations and linear algebra. It is my experience over thirty-five years of contact with bright students that acceleration to higher level mathematics is often not a good idea. In this paper, I will articulate some of the factors that have led me to this opinion and suggest alternatives. At the same time, one needs to deal with truly exceptional students in an appropriate way.