Gifted learning disabled students

Abstract

Up to 30 per cent of gifted students display a learning disability, with 10 per cent reading at two or more years below their grade level. They are referred to as being ‐gifted learning disabled’ or as having the dual exceptionalities of giftedness and learning disabilities. For these students, their learning disability is more likely to be recognised and targeted in teaching than their gifted ability.

The present study reviews their learning characteristics and explains these in terms of an information processing model of learning. Nine characteristics are addressed: their superior general intellectual ability in at least some domains of knowledge, a global wholistic preference in thinking, a negative academic self‐concept, low resilience in learning, patterns in motivation to learn orientation, their use of metacognifion, their ability to show what they know, their uneven rates of development, their high standards and goals, and the quality of their interpersonal interactions.

The paper uses these characteristics to recommend a set of procedures for identifying these students. It examines the influence that a learning disability can have on the display of gifted knowledge and describes how dynamic assessment procedures can be used to obtain a more accurate diagnosis. It describes the two main types of general ability profiles that emerge. Procedures for assessing creativity and divergent thinking, a learning disability, aptitude in particular areas, an intrinsic motivation to learn, self‐concept, metacognition and self management of learning are discussed.

To his teachers, Adam was a conundrum. He was a very quick thinker, but not in the ways that would help him excel academically. He had excellent knowledge of a range of subjects but this didn't seem to help him achieve academic success. His answers to questions were unexpected, although, when analysed, creative. On excursions he could be relied on to see ways around obstacles that arose; his teachers valued his ‘native intelligence’ on these occasions. It was less valued in classroom contexts in which they were developing a topic with a group and Adam would interject with ideas and questions that were either ‘marginally relevant’ or ‘further down the track’. They wished he would put his energy more into improving his spelling and writing ability, that were extremely low, and bis recall of the times tables.

Ann, an eight year old, was also perplexing to her teachers. In class she was ‘off task’ and daydreamed a lot. She did not finish most tasks, frequently lost her place and made many careless errors. Her distractability meant that she was frequently disruptive. As a consequence, her level of academic achievement was low. Her teacher interpreted her inattention and impulsivity as a lack of interest in learning and her preference to avoid tasks. As well, however, her teacher noticed her comparatively high level reading ability and her advanced oral language capacity and had difficulty reconciling the two sets of observations.     

Psychometric classifications of learning disabled students

The psychometric test results of a sample of 100 LD students with severe achievement problems were cluster analyzed. The variables included in this analysis were the subtests of the WISC-R, the Bender Gestalt, the Benton Visual Retention, the Purdue Perceptual-Motor, and the Lindamood Auditory Conceptualization tests. Using K-means iterative clustering procedures, three clusters were obtained. The first cluster was defined by low scores on attention and concentration subtests; the second was defined by low scores on subtests of verbal-associative intelligence; the third was defined by low scores on visual-spatial and motoric subtests. Limitations of the study, in the scope of the psychometric testing and the lack of pediatric and neurologic diagnoses, are discussed.     

Referral reasons for learning disabled students

Referral information for 269 LD students in grades one through five was examined. Referral reasons were classified according to three major types: (a) academic, (b) behavior, and (c) academic and behavior. These major referral types also were analyzed according to particular concern (e.g., reading deficits, attentional problems, etc.). The results indicated that the majority of students were referred for either academic (42%) or both academic and behavioral (41%) reasons; referrals initiated solely for behavior problems accounted for only 17% of the total. The grade level analysis revealed that academic concerns were less likely to be noted in the first and fifth grades, and that the number of referrals diminished as grade level advanced (51% of the sample was diagnosed by second grade). Referral statements within each major referral type tended to be general, as opposed to specifying particular concerns to be explored in the evaluation. Preservice and in-service training recommendations are given.     

Teaching complex content to learning disabled students: the role of technology

A program of research has combined the effectiveness of Direct Instruction curriculum design and mastery learning with the efficiency of technology to teach more cognitively complex skills. This article explains one example of this comprehensive intervention in detail. Findings from several studies are briefly reviewed. The purpose of this article is to document how such a comprehensive intervention reduces performance differences between students with learning disabilities and their peers, while using technology to minimize, or even reduce, the demands placed on the teacher.     

大学英语学困生学习心理障碍研究

英语学习是个很漫长的过程,需要付出艰辛努力并且持之以恒。但在中学阶段,一些学生便出现英语障碍,以至于逐渐地转变为学困生。文章从多种角度分析了大学生英语学习心理障碍的表现及其相应策略,希望能够与相关学界同行共勉。     

Social inference skills in learning disabled and nondisabled children

The study examined the performance of 30 learning disabled and 30 nondisabled children in grades 1 through 7 on the Test of Social Inference (TSI). Results indicated that disabled students obtained lower TSI total scores that did nondisabled students: they also performed relatively lower on TSI items requiring more verbal expression. While no difference was found between the groups on the Motor-Free Visual Perception Test (MVPT), the relationship between MVPT and TSI scores was shown to be significant within the disabled group only. Furthermore, this group made more perceptual-type errors on the TSI. Findings are discussed in relation to previous research suggesting a link between visual perception and/or language fluency and social inference skills among learning disabled children.     

Interjudge agreement in classifying students as learning disabled

Eighteen judges with backgrounds in assessment, decision making, and learning disabilities were asked to use an array of information to differentiate learning disabled and nonlearning disabled students. Each judge was provided with forms containing information on 42 test or subtest scores of 50 school-identified LD students and 49 non-LD students. Judges were extremely inaccurate in their classifications and in little agreement with each other. Also, it appeared that different judges emphasized different factors when making their decisions. The results suggest that, given current definitions of the condition called “learning disabilities,” there is considerable doubt that school personnel can accurately and reliably identify such students.     

Dyslexic/learning disabled students at Dartmouth college

Dartmouth College, a highly selective Ivy League college with 4100 undergraduates, has a small but significant number of dyslexic/learning-disabled students, two-thirds of whom were identified through diagnostic testing at Dartmouth. Close advising relationships and intensive interviews with Dartmouth learning-disabled students reveal a profile of a particular category of learning-disabled college students. In spite of experiencing difficulty in a specific content area or with an information-processing task, learning-disabled Dartmouth students achieve well academically, socially, and extracurricularly, get high scores on timed SAT and IQ tests, and rely when necessary on accommodations, rather than remedial courses or specialized tutorial assistance. The authors surveyed selective colleges in 1986 and 1988 and found an increase in awareness and academic accommodations at other selective colleges during this two-year period. A 1987 dyslexic/learning-disabilities symposium hosted by Dartmouth is described, as are Dartmouth’s services and accommodations. The authors provide a suggested list of services and resources for highly selective colleges.