Parallel Session Proceedings »
4.7.6 Parent Advocacy Strategies for Accessing School-Based Gifted and Special Education Services
Twice-exceptional (2e) students are extremely underrepresented in both gifted education and special education services; for example, there should be 7% of these children in programs for the gifted instead of the 1% that actually exist there (US Office of Civil Rights, 2007). Effective advocacy from parents, educators, and attorneys is highly relevant to improving gifted and special needs services for 2e students (COPAA, 2018). Parental advocacy can be especially consequential in achieving more equitable child-find, assessment, planning, instructional, and transitional phases in both service areas(Neumann & Bade, 2018).
Five chronological phases can reveal the concept of “more-equitable gifted and special education services.” First, the child find process should inform general, special, and gifted educators about who gifted and special-needs students are (Frasier, Martin, & Garcia, 1995; Davis & Rimm, 2004). This process may also involve placement of 2e advocates on gifted and special-needs child find teams (Hallhan & Kauffman, 2010). Second, the assessment process should consider all subtest data (Silverman, 2007) and all learning, behavioral, communication, and other data that may be seen at home but not at school (Jackson, 2002; Waldron & Sapphire,1992). Third, formal planning should ensure that goals central to the child’s neediest strengths and weaknesses are addressed, even in some under-addressed areas, such as creative gifts or decoding weaknesses (Turnbull & Turnbull, 2010; Berger, 2014). Fourth, instruction should include parental input on youth strengths and weaknesses, so that students may learn with their favored learning styles in both areas (Bridges Academy, 2018; Winner, 2005). Fifth, in preparation for transitions, parents should convey student aspirations so that youth may be guided toward preferred educational, professional, or trade goals (Berger, 2014; MN Independent School District 197, 2018). These approaches have proven helpful as well as equitable to 2e students (COPAA, 2018).
These five categories will be presented creatively through slides and through visual and auditory examples of how each phase might unfold. For example, the child find process will be presented through a cartoon, while the assessment process will involve a simulated dialogue between team members. The IEP phase will show how a mock IEP can be improved through inclusion of strengths.
Each phase will require about eight minutes, which leaves about 20 minutes for attendee questions throughout the session. Handouts will provide all validated 2e strategies, plus quality, parent-friendly 2e resources in various US areas in both gifted and special education (COPAA, 2018).