Published on May 9, 2018  Click Here for the Report

Lead Author: Rachel Ford

By Members of the Parents of Twice Exceptional Kids Listserv/ 2eNYC@groups.io 

In just two weeks, this online group of parents of twice exceptional children in New York City managed to have over 500 people respond to this survey to gather data on the needs of twice exceptional students in New York City schools.   

The parent comment quote on the title page shows the urgency and why parents are so fed up.

“ There isn't currently a place for students who have disabilities but are accelerated academically. This results in many challenging behaviors for my son. If we weren't sending him to private school, I believe that he would be on a pathway to frequent suspensions. This feels like a ticket to the schools-to-prison pipeline for students whose families cannot affor private school, services, and attorneys. Teachers working with G & T classes (my son attended one a few years back) do not have special education training. Special education classes cannot differentiate up for gifted students. ”

—Survey Respondent

Here is a link to the 2e NYC Survey Results 

Published June 17, 2019  Click Here for the Report

After the 2nd Personalized Learning Symposium on May 23, 2019, members of ​2eNYC realized that the needs of staff educating ​twice exceptional students​* in accelerated high schools were not as well addressed. Thus, 2eNYC created a short survey and distributed it to staff at specialized high schools and screened and accelerated middle and high schools.  

While clearly more data needs to be collected, results of the survey indicate what has been a growing concern for students with disabilities in accelerated high schools in New York City.

1. There is a clear lack of presence of twice exceptional students in screened accelerated high schools in New York City. Students with disabilities often enter the screened accelerated high schools through a separate pool of applicants known as the Students with Disabilities (SWD) pool. To achieve the SWD distinction, students must meet a minimum requirement of having 20% of the instruction provided by a special education teacher. SWD status is often inaccessible to twice exceptional students as not only do they have gifts that commonly mask their disabilities but even when concerns are raised, 2e students’ ability to perform at grade level is often incorrectly and unfairly used as the justification to deny services to them, especially special education services (ICT and SETSS).

2. Responses from Specialized High Schools staff indicated that the staff didn't possess adequate knowledge to support students with disabilities many of whom are likely twice exceptional. 2eNYC emphasizes this point in recognition that students with disabilities are not included in the conversation about proposed reforms in specialized high school admissions. We also fully recognize that unlike screened accelerated schools, none of the specialized high schools in New York City are required to admit a percentage of SWDs equivalent to the percentage of students with disabilities in their district or borough. 

3.  Staff at screened accelerated high schools were deeply concerned with their students with disabilities who are entering these schools severe foundational academic skill gaps. These students are described as having reading levels from 1st to 5th grade thus they are entering these schools with academic levels far below peers in even non-accelerated general education environments.

Read this presentation which took place at the Citywide Council on High Schools Meeting on March 10, 2021.

Thank you to Rachel Ford, Lead Author of the 2e Parent Survey who who collected the data, prepared the survey report which allowed us to be able to prepare these presentations. 

The presentation covers

• the grassroots movement of parents of 2e kids in NYC

• links to DOE trainings provided to support teachers for 2e students

• policy and legal decisions that protect 2e students

• anonymous survey results of what DOE teachers have said regarding educating students with disabilities in accelerated environments

• explaining how bias is at the root of poor special ed delivery for these students

• what parents can do to support their kids now.