In this book, 31 international academics explore the concepts of gifted, talented, creative and dissimilar learners as they apply in both school and tertiary education. Problem-based learning, alternative educational settings and meaningful feedback for gifted, talented and high potential learners, teachers' views on creative pedagogies, learning analytics for dissimilar learners, eMaking for learners with an intellectual disability, capabilities-led programs, learner agency and inclusive practices in mathematics education, form a unique nexus of theory, research and approaches being presented by the authors. These chapters and the totality of this book represent efforts to get a glimpse into the future of the education of the gifted, talented, creative and dissimilar learners. If nothing else, this book underlines the value of powerful approaches and tools for educating 21st-century school learners as well as tertiary learners in the context of rapidly evolving global educational reforms. Contributors are: Fatma Nur Aktas, Tasos Barkatsas, Damian Blake, Antonios Bouras, Grant Cooper, Yuksel Dede, Kirsten Ellis, Zara Ersozlu, Aleryk Fricker, Vasilis Gialamas, Andrew Gilbert, Wendy Goff, Anne K. Horak, Gasangusein I. Ibragimov, Jennifer Jolly, Aliya A. Kalimullina, Gillian Kidman, Konstantinos Lavidas, Huk-Yuen Law, Sandra McKechnie, Patricia McLaughlin, Juanjo Mena, Anastasia Papadopoulou, Angela Rogers, Aime Sacrez, Rachel Sheffield, Stefan Schutt, Hazel Tan, Kok-Sing Tang, Roza A. Valeeva and Wanty Widjaja.

Collaborative approaches to special education that seek to provide innovative, creative, and novel ways to disrupt current structures and practices are necessary to move the field towards a more inclusive model for educating students with disabilities. Multiple professionals are involved in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary teams to develop and implement individualized education programs (IEPs) for students with disabilities, extending the pool of stakeholders in special education far beyond the special education teacher. Achieving a strong understanding between the multiple professions involved in IEP development and implementation will improve data-based individualization, the fidelity of program implementation, and the sustainability of practices and services. The Handbook of Research on Interdisciplinary Preparation for Equitable Special Education explores and highlights interdisciplinary personnel preparation to advance special education and enhance outcomes for students with disabilities. This book also provides theories and frameworks, examples, and discussions around innovations and lessons learned from interdisciplinary preparation programs and practices. Covering key topics such as educator preparation models, equity, diverse students, and educator competencies, this premier reference source is ideal for administrators, principals, researchers, academicians, practitioners, scholars, instructors, and students.

This book is written for K-12 teachers and educators to understand the school experiences and life journeys of the English Language Learners (ELLs) through four Chinese ELLs by documenting their transitional experiences into an American school. Traditionally, Chinese students are perceived as the model minority in American schools who are academically successful. Yet, this book provides a new perspective by documenting the life journey and school experiences of the four Chinese ELLs. The book gives a detailed account of the four ELLs in transition from Chinese language and culture into American school and culture. Interview, observation, and documentary data at their homes and American school reflect this transitional journey. The book helps K-12 teachers and educators understand that Chinese students also come from different family backgrounds and have different previous schooling experiences. This will help teachers and educators better working with Chinese and all ELLs who adapt the new school environment. This book is reader-friendly and carefully crafted with six chapters. Each chapter focuses on one Chinese ELL with genuine research data. The book begins with an introduction to provide basic information of the four ELLs and concludes with the final chapter that provides an update on the ELL students. This book can also be used as reading texts by college students in teacher education and training programs. The book is targeted for the TESOL organizations. The TESOL has one of the largest memberships with over 12,000 members representing 156 countries (TESOL Brochure, 2017). This book also benefits various attendees of professional education conferences.

Given the importance of the development of intellectualism and the need to ensure equity and access to learning experiences, educators at all levels must be aware of research-based protocols to identify, serve, and evaluate programs for diverse gifted learners. It is essential to understand how gifted education can increase equity in identification practices for historically underrepresented groups, what the specific curricular opportunities are that must be provided to learners to develop gifted programs, and what the key considerations are to the design and implementation of authentic and equitable programs for gifted learners. Creating Equitable Services for the Gifted: Protocols for Identification, Implementation, and Evaluation curates cutting-edge protocols in the field of gifted education related to the areas of equitable identification, implementation of services, and programmatic assessment. These protocols seek to initiate discussion and critical discourse regarding diverse gifted learners among higher education faculty, state department personnel, district administrators, and classroom teachers. Covering topics such as digital differentiation, equitable assessment, and STEM education, this text is ideal for teacher education programs, preparation programs, university degree programs, university credential programs, certificate programs, faculty, graduate students, state departments of education, superintendents, coordinators, administrators, teachers, professors, academicians, and researchers.

Exceptional education, also known as special education, is often grounded within exclusive and deficit mindsets and practices. Research has shown perpetual challenges with disproportionate identification of culturally and linguistically diverse students, especially Black and Indigenous students. Research has also shown perpetual use of inappropriate placement in more restrictive learning environments for marginalized students, often starting in Pre-K. Exceptional education practitioners often engage in practices that place disability before ability in instruction, behavior management, identification and use of related services, and educational setting placement decisions. These practices, among others, have resulted in a crippled system that situates students with exceptionalities in perceptions of deviance, ineptitude, and perpetuate systemic oppression. The Handbook of Research on Challenging Deficit Thinking for Exceptional Education Improvement unites current theory and practices to communicate the next steps to end the current harmful practices and experiences of exceptional students through critical analysis of current practices, mindsets, and policies. With the information this book provides, practitioners have the power to implement direct and explicit actions across levels to end the harm and liberate our most vulnerable populations. Covering topics such as accelerated learning, educator preparation programs, and intersectional perspectives, this book is a dynamic resource for teachers in exceptional education, general teachers, social workers, psychologists, educational leaders, organizational leaders, the criminal justice system, law enforcement agencies, government agencies, policymakers, curriculum designers, testing companies, current educational practitioners, administrators, post-grad students, professors, researchers, and academicians.

Much of the research about teachers focuses on "those who can't/don't/aren't good" in the classroom. However, teachers who are gifted and talented exist, but there has been little attention to date on the characteristics and practices of such teachers in the classroom. While few, the examples of research on positive teacher attributes include work on the "expert," "authentic," and "creative," as well as examples of research on eminent adults. Identifying, Describing, and Developing Teachers Who Are Gifted and Talented is an essential reference source that discusses behaviors and traits in teachers who are considered gifted and talented as well as case studies on the identification and preparation of teachers who fall into this category. Featuring research on topics such as creative innovation, emotional intelligence, and skill development, this book is ideally designed for educators, administrators, researchers, and academicians.

When children with learning challenges are identified, the educational community in the United States diligently applies a well-established model of remediation that has, for the most part, yielded positive results. Research, however, has demonstrated that the American perception of disability may vary from those in Eastern cultures. These cultural differences can play a significant role in the failure to achieve learning success on behalf of children from the Middle East, North Africa, and Southwest Asian (MENASWA) families. It is critical for the school community to recognize and acknowledge these differences and bring them into alignment in order to meet these students' learning needs. Learning Challenges for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) Students With Disabilities is an essential reference publication that identifies ways in which CLD families can be involved with schools to help build educators' cultural competence and explores the idea of disabilities as a social model with a focus on strengths rather than a medical model focused on needs and weaknesses. Featuring coverage on a wide range of topics including racial identity, leadership wisdom, and family-school collaboration, this book is ideally designed for educators, principals, administrators, curriculum developers, instructional designers, policymakers, advocates, researchers, academicians, and students.

Providing all students, particularly those with learning disabilities, with the skills necessary to succeed in school and, by extension, the real world is vital in today's educational landscape. Due to this need, innovative language and literacy tools have been developed to support these students in their learning endeavors and ensure they are receiving the best education possible. Cutting-Edge Language and Literacy Tools for Students on the Autism Spectrum covers the root causes of the language and learning challenges in autism, their consequences for language acquisition and literacy, and a variety of tools and strategies for addressing them, from teaching technologies to assistive technologies. Drawing on what the most current evidence shows about the nature of autism and which therapies and technologies are most successful, the book reviews the efficacy of existing language therapies, literacy strategies, and assistive technologies. Covering topics such as speech deficits, language learning, comprehension, and assistive communication tools, this reference work is ideal for clinicians, behavioral specialists, speech-language pathologists, special educators, researchers, academicians, practitioners, scholars, educators, and students.

They were named the "throwaways." Children with learning differences engaged in artmaking as sensemaking to promote issues of social justice in K-12 schools. For the first time, children with learning differences, teachers, staff, and school leaders come together and share how they understand the role artmaking as sensemaking plays in empowering disenfranchised populations.

They were named the "throwaways." Children with learning differences engaged in artmaking as sensemaking to promote issues of social justice in K-12 schools. For the first time, children with learning differences, teachers, staff, and school leaders come together and share how they understand the role artmaking as sensemaking plays in empowering disenfranchised populations.

Echoes from a Child's Soul: Awakening the Moral Imagination of Children presents remarkable poetry inspired by aesthetic education methodology created by children that were labelled academically, socially, and/or emotionally at-risk. Many children deemed average or below-grade level composed poetry beyond their years revealing moral imagination. Art psychology and aesthetic methodology merge to portray the power of awakening children's voices once silenced. The children's poetry heralds critical and empathic messages for our future. This book proposes an overwhelming need for change in America's public-school education system so that no child is ignored, silenced, deemed less than, or marginalized.

While the written word is an important means of communication among people, the technological revolution has increased the demands on mental processes involved in the processing of written information, which endangers the quality of life of people who have reading difficulties and are not completely functionally literate. Educational technologies have vastly improved in past decades, especially in the realm of aiding individuals with development and learning disorders. With these learning technologies becoming more mainstream, individuals struggling to maintain a sense of normalcy in everyday life now have a chance to overcome various barriers. Dyslexia and Accessibility in the Modern Era: Emerging Research and Opportunities provides emerging research on a literacy portal that offers the virtual background for the support and strengthening of reading skills and for leading the user while using the internet. The book also creates a tool based on user feedback with instructions on how to adapt current tools to meet the accessibility requirements for people with dyslexia. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as e-learning, lifelong learning, and neurodevelopment disabilities, this book is ideally designed for teachers, software developers, academics, researchers, students, and learning professionals.