Addressing the Needs of Students Who Are Twice-Exceptional

Many books and articles have been written about a Response to Intervention (RtI) model of service delivery for students who are struggling learners. Little has been written about this model’s usefulness as a means of addressing the needs of advanced learners or twice-exceptional learners whose needs may be both remedial and advanced. The National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE; 2005) defined RtI as the “practice of providing high-quality instruction and interventions matched to student need, monitoring progress frequently to make decisions about changes in instruction or goals and applying child response data to important educational decisions” (p. 3). It further stated that this practice should be used in “general, remedial, and special education” (NASDSE, 2005, p. 3). This statement does not include gifted education. The NASDSE document did not address gifted children, nor did it define “high-quality instruction” as opportunities for acceleration or enrichment.