2E / Twice Exceptional Student Placement: How to Get Your Student Into Advanced Classes

Twice Exceptional students, or 2e, are both gifted and have a disability. These students need both support and academic enrichment.

IEP teams may be reluctant to place students with disabilities in higher level academic classes, even if they have shown the ability to do the work. Often, this is because the receiving teachers may not have been trained to provide the accommodations listed in the IEP.

If you believe that your child can succeed in a higher- level class, such as Honors, Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) course, here are six steps the team needs to be encouraged to take in order to create a successful placement.

1. The IEP Team needs to assess your student’s true academic abilities the academic abilities to be placed in a higher-level class. This may be accomplished through classroom observations, review of classwork and homework, and speaking with both the student and current teachers.
2. Next, check that the student is willing to take on the work and responsibilities of a higher-level class. Many of our students have not learned how to work independently, complete long-term assignments, study for exams, etc. If the student is unwilling, stop here. Begin the process of preparation for the next semester.
3. Determine what supports and accommodations the student will require in order to be successful in a more challenging class. Does the student require a teaching assistant? Resource Room? Executive Functioning training? These are only some possible examples.
4. Start with one class in the student’s greatest area of strength. In this case, less is more. It is better to feel like you could have done more than, why did we do this?
5. The Team or the person programming the student needs to choose an educator who is willing to take on the challenge of a nontypical student in their class. This is not an IEP issue, but perhaps the most important thing to consider. A student will not be successful, if the educator is not willing to make the accommodations for the student. The student needs to be hand and not computer programmed for the class.
6. On the student’s IEP, there is a section that addresses the supports to be provided to the educators. Make sure that you advocate for specific training for the educators who will be receiving your student in class. Most certificated educators have had minimal exposure to the support that our students require in order to successfully access their curriculum. The educator requires training in the specifics of what this student requires, before they enter the class. Then ongoing support for the educator needs to be provided both on a schedule and “as needed”.

Twice Exceptional (2E) students, with the right supports, can be successful in higher-level academic classes.