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Academic Success of General Education College Students Compared to those Screened as Twice-Exceptional and Gifted

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Virginia M. McClurg
Virginia M. McClurg
Virginia M. McClurg
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Jiaju Wu at Sam Houston State University
Jiaju Wu
R. Steve Mccallum
R. Steve Mccallum
R. Steve Mccallum
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
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Abstract

In this study, the high school and college GPAs of college students who were screened as twice-exceptional were compared to college students screened as gifted and average college students. From a sample of 32,741 college students, those screened as gifted earned significantly higher means than students screened as twice-exceptional (2e) and the general college population on both high school and college GPA (p < .05); students screened as 2e earned high school and college GPA means higher than those from the general college population (p < .05). No mean college GPA differences were found between students screened as 2e with STEM majors and those with non-STEM majors GPA (p > .05), but STEM majors had higher high school mean GPAs than those with non-STEM majors (p < .001). Additionally, 2e students screened as having a reading learning disability (LD) yielded higher mean high school and college GPAs than 2e students screened as having a math LD (p < .001). Implications for advising are discussed.
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Academic Success of General Education College
Students Compared to those Screened
as Twice-Exceptional and Gifted
Virginia M. McClurg
1
&Jiaju Wu
2
&R. Steve McCallum
1
Accepted: 6 January 2021 / Published online: 11 March 2021
#The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. part of Springer Nature 2021
Abstract
In this study, the high school and college GPAs of college students who were screened as
twice-exceptional were compared to college students screened as gifted and average college
students. From a sample of 32,741 college students, those screened as gifted earned
significantly higher means than students screened as twice-exceptional (2e) and the general
college population on both high school and college GPA (p< .05); students screened as 2e
earned high school and college GPA means higher than those from the general college
population (p< .05). No mean college GPA differences were found between students
screened as 2e with STEM majors and those with non-STEM majors GPA (p>.05), but
Innovative Higher Education (2021) 46:411–427
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-021-09543-z
Virginia McClurg M.S., is a school psychology doctoral student in the Department of Educational Psychology
and Counseling at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT). She obtained her Bachelor’s in Psychology and
Human Services in 2017 from University of the Cumberlands and her Master of Science in Teacher Education
with a concentration in Applied Behavior Analysis at the University of Tennessee in 2019. Throughout graduate
school, she has worked on several research projects including the identification and screening of students for
dyslexia, giftedness, and twice-exceptionality; the interpretation of single-subject designs, particularly alternating
treatment designs; and the evaluation of evidence based interdependent group contingencies in the classroom.
Jiaju Wu Ph.D., is currently a school psychologist at Central Rivers Area Education Agency in Cedar Falls,
Iowa. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology and a Master’s of Arts Degree in Counselor
Education from East Tennessee State University. In 2012, he enrolled as a doctoral student at the University of
Iowa. He worked as a graduate research assistant at the Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center
for Gifted Education and Talent Development. He earned his doctoral degree in 2018. His recent research
interests include gifted education, social development of early college entrants, and twice-exceptional students.
Dr. Steve McCallum is currently Professor of School Psychology in the Department of Educational Psychology
and Counseling (EPC), College of Health and Human Sciences (EHHS), University of Tennessee (UT) and
served as EPC Department Head for 22 years. He is a Fellow of two divisions of APA (i.e., 1 and 16), recipient of
a number of university and professional honors (e.g., Distinguished Alumnus, University of Georgia and Georgia
Southern University; Chancellors Research & Creative Achievement Award, University of Tennessee), is author/
co-author of several books (e.g., Handbook of Reading Assessment), tests (e.g., Universal Nonverbal Intelligence
Tests-2), and over 300 journal articles and national/international presentations. He is co-founder of the Journal of
Psychoeducational Assessment. Many of his scholarly contributions focus on assessment of cognition, social/
emotional functioning, and reading/reading-related problems, particularly for students with dyslexia.
*Jiaju Wu
jwu@centralriversaea.org
1
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
2
Central Rivers Area Education Agency, 1521 Technology Parkway, Cedar Falls, IA 50613, USA
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
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