Although there is a great deal of research on students with disabilities, there has been little exploration of twice exceptional students, those who have both learning disabilities and gifts and talents. There are even fewer studies of twice exceptional students who are gifted and talented in the arts. This research was based on extensive interviews with eleven twice exceptional students at a public arts-focused high school. This school employed a dual differentiation approach for these students: educational services to address their disabilities as well as school-based enrichment in their artistic talent areas. Discourse analysis and thematic coding of the interviews revealed that despite this school’s positive focus on students’ artistic talents all eleven informants considered themselves academic failures. The study revealed that these students had a strong negative identity as learners: their academic careers were characterized by being bullied, forced to repeat grades, and frequently getting in trouble at school. They expressed feelings such as loneliness, anger, and anxiety. In terms of talent or giftedness, the participants described themselves as talented but not exceptional because of their belief that everyone has a special talent. Most of the students did not describe their own disabilities in terms that are typically used in special education. Nor did they describe their talents in language that teachers would apply to them. In the academic area students described themselves as powerless and their teachers as powerful in determining success. But in their artistic work they claimed greater power than their teachers, taking an expert’s stance

The purpose of this study was to provide a descriptive, historical view of the origin and development of a specific coalition of arts education associations in California. The literature pertaining to political action by interest groups revealed effective strategies and lessons learned. Seven (7) commonalities for effective political action by interest groups were identified in order to analyze the politicization of the Legislative Action Coalition for Arts Education (LACAE). In the early 1980s, the increasing financial crisis for California's schools combined with diminishing opportunities for students to receive education in the arts as a part of their basic education. These devastating elements were motivation for the rise in visionary leadership that led to the emergence of LACAE. The maturation of LACAE was described by tracing the history of the organization and three selected issues: a legislative requirement for one year of visual or performing arts for high school graduation; assessment of arts programs included in the California Assessment Program (CAP) tests; and, development of a political action network. Discussion of each issue was presented from data in LACAE files, minutes of meetings and personal interviews. Analysis of the Coalition's politicization using the seven (7) commonalities produced mixed results. The annual conference to develop the Legislative Action Plan yielded goals and objectives that represented a broad base of support among arts associations and provided a vehicle for clear communication. LACAE was less successful, however, in the effort to broaden its base of support beyond arts associations and in establishing an effective communication network for responsive political action.

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