Glossary

The following are terms frequently used by Bridges Academy faculty and administrators, and also by the 2e community at large.

2e/Twice-Exceptional

The term “twice-exceptional” or “2E” is used to describe people who learn differently both because of their high abilities and challenges.

Bridges Academy Learning Profile (BALP)

A comprehensive educational plan that contains information from parents and school records about student strengths and challenges, pertinent test scores, suggestions for successful programming activities, and other important information that can inform teaching and learning for that individual student. Dr. Marcy Dann creates these plans in concert with students’ parents.

Developmental Asynchrony

Schools tend to use “grade-level norms” quite a lot. Unfortunately, norms are mathematical constructs, not people. While they can be useful, they often fail in providing us with useful descriptions of the students who operate considerably above or below the norm. 2e students typically are asynchronous in their development, meaning that in one social, academic, intellectual, or creative area they may be developing ahead of their age peers, and in other areas they are developing more slowly, at their own natural rate.

Dual Differentiation

Curricular modifications that simultaneously take into account both a student’s advanced cognitive abilities and learning challenges.

Enrichment

Refers to the presentation of curriculum content with more depth, breadth, complexity, or abstract-ness than the general curriculum.

Executive Functioning

A collection of higher level skills that enable individuals to acquire knowledge and solve problems across a variety of domains. Among the areas impacted by executive functioning are:

Gifts/Gifted

Students who demonstrate the potential for high achievement or creative productivity in one or more domains such as math, science, technology, social arts, performing arts, the visual-spatial domain, or other areas of human productivity. Gifts may mask disabilities and disabilities may mask gifts. Gifted students exhibit a combination of 3 traits: above-average ability, task commitment, and creativity.

Interests

All people tend to have interests. Students tend to be drawn to interests naturally, and learning is often greatest in areas of interest. Sometimes interests can be so intense that we must seize upon these wonderful moments when students are “in flow” to maximize their education. Teachers can use interests to create courses, find entry points and analogies to learning across the curriculum, and help remediate any weaknesses.

Learning Differences

Differences can include learning styles, diagnosed or undiagnosed learning challenges, personalities, temperaments, and IQ data. Some differences also are sometimes described as learning disabilities.

Strengths

Areas of academic and creative pursuit in which students consistently perform at a high level.

Talents

Areas of natural aptitude that have the potential to be developed into strengths through knowledge, skill, and practice.

Talent Development Opportunity

Encouragement and support of identified talents and abilities that are nurtured in their own right – not as an opening for remediation nor as a reward or motivator for achievement.

Talent and Transitional Development Plan (TTDP)

Record of talent opportunities, accomplishments, and goals that influence the student’s transition through the Bridges program into post-high school college and transitional programs. This document is self-determinative and designed by students with input from staff, parents, and faculty.