Outsiders Looking in? Ensuring that Teachers of the Gifted and Talented Education and Teachers of Students with Disabilities Are Part of the "In-Crowd"

A great deal of emphasis has been placed in recent years to identifying and serving students who are considered to be placed at risk of failure in the nation's schools. A trend that appears to be going unrecognized is one in which students in special education programs and programs for the gifted and talented are being placed at risk due to the perceptions and realities that the programs that represent them and teachers who teach them are isolated from the so-called mainstream. This manuscript provides insight into the possible causes and at-risk factors of this isolation and offers solutions to school leaders as well as to teachers of children with disabilities and teachers of children who are gifted and talented.