Thank you aeh! Can you, or any one help me with wording the goals(s), to try and get this the the GIEP? (I am in PA if that helps.)

So, this is in reference to my younger son who is moderately gifted (IQ in the 130s, if I recall correctly it was in the low 130s), scored very high in the visual spacial indices - and was only only impeded by time. They could only score him based on what he finished in the time allotted, but testers let him continue in the test of block design just to see how far he would go (he enjoys that stuff anyway) and they were really impressed by how far he got given time (I think he finished all the puzzles correctly with some extra time). Anyway, he tends to be quite gifted at 'building', coding, etc. Think engineer-type profile. And, what I think is sometimes common with those types is that they are relatively weak in language. So, this kid is in 5th grade, doing well - in ATP and accelerated about 2 years in math. Above grade-level in reading. However, his spelling and mechanics of writing are atrocious. Really. His older brother has dysgraphia and he is a significantly better speller. I have been expressing concern about this kid's spelling for years. The school acknowledges that he is very poor int he skill, but I am always brushed off because he is "so bright" and "so cute" and so "good." And they are "working on it." However, next year he goes on to middle school and I really think he needs some remediation in spelling and writing mechanics (grammar) before he gets there.

I sent an email requesting a GIEP meeting regarding this concern and requesting we meet to discuss adding some support and some related IEP goals to his GIEP to address the issue. The gifted support teacher called me this morning (off the record) and said the school is going to push back with the argument GIEPs are strength based, etc. Gifted support teacher, however, totally agrees with me, which is why she called to give me a heads up. She advised that when I get the email pushing back to respond officially requesting a GIEP meeting. She told me to word my proposed goals to tie it into his gifted strengths. Something like along the lines of "this is a need/weakness adversely affecting his gifted strengths" and that is why it can be appropriate to put it in the GIEP. I need to get the wording right to help get this accomplished.

The PA Department of Ed says the following on the topic: "Gifted Individualized Education Plan is a strength-based document however if a learning need exists that stems from a student’s strength, it belongs in the Gifted Individualized Education Plan. The need(s) can be noted in the present levels and used to craft a goal/short term learning outcome, or it can be incorporated into the specially designed instruction"

An example of the goal I think he needs is "When given a topic, STUDENT will write a short 5 sentence paragraph using correct grammar, correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, with 90% accuracy in 4/5 trials." (That seriously may be too ambitious but you get the idea.) Can you help with the wording by any chance? What do I add to that or how to I tweak it to make it appropriate for a GIEP?


Last edited by Irena; 10/02/19 06:12 AM.