Hi, I plan to appeal for a gifted placement decision for my 1st grader. Any suggestion is deeply appreciated.
Our school district uses cogat and ITBS. Her cogat score is 155 (99%), and ITBS math is 99%, both are very good. Her ITBS reading score is only 90%. However, we are confident this score does not reflect her real reading level. First, due to COVID, this year's exam was online. She ran into some technical issues in the middle of the exam. Second, she took ITBS a year ago, and her reading score was 98%.
My questions:
1) The main reason I want to appeal the results is that I am afraid my kid will be hurt by this "failure". Her older sister is in the gifted program. She is highly sensitive and inevitably has some sense of sibling rivalry. I am deeply worried that if she's not admitted, she won't be able to process this well. She likely will see this as herself not as smart as her sister, and lose her confidence for years. Should I mention this concern to the committee? Or will that sound too desperate for the appeal?
2) Is the ITBS score a year ago solid evidence for the appeal?
3) The school district does not accept the teacher's recommendation letter, so I will be the only person talking about her reading level. She started reading by herself at 4, and chapter books at 5. At 6, she finished 7 of the Oz books. Now, just 7, she is reading the original novel of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Is it appropriate to list these in the appealing letter? Will this cause negative feelings (make me sound like a tiger mom)?
4) I sincerely see her more gifted than her older sister if comparing their performance at the same age. Is that a valid argument? Or does that sound biased or even exaggerated?
Thanks!
