I went in to help in classroom today and was shocked...
DD cried on and off throughout the whole time I was there....She was so frustrated in her reading group, working with kids who are struggling with what seem to my completely skewed eye, very basic ('key' for example). She spent her time in her reading group trying to control their behaviour and was getting increasingly upset that they weren't taking their task seriously.
Gifted Denial - not just a river in Egypt, but a natural outcome of all the clumping that people who have choices do in their lives. Problem is that kids have very little freedom to just 'wander over' to the classroom that feels most comfortable to her if it isn't where her agemates are.
I would encourage you to look into those back up choices, but also to go sit and weep in the principle's office and show the high level of frustration you are feeling right now. It's entirely possible that things could be fixed in the public school, and FAST, if they school can be shown how deep your emotional distress is in a 'non-attacking' way.
Why in the world would you DD be placed in a low reading group? Are there other reading groups in the overall class she could be placed with? Did they put her there to 'teach' the other kids? If so I call a foul.
I think it's entirely possible that your DD is in the highest reading group in the room - we are so far removed from reality, we all need bumperstickers that say: 'Reality Is'
Or maybe your DD is shy in that environment and the teachers zipped through her assesment and missed the boat. That happens, especially in the first few months of school.
I'm so glad you went in there to see with your own eyes!
Grinity
