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Had a meeting at school today for DS - just me and hubby, classroom teacher, and director of special ed.

To recap, DS (7, 1st grade) had a KBIT of 142 but WISC FSIQ of 119 and GAI of 129 (very high PRI, much lower Working memory and PSI). He wasn't feeling well the day of the WISC or the KBIT and had missed a day of school due to illness the week he took the WISC. School said since GAI wasn't at least 130, he doesn't qualify for any further evaluation or gifted programming. They didn't do any standardized or curriculum-based achievement tests, just used his DRA levels. We did not sign that we agreed with the report and recommendation that all his needs could be met in the regular classroom setting, so that's what warranted today's meeting.

We want to make sure that DS is being instructed on a level appropriate for him, and that he is experiencing some challenge and not just "cruising by" getting 100's all the time - he needs to learn that it's OK to get things wrong and that sometimes you need to work at something to get it done right - and so far that hasn't been happening. The psychologist noted in his GWR that he seemed hesitant to try questions on the WISC if he wasn't sure he knew the right answer immediately and needed prompting on several occasions to give an answer. I've also seen it at home when we give him enrichment worksheets and his classroom teacher noted it today - if an extra math worksheet looks like he might have to try a little bit, he pushes it aside and won't do it or procrastinates greatly.

We hoped today that maybe with the director of special ed looking over his scores and talking to her, she might concede that the 129 GAI statistically is 130 taking into account SEM and confidence ratio, and he might be identified and we could communicate our concerns.

At the meeting, the director of special ed told us numerous times how it will not matter if he's identified as gifted or not, the high achievers all the get same opportunities as they go through school and by high school there is no more "gifted" instruction to speak of - the kids all just take AP classes because that's what colleges were looking for. At least next year, even if he would be identified, he would not get any other instruction than what he's already getting - "intensive reading group" (translate - during small group reading time he is in the highest group) and that's it. She said they don't do anything for math at all (so apparently the extra enrichment math worksheets they agreed to give him after the last meeting is some kind of exception to their standards). And that's that. Since he struggles/isn't strong with the retelling portion of the DRA which they use for reading assessment, he'll be kept where he's at with that despite the fact that he can clearly comprehend what he's reading independently and answer questions (he just won't/can't retell in the fashion they're looking for). And he's reading above grade level by their standards even with that retell factor.

I asked what differentiation happened in math class to accommodate different learners, and was told "nothing" - the enrichment worksheets he gets is the only accommodation so apparently no other student gets any kind of accommodations in math.

Since they were putting so much weight on the WISC scores and his Perceptual Reasoning score was in the very superior range, we asked what the school would do to enrich and challenge him in that area, since clearly that's an area of strength. The director and teacher just looked at each other and said they didn't know, but they could ask the gifted teacher if there is something they could do.

When pushed about making sure he's truly getting a year's worth of academic growth each year and how do they know what level he is truly at of without achievement testing, the special ed director told us that if they stray from protocol for us, then they'll have to stray from protocol for every parent from now on and the screening system they have in place was developed by parents and teachers and administrators several years ago and has worked quite well. She did say that she could go directly to the superintendent and try to get permission for achievement testing after school was over if we really wanted to push things. She also said that they could put DS' name on the gifted teacher's roster to have her check in with him once a week when she's there. She said we could just have DS retested in 2 years and see if anything changed, to which I politely replied that state regulations say they can be tested every year if we make that request - that remark didn't get a very happy look in response.

Overall, it was not a great meeting. I'm frustrated because it just seems like they're trying to fit every peg into the same hole, no matter what shape it is. Yeah, it's great that DS is getting 100s on everything, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's learning. And in the fall when he was yelling at us every night that he hates school and hates reading (when all he wants to do is read most of the time) we had an issue with that and don't want to see that again next year.

At the end, the director shared about a student years ago whose parents pushed for testing for gifted in first grade and scored 117, tested 2 years later and scored 118 (because she said IQ won't change by more than a point or so), was tested again in middle school and came out the same again and just cruised through school with high grades in AP classes and parents kept pushing to have him identified all the way through, but his IQ just wasn't high enough.. Turns out after high school, he went to a big college and started partying and doing "fun" things that she said the parents wouldn't let him do in high school because they were pushing him so hard academically, so he dropped out of college. That was to encourage us to stop pushing the issue, I think.. But I retorted that that was exactly what I was afraid of - cruising through not having to learn how to work and then when actually having to do work, DS won't know how and will just drop out.

Anyway, after that rant, my question is what would you do from here? Push for the achievement testing over the summer? Just let things go and see how second grade start and hope it's better? He might be seeing a neurologist (not a neuropsych) over the summer for some persistent tic issues he's been having, if that's at all relevant.

Thanks again for your thoughts and wisdom!

It sounds like the results from testing have left you with more questions than answers. Personally, I would retest with a tester with gifted background so you can get some more data that you feel confident in. Those who specialize in working with the gifted population are much better at seeing things like the perfectionism you mentioned and getting the best result from the kids.

Me? I'd begin looking for another school. They've told you loud and clear they don't do anything for gifted kids. Allowing him to stay at this school and simply coast along is doing him a big disservice, IMO.

I agree with epoh -- it doesn't sound like you're going to get anything out of this school that's worthwhile. Having recently looked at PA state statutes regarding gifted education for another poster, I know that your state has perfectly clear guidelines for gifted accommodations, and they are obviously not following any of them.

Which indicates much greater systemic troubles than parent advocacy is likely to impact much on a time-scale that makes sense in terms of being a parent-advocate and trying to help YOUR child.

Sure, you could fight the good fight, lead that horse to water, shove the firehose, grab your wrench, replace the firehose, pick up the wrench, look for duct tape to affix the firehose...


well, you get the picture. It's likely to be a very long, slow, painful kind of process, and they aren't likely to thank you for showing them the light. That only happens in movies, I've discovered.

I'm not even sure why they bother testing kids to be identified if they aren't going to do anything for them? Are there other school options near you?

I'm not sure where you are in PA, but it sounds similar to our district (except they wouldn't consider using GAI). Check to see if they even consider outside testing, as our district will not - they insist upon administering the test and choosing the test (WISC, SB, etc.). I understand that PA standards require that other things besides IQ should be considered, but since that is the only hard number that is mentioned in the statues, that is the one they go on (and many other districts near us do the same).

I think the reason this happens is because of a class like that of my DD17. It was her class that prompted some changes to the admissions to gifted. Almost 25% of her class was identified as gifted, and quite a few were admitted in ways other than FSIQ. I'm not saying that those kids should not have been in the gifted program - the vast majority should be there - but it is just too large a number for a gifted program.

Also, like your district, there really isn't much to the gifted program. We had our kids identified in middle school so they would get automatic admission to a special course in HS, but there are other ways into that course. The math acceleration is based solely on testing (ERB & Iowa), and that doesn't start until middle school.

All of that being said, I don't know of many folks who moved their kids out of the school because they were not in the gifted program. These are bright/gifted kids who would be bored in any elementary program, even the really good private schools in the area. Most just waited it out and supplemented with afterschooling, summer programs, etc. Some kids, such as the PG ones, probably were never challenged, even in HS. Some did an extra acceleration in math (i.e. Algebra I in 6th grade instead of 7th), but other than that, they were just very involved in a bunch of activities and hung out with other bright/gifted kids.

I don't know if just being involved in a lot of stuff & hanging out with bright kids works for your child. I would take a look at the high school profile (the info they send to colleges). See where the kids went to college, how many went to "elite" schools, average SAT scores, etc. If the SAT scores are high and a lot of kids went to "good" colleges, your kid will be around a lot of other bright kids (which should help him cope with the boring schoolwork).