Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy subject acceleration approved, no AG pull-out

My DD7 attends a magnet school that focuses on AG kids. She is in second grade this year, with "Single" Subject acceleration in math as well as language. She was evaluated in Kindergarten, and not deemed a good candidate for whole grade acceleration (mostly based on her math achievement at the time and her being the youngest/ smallest child in her class). She takes an after-school math class with a private tutor who works her at 5th grade level.

We transferred to this school hoping for better AG support. Recently I was told that we can have the acceleration in 2 subjects but DD will not receive any pull-out AG services.

Other AG children who do not have acceleration receive 2 pull-outs in math and 2 pull-outs in language every week. I wonder how beneficial this acceleration will be if the class she goes into is missing the AG children half of the time. She will only get instruction with the slower learners. AG Basics classes don't start until 4th grade.

We have a meeting later this week to discuss this issue, and to discuss a potential double-skip in math (since she already takes 5th grade classes after school it would not be a stretch to attend 4th grade math at school).

What do you think the impact is of attending a higher level class, that is void (half the time) of same-level learners?

Has anybody had child in 3 different grades? She might end up with a second grade "home" classroom, 3rd grade language and 4th grade math class. She has good social skills and gets along very well with children in different grades, so I don't foresee problems with that.

I look forward to hearing any advice you may have for us and for our meeting.

First, if gifted classes start as late as 4th grade, in no way I would consider this school to be focused on gifted kids. For example, our district does not focus on anything, but gifted program starts in 1st grade, and is self-contained.

Do you know how long are these pull-outs? Are they done during regular math and LA times, or in addition to them?

Ok, your DD takes 4th grade math in 2nd grade, and 5th grade math in 3rd grade. What happens next? Does your school bus her to middle school, or they can teach middle school math?

You indicated that your DD failed the grade skip evaluation in K mostly due to her math achievement. Since she has now been tutored in math and you are also in a different school, it may make sense to request a grade skip again so you can keep the AG pull-outs. While much depends on your specific programs, I would generally take the AG pull-outs over the subject acceleration into classes missing AG students. In my experience, the AG kids will go deeper, which in my mind is higher level than simply moving up a grade level.

Your school is accomodating you, which is always a good sign.

I think you should look at the long term plan as in what would she be doing when she gets to 4th and 5th grades (when she subject accelerates). May be think about whole grade acceleration again since the last time they evalaued her was in kinder.

My DD was in pullout classes. She skipped kinder and started 1st grade at 5. They were supposed to be learning 6th and 7th grade level Math in 5th grade TAG class and who knows what they learn in language arts (it's hard to define grade level in LA). It was tempting to bus the kid to middle school for 8th grade level due to logistic problem and wasting time. But middle school and HS are different matter. A student can select any class that suits her/him. She is doing Algebra I as 6th grader. She will still need to commute to HS when she gets to 8th grade.

She still learns at faster pace but now, she has other interests (fencing, archery, coding) to pursue and I think it will work out for her in the long run.

I am sure you will soon find the best path for your DD.

Might it be a reasonable option to consider having her pulled out with the AG children whose class she is accelerated into? This type of creative placement option, unique to the needs of a particular learner, would seem characteristic of a magnet school that focuses on AG kids?

The school meeting was very different from what I expected: they offered us whole grade acceleration on a silver platter! Due to logistical problems with the acceleration in math and ELA she would spend less than 1 hour a day in her home class room. We have 2 choices: 1. take the grade skip, or 2. stay in current grade and have SSA in math but give up the acceleration in ELA (but receive AG support and differentiation in ELA within the classroom). We are not sure what will be best and have only 3 days to decide...

This sounds like a well-thought-out set of offerings. Some may say you cannot go wrong with either option. A few random thoughts...
1) Has your daughter weighed in on this? What are her thoughts and feelings in reflecting on these options?
2) Has the school utilized the Iowa Acceleration Scale (IAS)?
3) Given the school's apparent willingness to accelerate, do they have other accelerated children (who may form a natural peer group for your child)?
4) Nothing is cast in stone, families may reconsider options in the future to reflect current developmental needs.

thanks indigo.
We had a meeting at school this morning and my daughter is still in school. We will talk to her over the weekend.
We used the Iowa scale when she was originally tested for whole grade acceleration 2 years ago (and decided not to accelerate at that time - based on achievement scores for math at the 2 year above-grade test). She scored 59 points of the 80, making her a good candidate for acceleration. In the meantime she has worked with a math tutor outside of school (because she was begging for more math work and loves to solve math problems instead of getting sleep) - she has completed 4th grade math this summer and is starting Pre-Algebra next week.
We are at a new school for her, so new friendships have only been established for 1 week, making this an ideal time to change classrooms if needed.
The school is not willing to give information on how many other kids have been accelerated a whole grade but I know they have a number of them. Also they have 7-8 children per grade level (3-4 classrooms per grade level) with SSA. They also accomodate children with 2 year grade skips in math if indicated (6th grade math is provided by a teacher since enough children qualify for this service. 7th grade math will be online for now but may become teacher-led too).
My daughter makes friends easily and fits in well with both 2nd and 3rd graders. She is very short for her age and acts very playful (more so than the majority of third graders :)).