Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Curious Acceleration question

I am curious about something and wonder if you folks might offer some perspective. When considering acceleration, one of the things I've seen online and in some of the area school district documentation is demonstration of being "two years ahead" of peers. Why is it two years?

If child is in 1st grade, and showing strong 3rd grade achievement, then wouldn't you need to accelerate two grades, into 4th? Seems odd that you'd then do one year acceleration. Wouldn't one year solidly ahead be sufficient to consider promotion? Shouldn't the evaluation be for how quickly they learn? Is that just too difficult to assess properly?

It's fairly easy to show that the child is reading & comprehending 2-3 years ahead of grade, but isn't it possible that math, where the rules and methods might not have been exposed/taught yet, might trip up a child doing an above-grade-level assessment?

I guess it confuses me that innate ability and a need for a faster pace doesn't seem to be the primary indicator of acceleration, so it seems to require pre-teaching a high ability learner, which isn't the point, and then they're bored with redundancy yet again.

But maybe when you use the IAS the above is moot, as the scale weighs more factors than just that. I just don't get the reason for the apparent prerequisite.

That is a great question, and one I have also wondered about, even after being told that the reason is to ensure placement near the top of the class into which the child is being accelerated.

This is one of many ways in which homeschooling (and/or afterschooling) may better meet a child's needs for appropriately challenging and supportive curriculum placement and pacing.

Interesting -- so they want to ensure that a 99% scoring child stays that high? Is that for confidence levels or so they can have good grades, high GPA for accolades, etc? I think my mind is stuck at the crossroad between school = learning to understanding/master and school = achieving as high as you can, being the "best." The school district switching to 'standards based grading' (albeit in a matrix that still allows for grade competition) seems to conflict with that.

Tough call- we chose not to accelerate so I don't have personal experience in that regard.
First, second, and maybe third grade (as a long-time, in-class volunteer) seemed pretty easy. The "executive function" demands were minimal.
For fourth grade, it really ramps up, at least here. It's not enough to be smart; you have to fill out the worksheets on time, correctly, turn them in by the deadline, etc. Actually, I think those are important skills.
I would worry that if you skip someone from first to fourth grade:
1) They really might feel odd since physically, and emotionally, a first grader is very different from a fourth grader.
2) They might really struggle with the executive function issues.
Just my two cents.

Oh, please don't get me wrong, I don't think it'd be easy or wise for most kids to accelerate from 1st to 4th (maybe I'm saying it wrong -- I meant completing grade 1, rising into grade 3 in fall as accelerating one year, rising into 4th would be skipping 2), it just doesn't make sense that you need to demonstrate 2 years above level instead of one just to skip one grade. It seems like a high hurdle meant to discourage rather than meet the needs of a child.

I think the big thing is, I know my DD7 (1st grade) has intuitive math skills and has been insanely bored with repetition and the math part of school all year, but she also doesn't wish to "after school" (and I don't push it; she loves to play and is very imaginative and creative -- she'd rather 'play school' with what she knows). So she needs exposure to 3rd grade math, but I read the detailed core standards and feel she knows the 2nd grade math already, and some of 3rd.

That does seem strange to me. Is it in your school district's policy? DS is in a private school and was accelerated after scoring >80% on year end tests (i.e., they gave him the third grade test while he was in second grade, he got something like 85% on it; then they gave him the fourth grade test and he scored about 50%, so they put him in fourth grade for that subject).

Have you considered a single-subject acceleration (SSA)?

I think you (or we?) need more detail re what "two years ahead" means in your school district. It sounds like you're interpreting it to mean being able to pass an end-of-year assessment two grade levels out, but that might not be what is meant at all. I can imagine several different interpretations of "two years ahead". For example, if the documentation is referring specifically to achievement testing, then it might be referencing "grade level equivalent" scores, which isn't the same thing at all as passing an end-of-year upper grade level assessment.

polarbear

I'm meeting with the teacher this week, to evaluate the enrichment that she started offering the past month or so, and to discuss SSA (with grade acceleration in the back of my mind). The school acceleration process is 'in review' due to the implementation of 'more rigorous' common core curriculum (as in, it's a case-by-case basis with no easy-to-find procedure that I can see). Our very experienced K-2 teacher says she's never been asked about acceleration.

We currently do not do year-end tests, with the first normed achievement test offered in 3rd grade. Math placement tests come in 4th grade. I can't see her enduring 2+ more years at this pace. I believe the enrichment is 2nd grade level thinking oriented stuff, outside the curriculum -- neat stuff she loves, but doesn't make up for the in-class math frustration.

ConnectingDots: That's awesome. It has been suggested to me to have her tested with the third graders in second grade, but they don't do the assessment testing until January, results in late March, so I still need a plan for the next year.

That makes sense. I think what I'm finding is it's not easy to find such information and like pulling teeth to figure out who knows it, and I hate being pushy. Procedural info is not online (I was referencing a few nearby districts to get an idea of area policies). The GT teacher doesn't make the decisions, the teacher has never been asked, and all the reading I do here and elsewhere says to go into a meeting with a principal loaded with documentation and supporting data, but I can't even figure out what they will accept as documentation (ie. if they'll wave off outside IQ & achievement testing) without meeting with someone (not sure who!) first. I just wish it were easier. :-) (Don't we all.)

I think that the intent here is to ensure a kid's continued success and to keep them near the top of the class on the next grade up too. A lot of talent searches use grade and not age so a kid can miss out on some opportunities if they are not able to perform in the nineties at the given grade.

Have you actually had your child evaluated? You are going to need hard empirical data to support your case for any accelerated program in all likelihood.

We skipped our DD one grade and sometimes I wonder if it was enough but I do not really want to skip her again unless forced to. A skip is no silver bullet - in our case it has been the least worst realistically achievable option. The rate of learning is the key differentiator for some of our kids and our DD is already after schooled too - this sucks but a kid needs to stay learning. Our DD is closest to me in personality and I had and to some extent still have EF skills deficits, procrastination and perfectionistic tendencies that I attribute to spending years staring off into space in the classroom from being chronically under challenged. I will obviously do everything that I can to avoid me daughter from following in those particular footsteps.

We are meeting with her future middle school principal later today to see if she can finally throw off the shackles of NJ Common Core next year and just do her AoPS work during Maths time. Not sure how far we will get - she is also signed up for a DYS Composition class next academic year which we hope will allow her to flex her verbal/written expression skills.

The way I understand it is that classroom teachers expect to be teaching a range of students and are trained to do so. So a 5th grade teacher can expect to be teaching students from 4th grade level to a 6th grade level. So if your 5th grader is at a 6th grade level, the teacher should be able to handle that with possible gifted pull our and/or differenciation. YMMV I am sure, but that is supposed to be the standard.

If your child is two years or more ahead of his or her age peers in all areas, then whole grade acceleration is something to explore. If it is just in one subject area, look into subject acceleration.

Pace of teaching is going to be an issue still with acceleration, but also a younger child might be expected not to have as developed executive functions, so it may come out in the wash in that case.

Good luck! Getting a ton of information is going to help with your decisions.

Acceleration is such an individual thing. DD's school does not have a set standard (two years etc). School is as much about learning to get along with different types of people as it is learning. Honestly, if you are accelerated more than two years I imagine the social stuff will be really hard. DD is in 2nd grade and has a 6 year old in her class. She does fine academically but socially the other girls forget that she is there. I wonder if it would not be better for her self-esteem to be the best student in first grade?? If she decides to play sports she will have a difficult time being competitive (only because she is a year or two younger than the other kids). Watching this little girl has honestly changed my mind about acceleration for DD (who scores at the 99.9th percentile across the board) because school life is about so much more than academics. We do lots of after schooling though;).

Asking for information on policy doesn't have to be pushy. It may feel like being pushy from your perspective (it does from mine lol!), but if you are direct and ask politely it's absolutely a-ok to ask. Is there a central administrative office in your school district that you can ask?


So go into a meeting with the documentation you have and ask the starting questions. Tell them you suspect your dd has a need for higher level challenge in subject x and across the board. You're curious if grade acceleration is an option. Ask what is required to request it, what is the process.


They most likely won't accelerate a student without *someone* doing IQ and achievement testing - outside or within the school district. You can try requesting it through the school district, but they might not do it. You might also not be happy with how it's administered or which tests they administer - but that's all getting a bit ahead of where you are now. First ask if you can request the required testing through the school.

FWIW, as difficult as this all may seem at the moment, you're actually ahead of where most parents of gifted students are in early elementary - you mentioned in a previous post that your dd is in a pull-out group for math enrichment, and you have an older ds who is id'd as gifted and is receiving subject acceleration (my apologies if I have misinterpreted your previous post). This indicates that at the very least you have a school district where intellectual gifts are recognized, which means that with a bit of advocacy you should be able to work out some type of solution which will at least help even if it's not the absolute "best" solution.

Best wishes,

polarbear

We disregarded the notion of being two years ahead to do a one-year acceleration, on the basis that she'd still be bored, so what have you accomplished? Also, the reason that she's ahead is because she learns so quickly and completely, which will still be manifest with a one-year skip.

That last part turned out to be fully verified, as DD went on to earn the top grades in her class after the skip.

Wonderful insight, everyone. Thank you. It does make sense that demonstrating two years advancement would allow for one-year acceleration to keep a child at the top. I can see asynchrony being an obstacle to them supporting a one-year skip, in that case. I understand from here that a one-year skip might at least provide challenge for a while, where status quo might not, even where there's 2+ year difference.

Polarbear: Informal support is better than none, that is for sure! Having a good friend who pulled her GT kid (from a different district) to homeschool in grade 5 after continued resistance from their school, and with all I've learned, I wish we'd advocated sooner for DS, and I don't want to waste time with DD.

I am in the midst of processing a ton of information after an informal meeting and, while not as frustrated as before, as my understanding has been confirmed. It's apparent that grade acceleration will meet strong resistance and is out of the norm. There is no established procedure and central admin would need to be consulted for such a path. They would be open to evaluative data we provide and consider the IAS (in a "cross that bridge when we come to it" way), but it is highly unusual for our district to grade skip, and even less likely in lower grades. Grade acceleration, even SSA, was essentially discouraged by the principal, who'd prefer to find a way to meet needs in the classroom. Apparently, the question gets asked by parents at times, but it just doesn't happen. Her teacher is encouraging me to continue to seek the right answer (she's amazing, really, and was candid with me privately) and is willing to try whatever we come up with (we might try Dreambox). She is concerned that SSA (going to a grade 3 classroom for math in the fall) wouldn't be an ideal solution, because DD would still be working with kids not at her ability level, just simply a year ahead, and she believes group work in math has value, so independent study would miss some things. "Show your work" resistance is an issue (for a highly VS learner, no surprise, I've read here). Also, teacher is not sure a full grade-skip is warranted, but she says I know my kids better than she ever will, and I'm the one who needs to advocate.

The district appears firmly in the camp of K-3 being foundational and proven, with existing differentiation being sufficient. True acceleration only begins with 6th grade. They approach our concerns about pacing by staying within the spiraling core curriculum and offering modest enrichment/depth (informal pull-out). Testing independently appears to be our best tool to evaluate where to go from here and how hard to push, whether the system can meet our needs. (No sense putting the cart before the horse.)

So -- outside testing it is! And pulling together various research from the board and a Nation Deceived, etc. ;-)

[Does anyone else ever get a little concerned about posting to a public forum that could be viewed by someone from their own school? I feel hesitant revealing even these things.]

I have learned SO MUCH already, and, man, there is so much to learn and do.

I did go and remove a very unflattering description of DD's 2nd grade teacher after DH pointed out that she might read this board. I think someone had already quoted it, though, so it didn't really do much good to remove it from my post.

Really???? I'm really curious (seriously!) what her reasoning is on that point I't definitely something I think you could argue


This is basically what happened with us - and it wasn't great but it also wasn't horrible. The plus side was that the enrichment was actually well-done, in pull-out groups, and ds enjoyed both the projects and being with higher-ability peers than his everyday classroom. The downside (and it was huge, but we didn't really realize how huge until ds was ready to implode at the end of elementary) was that for all those years in a classroom with mixed-ability kids, ds was becoming very frustrated with the pace and depth of the class discussions. It didn't matter quite so much to him that he wasn't getting higher level work, but the class discussions where kids weren't "getting" things as quickly as he did was what frustrated him the most. Since he's a quiet kid who doesn't act out, just internalizes everything, his teachers never saw it.

[polarbear]Does anyone else ever get a little concerned about posting to a public forum that could be viewed by someone from their own school? I feel hesitant revealing even these things.[/quote]

I assume that there are folks reading here that are from my area, and I think that's a good assumption for any of us to make. On the forums I've been involved in over the years, there are often a much larger # of people who read than people who actually post, so I don't ever post something I wouldn't feel comfortable having someone I know read. OTOH, I also try very hard to not reveal too much so that if someone I know is reading, they won't know it's me I do share more info via PM with people I feel I can trust here when there's a need to ask a specific question, and I also put more out there in public than I'd be normally inclined to when I feel that the info I have might be helpful to someone else. In the grand scheme of things, I think most of the parents or teachers I know are too busy to bother with things like reading forums or figuring out who's posting, and most of us who are here landed here because our kids were struggling in some way... which automatically cuts out most of the people I know in real life lol.

Best wishes,

polarbear

This is why the IAS is so important - schools are understandably worried about an avalanche of 'me too' requests from affluent and pushy parents - the IAS sets a pretty high bar which reassures the school they have an objective measure to use that is fair to all but will also filter the amount of actual skips that they will need to consider.

Our district also required at least 2 years above level to accelerate one year, at least during elementary school. The testing wasn't a problem for DS who accelerated in 2nd (to GT 3rd which was 4th) and then again in 4th (to Pre-Algebra) even though he was not after-schooled in another curriculum. The school/district were fine with his ignorance of certain standard terminology and his idiosyncratic way of solving new problems. In a way, that helped convinced them because it was obvious that he hadn't spent a ton of time going through curriculum and prepping for the tests.

As others have already pointed out, I would not ignore the impact of writing and executive function demands. There also are usually a few students who are obviously ahead in a given grade, so testing 2+ years will ensure that your child will be in the range of the top ability students. The elementary curriculum spirals and is artificially divided into 6 years (K to 5th) so two years ahead is not actually that much. In our district, I believe that the two years rule is also not applicable once kids hit the Pre-Algebra level.

So just agreeing with what others said about why, even though it seemed sort of stupid to me as well. Dd skipped 6th and is still at the top (class rank now 13th out of 700) and academically I think would have been ok with another skip. But she has great teachers and is challenged so we didn't pursue it. The initial skip was the best decision though and we are very glad to have done it.