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    Joined: Apr 2017
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    I'm getting ready to request formal testing from the school for my daughter. It still makes me uncomfortable to write this, but I've always known that she's gifted and I never saw the need for testing until her frustration with school increased this year. When i began researching how to help her Ii realized my mistake.

    DD is enrolled in a charter school that considers "leveled" reading and math classes gifted accommodation. However, I just learned that the local school district has a gifted program for elementary and middle school and one of the participating schools is very near us. She only has one more year in elementary school and socially she is very connected to the school so I'm conflicted between changing schools or pursuing accommodation. What I would like to do is keep our options open since it's the end of the year. Ideally I would like to request the testing that the public school district uses for placement, provide the school with the state literature on accommodating gifted students, and see how much the school will work with us. I don't want to be confrontational by directing them to this information but I already asked about how they handle gifted testing and accommodation and the special ed director basically said they level classes and there has never been any need for anything else. I know from DD's disdain for the month spent reading "Sarah, Plain and Tall," this is not truly the case. IMHO, she should have been allowed to read the book at her own pace and when she finished it in one day been given a more challenging historical fiction book from the same time period, or at the very least assignments with more depth regarding the book.

    We don't have a lot of testing currently but the outdated L.A. testing I remember placed her in the first percentile in the state, and the grade levels were in the upper middle school range for reading and spelling. She testing several grades above in math back in 2nd grade so they skipped her to grade 4 math for 3rd grade, but then that year they changed the state standards so it was messy. She is at the end of 4th grade now.

    My goal is for her to be challenged in language arts, specifically reading material and depth of writing, and for her to work at an accelerated pace in math rather than skipping grade levels again. Last time she managed keep up but during the summer I found holes, and she masks these well enough that it's posed a problem.

    I'm also unsure about how to handle this because she also has ADHD so I think she's underestimated. I worry a little about being taken seriously, but I tend to be like that so it might just be me. That's not to say that her teachers don't suspect how bright she is - I mentioned in another post that her teacher really tries, but the school and teachers don't have any training on how to help her so they are trying to keep her busy, the goal isn't to keep her engaged in learning. I guess I feel pressure to prove that she is gifted before actually testing in order to justify my request of the school.

    I felt so much better about where to go next a couple of weeks ago! After approaching the school I'm just feeling insecure about whether my plan is the right approach. Advice here always seems to clarify everything for me, so thank you in advance!

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    Small nomenclature note: typically, if a student scores in the top 1% of the state, that is reported as the 99th %ile. The 1st %ile would be at the lowest extreme of performance.

    Depending on where you live, GT may be handled through special education, or separately (it sounds like its through special ed where you are). If through special ed, then you request evaluation from your school district of residence, which then provides the testing (unless they contract with your charter school, but even then, the charter school doesn't make the decisions about testing). Actually, even GT testing not through special ed is generally handled by your LEA (district of residence). So while it's a nice courtesy, and more likely to promote collaboration, to notify your charter's special ed director that you are pursuing evaluation, they probably won't have much to do with it, until after the fact.

    You also note that you have concerns about a possible qualifying disability, in which case you have two evaluation questions: GT and ADHD (which may affect acceleration options, as executive functions tend to accelerate right along with academic instructional level). These are both legitimate reasons for requesting an initial evaluation by your LEA, and speak to your due diligence in responsibly parenting her for areas in need both of extension and of support.

    Find out what her needs are first, and then go from there with the educational plan. One step at a time!


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    Thanks for pointing that out, I was thinking about those numbers backwards!

    DD has already been diagnosed with ADHD,I just don't know what impact that may have on testing. I would prefer the person administering the test to have experience in testing kids with learning disabilities since both her brother and I have ADHD and auditory processing. But, this isn't a deal breaker, just my hesitance to pay for private testing if the information gathered from it isn't accurate. I also believe the ADHD clouds how she is viewed academically, and why they focus more on keeping her busy instead of keeping her learning. She is constantly an early finisher but several times a quarter I have to go in with her before school to help her find all of the completed missing work in her desk - and her desk is a complete disaster, full of random notebooks with half finished stories, songs, art, ideas, and anything else she can think of. But, the work is always finished.

    I have never heard that I can directly request testing from the school district. Our charter schools function independently from the school district so we've never had access to any district resources. I'm going to call and find it this afternoon because that would make it all easier.

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    Originally Posted by E1izabethEva
    I have never heard that I can directly request testing from the school district... I'm going to call and find it this afternoon because that would make it all easier.
    Before you make that call, you may wish to first browse online for Child Find.
    - Here is one link, from Understood.org.
    - Here is a link, from wrightslaw.com.

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    Since I have ADHD I knew DD did, too, but I waited until I knew it was time to start working with a psychiatrist to test privately. This was when she started struggling with follow through at home but before she began having organizational problems at school, in 2nd grade. Although the disorganization has increased as the kids are expected to be more independent, I have never considered that she would ever qualify for an IEP, and assumed school testing was unnecessary. I did consider requesting a 504, but the only accommodations we've requested are permission to chew gum and implementation of a homework planner, and the last two years both teachers have been happy to make those accommodations without a 504. It never occurred to me that by requesting an evaluation on the grounds of ADHD we would be getting the formal academic testing as part of the process. I don't know what i was thinking! Well, actually I do-the ADHD seems like a smaller issue because I feel more confident in strategies to manage it. But I can see I've been trying to compartmentalize the issues even though they are probably connected. And making everything more complicated in the process. And it's probably a good idea to get everything documented in a 504 before she gets closer to middle school, too.

    Thank you for the redirection!

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    You might also want to take a look at this page on ADD/ADHD from the wrightslaw website.

    Two families with identical circumstances may each approach a school with different phraseology and achieve different results for their students. Parents must research and plan their approach.

    Here is a brief roundup on IEP/504.

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    I can share an anecdote to illustrate the impact ADHD can have on testing: My son's FSIQ before ADHD dx was 68th percentile, after ADHD treatment it was 98th percentile, and the GAI, an IQ calculation that doesn't rely so strong on the subtests impacted by ADHD symptoms was approximately 99.6th percentile. The evaluator said would have scored even higher except he was too slow, answering correctly outside of the scorable time limit.

    Before ADHD dx and treatment, the elementary school could not see the ADHD or the degree of acceleration needed. I was told he was "normal" and "typical".

    After ADHD treatment, he is radically accelerated, homeschooled, doing college prep. Had he stayed in elementary school he'd be in 4th grade.

    I would suggest pursuing private neuropsychology evaluation. That will give a much better idea of her aptitude and how much her ADHD is affecting her output.



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