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It does seem like you have a few good options and tacks to take. It's a long slog, and I hate it when they pit the parents against one-an-other, but this to is one of their tools and to be expected.

Remember Machivelli and ask for twice as much as you would settle for! I think the M has gotten a bad rap. He really was a bit of a champion of the common man, in a way. And I think that he was pretty amazing for his time to see that people's interests were wrapped up in their relation to the economic system.

Let us know how it goes!
Love and More Love (those are fighting words!)
Grinity

Do all states do this? Maybe this would be an option for us. I am another one who feels it is very similar to what we are dealing with. It is certainly stressful. It is sad b/c it seems like the schools are open to helping, but as time goes on it starts to slowly get less and less. Or they seem enthusiastic about something over the phone to have it squashed in the meetings. I never would have imagined getting a education that fits your childs needs could be so difficult, overwhelming and just plain depressing. I just want you to know I can relate.

Congrats on they DYS. I am sure that will be a big help.

Thanks again, Grinity. To battle! I will report back.

landofthelost, I am PMing you. The short answer is that I found the hardship procedure in the New Hampshire Department of Education regulations.

I would not let them deter you. Buy a copy (or two) of the Iowa Acceleration Scale and take it with you. You can fill it in ahead of time to be confident that your child would be eligible to skip. Then print off several copies of A Nation Deceived and provide them to the people in the meeting. At that point, you can confidently assert "I am certain you just were not aware of all of the research supporting acceleration...." It is hard for them to dispute all of the research.

However, I think it is important to be clear in your own mind what you want - full skip, subject acceleration, etc. I know that we want this to be a collaborative process but unfortunately in our experience it doesn't work that way. It usually ends up more like a negotiation, so ask for more than you want. The IAS helps with this.

"first grader who once had a zipper meltdown and acted like a T. Rex on occasion from going to second? "

I was just on a 3rd grade field trip today. At least one third of the boys were playing dinosaurs... In addition, two kids (one boy) cried over very trivial issues.

I don't know where they come up with the maturity stuff, but most of the time it is just a proxy for "I believe that acceleration in any form is bad." You have to battle it with research and then it can be helpful if you use the terms "a free and appropriate education" and also "evidence based practice."

Good luck, keep us posted. And great news on the DYS level scores. Help is always a nice thing.

Cat

Thanks a lot, Cat. I have just gotten the IAS (thanks again, you who shall not be named-- and no it's not Cthulhu) and will bring A Nation Deceived and whatever else I think will be helpful. I was hoping to bring out this stuff at the last meeting, except the DAS II results for DS were all over the map due to his failure to complete or even start whole sections.

I am still trying to decide what we want. I guess if I had my own wish, balancing his academic level with small size and young-for-grade age and handwriting ability, I'd want a skip to second with pull-outs for math, reading and science. That might sound kooky, as I guess not much would be left, but I'd be thrilled to settle for just a math pull-out to fourth with a skip to second.


I agree totally, and will do. Thanks again.

A Nation Deceived
�Acceleration is one of the most curious phenomena in the field of education. I can think of no other issue in which there is such a gulf between what research has revealed and what most practitioners believe.The research on acceleration is so uniformly positive, the benefits of appropriate acceleration so unequivocal, that it is difficult to see how an educator could oppose it.�
James H. Borland, Professor,Teachers College, Columbia University Planning and Implementing Programs for the Gifted

Hi-5 on the testing. Another one checked off your parenting-to-do list. Whoo-hoo! I read on here somewhere that someone mentioned once that a school could pay for a tutor as part of a hg+ IEP. I don't recall if that was fact or a great idea. Either way it's a great idea I would wish for your son. Thank you for the update.

Thanks peeps. herenow, that's one of the better quotes for sure. La Texican, that's a great idea that I will bring up, but I dunno if they'll go for it. NH funding is so scarce that in the larger town next to mine they began shutting down gifted programs last year, and let 53 teachers go. Our psychologist just told me by email that if we homeschool, at least the local school has to provide gym, art, music etc. if we want it, so that's something.

ETA: Thanks, Bostonian. I don't feel right bumping this thread yet again right now, but I tend to agree with you and will keep the language toned down so as not to offend.

Gosh, I'm hardly the person to be giving lessons on tact, but I think directly making the assertion above (even though it is true) is likely to harden the resistance of school personnel. Instead, cite research but don't explicitly tell teachers and principals they are ignorant of best practice for gifted children.

[scores omitted in case Shloim ever reads this]

So we shared the test results with the kindergarten teacher, with whom we're meeting tomorrow, because I didn't want to blind-side her. Within 90 minutes the school guidance counselor called and left us a message at the house (no one was home) and an email to the wife (who was teaching classes) asking if DS5 can take the MAP test in the next couple of days, so that we would "have more information" before the TAT team meeting on Friday. In our school first graders and above apparently take the MAP twice a year, at the beginning and end of each school year.

This sounds like a bald-faced attempt to negate his new scores and deny him needed acceleration. The whole testing was necessary because of the K teacher's statements that he was "right where he needed to be", and now this happens. I have drafted an email response to the guidance counselor, and am debating whether to send it or not:

Hi, Geronimo.

We are attaching the official results of Shloim's extensive IQ and achievement testing, using industry-standard tests, which arrived today in the mail. He is obviously not just gifted, but quite highly gifted.

We are startled by the suddenness of the request for MAP testing. Being highly gifted does not mean Shloim is more likely to do his best cold, with no warning, though he might still do better than most other children his age in a pinch; in fact, with his particular set of issues (extreme perfectionism etc.) he may fairly be thought of as quite fragile by comparison with normal kids.

Keeping that in mind, testing Shloim with no prior notice seems like stacking the deck against him. Do other children and their parents get more warning than 1-2 days that the MAP assessments will be done? Graduating first graders will apparently be taking the MAP for the second time; second-graders, for the fourth time; and third graders for the sixth time. If Shloim passes a certain grade level, will he be allowed to take the MAP again afterward to shoot for the next year, so he has had at least half the same chance and exposure to the test as everyone else? Will he be allowed to take it at the very least twice, with the second testing on a subsequent day, so on the second taking he is as familiar with the test itself, and as well-rested, as an ordinary first grader taking it at the end of the school year?

Also, how would the results of the MAP be used? If, for whatever reason, he scores at less than his actual capacity as shown on the recent tests, will the MAP results be used to oppose his recent test scores to deny him needed educational services? Just as importantly, if the MAP results are good, what will be the result? Can we get a promise that if Shloim passes the requirements for first grade, despite going in cold with his special set of challenges, he will be skipped to second next year?

Will one of us parents be allowed to be in the room for moral support if he takes the MAP? He is still detoxing from the very stressful weekend of testing he just went through (and we just got done promising him, "No more testing"). Does it have to be so sudden, this week, or can we have a little more time to get him psyched up? We are not making up the stress... he is highly, HIGHLY perfectionistic, and testing seems to be almost physically painful for him. Read the results from both the school psychologist and our tester for ample evidence on his stress level. Shloim has been performing fine on his third-grade-level enrichment activities this year, but it is another thing entirely to him to have his intelligence or ability put in question. We wish it were not so, but that's just the way he is at this point in time.

We will call you this morning to discuss our concerns and questions. Thanks for reading. Like you, we just want the best for Shloim, and don't want to put him in harm's way. We're worried that blind-siding him with sudden testing like this is more likely to do harm than good. That said, we're not strictly opposed either, as long as he is given a fair chance to do his best.

Theophilus

(Names were changed to protect the innocent.)