Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy K12 and Acceleration...help!

Oh my goodness...

Okay DS7 is a new 2nd grader who has been in public school for K and 1st. He is gifted-identified here in FL, and has a Gifted Education Plan (basically a gifted IEP). He has had essentially *no* accommodations thus far, aside from a 30-min/day pull-out enrichment program. At the start of the year, I requested a GEP update meeting, and requested subject accelerations in reading and math (supported by test scores). My requests were denied based on a subjective argument of "maturity," coupled with a firm "we just don't do that here." I pulled him out and placed him in K12 via our county's virtual instruction program. I chose it because of the ability for each student to work at his own pace.

DS has been working in K12 for 7 days (doing math online), and received the additional "boxed" materials 2 days ago. He has been doing *everything else* (history, science, language arts, PE) for 2 days.

In 7 days, he has done about 2 months worth of math. We have been skipping the activities, and just jumping forward to the checkpoints, which he consistently aces (he completed EPGY 2nd grade math over the summer...in 15 days...and is now at grade level 3.5 in their program). I had spoken with the guidance counselor on the phone last week, and she had said to go ahead and let him work through 2nd grade math, and then he'd start 3rd when he was done with it. (I think?? Isn't that what she said? Questioning myself now...)

We are waiting on his GEP update meeting this Tuesday to reflect changes due to now being in the virtual environment. I am hoping for interventions that include *at least* a subject acceleration in math, and the ability to work ahead in other subjects.

That's all background...and here's today's kicker:

I received a call from his teacher (this is the first time I've spoken with her) and she spent essentially the entire conversation saying "wait...what?!" about my vision for how this is going to go. Her experience says "kids can't work at their own pace" and "if he finishes math in December (for example) he'll get a zero in math in January and every month through the end of the year" and "kids can finish *a couple weeks* early, but not more than that" and "no, they won't send new material if he finishes what he has - that would cost money and he's only allotted a certain amount for the year." Also "don't get me wrong, I *really want* him to work at his level...I'm just telling you what my experience has been in the past."

Me: "Wow! Thanks so much for calling...I am *so glad* I heard all this before going into the meeting Tuesday. I'll call you when it's over and let you know what they say."

So...um...what do I do with that? I feel like now I need to be *so much more* prepared to fight. I thought this was a no-brainer. I thought this was K12's *thing* - to allow children to advance when ready...that's what the mommy forums say...that's what their "Advanced and Enrichable Learners" page says... Dude! What is going on here??

So, any advice? And BTDT? Especially in Florida??

Thanks a million...
Liz

No experience with K12.

I do have experience with FLVS/Connections, though.

Here's Connections' policy:

students MUST finish 80% of the year's curriculum in order to be promoted at the end of the school year, and

elementary students may work ahead and as long as they finish (and generally this is case-by-case and relies upon REALLY stellar marks along the way, which you have) before the curriculum drop-shipment deadline (in March sometime), corporate will ship out the next year's materials to the student.

Math is somewhat decoupled from the rest of the curriculum.

Gifted enrichment in Language Arts is taught via a synchronous instructional elective based on the Junior Great Books program, so that one CANNOT be accelerated. (But the rest certainly can.)



The short answer is hell yes, they will allow it. I also have a family member with a HG+ child who was with K12. They found it a royal pain in the neck sometimes from an administrative standpoint and eventually went with pure homeschooling, but I know for a fact that her DD (my... grand-neice?? Cousin once removed, I guess) moved through four grades in three years with them.

:snort: I'd like to see them figure out a way to STOP this, in point of fact.

Sounds like you have a teacher that hasn't ever seen/done this before now. Realize that truly HG+ kids are somewhat rare, but honestly, your DS' performance should say whatever needs covering on that score. Talk to the counselor, and talk to the principal/asst. principal. Find out where the decision-making is happening about this kind of placement change-- is it local control (my guess is yes, as this is how Connections does things, with LEA's contracting with the national coroporation for services, at least on paper, so the local school HAS to retain certain controls or it doesn't qualify as a state-run charter), or is it corporate? Or some combination? (In practical terms, this is often the case since PG kids' needs tend to raise red flags because of age/grade placement and rate disparities.)

If they give you TOO much pushback, you might want to give Connections a call (which is also an option for you in FL) and find out what THEY will do...

I'd use that as leverage with K12. Tell them that if they won't educate your child at his readiness level, then someone else WILL.

I'll bet they change their tune in a hurry.

One more tip-- ask to see policies in writing.

"Where does the school handbook address that? I must have missed that part."

You may also find it helpful to review the technique of the Letter of Understanding, as explained by Wrightslaw .

You're in luck. FL legislature just passed this bill at the end of July. http://info.fldoe.org/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-6465/dps-2012-111.pdf Your son's school district is REQUIRED to offer both grade skip and subject acceleration options to qualified students. Each school district sets their own criteria as to what makes a student qualified. Bottom line is his teacher is very very wrong. Contact the school district directly and inquire about the qualification criteria for ACCEL options. If they don't know what you're talking about (my daughter's school had never heard of it) send them the link I posted. Best of luck!

This excerpt is taken directly from the FL DOE document:

"Each school must offer as ACCEL options: whole-grade and midyear promotion; subject-matter acceleration; virtual instruction in higher grade-level subjects; and the Credit Acceleration Program under s. 1003.4295, F.S. Schools may also offer options that include, but are not limited to, enriched science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) coursework; enrichment programs; flexible grouping; advanced academic courses; combined classes; self-paced instruction; curriculum compacting; advanced-content instruction; and telescoping curriculum."

Thank you so much for your responses!

I am glad to say that the meeting went much differently than I had expected, and I am satisfied with the outcome.

Part of the situation is that we are dealing with the county�s virtual education program. It�s not like other states where the program is statewide - in Florida, each county has its own �virtual school� through K12, and so there appear to be 37 sets of rules and 37 interpretations of policies throughout the state. My particular county, while I love it dearly, has a reputation for being redneck-y and uneducated (although we are within a mile of three other counties, including one with a stellar university), and the virtual program had never encountered a case like my son before. They have never had an acceleration before�ever�so they are forming a committee to study the legislation and figure out both what they have to do, and also what they can accomplish within the legal framework. My son is their guinea pig

In the meantime, I have been informed that he can do all of the second grade work in the fall semester, and proceed to third grade in the spring. While this is not my ideal outcome, it�s darn close, and I�ll take it.


This was exactly my thought. When I spoke with the teacher on the phone, I asked �What would you do if he were to complete all the math curriculum in December?� Teacher�s response �Well, he can�t do that.� And my response: �I need to know what you mean by �can�t� -- he�s already finished two months� worth of work in a week.�


Yeah�apparently there aren�t any yet


Curses! I wish I had seen this one before the meeting. I have been told time and time again that the district does not allow mid-year acceleration, including at the most recent meeting. I will email this to the guidance counselor. The only remaining question seems to be how they will handle the end-of-year high-stakes testing, because in our area the second graders take SAT 10, and the third graders take FCAT. The guidance counselor believes that DS will still be listed as a second grader through the end of the year (even though he�ll be well into third), because their computer system will not allow them to change his grade level until the end of the year.

I, for one, truly don�t care which test he takes, as long as he can be promoted to fourth the following year. This is the guidance counselor�s concern - that when they try to place him in fourth the response will come down that he �can�t� because he hasn�t passed the third grade FCAT, but by the same token won�t allow him to take the FCAT, because the system will say �he�s just a second grader.�

Thank you so much for your input. I hope we can come to a reasonable plan for my DS, particularly with this new knowledge about midyear promotion.

I appreciate you guys.

Liz

Their "system" is a computer system, right? Even if the teachers don't think they can change something mid-year, I would bet that there is an IT administrator that can do whatever they would like. They just haven't had to do it before.

FWIW in 3rd grade my DD11 took 4th grade math and they had her take the 3rd grade math testing. Same in 4th when she took the 5th grade math. This was a major pain because they felt the need to pull her from her actual class to "review" the lower material. Finally in 5th grade, the district just gave her the 6th grade test. I know it's not exactly the same but give it some thought as to what you think would be ideal wrt the testing.

Also the district did finally figure out how to list the correct math teacher in the computer system vs the lower level math teacher having to enter the grades.

Good Luck

Hi MamaLiz,

I live in Orange County Florida and my DS has done Internet Schooling from the beginning through K12.com and then through FLVS.net and I feel he was probably one of the first students in the country to be entirely educated through the Internet. We did everything as a home school student so that we didn't have to answer to the local school system or ask permission on any part of his education. Florida makes it very easy for home schooling and picks up the cost if you are using FLVS. I made another post concerning radical acceleration at: http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....one_do_a_3_5_year_grade_.html#Post119039

But the part of the topic that is relevant for you is the following:
..., we concentrated on provide him with a program where he could progress at his own rate not mine. We did home school (reading, writing, and arithmetic) till he was 7 and then started him in the 3rd grade with k12.com for a structured curriculum. He progressed through 6 years of k12.com in 4 years, taking all curriculum classes and supplementing with courses from EPGY and CTY. He started high school at Florida Virtual School (flvs.net) at age 11 as a home schooler and completed all courses required for college in 2 years (all honors and AP, except 2 years of Chinese language, with an A in every class). This was allowed because he was home schooled and not enrolled through the local school system. He began college at 13 (almost 14) this last August 2011 as an early enrollment student and this is where his social, academic, and martial arts life seem to merge.

As of August 2012, he had completed his first year of college with 47 hours credit (all paid for by the state through AP and Early Admissions), terminated home schooling as of Aug 2012, changed his status at the University to FTIC so that he could obtain financial aid through them plus obtained his Bright Futures Scholarship(so that the state can continue paying). At age 14 he is now a regular sophomore student at the local state university and will be a Junior at the end of this semester.

This would not have been possible if I had worked with the local school system. If he was in the Orange County School system, he would have just started the ninth grade! Even when getting enrolled at the university, I was told no one that young was allowed (there was a lawsuit going on last year in Florida about limiting dual enrollment students to minimum age 15 or 16), so we simply had the FLVS counselor submit a letter of recommendation along with all other required forms and it went through the bureaucracy no questions asked.

If you are able to have someone at home to support your DS (for support and ensuring he's actually doing the assignments) then I would highly recommend switching to home school status and ending your frustrations, IMHO.

Are you in a NEFEC county? their virtual school options are linked with FLVS.
My DD9 is currently in 7th grade, however is taking algebra 1 and 8th grade science with "my district" (aka FLVS). 2 years ago she was in 3rd grade and took that FCAT, last year she was partially homeschooled and partially schooled as a 6th grader. The end of the year she took the 6th grade FCAT. The system doesn't care that she doesn't have 4th or 5th grade score, it is not that smart. Seriously, that would require that when she sat down to take the test her name (which is not so unique that there wouldn't be another one in the state) would have to have been linked to her record and shown a discrepancy, and it is not that sophisticated, especially since elementary tests aren't on the computer.
This year, she will take the 7th grade reading FCAT, the 8th grade science FCAT and the algebra 1 EOC.
Yes, it took a lot to get this sorted out, but when it comes right down to it, there are laws that say acceleration is legal and that appropriate education is also required. As far as the FCAT scores not being on a child's record later, the system will not question it. The person DH talked to at the DOE said that it won't be until all of the middle school curriculum gets converted to the common core standards that there will even be an actual "course requirement" for middle schools, elementary will not have that level of requirements.

Good luck.