Hi
Our district would never use grade-level assessments for acceleration. They always seemed annoyed at my ds12 for finishing so fast on the test. I think the teacher worries that he blew the test. They actually tested him in a separate room for a few years to avoid distracting classmates finishing so fast. They do use the testing for grade-level placement and our GT Language Arts program.
In our district, the parents are a lot of helicopters and tigers running loose. They bug the administration non-stop about giving better placements. They do have smart and hard working kids, but they don't necessarily need acceleration. Our district sees a lot of >95%tile grade-level test. What the test doesn't show is my DS needs about an hour a week to do homework, his age mates need at least an hour a day. The spread in ability in the top 5 to 10% can be really wide especially on grade level testing with low ceilings.
In our experience more was better in asking for acceleration. We have done Explore, Scat, ACT, SAT, and IQ in the last 2 years. Thankfully DS likes testing otherwise I probably wouldn't have this much of it. It has been this overwhelming amount of information that made the school finally make some more radical decisions for DS. We had so much information for them in addition to their grade-level testing. The question we asked was the school was "If he doesn't qualify for acceleration then who would?" That seem to do the trick. The last 2 years of subject accelerations have been really successful. They listen more to us as his parents with each success.
Do you know if they have ever done acceleration before? Some schools seem to have a written policy allowing it, but never ever actually do it. Other school seem more open to it. Our school isn't anti-acceleration but they try hard to keep it low profile and under the radar as much as possible. They asked us not to say a thing about ds12's placement for next year. He will be in academic classes at the HS and non-academics at the MS(DS doesn't want miss out on a few extracurriculars and trips next year in MS.) They know people will figure it in fall but are hoping not to have a line of Copters & Tigers at the door before the year is over. They know the other kids don't have my DS's IQ and Achievement levels but they still have to meet and explain that to the other parents without disclosing our DS's information. I don't blame them for avoiding all that fun;). I can't stand listening to these parents at school gatherings. They all think they have the best and brightest without any sense that other kids are doing just as good if not better. I never say a thing to these parents about DS12. The school trusts we will not say a thing and my DS knows saying anything to his friends could jeopardize future accelerations. It's taken a while to get DS what he needs and I don't think grade-level testing would have ever gotten us where we are now. I don't want to sound discouraging but realistic. It can be a part of the picture you show them but you probably need more than just that. It's usually a long process of advocating, outside above grade-level testing, cognitive testing, and endless patience.
I would consider getting a well known out of grade-level test and maybe cognitive testing if you haven't previously do so. I would have an idea of what type of acceleration you think would fit your DD. We always know exactly what DS needs for levels. We often ask the school where they would ideally place him but we already know what we are looking for from them. It's easier to make your point if your specific about the needs. Ambiguous request seem to lead to lots of "enrichment" activities of extra work sheets on grade level or another reading about animals in Africa, when you actually need a bump up in math or writing.
Good Luck
