Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Mysterious school problem

First off, I am appalled at my mistakes in my original post. That's what happens when I post hastily at night and don't proof-read. LOL

Thank you St. Margaret and Dbat for the responses. I think it could be a combination of several things, as you have suggested. It is frustrating b/c I think the kids (particularly the boys) who are bright, and who I assume are also in the process of applying for the GT program, are very 'showy' and outspoken about what they know. Dd is definitely not like that. I already knew she would fly under the radar, but I was very surprised to hear from the teacher how she has to reinforce certain math skills when it is often times something dd has already known for years. Or I have witnessed dd do at home without help. She literally spends less than 2 minutes on homework.

As I mentioned, the assistant grades the homework but I don't know if they actually enter grades in a grade book. If anything they may just check mark whether the homework was completed/turned in. The school doesn't give grades. They do give them a scale of mastery on their report cards but it is based on assessments.

I feel like the teacher understands what I'm saying, and is equally invested on getting to the bottom of whatever is going on. But part of me worries that her Teacher Rating Form she will turn in won't be the best review, and that that will affect dd's ability to get in the GT program. Does anybody know how much weight a teacher's opinion holds for a decision process like this? I know I have read somewhere about a study where teachers were asked to identify GT students and they were very unsuccessful from weeding between GT versus bright and achieving students.