I would say that his writing is at least on par with the higher students in his class when looking at the curriculum parameters but he is slower, messier, and only writes exactly what he is asked to.
Take this small piece of advice with a grain of salt, because it's coming from a parent of a 2e child who is dysgraphic - but fwiw, here goes!
It sounds like it's not the *content* of his written expression that is in question, but the quality of his handwriting. This is something you should be able to argue shouldn't hold him back from accessing appropriate intellectual curriculum for LA/Social Studies/Science/whatever. If his handwriting is slow, you can ask that he be allowed to scribe, or provide verbal responses. You could start having him learn to type at home and then *if* you hear this same argument next year or the year after, you can argue that he types faster than he can use handwriting and he should be allowed to type in the classroom.
You can also measure his handwriting speed at home: give him something straightforward to either copy or write from memory like the alphabet and time how long it takes him to write it, then divide to get the # of letters per minute. You can google "letters per minute + grade level" and get ballpark ideas for what is considered a typical range. If your ds is far behind the range that is typcial for his grade, suggest that he be allowed to scribe.
I would also watch for things that might indicate possible dysgraphia - although it's usually not recognized until 2nd grade *and* I really doubt that what you are seeing is more than typical development, there is a chance that the messiness and slow writing might be related to dysgraphia, particularly since it seems to be out-of-sync with his other academic development. Look for things like reversed letters, inconsistent spelling that varies even on the same page or in the same sentence. Is there inconsistent spacing between letters/words etc? Is he using capital letters and puncutuation appropriately (after he's been taught how to use them)?
polarbear
