Ok. Had the meeting.
They had calculated the GAI but since it was 129 and not the magic 130 they didn't see it as relevant or worth mentioning. Didn't seem to think a 49% difference between PRI and PSI was an issue either - the test publisher might suggest otherwise, but their district regulations are strict with the 130. Are not willing to do standardized achievement testing to help figure out true achievement level because he didn't get the 130 on the WISC. They said their achievement "testing" was looking at his work in the classroom and his DRA level which is calculated once per marking period. He's "not quite" a grade level above there - was measured at 20 at the end of 2nd marking period, so they don't think that's relevant either. Also the fact that his independent reading level for enjoyment is well past that wasn't relevant either.
The classroom teacher said she has no doubt the ability and knowledge is there, but his writing is not the best and he only gives minimal answers - exactly what is needed and nothing more. Principal said gifted children will be going above and beyond on the writing prompts and adding in lots of details and creativity, so he must not be gifted. ((boiling)) They did agree to go to the gifted teacher and try to find some enrichment activities that he can do in math once he's done with his work. For fun we introduced multiplication at the dinner table last night and he understands the concept and can multiply by 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10. So I know the ability is there, he's just not getting an opportunity to show it.
We are also doing a questionnaire (Connor?) to look for focus and attention issues. Teacher said he focuses and could sit and read all day long, but when asked to do writing tasks or something he doesn't want to do he needs constant refocusing before he finishes. Principal is eager to look at an attention problem, but when I asked if that could have contributed to lower scores on the WISC it was poo-pooed.
I found out the psychologist intern had done the testing, and the psychologist was not in the room when it happened. When I asked the intern how many she had done before, she replied, "Gifted, well, uh,we don't usually screen for gifted so young" and the psychologist chimed in with "it's the same assessment either way, so she's done at least 50." So the fact that my son had been sick all week before the testing and that the assessor might be seen as inexperienced in looking for gifted traits in the testing have me quesitoning even the validity of the results.
They did say they would be pushing him to write more and include more in his writing, so that should be the challenge he needs and accommodation we're looking for, if we're worried he's not being challenged enough. When I asked if there could be some sort of physical difficulty in writing since his handwriting is below average for his age group they said that was probably just due to the attention problem and they'd be pushing him to write more and do more editing with his writing so it looks better.
End result - we did not sign anything. Waiting to see how this Connor thing turns out and how things go with these new accommodations then we'll go from there.. I'm not all that thrilled with how things went overall.
Sorry for the long post...
