Sorry--by "striver" I just mean a district with a lot of wealthy parents who think their kid is a special snowflake, etc. That is, the teacher's thinking might be that if one child is reading books above grade level, they will all want them reading War and Peace, or something, to prove how smart their kids are? I don't really know (I feel like such parents are just as likely to complain about books that are too hard), but this seems to be a concern in some areas.
OK - so yes - I think we are probably in a "striver" district. It is a very wealthy community - I imagine all parents think their kid is "special"... so....I don't know. I guess I'd be curious to know what percentage of kids in this area are 99%ile kids? I was just reading an article online that said that something like 70% of NYC kids applying to preschool score in the 99% on the ERBs. I heard from another parent that they no longer consider the "verbal" scores of the OLSAT for the gifted program here because too many kids would qualify that way. So I think that a fair number of the parents are being given "objective" data (OLSAT scores etc.) which show that their kids are special - and probably trying to advocate for their kids by using that data. Maybe we are all just delusional.... or maybe lots of kids really can read substantially above grade level.
To use your example: What if little Jonny wanted to read War and Peace? Then Sally and Sue's parents find out and go to the teacher and say they want Sally and Sue to read War and Peace as well. What is the harm in that? So they all read war and peace - Johnny might actually be able to understand it, while Sally and Sue read it, but it is hard - and they only can follow pieces of it...maybe they even need their parents to help them out with sections of it.... Would that be such a bad thing? It seems much better than forcing them all to read "the fat cat sat on the mat".
