Looking at the
Michigan legislation for gifted education, some might say that because gifted programs are not mandated, a school may have no obligation to serve a particular student who might need or benefit from advanced curriculum in English. That's one take on it. However the school has a program, so the question to focus on may be one of "access".
You may wish to check your school policies online, to learn how they describe their gifted program, especially this class. For example, is there a prerequisite?
...an enrollment deadline?
...a notification of what the qualification criteria would be (NWEA scores)?
...a policy of advising all who qualified (via NWEA scores) about the opportunity to enroll in this course?
...is there a lottery if number of interested/qualified pupils exceeds the number of seats the school chooses to make available?
...is entry granted on a first-come, first-served basis?
...is entry granted in score order, with highest scores first?
...does a letter of recommendation help to gain entry?
If the information is not transparent and/or is not shared with all students/families in a matter which provides equal opportunity to access the course, then this may be a talking point for you. However, this may be saved as a last resort, and you'll want to be sure to have collected your facts prior to raising this as a possibility.
Back to researching your school's website: Does your school have an add/drop or schedule change policy? For example, it may be the first week or even first month of the term. How far are you into the term?
Often a student may gain full credit by making up the work which they missed. Often a student may attend the teacher's office hours for assistance or tutoring to catch up on missed work.
Would any of the teachers and/or school counselors who assured you that you have qualified this course be willing to write a letter of recommendation for you?
Would any of these teachers and/or school counselors advocate for you to be admitted to the class?
Is there a parent or other in-person adult who might be able to help you research and advocate?
As for calling it bull, you may be right. Many organizations do what is streamlined and/or easiest... they may take the path of least resistance. It may be safe enough to call it bull here, but please do not take that approach with the school. There is a saying, "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar." This means a pleasant approach is generally more effective. Here's
a bunch of advocacy tips. The most important at the moment may be the meeting tips, including:
- researching and fact-finding (you've already begun this)
- keeping emotions in check
- taking notes on who you spoke with, when you spoke with them, what they said.
Best wishes with this. I do hope you get into the course you are interested in and qualified for.
