Sorry for any grammar mistakes in any of my posts, I currently type on a phone.
In your school, is there a difference between "gifted" and "kids who test above grade level"? In some schools there would not be a difference.
No, there is no difference in my school, but generally speaking, test results to be considered for advanced placement/Excel (in my school) is much more lower.
This sounds like 5 sections of 30 students each: 2 sections advanced, 3 sections at grade-level. Am I understanding this correctly?
Correct, about 5 Language Art classes in total for a grade, 3 for grade level, and 2 for advanced students.
It would be unusual for the number of students who qualified for the advanced class to exactly match the number of seats available. Are there other kids who qualified for the advanced class and did not get in? Does the school cluster group these advanced students together within a section of the grade-level class and have them work at their zone of proximal development?
No the school does not at all challenge any kids in the grade level classes because they are considered grade-level to the school, . What really strikes me as odd is 40% of students in my grade are taking this advanced Language Arts, and many are barely above grade level/low 70's - low 80's percentiles on the nwea for Reading. I know the cutoff score will usually decrease for a smaller school, but when it's almost half of the grade?
Another concerning aspect is that i feel that i have a disadvantage for recommendation of a teacher. I feel like the teachers at my school recommend a lot more involved students in school/community activity (like sports) where as i stand out a bit (hold a different religion and positions than the majority of the community).
