We're inching toward a fight with a school two of my children attend and could use an outside opinion on whether I should let the school take its time on deciding whether to agree to a skip, or push for action now.
My oldest child grade skipped when transferring to the school, and it has been a resounding success. It was also super easy. Took about 1 minute of advocating and showing test scores.
My youngest child will be attending the 6-12 school next year as an incoming 6th grader. She has tested into 8th grade math. But her area of interest and giftedness is language arts. Her 5th grade LA teacher tried to get her placed in 7th honors English, but was denied. So she'll be in 6th honors English. (The school only does placement testing for math.) Her NWEA Map scores are above 97th percentile for 11th grade. I spoke to the GT coordinator, who told me that since we didn't have any formal testing on her (WJ or WISC), they wouldn't consider subject acceleration or a full-grade skip, despite the MAP scores. (We had all that testing for her older sibling when he skipped.) The coordinator said they would keep an eye on her the first months of school and if it looked like she needed more challenge, they would do testing and the IAS.
My dd says she wants to skip. Also, she is dreading the lack of challenge she anticipates for 6th grade LA. So we had private testing done last month and the psychologist strongly recommends a full-grade skip. If she skips, I don't want my dd to start in one grade and skip mid-year, simply because I want her to have the chance to make friends at the beginning of the school year, and my dd doesn't want any attention called to the skip.
So here's my question-- since the tester and my dd both want a skip, there's no reason for me to drag my feet, right? I actually do think it's possible for my dd to be challenged in 6th grade English, and the teacher has a great reputation. But since the psychologist is recommending a full-grade skip, I should follow her advice, right? (Also, the psychologist thinks dd will be more likely to find friends a grade or two up, which I mostly agree with.)
Just looking for any BTDT advice for someone who didn't pursue a skip, even when it was recommended. Conversely, I'd love some advice on successfully fighting for a grade skip about 6 weeks before school starts. Well, actually, I guess I'm looking for someone to tell me what to do.
