they have mentioned that the meeting is to discuss about "my requirement"
This is sufficiently nebulous that it could mean anything... good or bad. Unfortunately, this phrase, isolated and out-of-context, is focused on YOU (your requirement) and not on YOUR CHILD (child's educational needs, ongoing growth, etc). If this occurs in conversation, you may wish to gently, politely change the focus from you to your child. The worst-case-scenario of a school stating they wish to schedule a meeting to discuss "your requirement" may be that they'd announce that they cannot meet "your requirement". This can be a conversation ender, whereas staying focused on your child's ongoing development generally allows conversation to continue, with brainstorming on various ideas, options, feasibility, counter-proposals etc.
I do not know yet if the school will approve this idea and initiate the process.
What process? It appears, from the lack of published acceleration policy, that the school may not yet have adopted or defined a process. They may not have encountered this type of situation previously, or may not have encountered it frequently enough to have established a process. You may wish to become familiar with the IAS and suggest utilizing it to establish a process which advances objectivity.
I am providing them whatever data I have so far.
You may wish to make a cover sheet, inventory list, or summary of the data points you have so far. Ensure that you provide a copy of the summary sheet for the school's convenience, and only provide the school with copies, not originals, of any of your data point documents. Ensure that you leave the meeting with ALL of your documents.
I did read about the IAS online and have asked the teacher to find out if the school uses it. Can this tool be accessed in anyway by parents to find out where the child fits?
The IAS is not used unilaterally to see where a child fits. It is an
aid to gathering information for discussion, to ensure that all important factors are considered and documented. The tool is copyrighted and can be purchased but not copied or posted online. The authors have intellectual property rights and it is a violation of the law to copy/post online. Here is a brief roundup of links on the IAS:
-
Iowa Acceleration Scale (IAS) (link to IAS description on Hoagies' Gifted Education Page)- IAS -
Acceleration Institute- IAS -
Great Potential Press- post discussing
tests for Ability, Aptitude, Achievement- post discussing
aeh test insights- post discussing
single subject acceleration (SSA), IQ cutoff- post discussing
whether IAS forms are needed- post discussing
older sibling in receiving gradeI am not able to find the school district's acceleration policies online except for math placement.
Introducing the IAS may be helpful, as it keeps the decision focused on facts and research, not emotion or hunches. The IAS may form the basis or foundation for the school drafting an acceleration policy. It may be helpful to you have an acceleration policy in place prior to possibly needing to discuss further acceleration for your son... or future acceleration for your daughter (as you've posted elsewhere that her preschool achievements may indicate giftedness). Having an objective, documented policy in place, published and accessible to all, will help avoid the notion that the school exhibited favoritism, caved to a pushy parent, etc.
Remember: - The end goal is
doing the best, under a given set of circumstances - including financial constraints - to meet your son's needs and facilitate your son's continued and ongoing development... which may include one or more whole grade accelerations over time.
- The goal is NOT the whole grade acceleration. It is not a one-and-done solution. Meeting your son's educational needs is an ongoing process of gathering data and making adjustments to provide the optimal or least-worst learning environment for your son, over time.
