I recall skipping a transition year being a big con on the IAS, same as skipping into the grade of a older sibling. If I am recalling this incorrectly, please say so, so I am not inadvertently misleading people who might not let their child skip a transition year because some random poster on the internet said she thinks the IAS says it’s not a good idea.
I think (source: my thoughts) that the inadvisability of skipping a transition year, introduced into the conversation by an objective tool like the IAS, might prevent grade skips that are largely motivated by the family being unhappy with the school to be transitioned out of, and, and maybe more importantly, appeared to have been supported by the schools because that way they got rid of the problem of keeping a gifted kid engaged and happy in the transition year without having to deal with the fallout if the skip didn’t work (which was the distinct impression I got in both cases).
As long as it’s a within school skip, the school is invested in the skip being a success. And might think twice about it if it’s not a clear cut case. Of course, if the parents happen to be set on the skip and the middle school has admitted the child, they couldn’t stop them.
I just now recall that the kid that is currently crashing and burning in DS13s gifted program was admitted at the last minute, and was the 16th child - and they needed a minimum of 16 in order to be able to offer the program, otherwise they would have had to cancel the program for the year and would have had to turn all the other admitted kids away.
Oh dear. I should be grateful now that his admission made the program possible in the first place, but what a set of questionable motives all around.
Last edited by Tigerle; 01/19/20 02:53 PM.
