[scores omitted in case Shloim ever reads this]
So we shared the test results with the kindergarten teacher, with whom we're meeting tomorrow, because I didn't want to blind-side her. Within 90 minutes the school guidance counselor called and left us a message at the house (no one was home) and an email to the wife (who was teaching classes) asking if DS5 can take the MAP test in the next couple of days, so that we would "have more information" before the TAT team meeting on Friday. In our school first graders and above apparently take the MAP twice a year, at the beginning and end of each school year.
This sounds like a bald-faced attempt to negate his new scores and deny him needed acceleration. The whole testing was necessary because of the K teacher's statements that he was "right where he needed to be", and now this happens. I have drafted an email response to the guidance counselor, and am debating whether to send it or not:
Hi, Geronimo.
We are attaching the official results of Shloim's extensive IQ and achievement testing, using industry-standard tests, which arrived today in the mail. He is obviously not just gifted, but quite highly gifted.
We are startled by the suddenness of the request for MAP testing. Being highly gifted does not mean Shloim is more likely to do his best cold, with no warning, though he might still do better than most other children his age in a pinch; in fact, with his particular set of issues (extreme perfectionism etc.) he may fairly be thought of as quite fragile by comparison with normal kids.
Keeping that in mind, testing Shloim with no prior notice seems like stacking the deck against him. Do other children and their parents get more warning than 1-2 days that the MAP assessments will be done? Graduating first graders will apparently be taking the MAP for the second time; second-graders, for the fourth time; and third graders for the sixth time. If Shloim passes a certain grade level, will he be allowed to take the MAP again afterward to shoot for the next year, so he has had at least half the same chance and exposure to the test as everyone else? Will he be allowed to take it at the very least twice, with the second testing on a subsequent day, so on the second taking he is as familiar with the test itself, and as well-rested, as an ordinary first grader taking it at the end of the school year?
Also, how would the results of the MAP be used? If, for whatever reason, he scores at less than his actual capacity as shown on the recent tests, will the MAP results be used to oppose his recent test scores to deny him needed educational services? Just as importantly, if the MAP results are good, what will be the result? Can we get a promise that if Shloim passes the requirements for first grade, despite going in cold with his special set of challenges, he will be skipped to second next year?
Will one of us parents be allowed to be in the room for moral support if he takes the MAP? He is still detoxing from the very stressful weekend of testing he just went through (and we just got done promising him, "No more testing"). Does it have to be so sudden, this week, or can we have a little more time to get him psyched up? We are not making up the stress... he is highly, HIGHLY perfectionistic, and testing seems to be almost physically painful for him. Read the results from both the school psychologist and our tester for ample evidence on his stress level. Shloim has been performing fine on his third-grade-level enrichment activities this year, but it is another thing entirely to him to have his intelligence or ability put in question. We wish it were not so, but that's just the way he is at this point in time.
We will call you this morning to discuss our concerns and questions. Thanks for reading. Like you, we just want the best for Shloim, and don't want to put him in harm's way. We're worried that blind-siding him with sudden testing like this is more likely to do harm than good. That said, we're not strictly opposed either, as long as he is given a fair chance to do his best.
Theophilus
(Names were changed to protect the innocent.)
