Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Regions US Dept of State, Office of Overseas Schools?

Is there any regulation or rule/law regarding G&T, which applies to schools run by or overseen by the US Dept of State, Office of Overseas Schools?

These are schools originally designed and set up for kids of consular and embassy employees living overseas; they are generally referred to as American International Schools, and are basically arms of this department, usually overseen by parent boards locally, with a countries' ambassador as their nominal head (with veto power to over rule the parent board if they get too crazy costs or ideas).

I ask because we are US citizens living overseas, and attend such a school here, as we did when we lived in a different foreign country.
Our child may be gifted (we are testing now).

We want to know to what we are entitled, if needed, and do not want to waste a year struggling thru a maze of policies, people, papers and procedures, only to find out the answer is zip---or that we can't get it for him now, for this school year, because we waited too long to ask for it.

The schools in question often appear to be expensive private schools, and everyone who attends pays fees--here it is $35,000 per child, plus the cost of meals and busing, which equals about $5000 more per year.

The US government foots the bill for its employees' kids; private employers, like ours, often pay fees for kids of their employees. Local people can pay to send their kids to this school, too.

We and gov't employees both still have to pay taxes here, to the local public school system of this country (which generally the govt and private employer pay up front each year), BUT we also pay US tax in full, deducted from our paychecks, just as if we were still living in the US, which includes taxes to the state and to local schools in our old neighborhoods, back home. We just can't attend the schools in either place we pay!

Each country has its own set-up, in terms of which accreditations back in the US they choose to be governed by, and they are certified by a European body as well (usually CEESA). Most offer either the AP or IB system, but generally never both. Ours participates in the IB system currently.

My question is, does our son have the right, if ID'd as gifted, to a suitable and appropriate gifted program, or can we push for an IEP while here?

He gets some pull-outs right now for advanced reading, etc, but they seem to want to make the issue of his accelerated talents "go away", and let them "develope on their own", which makes me think either 1) if officially ID'd, then they have to pay for doing so, and 2) they are currently offering so many exceptional programs, mainstreaming, one on one, in-class aides, etc, that if they have to pay, it will have to come out of that budget, and they (probably rightfully) are reluctant to do that. maybe they can't, as US law may apply there, and they might have to provide that, above and over any other consideration.

I would think that at this levelof tuition, it'd be a given that G&T would be a right; but it seems that when they decide to do IEPS, as they have done without my input for my son, that is all they will provide, andit;s no use to ask fro more.

I my company paid to send my kid to, say Choate, or Andover Prep, back home--I do believe he'd be getting way more than just some pull outs and IEP plans.

Anyone have any comments or ideas on this one? Any experience with overseas schools (NON-MILITARY affiliated---that's a whole other animal, apparently).

I don't think that there is a requirement for gt service in these schools, but I will check with a friend who has a lot of knowledge about this and let you know. As far as I know, the schools are set up by the US gov't but do not have to follow all of the US education rules.
Are you in the foreign service, or overseas with a company? Because if you are in the foreign service then there are options available, but if you are there with a company, I think it is up to the individual schools to decide whether or not they will support gt.

Sorry I can not give you more definitive answers right now, but I will as soon as I hear back form my friend.

Welcome!

Hello Bookratt,

I attended such a school many years ago in South America, an American International school. I was there from 5th grade through 12th. My younger sister was there from K-12. I can say that I have no idea if there are any laws regarding G&T in those schools. But my guess would be that they are like private schools in the US, each has it's own view of gifted and are not subject to the public school regulations. Some believe all kids have the potential to be gifted (very much the IB philosophy in younger years)
I did not know what gifted was nor was I tested in that school. Since I first tested my son about a year and a half ago for the first time have I learned what gifted is, how IQ score work, etc.
It was never discuss with us as students and as far as I know never with my parents. It was more like a prep school. In high school we had AP classes and the IB program began in my senior year. I remember that there were a handful of very bright student, and the year ahead of me had about 10 out of a class of 50 who went to Ivy's and MIT, Stanford and the likes. I never heard anyone use the word gifted while I was there, even though knowing what I know now there were a couple who were PG and several gifted.
I myself am probably gifted with a auditory processing disorder and sensory issues, which I also recently just learned about. I remember when I was in 5th grade it was a big adjustment having just moved there but I want to be moved into 6th because I felt I wasn't being challenged.
All that said, you should take all the information you can about your son and try to negotiate the best you can for him there with the data to back it up. I'm in the US and they have gifted program, but where I am they pretty much one grade ahead and it's not enough for my son. So I'm preparing to go to the school with all the data and info I have and see what can be done for him. My son's school gifted coordinator actually said to us in a meeting that he has to learn that he can not always go at his own pace. In actuality he never has gone at his own pace.

Good luck and get as much info as you can about his strengths and weaknesses.

Bookratt,

I have heard back from my friend, her husband is part of the foreign service, and their children have attended US schools overseas, she says that as far as she knows the US gov't does not mandate anything to the schools. They help set them up to ensure that diplomatic corp's children have an opportunity to an education similar to what they could get at home, but they do not set the rules as to how or what services they need to provide.
The website that may give you more answers, or a place to contact for more information is: US dept for schools overseas

I hope this helps, sorry it is not the news you were hoping for though.

I taught overseas for 11 years, although not in American schools abroad, but I know that the services available for both ends of the spectrum varies widely from school to school, often times dependent on who the head of school is and the financial situation of the school, rather than whether or not there is a need for it. However, there was also usually a lot more flexibility from the teachers in terms of what they were willing to do to meet the needs of the students they had. I would suggest talking to the teachers involved and seeing how open they are to trying to meet your son's needs.

UPDATE: We got DS tested; independent psychologist recommended an OT evaluation for graphomotor (dysgraphia) and fine and gross motor issues (possible dyspraxia). He has asynchronous (?) development---Profundly gifted in some areas, with significant, unexplained differences between these and other areas tested. We have been told he is PG, with an unknown LD.

We have been told we must pay for the OT evaluation and therapy ourselves, as we are not US Dept of State or US military employees; the US Office of Overseas international schools explained that US-created and board-run international schools do not have to meet the same US criteria regarding disabilities---or for gifted and talented education---that US public schools on US soil also accredited by the same US agencies, may have to.

We are looking into seeing if the testing and OT eval and possible therapy will be covered by our US insurance--as we just found out the separate medical insurance policy we bought here in Belgium does NOT cover such treatment, because we are not Belgian citizens. We are legal aliens with visas and work permits. We were tentaivey told by the insurance carrier in the US, though, that as we are here, and not there, that they might ony cover this if we actually do the eval and therapy in the US.

FYI: I am so very glad that we are moving back to the US, in July.

We'll do and pay for the eval here, but may put off the actual weekly therapy until we return home. At $100 per session, it could get expensive.