Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy placement with an elementary school teacher

We used to have these parent input forms. When we got a new principal, he got rid of them. Parents were outraged that their input was no longer valued. At a subsequent parent-teacher round table, it became apparent that parent input held very little weight, particularly after the lower grades. The teachers felt that they knew the kids better in an academic setting than the parents and their opinion was the one that counted. The principal and teachers also pointed out when it was obvious when parents were trying to bias them toward a particular teacher and that often the requests just couldn't be met, i.e." Johnny needs a male role model" when there is only one male teacher in that grade. I agree that these things are mostly a placebo.

We had similar forms in our local school district. I described my kid's learning style (fast, advanced in x subjects) and also listed some books he was currently reading to give a better idea of what I meant by advanced in reading. I also described that my kid is very quiet and unlikely to show everything he knows, and that he takes a while to warm up and participate in some things.

I did not leave it at this form though. I contacted the principal directly and described the unusual learning needs of my kiddo and asked for advice on placement. I believe this worked because I also provided evidence -- I had a psychologist's report describing how unusual his learning needs were. My DS got place with great flexible teachers who were good at differentiation, in two different local schools. (Now it's a moot point since the program my DS is in has only one teacher per grade.)

I think that if you're in a district that "gets" your kid, the form won't matter because they will likely know where to place your kid. If you are in a district that doesn't "get" your kid, the form likely won't matter because they will place your kid wherever they feel like it.