Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Math Acceleration - Elementary Grades

We are gearing up for yet another IEP meeting and once again the district isn't on the same page as we are. I need help with articles and research to support acceleration, specificallly in math. I've pulled quite a few, but I want to make sure I don't miss any good ones.

My DS9 got A/B's in math this year which was accelerated one level above his current level (in third grade, did 4th grade math). So I'm advocating for him to go onto 5th grade curriculum with a few of the 6th grade skills. (He'd be in 4th grade). Seems reasonable to me, but the district doesn't have the same feelings as I do.

Thanks to all!

What is their reasoning? BTDT, we had two years of starting off the year with them asking us strongly to keep DD11 in her normal grade and be "enriched" in math despite everyone being on board in the spring. Same type of message for DDs friend who was doing the same thing. Finally after 2 yrs of being accelerated a grade in math, we got support. It took this long despite getting above a 95 average. The school started us on this path but then would back pedal at any roadblock.

My advice is to stick to your guns if you think it is the right thing to do. I was a broken record saying I think her grades speak for themselves, she should be treated like any other student in XX grade math and be advanced accordingly. Sticking to our guns and following DDs lead. This has resulted in a great math year with a math class at the GT magnet. She's learned many new concepts (while not super difficult they were new and at a faster pace). In addition, I believe the whole process has added to her independence wrt to telling the teachers what she needs on her own. They take it better coming from her.

Good Luck

Is their only sticking point the 6th grade skills? If he doesn't do at least 5th grade math, he'd just be repeating, right? Are they concerned about what he'd do in 5th grade? I guess I'm just trying to figure out why they are objecting to what seems like a natural progression to which they already agreed (I assume, since he's been accelerated already).

FWIW (although I have no research), I just wanted to add wrt the 6th grade skills. Supposedly the 6th grade class DD was in this year covered half of 7th grade as well. She had no issues despite being in a normal 5th grade math class with a variety of level kids (from GT 5th graders to normal).

I will say that in the 4th grade class (where she was a 3rd grader) she was not with GT kids for math. In the 5th grade class, she was with the GT kids who were a year older and there was an adjustment period wrt confidence. She quickly adjusted by the end of the 1st 9 weeks. This year in 6th she has to be close to the top of the class based on her grades. Just personal experience to show that they adjust to the "gaps" that may have been created by a different class mix from the year before.

Momtofour... they want to start the year off next year with more of the 4th grade skills. They specifically mentioned multiplication and division. I would be fine with him doing multiplication/division at a higher level which is part of the 5th grade curriculum. The errors he's making are common gifted rushing through, skipping steps errors. He understands the math conceptually.

The root problem is their lack of understanding of gifted education. They think more of the same at the same level is what he needs to 'master' the skill. They don't get that gifted students need large, complicated problems at higher levels and that this will take care of the lower level skills. Example: complicated 2/3 step word problems involving 4 digit by 3 digit multiplication and fractions would also satisfy the 4th grade requirement of 3 by 2 multiplication that he makes simple errors on due to the lack of interest in drill and kill math.

Frustration.

That is helpful to know other districts do what I'm proposing. And I've let them know my plan will bring him to Algebra and/or pre-Algebra in the 7th grade which just seems normal to me and not at all out of the box.

How can I convince them this is the right path?

We had some of the same issues/comments. Despite DDs grades they would continue to point out the errors, same with the other girl. We just pointed out that if she were not accelerated in math (ie she was actually a XX grader-fill in the accelerated grade) they would not suggest moving her back because she wasn't getting a 100 or even an 88. If they thought mastery skills were lacking, they would pull those kids and teach them in small groups (or whatever method). They wouldn't normally move a kid who was getting As (or even Bs) back a grade so why did they think it was OK to move my accelerated child back for getting the same grades? When they suggested undoing the acceleration due to these errors, we also questioned their trust in the teachers ability to grade the students (ie if she's getting a XX, do you really think she's not ready to move on? don't you trust the teacher/curriculum?) All kids have gaps, not just accelerated kids.

You might also want to point out the self-image confidence issues of not continuing the acceleration esp. given that grades are good and I didn't hear you say anything about social issues.

FWIW - adults make computation/sign errors all the time as well. It's why those of us in STEM fields love excel and write programs to do the computations and why professors usually give very liberal partial credit and/or grade on a curve.

Does your district use NWEA MAP? The RIT scores help indicate what level math your son would be ready for next.

I think one thing to consider when advocating at school is age and separating out skills in quick math fact recall vs conceptual ability. From what I've seen and understand, being able to accurately and quickly spit out math facts is partially a developmental thing that comes with maturity, and no amount of drill is really going to get it to sink in until a child has reached that point - and for some kids, it's not going to happen until 10 years old or maybe later. OTOH, a gifted student can easily be light-years ahead in ability to understand mathematical concepts and pick them up quickly. I would want to be sure that he's not being held back due to developing automaticity of math facts.

polarbear

Lots of good suggestion . Our district doesn't do NWEA MAP or RIT.

On testing documentation we have some, but not from this year. Our district doesn't do normed testing in this grade... In 1st he took the 2nd grade ITBS and scored 99th percentile in math and that was above level. I think his standard score correlated to an average 4th or 5th grader, I'd have to re-look at my notes. I had him re-do the Woodcock Johnson after a year in a gifted program to make sure he was getting at least a bit of what he needed. In 2nd he scored at level 4 to 4.5 GE, can't remember what percentile that put him at. He was sick during his ITBS testing in grade 2 so didn't do as well. I think math concepts was 97th percentile but computation was lower.

The district has all of these scores, plus A/B in class and no social issues. Maybe what scared them was my comment that my plan is intended to bring him to Algebra and/or Pre-Algebra by the 7th grade. Our local middle school doesn't even do Algebra for it's 8th graders