Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Need advice :extended math selection

I guess the teacher is fending off heaps of upset parents. But it does seem odd given her previous marks that she wouldn't be in the top quarter. Are you friendly with the teacher she had last year? If so you may be able to approach him in a sort of - I'm confused, would you have expected her to qualify etc?

But the crucial thing is has she been disqualified for just this unit or the whole year. If it is just the unit get hold of the test and help her work outhow to do better next time.

Well, it does appear odd that she did not score in the top 25% (25 out of 100 students) given her other standardized test scores. However, unless there is a history of successful appeals, this may be ifficult to appeal because the school is using a clear numerical cutoff (75%). Is your DD strong in the verbal areas as well or is there a language barrier? If this unit is short (less than 3 weeks), I would probably focused on getting a copy of her test and figuring out why she scored so low and how to avoid the result for the next unit. If this will keep your DD out for a long time, I would bring all the test scores you have and mentioned your math backgrounds and pushed to get your DD into the math lessons, even if you have to go up to the principal.

Agreed. Some of the qualification criteria I'm familiar with are like the Olympics... a person can be known as the best but turn in a less than stellar performance on the qualifier, then is out.

This is not a statement you are able to make about the entire country. In some places and in some schools, parents who are not from the majority culture (this can mean a lot of things) will have a more difficult time advocating for their child. They may not know how to small-talk a teacher in the culturally accepted way, ask the right questions, or network with the right parents to find out what they really need to know. They may simply not be privy to certain networks of knowledge at all.

In my community, there is a charter school that never announces the fact that in order to be let in, you MUST sign up to tour the school months in advance of their lottery. Tours accept a limited number of particpants and only run certain times of the year. You have to know people who will tell you that, or you have to be sufficiently motivated to call the school almost a year before your child would enroll. This automatically excludes many people who are not highly motivated and/or "in the know" about the school. This school has very low minority and foreign student enrollment.

The examples you give, while unfortunate, also are experienced by "majority culture" parents who are not in the field of education, did not themselves attend public schools and/or participate in gifted programs, may be new to a neighborhood, etc. Therefore, these are not evidence of "bias".

Some may say this sounds like an apples-and-oranges comparison:
1) If upon a free phone call to the school, the same information is given to all who may call, then the process may seem fair and equal, not "biased". It seems reasonable that a school may wish to work with parents who've done their homework and have criteria in mind to ensure a good "fit", as compared with a parent looking for anything that is "free" therefore may become disappointed and prove costly (even to the degree of closing a school).
2) On the other hand, if the school accepts government funding and you believe transparency is an issue, you may wish to bring that forward and advocate in a manner designed to bring about change. What change would you envision? Possibly on a webpage about admissions, sharing that consideration for the lottery is given to families on a first-come-first-served basis, therefore the school advises interested families to register in advance for a tour? Or...?
3) Some may say that when we come across something that may not seem right, ethical, best practice, we may choose to use our first amendment rights to speak up for the betterment of the society. There is a saying that if you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem.

Indigo, I'm working in my community about this particular issue. I also shared my opinion about this practice when my child attended the school in question. So no need for the lecture.

But even if none of this were true, I certainly feel it's okay to voice my opinion that there are issues of inequity in how schools operate in my communuity regardless of whether I am advocating at this particular moment.


I said " parents who are not from the majority culture (this can mean a lot of things)." In the case of this school (not a gifted school, FTR) the school wants to keep recruiting parents who are "their kind of parents" by word of mouth. How best to do this? Make it so you can't figure out how to get a spot unless you know someone who goes there. Don't do any outreach, or advertise the school or how to get in. In fact, this excludes a lot of families, but it especially affects certain groups.

As to your point #1, I disagree. Most parents cannot be expected to realize that to enroll their child in a public school in September, they must call the school the previous December to schedule a tour. Yes, the same information is given once you call--but the information that YOU MUST CALL IN DECEMBER is not disseminated to the community in any way.

Then we are like-minded.


And it's okay for some to quote common sayings, which may encourage, or not.


Once a parent calls... if they miss this year's deadline there's always next year? Entry is by lottery because demand exceeds capacity? Not ideal, but good to know you are addressing their process so that in the future information will be available to all interested families on a timely basis (such as on their website) for those parents not interested to make a phonecall.

"if they miss this year's deadline there's always next year?"

I don't know about all charter schools but in our area if you don't get in K your chances of getting the 10 spots that open up for any grade after that are very slim. You have one shot at getting in where there are any odds at all (K) after that it is a complete long shot (and if someone gets a kid in during the K lottery and they have an older sibling and want the spot there is one less spot for the 2nd grade lottery because siblings have priority before the lottery pull for the upper grades).

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. We went and checked the pretest paper with the teacher. There was a question which the teacher marked wrong which we challenged since teacher marked it as 'below' which made her disqualified. I am still a bit furious about the teachers decision- let me know what you think. Q was to measure understanding of remainders.The question: there are 43 cups of juice to be divided among guests , each having 3 cups. How many guests can you serve? DD wrote as follows: "I will serve 15 guests. The last person will get only 1 cup but a least he will get something and be happy !!" (then she drew a smiley face next to it )she was trying to be funny and I am glad my kid has a sense of humor. Do you really think she didn't know about remainders ??? We asked the teacher to reconsider and also talked through with the principal. Haven't heard back anything. Their argument is that she should have written " 14 guest and there will be 1 cup left over".
This is my 4th grader thinking outside the box and facing the consequences
thanks again.
-Paa

It's clear your DD understood. The teacher is being rigid and pedantic.