Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Differentiation? What is normal? (elementary)

deleted

Before you flee this district, take a look at what is ahead in middle and high school. I personally think that our elementary schools are not so great, the middle school is okay, and the high school is fairly good. I have yet to see an elementary school that I would consider good. I attended a private school K through 12 - it is at the top of the list each year for average SAT score for our major metropolitan area. I didn't learn much there in elementary, and I am certainly not PG.

My middle kid repeated 2nd grade when we moved her from a private school to public. She was small and immature, and keeping her in 2nd grade put her in the right grade for her birth date (per the public school cutoff). At the private school in 2nd they covered all of the math taught in the public 3rd grade. Was she bored? I'm sure she was but we didn't think much about it at the time. They gave her some extra math sheets to do if she wanted (she didn't want to). I know others will disagree with me, but I don't think we damaged her for life.

Even my eldest thinks elementary math could be compressed into a few years, and math is her weakest subject. While you should keep after the school to deliver whatever they promised, I wouldn't expect a lot. Math differentiation typically gets better in middle school, and many districts will bus the most advanced 5th grade math students to the accelerated middle school math program (so they end up being three years accelerated in math).

MAP tests don't reveal a lot about advanced kids. They started them a few years ago in our district and my middle kid took them in 8th. They use them to track growth, and I wouldn't put a lot of faith in the results. They gave my 8th grader a graduate student lexile level - umm, I don't think she is ready to read anything that advanced (nor would she want to).

I know folks will rip me apart, but provide learning opportunities at home (if she wants them) and continue to advocate for her. If she is happy at school and has friends there, I would avoid switching schools unless your HS is miserable.

I would think 6 weeks is plenty of time. I thought 2 weeks was plenty before I started making waves about my son and his math and then it took 2 more weeks and the final solution was just skip him to the next grade. I am not quite sure how that is going other than his writing needs improvement (but would probably be fine if he were still in 3rd) so he is going to need a bit of extra tutoring in that. I assume his Spanish is just fair too because he lost out on a year of that and he has no Spanish speaking relatives. I will know more in a couple of weeks at the conference night. I assume now there isn't a need for much differentiation right at the beginning of a skip but there possibly might need some as the year goes on (especially in Math and Reading in English).

Differentiation is a distinction without a difference.

My son's teacher knew last week that my son has a high IQ and he is way above his kinder classmates. I even emailed her the skills that my son has so she can differentiate during centers time. I put him in the dual language class and right now the two teachers (spanish and english) agreed to put my son more in the spanish class. During centers, he is also doing more writing and spelling(his weakness). As of math, I don't see any differentiation yet. We'll see in the next few weeks. Just keep in touch with your child's teacher and show her that you are willing to support. Teachers sometimes are overwhelmed with lots of things most especially when they have such high students in the class.

deleted

Unfortunately what you have described is normal, forums are filled with experiences like this. Damage to kids, after several years of this type of school experience are also frequent topics of conversation. Welcome to the club.

What to look for? Examples of what others have said worked, and opportunities to present those suggestions at your school for the benefit of ALL children. Be solution focused. Volunteering may be part of the overall game plan as parent volunteers seem to be readily accepted at your school. Your greatest asset and allies may be the other parents who are volunteering; bond with these people.

Many families afterschool their kids, others homeschool. Keep nurturing your child's strengths, create a portfolio. Some have found the book and materials by Karen Rogers to be helpful (link- http://www.greatpotentialpress.com/authors/karen-b-rogers-ph-d)

Know that you are not alone. You may wish to become knowledgeable about differentiation by reading the collection of articles on the Davidson Database (http://www.davidsongifted.org), search for differentiation shows 140 resources.

If you consider other schools, you may wish to bring things like test scores, portfolio, and completed interest inventory forms (available at link above). You may wish to
- ask about their philosophy regarding gifted pupils,
- plan to meet the person responsible for coordinating/overseeing the education of gifted pupils,
- learn about the gifted coordinator's background and experience as well as their credentials,
- read any policy and practice statements,
- observe their "gifted program",
- ask if there are regularly scheduled meetings for parents of gifted pupils,
- learn what the school's volunteer policy is,
- inquire as to what books they recommend for parents of gifted children,
- see whether you can meet other parents of gifted children who might be willing to share their experiences,
- attend a school board meeting and read about issues facing the educational institution,
- receive a written plan which documents what your child/ren will receive & goals of these experiences.

Before exploring other schools, as practice, you may wish to ensure you have taken similar steps at your present school.

Well, I can tell you our experience so far. DS is in 2nd grade.

There seemed to be no differentiation in first grade. DS really wanted to learn more math and mid-year said he hated math class because he was so bored. DS tried to work ahead in math to alleviate boredom and would get in trouble. At one point, he was being made to re-write his reversed letters when he got finished early in math (he's dysgraphic and has EDS which writing hurts his hands and fingers), which was really bad b/c he felt punished for mastering the concept quickly. He started feigning sickness to get of school and particularly math class. When I repeatedly approached the teacher about this and eventually the iep team, I was told they do "differentiate" but teacher kept finding reasons that DS didn't really need differentiation, that he really wasn't advanced, etc. Her main point during an iep meeting was that DS is competent in math and his 100% on tests proved she was teaching him not that he was ready for more difficult work. Her main theory was that DS "needs/wants to feel special" and "feel advanced" and if we just give the same on-level work and tell him it's more advanced that makes him happy (despite her thinking this was the case she was not actually fooling DS at all, he was on to her completely but didn't want to hurt or feelings or be disrespectful). She said he was bored because he has ADHD not b/c he truly bored with the math material. Worse - the principal piped up that they had a 1st grade child once who could trigonometry (or something like that) and that *that* was advanced - and *that* not my child (he said they did differentiate for that child). He said otherwise they do not group ability in math until third grade. I realized that the "poof is in the pudding" approach would get us nowhere and meanwhile my kid's achievement was staying solidly average, he was bored and depressed and was conflicted in that he felt capable of more and teachers kept telling him he wasn't. Not sure how much of a school mindset it is/was, if there really is intent to keep kids the same or if teacher really believed that DS didn't need more but I made enough of a fuss that she did set up a "math center" allowed DS and others to participate in that when they finished early in math (which was like all of the time). DS loved it - he and some other boys who were really interested in math would get together and pick a topic to work on (multiplication, division, square roots, etc). DS learned a lot believe it or not and started teaching himself stuff at home on the computer as well. I also started him on mathnasium because I walked away from that iep realizing that school and teacher were adamant about creating a ceiling for DS and keeping him at all costs at a certain level. He really wanted to learn more and I couldn't help him. He lOVES mathnasium.

Within a matter of a few months DS went from 60% in math on WJ-III to 95%.

Now in second grade things are looking up. DS took a pre-test and qualified for a math differentiation group that pulls kids out twice a week for special differentiated math instruction. It only just started (one meeting) but DS is optimistic and likes it. His WISC-IV score quailified for ATP but he only starts on Wednesday so we do not know how it is yet.

Pull-outs for differentiation and even remediation JUST started at our school. How "good" the differentiation will be - I do not know yet.

Both are true: while this is fairly standard, the students needing advanced academics often remain underserved, therefore parents may be "annoyed". When annoyed, put the energy to good use by joining with others interested in problem solving to make a positive difference in the educational experiences for gifted/advanced kids.

Families may often encourage each other with the well-known saying ... "If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem."

Here are some interesting tidbits about our school. I am not sure what they mean but I find them a bit odd:

I was told that ATP program doesn't start until 3rd grade... and yet there is one for second grade. I was also not told about the differentiation math group at the end of last year when we specifically asked if there would be a test and resultant grouping in 2nd grade math. We were told that there is NO ability grouping in 2nd grade for math (and if my kid really was "so advanced that he was doing trig" then the teacher would "differentiate" somehow). I had no idea the group existed, that DS was given a test for it or was even being considered for it until teacher called to say he was in it. And it is grade-wide pull-out (all the kids from 2nd grade classes were tested for it and the ones who passed are in the group together, pulled out to a different classroom with a special math teacher). I am almost positive other parents do not even know now that their child was tested for this and that the group exists. I am not sure if it is "new" and that's why we weren't told last year or if they purposely keep it on the QT. I'm suspicious b/c a neighbor a few years ago (when I only had my oldest and he was like 3 or 4) once described the school as having a "don't ask/don't tell" philosophy ... In her case, her child was struggling and she felt she wasn't told about it or that it was a bad as it was. She felt you had to know the specific questions to ask to really find out about anything.