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Hello! I am new here and looking for advice for a meeting we have coming up regarding my child's reading instruction. We have meet with and been in communication with teacher throughout this school year. We are frustrated with our child's reading instruction/class this year. Below is a description of what we are facing. I also included a few questions. Any advice is appreciated.

Our daughter returned to the public school for which she is zoned this year. Overall, it has been a positive experience. She is in a small math class with our gifted specialist and doing well in this area. However, we are having some difficulties with reading which is actually her main strength. The way the classes are designed this year, the gifted specialist works with a small group of students for 30 minutes each day, but during the main reading instruction time the class is actually the highest achieving students blended with the students targeted as some of the lowest achieving.

We have run into some resistance when we have asked for something more/different to be done. We have another conference next week. Our daughter is excelling in reading overall, but the school is telling us that since she has not scored as well as they liked on basal reading unit tests they see little need to do something different. We are frustrated that they are using a grade level text book and using the unit tests as a reason for not doing something different.

All other tests (which have been numerous) she has taken indicates she is reading and has an instructional reading level of 11th grade and above. We have been told she is not working up to her potential. I believe it is because she not being given things closer to or on the appropriate level for her.

I proposed that she may not score as well on the reading text book tests because it is far below her level both in academics and interest. It is my opinion that sometimes high achieving students will under perform when not challenged with the materials used. This was completely dismissed by the teachers.

She is having some behavior issues during the whole class instruction during reading class only. They are also using this as a reason not to do something different for her. Our thought is she is acting out because are her needs being met at this time.

She does not have an IEP at this time. They automatically screen her grade level at the end of the year and we have been encouraged to wait for this. However, up until this point the faculty and staff have been willing to work with us to best meet her needs. We frustrated that it is not the case now. She was tested privately last year and qualifies for gifted instruction. She scored as high as you possibly can on the reading portion of the tests. The school does not have to recognize this testing and did not want to see the results when I offered.

After all of that, my questions are:

Is it possible for a student to "under perform" because the materials being used are too far below her level.

Do students need material on a lower level to help them understand and apply concepts being taught? (This is another reason we've been given for the use of the grade level textbook.)

What types of changes can we request to be made?

Thank you in advance for any help.

I apologize if I missed something while reading this but you do not say what age your daughter is, nor what grade in school she is in. This might help to frame the answer to your questions. As to your questions.

Yes students can & do "under perform" if the material is too easy for them. This is something that teachers sometimes have a hard time grasping, and is not uncommon with gifted kids. A common reason for this is the student simply zones out or refuses to do "boring" work. Or she might do what my son does and make a mountain out of a molehill. My son won't believe the teacher would be asking such a simple question, tries to make it more complicated and then becomes clueless on how to answer or simply leave it blank.

As to if students need material on a lower level to help them understand material being taught. The simple answer is yes, BUT this is usually only a grade level or two difference. Typically the level of reading used to teach reading, is higher than the level used for books to teach concepts. (This is something I was told when working with my older DD who has language processing LD's.) But if your daughter is in elementary school and reading at a 11th grade reading level the books they are using to teach concepts are probably still way below her level.

Thank you for your response. My daughter is in 4th grade. She is 10. We have been told the system is mandating that this reading text be used even though I know it is way below her level. She is miserable in the class. Up until this year we have had teachers very willing to work with her to meet her needs. This year is not the same and it is frustrating.

I appreciate your response.