Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments skipping up a grade

Is it common for a school district to have no policy in place on acceleration of grade levels. The only policy my son's district seem to have is that their policy is they do not skip children up, period. Is this common or unusual? I will later explain my problem but i wanted to see if any of you have come across this. It seems strange to not even have an evaluation procedure but to just say its "not our policy" The reason behind it is that they would have other children that are intelligent and have high standardized test scores to follow suit and make the same request. I am like well wouldn't that be a good thing and not a deterrent???

Please advise with your thoughts. All feedback is welcomed and appreciated.

This is common in public schools; private schools are more open to grade skipping.

Ex. Last year I was frustrated with my son's situation and called a public school that's down the road from us about a mile. We're just outside the boundaries for this school, but we're close, and I'd been told it was a great school. I talked to the principal and he told me he was against the idea on principle. He didn't ask about my son's academic abilities, but he did make sure to ask if I let him play outside and implied that I was doing nothing but forcing him to learn mathematics and spelling. Argh.

Val

Shar,
From my experience it is very common to have no formal policy about grade skips but an informal written in blood on a stone policy that it can not be allowed. Lots of persistence and squeaky wheel syndrome may help
Good Luck

Our district has a procedure for acceleration but it is lengthy, convoluted and not publicized in any way. Our principal seems to have glossed over a few steps for DS.

Maybe its a regional thing but in the south texas in particualr grade skips required only that a child prove exceptional. A gifted child warranted a tranfer into a more challenging programs and sometimes more challenging school. i have found this to be true in VA, MD, and PA as well.

What constitutes "exceptional" though? Is that detailed in the procedure?

Yes, I have to admit, I can't believe it's all that easy...I e-know too many people from those states who have been through the wringer!

yes, we decided we'd rather not send our children through the wringer, it's just not healthy!

Plus they come out all flat and dry...

Nice one Kriston...

DW said to me the other night ... how did she put it ... DS is going to be viewed in a particular light because he skipped K (first in our SD). So he's going to have to do everything better than everyone else just to prove that he belongs there. Not unlike how others who have been discriminated against for race or gender have had to do countless times in the past. Prove that they weren't handed a gift...

JB

The fact that they worked with you right from the start indicates that your son is in a good environment for a skip. I wouldn't unduly worry, just keep an eye out for anything that doesn't look/seem/smell right.

Yup. The easiest skip for people to accept is the early entry to 1st grade. I wouldn't worry, JBD. I don't think it will be an isue for long.

Yup, people forget all about those early skips. It'll be a minor curiosity come birthday-time. :-)

LOL--nice, Kriston. :-D

OP--yes, it's very common for there to be no policy. Our district claimed to use a specific tool to evaluate kids for a skip, but violated their own rules and did the process wrong (on purpose, I belive, so they could deny ds6 a grade skip).

The tool they claimed to use is the Iowa Acceleration Scale --are you familiar with this? It's a set of questions that basically rank whether a child is a good skip candidate or not. We got our own copy of the manual (which is really all you need) for $30 on Amazon. I highly recommend it if you're considering a grade skip -- I'd even say you should bring it up with your school district.

Welcome!

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the discussion. Although we do have our own individual concerns (points were well made: early entry is easier than elementary or later skip), we did have our fair share of hoops to jump through just to get that point.

What I meant to get across was that I agree that it can be challenging to deal within the system and that can go a long way to facilitating a skip versus obstruction. I sympathize. We just got our Iowa Acceleration Scale which I too recommend. I haven't read through all of it yet, but I believe there is one section about the SD supporting the skip which adds to the score. I can see some districts making it unnecessarily difficult to get a needed skip. And I can see why some parents wouldn't bother.

JB

In Texas acceleration policies are established by individual districts and can vary widely. Although it is possible to skip a grade by taking Credit by Exam tests through Texas Tech University or The University of Texas. All districts in the state are required to accept these credits.

Our family lives in a suburb of Seattle, WA. The districts around here have very different approaches to skipping grades. Some have full-time gifted programs all through elementary school and do not like grade skipping or early entrance. Our district, however, seems to prefer early entrance or skipping prior to grade 3, and then a pull-out or full-time gifted program from there on. I think this makes sense for most children based on the research I've seen?

The requirement for early entrance is that the child tests at 5 1/2 in 7 areas (academic, social, fine and gross motor skills, etc.). We'll consider this. I'm not sure how it will go. DS3 will be 4 in January and is already "ready" for kindergarten in some areas, but is still 3 when it comes to buttoning his shirt or tying his shoes...