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Yesterday, DD7 told me that she is sad most of the day at school. She first lost interest in schoolwork at the end of Kindergarten. It didn�t get much better last year in 1st grade. I met with the teacher several times and we could never solve the real problem. Some days DD7 would spend huge amounts of time doing the simplest worksheet and consequently missed a lot of recess, which I found out about later. Differentiation meant that she could do �challenge� worksheets after she did her �first grade� work. She wasn�t impressed and chose to spend any free time she had reading.

I didn�t realize how upset she was until last May when she said �I don�t like going to school anymore because I don�t get to learn much�. Also, she wasn�t sure she wanted to go to 2nd grade because she didn�t think she would learn there, either. After looking at the state curriculum, I agreed. This conversation really woke me up, so I met with everyone I could think of. The principal said that their policy forbids subject acceleration but they would let her take subjects �deeper�.

To skip, she had to pass 4 tests with a 90 on each: Math, LA, Science, and Social Studies. I wasn�t sure if I wanted her to skip because she finally made a good friend (in her GT cluster, of course), but I thought that the results might help our case. I got her a huge pile of library books on SS topics, and she just devoured them. I hadn�t seen her that happy in a while. She was extremely motivated to practice math and finished the test very quickly. We got her test results right before school started, and she received almost perfect scores on Math & LA, passed science, but just missed on SS. Both she and I can�t figure out how that happened. The irony is that SS is the only test we studied for!

Since 2nd grade is heavily focused on math & LA, we are even more concerned given her test scores. This year, they will increase her GT pullout to 3 hours a week, but I do not think that will solve the problem. When I ran into the principal at Meet the Teacher night, I got the usual �it�s a good problem to have� and �we have several kids in this situation�. On Monday, we are going to meet with her, the 2nd grade teacher, the counselor and the GT teacher. I know they are going to push differentiation as a great solution (which is supposed to be better this year � how could it get worse?), but I don�t know how to make this a productive meeting or what to do next. Thanks for any suggestions that you may have.

My suggestion: challenge the criteria to skip. If she made it in 3 of 4 subject areas, and very close in the 4th, insist that she's ready. 85% proficiency is what literature suggests for "testing out". I usually start out nice and ask if we can "give it a try" but you'll have to gage the personalities your dealing with.

Boy, does your story sound familiar. I don't have any advice. We ran into the same thing and ended up bailing out of the public school and skipping 2nd at a private school. Except that we didn't take the state tests. But, I think SS would have been the one that Pud (7) wouldn't have done as well on. You'll get many good suggestions here. I just don't have any. I can only say that I understand your frustration.

Homeschooling kids who ace everything else often do less well on social studies because it is very subject specific. What I mean is that if you know everything there is to know about Native Americans but don't read enough about the Norse/Vikings, then you won't do well if they ask about the Norse. It's not as easy to glean the knowledge from just life as it is to get the math, science and LA stuff. We just don't see the Vikings every day like we do the other subjects!

I'd also recommend asking to overrule the decision. You can even offer to "catch her up" on the areas of social studies that she missed if you think that would help to persuade the powers-that-be. But it seems like they've set the bar unreasonably high, and it seems pretty clear that she's an excellent candidate for a skip.

I agree with everyone else here. Advocate for a grade skip.

I advise writing a letter. Written documents must be placed in a file and kept, so schools take them much more seriously and have to answer your points more carefully. If you ask verbally, even if it's in a meeting, they can dismiss you more easily.

You may wish to indicate that your daughter is unhappy in her present situation and make an offer to help her catch up in social studies, as has been suggested.

How stinky.

Val

Thanks everyone for your advice. I do not have anyone around here that I can discuss this with!

At what point do you think a grade skip is a better choice than staying in your present grade and working above grade level in some subjects, such as math?

I think the answer to this question is very dependent on each child. In particular, the child's level of contentment is very important.

Oh, have you tried using the Iowa Acceleration Manual with your daughter's school? Also, what is the school's/district's official policy on grade skipping? You may want to request a copy of the policy and read it very carefully.

Finally, it may be possible to work around an "absolute" type of policy (ex. 90%+ on the exams) given how close your daughter came.

Val

Here's my take, FWIW...

Anything that is "official," in the sense that the child covers the material with a teacher and is expected (rather than merely allowed) to progress the next year, would be my preference. If you don't have that "seal of approval," then that means that the child may be effectively held back the following year. Holding back a GT kid?!?! I have a BIG problem with that!

Grade skips obviously meet the terms of this test.

Subject acceleration, if it is accepted as a permanent move up to a higher grade level with older kids and that move will be respected every year (like a grade skip in one subject, so a 1st grader goes to 2nd for reading this year, say, and then goes to 3rd when in 2nd grade and so on...) is similarly a workable solution.

OTOH, in-class differentiation--while better than nothing in some cases--is NOT something I would generally accept as sufficient. I think differentiation is generally a lousy policy choice for GT education. All it takes is a teacher in a future year who refuses to acknowledge the past differentiation, and now the child has held-back boredom piled on top of the boredom s/he'd already have had in that class. That's just not okay!

(Can you tell that this happened to our child? )

Some schools are better than others about maintaining the level of differentiation, and it has been a lifesaver for some kids, so I'm not trying to bash it in individual cases. It's another option, and more options are better than fewer. But it would certainly not be my first choice for my child. I've seen it go bad too many times. It's one of the only accomodations for GT kids that can actually make the situation MORE BORING for the child in the long run.

So to answer your question, IMHO, I'd say any time you can get the school's official stamp that your child is ahead and there isn't some specific reason why it's better for your child to stay in-grade, then either grade-skipping or subject acceleration are preferable to staying within-grade and relying upon the kindness of overworked teachers to differentiate.

Good points. So, would subject acceleration be an option? Especially in math as your DD has been complaining and losing interest in school.

So, did she have to obtain above 90% on those subjects in the grade she would be skipped into?

What were her scores in the other subjects?

Lily:

Google 'nation deceived' and check out the U. Iowa program on gifted education. The Nation Deceived report, which you can get gratis, provides a whole set of well-documented, well-argued, authoritative, data-based arguments in favor of acceleration, which can help you to elevate the discussion with your school administration above that of an 'us-them' disagreement. If you have resources for the substantial testing required, ask them to use the Iowa Acceleration Scales as a relatively objective determinant of your child's preparedness for acceleration.

I thinks its also useful to argue the costs and risks to the child of not accelerating, in counterpoise to the costs and risks of accelerating, which is where schools often seem to place emphasis. These risks include that of undermining the child's enthusiasm for learning and his/her work ethic (which is critical to long-term educational success).

One parent posting on this forum in a similar situation said that they had agreed with the school that acceleration entailed some risks, but that they were approaching them with open eyes and would put in the extra effort from their side to manage these risks if they manifested themselves.

Another good book resource in this area is Re-Forming Gifted Education, by Karen Rogers.

The bottom line, in my mind, is that if the child is not being substantially challenged, he or she is not being educated. Education is the mission of most schools.