Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Getting cold feet

Hi Mag, I'm joining in a little late here but I wanted to add that for my DS7 when he was 6 the school proposed to let him work on the computer independantly for math. He is very social and at that age really craved praise from the teacher. He wanted her to see how smart he was. So the computer independently did not work. He was frustrated that the teacher didn't notice his progress as well as the fact they would only let him work up 1 grade level after he completed the current grade level. So I would take Grinity's advice and try to fight for the pullout to 2nd or 3rd grade with live humans or in class differentiation unless or until she is really ready to work independent of adult interaction. Surprisingly with homeschool DS7 likes to do his work on his own. He doesn't like me hovering around. LOL But I guess a teacher is a different story. j

Good luck! It really sounds like you made a dent!!!! You should be very proud of yourself.

Thanks hkc75 for sharing. It is interesting you brought up home schooling. May I ask how you come to this decision? (Can you tell that we are thinking about it ). When (at what age or grade) did you start home schooling?

Mag

Part Deux of our quest for an IEP for DD6 (in kindergarten): (This is long)

Well, we were all excited and hopeful after the last meeting about two weeks ago. However�..

For this follow-up meeting, in addition to the principle, DD�s teacher, school counselor, and GT teacher, we also had the district�s GT coordinator and K-6 Math-Science coordinator.

During our first meeting, pull-out subject acceleration was suggested and discussed. This included pulling DD6 for �above-grade� math, GT, reading, and possible science classes. Unfortunately, the district�s GT coordinator indicated that Texas policy does not allow such arrangement for elementary school students and is not an option until DD is in the middle school.

(Of side note: the principle apologized privately to us after the meeting. She really did not need to apologize because we knew she supported the pull-outs if the logistics (such as schedule conflicts) can be worked out. And since our current relationship is a positive one, I just did not have the nerve to ask the district GT coordinator for the specific legislation/law/policy that we have so desperately searched for on the internet. But even if I do find the policy, will it really change anything?!)

Within our district, it is �all-or-nothing� acceleration. A student must take an exam that spreads over three half-days in subjects of reading, math, science, and social studies. To qualify for a whole grade acceleration, the student must score >90% in all four areas.

Suggestions for this meeting included:

1. DD6 will do the MAP testing for math and reading within the next few weeks. The principle is lobbying for testing in science as well.

2. Pending on the MAP result, DD6�s teacher will find a differentiated curriculum for DD6 within her class.

3. Since pull-out single subject acceleration is no longer an option, we are hoping for ALEKS that DD can do within her class. Thanks to many of your posts, we were able to tell them all the advantages of ALEKS, include generating quizzes and homework, giving feedbacks to teachers and students, and comparing student�s level to state-specific standards. (Since we are doing EPGY at home, we thought something different at school might offer another way of learning. And the tuition for ALEKS, if registered through school systems, seems to be more reasonable.) This option is nowhere near a definite yes, but we are trying.

4. DD wills stay with her current kindergarten pull-out GT class that occurs once a week for one hour.

5. Continue to work on DD�s thinking, reasoning, and logic skills.

Some other comments during the meeting:
1. Although everyone agreed that DD�s writing skill is developmentally appropriate, it is �lagging� behind her intellectual abilities. This potentially might pose a problem for grade acceleration.

2. DD's GT teacher indicated that during her many years at the school, DD is the first one to obtain a perfect score on ITBS (both reading and math) and CogAT. The GT coordinator said that the district administers the hardest kindergarten level of ITBS, �but it is still kindergarten level.� Not sure what to make of this comment.

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From our point of view, we have mixed feelings about this meeting. We are disappointed that single-subject pull-out is no longer an option at this time. But we are encouraged by the fact that the principle and DD�s teacher are willing to work on providing a differentiated and challenging curriculum.

Depending on what is ultimately �allowed� at school, maybe we need to take a year off to work on DD�s writing skills and continue to progress at her rate in the other subjects.

Thanks for listening....
Mag

My hothead reply is that I'm sorry to hear that your GT coordinators are pompous'! I'd tell him that they obviously need to bring out the first grade test, if a perfect score is not good enough! It is a shame when the GT coordinators are the people who are not advocating for GT needs!.......but, I'll save that rant for another post


I am just curious as to what it meant by writing skills. Are they speaking of handwriting or creative writing?
Very little is creative writing is introduced in most K classes. The main focus is handwriting and sentence structure.
Your DD may only be showing "developmentally appropriate" writing skills because that is all she has ever been required to do. When it comes to writing my DD will take the "quick route" every time, if she is not specifically asked to do her best. I would venture to say that your DD's writing would be most likely improve over the summer break if given the challenge.

(((Hugs)))
It is very good to hear that you teacher and Principal are backing you. That fact alone is encouraging

No - but if the GT coordinator were to admit that it doesn't exist, that might change a lot, not only for your DD but for others. However, "policy"'s different from "law" - on the minus side, a policy might not even be written down but could still exist, on the plus side a policy might be easier to get round! I really would push on this if I were you. Would it maybe work to mention to the principal that you're confused by this comment but didn't liked to bring it up for fear of sounding argumentative? Maybe the principal would be in a better position to ask the GT coordinator about it as a professional query, which might bring to light that the policy/law is fictitious, if it is...

Re the "it's still kindergarten level" comment, is there any reason not to take it at face value? i.e. that achieving perfection on a grade-level test is different from achieving well on an above-level test. (Both ways: GT kids who can do well on above-level tests but still not achieve perfection on grade-level tests are common; you've got the other way round, that perfection on the grade-level tests doesn't tell you how she'd do on an above-level test, although probably you personally could have a good guess.) This matters for acceleration particularly if it's by several years - but if you're just asking for acceleration out of K you'd think perfection on a K level test should do it!

Thanks for the hugs and support.

As far as writing skills... DD6's teacher mentioned a few times during the meetings that DD's work is "quality over quantity." DD is still wearing toddler size gloves (just to give you an idea of how small her hands are). I think writing is just something that we have not worked on much because she gets frustrated with not being able to hold the pencil well and unable to get her hands catch up with her thoughts. Her hands get tired easily. The "claw" seems to help and we also have some large triangle shaped pencils too.

Another concern is what to do with DS4 this fall. DS4 is currently in PreK at the same elementary school DD6 is attending. His recent WPPSI-III and WJ-III-ACH scores indicated that he will likely be following DD6's path. The psychologist who tested both DC indicated in her report that neither would likely learn anything new (except for writing) in kindergarten or first grade. DS is not at all crazy about going back to preschool this fall.

We are wondering about home schooling next year to focus on DC's writing and music (maybe piano lessons might help develop those tiny fingers?) while continue to challenge them in their areas of strength. Then, attempt the public school system again in 2011-2012.

Any thoughts?
Mag

PS: I do like the idea of having the principle ask the district GT coordinator about the law/policy. Let me think how I can mention it to the principle the next time we meet in the hallway. And, thanks for clarifying the difference between law and policy.

That is not true.

http://www.accelerationinstitute.org/Resources/Policy/By_State/Show_Policy.aspx?StateID=51

"�School districts shall provide .. and (4) opportunities to accelerate in areas of strength (�89.3. Student Services)."

A number of school districts do this for GT kids.

Texas has a number of excellent programs but they are isolated within specific school districts. Given that it is many months to the fall start of the 2011 school year, another approach would be to abandon your effort with the current ISD, find an ISD and program in Texas that will take your kids that you like, and then move. You have lots of time to do research and reach a decision but you would have to start now because most ISDs shut down after May.

Since you have Ruf's book, you can look up her school types and then contact TX GT association for a list of level IV and V schools and then start there.

http://www.txgifted.org/

Hi Austin,

Interesting you brought up Texas education law 89.3.... The way they get around it is by saying every child is challenged at his/her level because teachers in this ISD are asked to differentiate students and to provide "acceleration" as deem appropriate within each class.

Another interesting fact is that when I saw the "Level IV" service (IEP) for the gifted students on our ISD's website, I called the District GT coordinator to ask her for the "eligibility" to receive such service. She said, CogAT 150 and above would qualify. I was excited because DD6 happen to have the number. (Of side note, isn't 150 the highest score possible for CogAT?)

But then.... you know the rest of the story.... differentiate within the classroom is what we will get. In a way, it might not be a bad idea since DD's teacher and principle seem more open to suggestions and potentially might be more flexible. We also kind of got a hint that (if we do return to school in the fall), DD's current teacher and principle will try to match DD up with a teacher who will be willing to "differentiate" and to offer "acceleration."

We will see what MAP testing shows and where this takes us.... Even though moving is not an option at this time, I will check out the school list on the Texas GT website.

Thanks again for the input!
Mag

Hi again Mag. I am pming you.