Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Yet another unyielding school system

What about when everyone use to go to school in a one room school house.? Never a socail issue there. What about the kids that they hold back a year or two or three? Never a social issue there. That has got to be the most frustrating thing to hear is that a child shouldn't skip due to social reasons. I can handle the social issues way better then I can the education part of my child's life.

Hm, I think I come from a slightly different place on this. That school is being absurd. Nevertheless, I believe that school is a place for both academic *and* social learning.

School personnel should never make a blanket statement about how a grade skip will hurt all children socially-- as we know, there are lots of examples where the child fits in better with kids who are closer to being their intellectual peers, even if those kids are much older.

And yet, I think social factors should be weighed with the academic factors in making a decision about placement. I am NOT talking about the imaginary long-term factors (talking about driving when it's a 6 year old makes no sense, for heaven's sake, how do they know who that child will be in 10 years?!)-- but the factors immediately in view for the next year or two. The Iowa Acceleration Scale does a good job of identifying social elements that should be considered and balanced along with academic needs. I don't think we should dismiss this part of a child's life: social development is actually very important for intellectual growth.

My DS, for instance, would be capable of a grade skip academically, but not socially; for now we have settled on subject acceleration as the right solution for him. We'll see how long it works.

What I would like is for school staff to be nuanced enough in their thinking to weigh the needs of each particular child, and educate the child accordingly. Shouldn't be too much to ask.

DeeDee

I completely agree with you DeeDee but the article in question is yet another example of the blanket statements. Do we know this particular child and their social abilities? No,of course not, but by the quoted information from the school authority I have to conclude that they themselves really didn't consider the child on an individual level.

Many teachers and school administrators don't seem to realize that what's right for the vast majority of students is disastrous for small minorities. By way of comparison, no competent doctor would hand out a medication that causes a serious allergic reaction in 2% of the population without checking to see if his patient was allergic first.

This is one of the things that vexes me most about educators, and it's also one of the things that tells me that the field lacks professionalism. Many educators talk confidently about, for example, "research," yet they're clearly speaking about how something affects the majority and are ignorant about the needs of the gifted population. You can't call yourself a professional if you aren't even aware of something that affects 2%-2.5% of the population you serve. Not to mention that the lockstep philosophy is another indicator of lack of knowledge and understanding that's central to the field of education.

Who put these people in charge?

Okay, rant off. I'll send a (much less blunt) message to the administrator and try to help this kid.

Val

Okay, I did it. I wrote her an email.

I sent a link to A Nation Deceived.

Val

The only place other than school where beings of the same age are placed together is a feedlot.

Sarcasm aside, keeping these kids with kids their age stunts their social development.

It would be good to email the administration and CC news/media also. Heh

So by this logic, the girls who develop breasts at age 10 (that's probably normal these days, I'm thinking of the early ones when I was a kid) should be accelerated a couple of years so that they will fit in. (I'm not sure exactly how they would identify boys who needed skipping, and I'm pretty sure I don't want to know.) So then what would happen when they weren't old enough to drive with the rest of the class? These social factors are so very slippery.

As for the actual article that started this thread, I would have to ask Ms. Pyke just what she would consider to be "his peers". Yes, children do well when learning with their peers--the problem is that her definition is strictly age-based.

My girls would be up a creek if they were placing them educationally based upon physical development. Dd9 will be 10 at the end of Sept. and still weighs about 55 lbs and is by far the shortest in her class. I guess that's what happens when you have a dad who is 5'6".

I wonder if all of the media attention on this case will cause the school system to rethink their decision. I also wonder if it is in part based upon the fact that the boy at the center of this situation attended private school up until now. I can imagine that the school system is wondering if he is really as able as he is being portrayed or if the school was teaching easy material and passing him through or if it is a parental ego issue and the grades were bought or coached... I could see a lot of possibilities coming to mind on the end of the ps since they have no personal track record with the child.

I sent Pyke a polite email on Sunday and received a response today. Very straightforward saying only that they do utilize IEPs to tailor students' educational experiences, but she said nothing about this particular child.

... a very non-answer answer ...

Too bad.