After years of "struggle" and not "adamantly" advocate for DS' academic needs, but rather just let him learn at home at his own will while being bored at school, finally we have got something moving.

In the fall of 2009, we moved him to a GT magnet school in a different school district. He was miserable over there with both the teachers and other fourth-graders in the classroom. (He got along with fifth graders in the same classroom just fine). The pace was still slow over there. His test results were excellent over there, but overall grades were dragged down due to forgetting taking home the homework, or turning those in late, or not allowed to participate in graded class-time discussions/activities due to his "behavioral" issue. (Kids got bad exam results were yet allowed to take the tests again). He was the scapegoat most of the time and other kids caught on quick to tease him.

We were so frustrated in the tone of communication from the teachers (both written and verbal). We bit the bullet to do the assessment and consultation with Dr. Ruf and also applied for DYS looking for advocacy help. The results show that he definitely is at Leve-4 LOG and he also got accepted as a DYS. With the GT magnet school teacher did not even want to hear about what his WIAT scores are and could care less what he had done in a month at home on EPGY math, we decided to move him back to his original school starting after the New Year. In the meantime, he got his annual SCAT results back with 99pctl in math and 95pctl in reading, testing as a fourth grader. How the district GT coordinator stood by her teachers was disheartening as well.

So DS has been back to his original school since 1/4. But this time around, I was more upfront in what I am looking for. I showed them what he is doing with EPGY, all his assessment scores, and what concepts he has covered so far. Yes, he is still in a 4th grade classroom, but these are mostly the top kids at the school. He and couple other kids go to the GT enrichment sessions together, and three of them also do language somewhat differently from the other kids in the classroom. They also ability group math classes for the whole grade. But the second week of the school, he started talking about how to do things differently in the math class while the teacher was teaching one method. That sure got other kids who were learning new things confused. He received his consequence for his disruptive behavior from the math teacher. However, if it were for his "self-advocacy" and especially the understanding and approach the math teacher took, I would not have been here to write about this progress. The math teacher asked me to send her the list of math concepts that have been covered at home, and started giving him tests through grade 5 during instruction time :-) along with a MAP test. With those test outcome, he was then given WJ-III math component with broad score of 169 (lowered due to lower fluency score). The GT teacher and math teacher asked for a meeting with me on those results and showed me the flow chart on where they are on the subject acceleration process of the school district, and they were looking at moving him into the grade6 math class. Still couple more steps to go. But I said at the meeting that I would like to also request the assessment for grade acceleration and signed off on the applications the next morning.
He has just passed Orleans-Hanna with flying color and has been tested on end of 6th grade and 7th grade math of the school district curriculum, and got 83% and 70%. If he got one more problem correct, he would have passed the 6th grade test as well based on the "official" criteria. However, I think finishing up the 6th grade concept is right where he is, as that corresponds to his progress with EPGY. I just talked to the school GT teacher this morning and they still have to formalize the math placement, then we need to work out the transportation to the middle school during the day. (Both DH and I need to commute to work with at least 1-hr each way. The elementary and middle schools are not together. Neither are "busable" from our neighborhood). The grade acceleration assessment will not take place until the math acceleration is formalized and worked out, and assessment has to be done using their own process flow.

So no, we are not at a place that is really matching DS' ability and needs yet, but we are getting there, one step at a time. He is again a happy kid and he is now motivated to move ahead and learn more. We went to a local DYS get-together and he had a blast with another kid, and I learned of a lot of fun activities to do for him as well. We are plugging along and I keep the communication going with the school. It has been a learning experience so far, and I wish I had been brave enough to advocate for him in the past several years, but I am going to work hard to get that positive vibe going ...

This community has given me so much support over time. Many of you on the 2e board have given me so much encouragement and suggestions, Grinity, hkc75, Chris1234, benny, to name a few. Dottie, thanks for encouraging me to go ahead and apply for DYS (and linking my posts). Inky, when DS told me 269 on MAP-math, I could not wait to get to the link that you have provided on the results. Melissa, thank you for making EPGY affordable for us. I will sure posting back on our progress ...

Wooohooo!!!! Great job Mom!!! Keep us posted.

Yay! What a wonderful story!

Your son's story is very similar to my DS9's. (except for the part that we are still struggling to figure out what to do with his current school situation. ) It is very encouraging to hear your success story. Thank you for sharing with us. keep up the good work, MNTCMom!

I am so glad to see things happening for your son! Keep up the good work and please continue to share.

Hurray! Love hearing those success stories!

Congratulations!

What a wonderful update and it's still a work in progress. I am sure this will encourage so many others who are just starting to advocate for their children.

Jen

Well done! thats a lot of steps in the right direction. well done!

Well done! thats a lot of steps in the right direction. well done!

Glad things are moving in the right direction and that we've been able to help each other put the pieces together. Thanks Davidson for providing this board so we don't have to spin our wheels on our own!

What an inspiring post. Big pat on the back for you!

Hello, I would like to do a report back as of where we are.

On the subject of math acceleration, they decided to let him do independent study at his current school during math period. He got a 6th grade math text book. Every day, page numbers of daily topic and homework assignment are emailed over to school from a 6th grade volunteering math teacher. He finishes his homework and the school GT coordinator faxes it back to the math teacher. For the extra time he has during the math period, he gets to do EPGY. The math teacher visits him once a week. After couple visits he decided to help him cover the "gap" areas of 7th grade math (based on his acceleration assessment results) with the 7th grade math text book instead of ending the school year finishing up the regular 6th grade math curriculum. DS loves the interaction that he has with the math teacher. (I totally can feel the love of DS from that teacher after my meeting yesterday -- later).

Several weeks ago, while I was expecting more testing for his grade acceleration assessment, we were just informed of the decision that he would be accelerated to 6th (middle school in our SD) next year, as the WIAT-II results I shared with the school were accepted. The school GT coordinator and I actually had discussed about IAS during my request. I even got a copy through inter-library loan. Well, I was pleasantly surprised. I went back for a meeting to discuss the process that they had gone through, and talked about concerns that I might have, and "signed on the dotted line". DS has been excited, to say the least ...

So yesterday was my transition meeting at the middle school, called upon by the current school GT coordinator. From the middle school principal and GT coodinator, it is a "no-brainer" to have the current math teacher as his home room teacher in the fall. The math teacher was genuinely happy to hear that at the meeting, even though DS will not do math with him then. DS will also be placed with 7th grade accelerated math, which is going to be algebra I, just as I have envisioned. Because the middle school is not our neighborhood one (2mile vs 4mile) to make busing possible, they even worked out an after-school care alternative at my request. I think his writing will be where he should be; while he can still be ahead in other subjects, he and I both agree that he should see how his 6th grade experience goes, especially with the connection now that he has established with that teacher. And the teacher teaches chess; DS is in desperate need of a chess coach.

Things are looking positive for us. I also know we will need to assess how his needs are being matched periodically. Two things I definitely will carry on from this experience are (1)speak up with gut feelings (2)keep the communication going with information and/or data. It is never too late for advocacy, OTOH, it also begs for perseverance of finding doors that let you in (teachers/administrators that understand the needs of the kid). I know it is still an adventure down the road, but I feel excited about it, and I can look at my past agonies with a smile. We are all here for a ride (of some sort) .

Read this and it made me curious as to how things are a year later. Hope all is well.

momto2ms,
"submit" gave me a blank page, so hopefully I am not posting twice here. Well, in general, things are moving in the right direction. DS actually advocated for himself when he started math at middle school. Now he is taking Algebra 2. His HS classmates totally accept him and his teacher is just wonderful. Next year, he will also be accelerated in science. The middle school does not quite ability group for classes, but he does have other kids of similar ability in his classes. He still has behavioral issues, such as like being a class clown, too slow following instructions, "telling" teacher he is bored. I am working with him to get his personality and asynchronous development under control. Overall, the school works with me; but it is hard to ask every teacher to differentiate their teaching to match his ability, given 30+ kids on the entire spectrum of ability in each class. He and I treasure moments when he tells me he has learned something new at school when I pick him up after school. I am thrilled about how much his PE teacher adores him. DS is literally the smallest (i.e. age and size) in PE class, so maybe his effort really shows there, and his grade isn't shabby, either.

Glad to hear the update... We are in a similar place with dd9. She will probably be in a similar situation. They can work with her for 5/6, but by 7th grade she will have exhausted the middle school curriculum and will have to spend at least part of her day at the high school. How has your son managed the high school environment? That's my biggest concern... My 12 year old with 15-16 year olds.

DS does his high school part first thing in the morning. Then he goes back to middle school for the rest of the day. The only HS students he has interaction with are those in his honors class. They sometimes work in groups and correct homework for each other. They actually like listening to his ideas when working in groups and accept him just as their regular classmate. But this really is not enough social interaction at HS for me to give you an accurate take. I think taking the classes with high school students will be just fine for your DD when the time comes, especially for STEM classes. (OTOH I even requested the MS to excuse DS for health classes).