My son is 14 and is a classic *smart* underachiever. According to the standardized tests done when he was younger he is not gifted. The more I read and learn the more I am convinced he is gifted and is not being properly accommodated by the school.

I am waiting for his counselor to return my phone call and I am going to ask that she pull up all of his previous testing so that we can go over it and I am going to request an IQ test. The school has been going off of achievement tests and he is clearly a bored underachiever.

Can any one give me any helpful info to assist me in strong arming the school into testing him? Has anyone else done this?

PS I base my theory on the fact that I was gifted and was an underachiever, my 2 DDs are yet one still struggles in school, and my 3rd DD is highly gifted.....so I am not just pulling this idea out of thin air. I think at this point in his life it is crucial that we get serious and identify his strengths and weaknesses so that we can move him forward into a successful young man.

Advice??

Well, when you say underachieving, do you mean in terms of school grades? Achievement and IQ tests would tell you if he is gifted or capable of doing better. You could also have him take the SAT or ACT. That would be a quick way to get a snapshot of where he is and can be done without the school's involvement.

Yes, I mean grades.

I was under the impression that achievement tests were designed to uncover what the children had learned...am I wrong?

Just had a nice chat with his 8th grade counselor. She is going to pull all of his previous testing for us to look at.
She said that because he scores Advanced and/or Proficient in all of his State testing (CST?) they will not do any further testing on him....but at least if I can get a look at his file maybe I can come to some of my own conclusions and perhaps do some private testing.

Next year is will be going to a much more interesting charter school, so I think he will blossom there. But just in case, I really need to get my head around his strengths and weaknesses so that I can be a better advocate for him.