Subtitled: What happens when geofizz starts losing sleep over all this.

Background: DS was tested for whole grade acceleration last week by the school psychologist. This was suggested by the school's principal and vice principal in an "intervention" meeting to determine what to do about DS' math needs. DS is an old-for-grade 6 year old kindergartener in a redshirt heavy district. Kindergarten is half days in our district. Going into the meeting we have KTEA-II scores from 8/11 with a 160 in math concepts and applications. After stalling, they placed him in 2nd grade STMath (online program) which he completed in 8 week's time on his own time (no class time given). The most recent intervention meeting was scheduled because I expressed concern about proceeding in this on line manner as it will make it harder and harder to introduce him to classroom learning of mathematics.

Much to my surprise, the principal suggested whole-grade acceleration, then the vice-principal suggested placement in one of the school's 1/2 classes to do 1st grade everything else and 2nd grade math.

The school psychologist did WISC-IV and WJ-III achievement. He gave me WJ-III scores for his current (grade? age? not sure), showing:

Brief Achievement: 146 99.9
Brief Reading: 133 99
Brief Math: 151 >99.9 (subtest applied problems 168)
Brief Writing: 130 98
Academic Skills: 139 99.5
Academic Apps: 142 99.8
subtest vocabulary: 88th percentile

Then he took the same Raw/W scores and produced the report for DS in 1.6 (receiving grade if done immediately)

Brief Achievement: 124 94
Brief Reading: 143 82
Brief Math: 139 99.5 (subtest applied problems 145)
Brief Writing: 105 63 (low subtest spelling 95)
Academic Skills: 117 87
Academic Apps: 125 95
subtest vocabulary 71st percentile

To which he tells me that a skip is not warranted, and we should consider subject acceleration.

Suspecting the anti-skip school psychologist is blowing smoke (if he has to be 95% in the receiving grade, wouldn't he still be just as bored there?), I borrowed the 1st edition of the IAS from the university library. On the Academic Ability and Achievement section, I used his scores to give him 12 points (4 from IQ). I'm guessing some here, because the achievement categories are Vocabulary, total reading, total math, total language, social studies, science, Other.

So that should mean that we should proceed with the rest of the scale as it's >10 points. He gets most of the remaining points, and totaling it most conservatively, I give him a minimum of 51 points, a maximum of 61. This means he's a good candidate for a skip.

BUT, here's the BUT: I've got the 1st edition. The 3rd edition is evidently a bit different, with an additional criterion? I'm looking here in Dottie's post, where there now appears to be an Aptitude section based on above level testing.



Question 1Does this change anything? DS still has the sky-high scores for in grade. He's BORED. The weakest bit will be spelling, something for which he's not received any instruction.

I can't figure out how far "above-level" the tests should be. The manual doesn't say how far. The example in the manual "Jenny" actually shows no above grade level testing, and they arrived at a 2 year acceleration on a child with a nearly identical profile!

Question 2 what test sections can be used for the different categories? The examples seem to draw points from "other" categories that appear to be subtests of the same achievement test.

Question 3 Why does it seem as though the IAS encourages double counting of things? Are you really supposed to take one test, the WJ-III, and run it for two different ages, and then potentially use the data in two places? That seems like it's cheating or oddly back handed.

Additional info:
We have documented a huge amount of growth since August 2011 (KTEA-II) post here, and we have AIMS Web scores that put his phonological processing in January 2012 in the >99.5 percentile (compare to Aug scores) . His written expression in August was an 87, and was limited to writing letters. Now it's a 130 on the WJ 7 months later, showing DS' response to being given access to education.

I don't have the book in front of me, but my interpretation is that "above level" means "receiving grade," ie. your second set of test results.

I'm hoping Dottie or another test expert pops in, but when you test someone on WJ-III and WISC for a grade skip, you do NOT plop there scores into the next age/grade level; you use the scores of your kid in his grade level. I believe that your kiddo, at age 6, would be old enough for those tests.

Does your school have a copy of the IAS? Which version? If they don't, I would bring in your worksheet on your version, and ask them how they could come up with such a different result.

My DS's school, at the the time of the skip, used NWEA MAP score for the above level testing. It wasn't one of the "recommended" IAS tests, but since they had norms (not grade equivalents) for all the way up through 12th grade, the school was happy substituting it. Before they would consider a skip, they wanted to see him scoring 95th percentile for the receiving grade.

I don't have our paperwork anymore but I'm pretty sure they used IQ for Ability, NWEA tests for Aptitute and both WIAT and current NWEA scores for his grade level for Achievement.

As for whether not they would be bored, I've seen varying research. In general, the idea is that you want the child to still be in the top 15% (give or take) of the receiving grade. You do not want to skip a child who will be suddenly struggling and the general estimate is to skip them only if they will still be in the top of the receiving grade classroom.

Absolutely Dottie! And even with kids that test in the 95th percentile for the receiving grade, there is still an adjustment period. I found in particular for my DS, who did a mid-year skip from 1st to 2nd, that the sheer volume of writing was difficult. While he was easily able to bubble in tests (or click on the right answer on the computer), producing the volume of work was difficult. He still tested at 95th percentile for the grade ABOVE the receiving grade, but there is simply no way he would have physically been able to keep up with the "work product" of a two year skip.

My thoughts have always been that a child who finishes the year with 85th is still going on to the next grade, without a doubt. So the skipping child will just have to face a little challenge to catch up. Isn't that the point anyway?

All that said, my DS is now a 4th grader on paper, homeschooling at 6th grade across the board with 7th grade math and 7th grade writing ability and high school level reading material. But he still prints like a 3rd grader. He'll always be a conundrum for a classroom teacher!

Wow, thanks for all the responses.

Dottie, so you're telling me that the WJ isn't to be used at all for the achievement or aptitude part?!? Is there a listing of the tests that are ok for kindergarteners? The school gives the TerraNova to second graders in April, which is the first test they give in the district.

Is there anywhere in the manual itself that lists appropriate tests or explains that WJ isn't appropriate?

FSIQ=141 with no weak area (all index 126-141; no subtest scores under 13)

Oh, good, grief.

The state requires use of the IAS, though it's not that clear if it requires the district follow the recommendations. So the school is familiar with the IAS, but I wouldn't put it past them to purposely misinterpret or misapply it.

DS has taken the district's internal math test (scoring 2nd to beyond 2nd grade in October -- before the 10000 math puzzles of STMath), and DRA at the ceiling (limited to 1+ grade level). Besides that, you can see all the other tests he's taken.

Honestly, before going into this, I was clear that math had to change. I was frustrated with the pace of language arts instruction, but didn't seem to think a change was so needed. The principal convinced me! The test scores sealed the deal, particularly in light of how much progress he's made this year. Goodness, he was mostly deaf for 8+ months of his first 2 years and severely language delayed. The VCI (126) is way above the equivalent verbal index when he was discharged from speech therapy 18 months ago (110). While we still have lingering doubts about speech quirks, they now seem more and more a consequence of unusual speech topics and vocabulary.

Now what? We have a meeting scheduled now for the 15th to do the IAS and decide on a change. That's the last day before spring break, after which there are 10 weeks left in the school year. What I was previously feeling of an urgency to make a change because of a marginal kindergarten teacher, I'm not wondering if it's just grossly inappropriate instruction. The poor kid says he loves school -- he just wishes he could learn something while there.

Another way around my question: Is the Aptitude bit even necessary if we're getting >10 points with achievement and IQ?

That's right about where my dd13 was when she skipped. She was tested on grade level achievement right after skipping and her math scores were right around low 90s if I recall correctly (that was her stand out low) and she was still 99th for reading. I don't think that they tested anything else.

I was going to say, though, that my recall was that the IAS isn't very specific as to how above grade level the aptitude test needed to be. Dd took the EXPLORE. She was in 4th and skipping 5th, so it was 4 grades above level and she certainly wasn't in the 95th on any part of it. She was close on one or two parts, but there were parts (math again) where I can't recall if she even came in average for an 8th grader.

I'd say, "no." My dd's skip was approved by the district before we even had the above level test scores in b/c she clearly qualified on the rest of it and had the 10+ pts without it, like your ds.

With an IQ in the range you've got plus him being old for grade, I can't imagine that a skip would be a poor idea unless there are other social issues. It sounds like they are setting an impossible hurdle.

I'm looking at it now.
For Achievement, the listed tests are:
Stanford Diagnostic Math
Stanford Reading
Woodstock Johnson III Achievement
CAT
ITBS
Other

Ok, so for those familiar with the scoring, how many points do you give him for the AAA section?

Thanks, Dottie! Our initial request was a double subject acceleration in math (to 2nd grade math now). The school suggested the whole grade acceleration with an additional math acceleration (1/2 split).

I'm actually puzzled by the "low" vocabulary score. He doesn't have a small vocabulary, and he seems to have really strong skills in gaining new words. It's listed last in the subtest scores. Considering how many math problems he must have solved, I might just chalk it up to being tired. He missed recess that day because of the WJ testing, so he worked at it for over 90 minutes. But if he really doesn't have as big a vocabulary as I think he does, then I share your concern. Vocab on the WISC-IV was a scaled score of 15 (95th percentile).

From where I sit, it looks like the test scores indicate that he's well beyond the reach of differentiation in everything in the kindergarten year, but not quite "ideal" for moving into first immediately. On my now several readings of the IAS (1st ed), it seems as though there's a wide gap between kids who can be effectively served with differentiation and those demanding a skip.

Oh, thank you Dottie for that thoughtful piece about the "down the road" topics to consider. We did skip our son from middle of 1st to middle of 2nd, and now that he is in middle school, I am having the slightest regrets.

Perhaps most importantly, I'm wondering, "What was the point?" A single grade skip did not make school that much more challenging. Only in the very shortest term--perhaps a month or two were challenging! Then it was still all pretty easy for him anyway. I think once a kid fills in whatever gaps they'd have in doing the skip, if they are truly gifted, regular school is simply not going to be particularly challenging.

So, given that nothing would make school as challenging as ability-grouping would, I can't say I saw a big benefit. So the downsides:

* Yes, sports. My son really does enjoy sports, and he is pretty good at them. Not in a super-star, will-get-recruited-to-a-Division 1 university-kind-of-way, but at a level that if he was playing in his original grade, he would be in the top 15%, and probably LOVE that. Instead, he's probably just a bit above average in his current grade. One year of physical development--especially when one takes puberty growth in to consideration--makes a HUGE difference. Sports are not necessarily the center of our world, but if your child likes them, there are SO many positives to being involved. As of now, when I look towards him being in high school, I think it is a big "if" whether he will make the high school teams that he'd want to be on, whereas if he stayed in his grade, it would be no question.

* Dating: not just, as Dottie mentioned, about their opportunities (looking younger than the girls in their grade), but also being exposed to stuff perhaps before they are ready, or need to be ready. I'm somewhat horrified to discover some of things going on in my town with 8th & 9th graders, so an extra year away from that would be a good thing in my mind. I think these issues are the ones that trouble me most--I am in no hurry for him to grow up extra quickly on these types of "sophistication" topics!!

* I hadn't really thought about the academic competitions, but of course this is something to think about! For example, I think for so many of these kids, their vocabularies develop so much on their own, through their reading. An extra year of that makes a difference!

* But it isn't all about competition, of course. It's about fitting into a happy place for you. It is just that I think it is important to think of that place beyond elementary school. I am also not sure I fully regret my decision--I probably would do it again, given the chance--but I would be FAR LESS BLASE about it!!! Middle School has made other issues apparent, that I seldom see addressed on these forums.

Well, there is a difference between 'soul-sucking brain-crushingly' bored and 'really, quite bored.'

To be honest, neither sounds that great to me. As kids get older, they are more easily able to deal with mild, intermittient boredom, and I do think it's fine to expect a bit of that as part of the overall good package, just so kids don't get the idea that they are so fragile that everything has to be perfect at all times.

But for sure, in the ideal world kids would get to do their academic learning right alongside with other kids who are their same age and same zone of proximal development.

I have no idea how to do that in small towns, but once the population gets dense enough, I don't see any excuse not to cluster group or school within a school kids with unusual zones of proximal development.

For us the skip was really helpful, but it traded the problems of a PG kid for the problems of a gifted kid, and that left a dry sad taste in my mounth. I feel lucky that we were able to undo the grade skip once it became clear that it was needed due to the 2E issues.

((shrugs))
Grinity

I am humbled by the time you all have spent in trying to help out a stranger in such a tough decision. Thank you.

FWIW, I skipped 3rd with an additional math acceleration. I asked my mom, since I had the perception that maybe they shouldn't have done it. Her response was that the only thing she wished had gone differently was that it happened in kindergarten when it was clear there was a problem.

My husband's parents turned down a request from the school to skip him over 3rd grade. In consulting with my MIL, she says that had they would have done it in kindergarten if the option had been available. She felt 3rd was too late.

*Sports: Sadly, school sports here are so competitive that kids can't make any team unless they join elite travel teams by 3rd grade or so. While we're contemplating a not-as-elite soccer team for DD next year (for 5th grade), these teams are not compatible with my family's priorities. By not red shirting my kids, they're already largely cut out of this. It really makes me sad. I'm thinking we're going to be more of a marching band family.

*Dating. So you're saying I can't ostrich this issue?

*Valedictorian. I was in the top 5% of my graduating class (elite all girl's college prep, >50% now have an MD, JD or PhD). So I'm struggling to see this as an issue. (Yes, I know I'm one anecdote.) Indeed, high GPA is as much a function of executive function as outright smarts. I'm thinking at this point that keeping him engaged in the learning process will set us ahead in this regard. Another thing for me to think through is that he will also be having college credits by 8-10th grade if he maintains on his math trajectory based on how how we plan it out. (There's a route to calculus by 9th grade with the skip --8th without-- in the district if we so choose to pursue it, plus the principal has already said that he anticipates having to do additional accelerations on top of the district's 3 compacting options.) Tea leaves anyone?

*Competitions. Interesting. I hadn't contemplated that one. We might have to ponder how important we see that. For the 6 year old I've got right now, he's more a Deep Springs College kid than a Harvard kid. That being said, I am in my current career in part because I won a math contest at Expanding Your Horizons (after attending one of the geekiest colleges on the planet). (Sidebar, anyone with a middle school daughter should seek EYH out.)


Grinity, yeah, cluster grouping seems like a no brainer for this school. Each class in this rich neighborhood has 120 kids! There's plenty for a high performing/gifted cluster class. That seems to be actively discouraged from the school board on down.

I think our primary, driving factor will be to keep him engaged enough in the learning process to maintain a healthy self-concept and healthy approach to school. We see him slowly extinguishing now in the second half of his kindergarten year.

It isn't too late, just less optimal than earlier. For multi-skip needing kids, 'adjustments' have to be made all down the line.
Agree, Agree - I think this gives you your answer now - no point in worrying about what might be lost when there is something palpable being lost right now. I think that in a district that has compacting options for Calculus in 9th grade as a regular thing that a single skip is likely to help quite a bit. Even without clustering, your local neighborhood schools seem ready for bright kids. (Oh yeah, it was the Principle who suggested the skip in the first place, right?)

For us, this 'healthy relationship with learning' was the main guide, and even though there wasn't anything that we could do to hothouse DS's EF skills to where he could compete with kids a year or two older, the attempt to do that was enough to make him a EF success when placed with bright agemates in a 'discussion heavy' academic environment. And it is sweet to see DS have the kind of positive academic feedback that he's always yearned for. First he got praise for 'baby stuff' and didn't get increased self-esteem, then finally he had to really work, and didn't have the EF to do well enough to get that praise and positive feedback, so, again, no increased self-esteem. Right now he's in the sweet spot, having big enough challenge to both intellectual skills and EF skills, plus extracurricular fun, and lots of needed social learning - so there is hope. The key is flexibility........

Smiles,
Grinity

On the topic of sports, there are opportunities for that outside of the school environment, where all the kids are grouped by age and/or ability, without respect to school grade.

My DD does soccer (age) and gymnastics (ability). We looked at putting her in softball (age) when soccer winds down, but we found out this league is famous for its psycho parents and coaches.

Dude, community soccer here is the strangest thing ever -- it goes by grade. Elite soccer goes by U(age) systems. But yes, for most things I'm aware of, out-of-school sports goes by age or ability. And again, he's coming out to be a more individual sport/chess/music kid than team sport kid. Certainly things can change, of course.

Grinity, the compacting options are maybe counting a few flocks of chickens before the single egg is hatched -- these are proposed options right now before the school board. Only one is fully established. There will be some massive scheduling problems/impossibilities with at least one of the proposed options.

Yes, the principal suggested the skip, and he has said in no uncertain terms that DS' math talent needs to be nurtured. The school psychologist has recommended against the skip, but for the subject acceleration.

DS got the whole family's executive skills. Seriously, he drained all mine during pregnancy and took them for himself. I'm genuinely not concerned, especially since the parenting habits have been established on his older sister, who got none of those genes.

With the principal in favor of the grade skip, I'm guessing you'll get it, and I wouldn't let the school psych's opinion worry me too much - but fwiw, I'm coming from a place of having not-so-great experiences with our local school psychs! Before your meeting, think through all of your reasons for wanting the skip, think through the reasons the psych will put up for not doing the skip, and rehearse what you will say in response (polite but firm responses). We've found in advocating for our ds that just standing firm when a school staff person is attempting to intimidate us or push a perspective we strongly disagree with often works. If you want the skip and run into a brick wall with the psych, I'd ask the school for an outside private eval with a different psych.

Good luck!

polarbear

My dd13 is in a somewhat similar situation as Dottie's ds13, but he's a tad younger and probably a good deal brighter . Mine started K as the youngest in grade with a bd that just made the cut. She skipped later (5th), but probably should have sooner b/c it had gotten to the point where her work habits were truly suffering and she was spending a good bit of her school day tutoring other kids.

Mine is also now in 9th grade. She was 12 at the start of the year, too, but turned 13 not too long after this school year started. As a girl, and a girl whose sports interests are really atypical (she's open water SCUBA certified, for instance, but doesn't do team sports), that hasn't been an issue for her at all.

We have seen the academic & talent search competitions issue. She has still rec'd awards for her grade in talent search and won a regional writing competition last year for her grade, but I'm pretty sure her awards would have been highest honors or high score vs. honors if she had been 1-2 grade lower in placement. None the less, I can't see placing a child inappropriately in order to increase her odds of winning academic contests.

While she is a later developer, she has grown tremendously over the past three years and I'm quite sure that she doesn't stand out as younger than the other high school freshman. Re dating, she did have a 17 yr old boy ask her if she was 15 or 16 this year. Fortunately, when she told him she was 13, he was wise enough to realize that she isn't dating material. I suspect that it is more of a problem for boys to be younger in terms of dating possibilities in high school. For girls, it is more an issue of not getting involved in dating relationships where there is a power differential due to age differences.

We, too, did not find the skip to put dd in with a group of peers in and of itself. The other kids are not HG just b/c they are older than her. She still has some significant frustrations with others' work ethic, cheating, reasoning processes, etc. In her strong subjects, language arts in particular, I can probably reasonably say that dd has only had two or three years of her entire schooling experience where she'd had a teacher who has taught her anything at all.

It is still better than the alternative and the sheer quantity of work that she's experienced post-skip has done a lot for her in terms of learning how to manage her time. She has the coupling of lower processing speed and a school system that equates rigor with quantity especially in middle and high school.

lol! I was thinking the same thing, but when you get HG and PG people together, I worry about children with disabilities b/c there may be too many atypical genes in the mix!

There are certainly areas where my dd is learning. Taking the 10th grade science course along with the 9th grade one this year, although it made her schedule very heavy, was a good thing b/c she feels like she is learning a good amount in that class, for instance. Her main frustration has been in the language arts realm where learning has been limited for most of her schooling experience or more related to stuff she would have picked up on her own w/out going to school.

Language arts subject acceleration is really almost never offered. For kids who are really strong in math, there is always the option for subject acceleration in math on top of the grade skip which can better meet the needs of a kid for whom that is a major strength. My dd has been fine with the year acceleration in math, but really doesn't need to subject accelerate further there.

First of all, I love the IAS. Give me a codified set of criteria, and I can deal with the process much easier. I would recommend obtaining a copy, especially if you suspect there might be more than one round of acceleration discussions.

As for...
Sports: my DD as now been skipped twice (skipped 2nd and 6th). During the summer swim season this is not an issue as they group by age, but during the school year it is by grade (of course). We’ve told our DD to keep her performance in perspective – that until high school the girls beating her are doing it as much by size as technique. The girls that are barely beating her now, she’ll crush once they’ve stopped growing and she continues to grow (of course, were she a boy, this argument wouldn’t work as well since boys continue to grow even into college ages).

Academic competitions: put it into perspective for your kid. Ask her - do you want to appear to be the brightest by winning the award, or do you want to know you’re the brightest by barely missing the award while being two years younger?

Class rank: meh. Not important and overblown. Around here a class of 400 kids will have 20 (or more) valedictorians. Heck, the valedictorian of my graduating class got her 4.0 from avoiding any challenging classes. I’d rather have my kid challenged and really learning than to have her worry about the appearance of learning.

Dating: My wife and I informed my DD that she is not allowed (when old enough to do so) to date anyone from a class above hers. She is also not allowed to date any AK/red-shirted kids from her own grade. My DD’s older sister, who was not a party to the first discussion, gave her a similar set of ground rules.

Hear, hear. I’ve been saying for most of the last year, one of the best things about my DD skipping 6th grade is that she will have one less year of middle school.

--S.F.

Yes, thank you to all of you. I've greatly appreciated being pushed on my assumptions and having people thoughtfully contributing.

Our meeting is now pushed up to tomorrow morning. Earlier this week, they'd scheduled it for next week, then immediately canceled it. Oddly, they seem to have changed their decision on who the receiving teacher might be. I've now got a copy of the 3rd edition of the IAS, and I get the same 10 points for Dottie. Total, I get 60 points, making him a solid candidate.

update: They double counted DS' scores in both the achievement (by current grade) and aptitude (by receiving grade) to give him an AAAA score of 15. I didn't correct them. They also hid from me the criteria used to determine the score, and I simply kept my bootlegged copy hidden.

So, we're happy there. DS came out as an excellent candidate for acceleration.

Here's where we're not happy. They've now reversed themselves on where he belongs in math. Because of a relative weakness in writing, they won't put him in 2nd grade math this year or in 3rd grade next year. They want to take him out of the second hour of kindergarten (when writing instruction happens) to put him in 1st grade math. The kindergarten teacher says she'll flip the schedule so that he doesn't miss the writing instruction by going to math but ARGH with this plan, he won't ever be learning math at school. First grade is still single digit addition and subtraction. What could be more boring than an hour a day of that?!?

We've consented to next year's acceleration, but not the math plan. I'm going to observe the classes to see if I can convince myself 2nd grade will have too much writing.

My older DD is having struggles with math right now by reason of a disorder of written expression, and they are using DD's struggles as means to deny DS what he needs.

Anyone know if Dr. Assouline takes phone calls?

Go You!

Observation is the best way.

bummer - what about giving DD accomidations so she can achieve at her intellectual level as well?
I know Dr. A answers emails.

Keep moving forward, it's a marathon, not a sprint, excellent teachers make a huge difference, flexibility is key!

Yippee-
Grinity

Thanks. I'll email Dr. A, and DS' DYS application just notched itself up in priority.

On DD, the school first said that they were going to fast track her to an IEP, but now they seem to be working to use their whole 60 days. I'm meeting with an advocate this afternoon. For now, I have the gifted math teacher semi on board, but it will remain an uphill battle, as the gifted teacher is unfamiliar with this type of struggle.

Tutoring begins next month, which may or may not address the cross over issues into math. The writing issues are indeed more pressing, and I think I can make the case that she should not have one of her math accelerations (she has 2) reversed.

Other than our face-to-face when she presented her report, all of my contact with Dr. Assouline was via email or through her assistant (Nancy), but she is good about returning emails. And overall she is a great person to work with. I would very much recommend her services.
--S.F.

Good news re: the skip, not so good re: math. This sounds very familiar to our DS's situation. He was doing 2nd grade math with the GT coordinator in 1st school, and then was granted a grade skip (resulting in going to a new school in the district). When we got to 2nd school, 2nd grade, they did not know that DS had already done most of the same 2nd grade math they were now teaching him. It was a huge rigamarole, and they said they couldn't advance him to 3rd grade math because his writing was so poor. Grrrr. They finally agreed to let him pretest out of units and meet with the GT teacher for math, but at that point we enrolled DS in another district, where they would happily teach him 3rd grade math as a 2nd grader, and they had zero problems with the fact that his writing was below level. Any chance your DS can get pullouts at his level for math?

Congrats on your advocacy!

UPDATE!!!!

The advocate got it done in one half hour phone call after I spent two hours observing 1st and 2nd grade math. DS goes into 2nd grade math after spring break with a hand-picked teacher. He gets her NEXT YEAR TOO!!! DS knows just one kid in this year's first grade. I observed a first grade class yesterday, and low and behold, the 1 kid in the class I ID'd as gifted is the kid DS knows and likes. (They're in chess together). So that kid will be placed in DS' class next year as well. I'm so excited. The plan for now is that he'll have to do 1 qtr of 2nd grade math next year and then we'll assess if it's ok to move him to 3rd grade math.

AND the advocate got assurances and made progress on my most pressing concerns about DD as well. All in one half hour phone conversation with the VP.

I'm over the moon, and I feel 10 pounds lighter.

Woo hoo! So happy for you and your DS. Excellent work, and good advice to go spend time in the classrooms.

Love it!
What process did you use to find and choose your advocate. What do you think the advocate brought to the table?

Smiles
Grinity

I chose the advocate on the recommendation of a friend who has 2e children. The advocate has a lot of experience with the district and knows the people involved. Both parents and administration genuinely seem to respect her and welcome working with her. There's another advocate I talked to who also seemed to have a great reputation in the district amongst both parents and administration, but she seemed less familiar with the gifted piece and has a demeanor that made my teeth itch.

In short, I'm again reaping the benefits of being (moderately) open about my kids' needs with other parents. It's a tight rope to walk, but once again, I'm learning that my best network at the school is the network of parents with children with special needs. As a group, they are empathetic, collaborative, and genuinely concerned when hearing *any* kid's needs are going unmet.