Last year was so tough for DS, that we finally moved him to a another school. 4th grade has been so much better at this new school, and we now have our happy go lucky boy back again. He has not been receiving the enrichment that he was at his old school. We have not brought this up to the school yet mainly because we were giving DS space to adjust to the new school, which he has done an amazing job of.

We have our first IEP review meeting at the new school tomorrow, and we would like to address the enrichment piece. I ran into the special ed teacher in the hall a couple of days ago, and she stopped me to tell me that she expected that many of DS current accommodations would not be needed, since they are not seeing any concerning classroom behaviors.She did not want me to be shocked that they planned on take away so many. I was in a hurry so I didn't get a chance to process what she was saying. However, I tend to think that maybe he is doing so much better BECAUSE of the accommodations.

Then I just got an email from her saying DS's classroom teacher will not be able to attend, but that we can meet for the review anyway.So I emailed the classroom teacher about Math enrichment for DS. In his old school he was part of a pull out enrichment Math group (he has been since 1st grade). At the new school he is not, even though there is one. He lowest Math grade all year has been a 97%. He finishes the work quickly and has a solid understanding of the underlining concepts.He spends most the classroom math time doing busy work since he finishes so quickly (Reading/drawing.)However the classroom teacher emailed me back saying that the pull out group does 5th grade level Math. DS scored 62% at the beginning of the school year on the pretest 4th grade math material that he knew.(No idea which pre-test they used)
But sh also reports that he is he the top student in her Math groups. I know that DS might not have encountered all of the material yet. But his classroom work shows he only needs to see concepts once or twice before mastering them. This is something that we had specifically addressed at his old school.

This is also backed up by DS'S evaluation results specifically the concepts formation sub-test scores. It seems as if basically they are saying that unless he can prove that he knows all of the material at the beginning of each grade, he can not be provided Math enrichment. We are more then willing to work with him at home to fill in the gaps for material he has not encountered yet.
I guess my question is, has anyone else encountered this approach to enrichment? We would be grateful, for any advice at all, about how to get the school to understand our point of view!

I wouldn't meet without the teacher present.

You are not describing a math "enrichment" program so much as an acceleration.

Yeah, if the classroom teacher can't attend, I would reschedule the meeting rather than go forward without her. Or have it, but document every.single.time they say, "I don't know," and then request another one with her in attendance as soon as its over.

I would think the teacher and the parent/s would be the must attend people.

Not sure how things work in your jurisdiction, but here the enrichment/acceleration issue would be addressed outside the IEP. I agree with others in recommending that you reschedule the IEP meeting so his teacher can attend. Remember just because the team is recommending reduction of acccomodations doesn't mean that you must agree or sign on the dotted line. If you feel that the team has a reasonable basis for their recommendation, you can still insist on a substantial trial period without formally removing the accomodations. As for the enrichment pull-out, it would be helpful for you to get specific information regarding the content and qualification guidelines/deadlines before advocating. It is possible that this school's program is set up very differently from the former school's program. I don't mean to imply that your DS wouldn't qualify, only that knowledge is power if you want to prevail.

The child given a new wheelchair is getting around so much better...obviously she doesn't need it anymore let's take it away....gee wiz don't let them do it...start mentioning rescheduling when the classroom teacher and your lawyer (even if you don't have one) can be present.

We were asked to sign a form excusing classroom teacher's attendance because she was a required participant. We declined and insisted the meeting be rescheduled. They tried hard to convince us that the principal (ha-ha) would fill her in on what she missed but we stood firm and they rescheduled. I know I am quite jaded but I would say no way, no how to meeting without the teacher.

And about dropping the supports... "Umm... No I don't think so. Let's try adding the math enrichment and see how he does. One we can see how he is handling appropriately challenging work we can see about phasing out some of the supports that have become obsolete. Let's not put the cart before the horse here. You know it's important to set him up for success." Etc...

And as Sweetie said the wheelchair analogy is always effective. Good luck.

Thank you for your responses! We just got back from the meeting. It actually went much better then I thought it would. The biggest change in his IEP is that we will no longer receive OT.
This is fine with us, his goal for the year had been to type at a certain speed, and he reached this. They are providing him a laptop instead of the word processor that he had been using. They no longer expect him to produce handwritten work.
They also removed the behavior plan. Which I comfortable with since they did leave in all the accommodations relating to giving him a break and a quite space when needed. We were also able to successfully advocate that the do not remove his need for an alternative testing space. He sub-vocalizes as he thinks, this is a huge part of his thinking process, but can be disturbing to others.

His Classroom teacher did send along ALL his test scores from the beginning of the year. This gave us much more insight. His math and reading scores from the 3rd grade PSSA were both advanced. They gave the STAR test at the beginning of the year and he scores 6.8 for Math and 6.7 for reading. They also took the 4SIGHT test (I had never heard of this one, but it is used as PSSA performance predictor. He got a Math advanced 80 and reading advanced 75. Lastly his DRA2 score from the beginning of the year was LATE 60 grade equivalent 6. We feel that clearly he should be in the pullout Math. The classroom teachers notes also mentioned that he is in the top spelling, reading and math groups for her class. Ultimately though DH and I have decided not to rock the boat since everything is going so well. DS is, for the most part happy and balanced. Something we could not have dreamed of at the last school.DH and I have agreed to do things their way, meaning that we will continue enrichment home. We will make sure he is exposed to the 5th grade material during the summer, and he should be able to test into the Math group for the Fall. I guess if Mohammed will not go to the mountain, the mountain must come to Mohammed.

Congratulations! You are doing a great job. We have never had that kind of success and are always talking about the timing of a move out of our district. I am in awe. Great Work!