The middle schools are basing their expectations on the development of normal kids. The graph in the link above shows that executive function peaks for most average kids by the age of 9. (11-12 for your "smart but scattered" kids that are moderately gifted.) If you think about it, that is just about in 4th grade for most kids. I don't know about other schools, but in my son's school the transition from 3rd to 4th brought a dramatic increase in expectation for organization, larger assignments due over several days (which requires time management skills), and longer amounts of time needed to focus and sit still (impulsiveness, fidgeting). In fact the classroom dynamics change dramatically, from sitting and working on a single assignment which was due at the end of the small time block, to lectures by the teacher at the blackboard with long writing assignments due for homework.
My DS is 10 years old, and is just finishing 6th grade with a subject acceleration in Science to 9th grade. His executive function skills have definitely not matured yet. However, he is in a classroom where most of the other kids are 12-13 years old (15 years old for the HS). We have gone around and around with the question of ADHD, but the more I research this, the clearer it seems that we just need to wait until his executive function matures. And hope that the school understands this for a radically accelerated student.
Here is a website that I frequently show my son's teachers!
Executive Function... "What is this anyway?"
