Our public school seems very closed about how they identify children for their gifted program. They have said my DD6 will be receiving services when she gets to the point they are offered, but I am not sure how they make their decisions, and based on comments, I worry that her imperfect executive functioning might get in the way of having her needs met.
Right now she gets an enrichment folder full of boring worksheets and they get annoyed that she doesn't seem excited to do those after she has already been given extra work at her work stations. She is to seek them out herself or be seen as not needing enrichment. My extroverted, energetic child can only take so much of sitting at a desk and doing more worksheets alone. They said she will do all work asked of her with a big smile, but she needs to show initiative for more of the work available to seem worthy of gifted services. The extra things available are not very appealing to her. If someone came in with fossils or animals or stars or just about anything beyond sight words she knew at two, she would probably show more desire for extra.
She is "allowed" to read at her own reading level, but their idea of reading instruction consists of her having a folder with her book and some questions. She never has anyone to discuss books with or gets any type of instruction at her level. She is suppose to do all these things on her own. She also receives math from the grade above but no instruction on the material. That's it.
I often feel they are judging her executive functioning skills more than her academic abilities. She is the kid who will forget her book, misplace something, skip a question, forget to get her folder. This is a problem because in order to seem worthy of gifted services, she needs to be able to remember to do her packets, to work almost flawlessly above grade level, etc. Just because she needs a little organizing, doesn't mean she doesn't need more challenging academic work. They have also said they see no signs of ADHD (I've had my questions). While my child is clearly years and years ahead (she reads books at about a 5th or 6th grade level), she is prone to carelessness (she can often perform perfectly on piles of worksheets, but they have to point out that she will skip a problem or not cross a "T") in the stacks of worksheets they do every day and also often forgets to go seek out her reading folder (they pick a lower level book with lots of questions) and would rather just get lost in her own book, etc. They said they were placing her with kids "at her level" last year, but neither child seems near her LOG in terms of reading / language etc.
Do schools often give their own IQ tests, and if they do, do they have to notify me before they give them? She has had outside testing, but my sense is that they wanted to see more of their own proof and are almost looking for reasons to not provide more. Gifted funding has been drastically cut in our school. They seem to think that because so many kids are very bright, they don't need it. She has done well in class, but her flaws get pointed out: she sometimes skips questions, throws an upper case letter in the wrong place every fiftieth sentence, or makes careless mistakes. We have been told this is counted against her. I do hear wonderful feedback about her personality, how fast she finishes work, her creativity, and her abilities so they clearly think she is a very smart child, and is mature in many ways, but they seem very secretive about their process for identifying and providing for gifted children and I worry that her carelessness and absent mindedness will get in the way of her getting enough gifted services. She seems to snap to during a test and does well on all the tests they give her. I am just wondering if schools give their own IQ or gifted placement tests without notifiying me at all. They seem very protective about the information and I often feel I am met with a brick wall.
