Well, MrWiggly's test scores are back and we met yesterday with the principal to discuss the plan for next school year. Just a quick reminder, DS7 just finished 2nd grade with 3rd grade math. The school had him take the 4th grade level Stanford Achievement test to help with planning for next year.
Scores on the Stanford test were in the average range, for a 4th grader. He scored in the 60th% overall, 76th% in science, relatively lower in some language areas, stronger in the math subtests. But overall, his lowest grade equivelant was 3.0 (spelling subtest) and his highest was PHS (post high school)in word study skills. He also ended up with straight A's on his report card for the year end grades.
The prinicpal also showed us two lists, one from each of his teachers, that contained all the behaviors over the course of the year that were noted by the teachers. Unfortunately the teachers weren't there (school is out for the summer already) and the principal did not have any insight in terms of the items listed. He didn't know if they were at the beginning of the year and resolved, a constant problem or an infrequent one, etc. The list contained some issues we had discussed before with the teachers but were reassured by the teachers that they weren't a big deal. The lists also contained some behaviors we had not heard about. Behaviors ranged from what I would say is typical for a 7 year old boy ("he plays in the water and is loud in the bathroom") to behaviors that are typical for him ("he cries when tagged out in gym," "he talks to and yells at the computer") to issues that are upsetting and should have been discussed with us months ago ("every morning he takes a new pencil and spends up to 1/2 an hour sharpening it down to a specific size before he can start his work"). The principal knows we are upset about this last bit of information - I told him I was shocked that they allowed this behavior to continue "for most of the second semester" and never once contacted us!!!!
The principal has said that what they want to do next year is have him progress to third grade with 4th math. We don't want further grade acceleration but do want differentiation in 3rd grade. I asked for things like pretesting and more in depth study of some topics that are of particular interest for MrWiggly. I also expressed great concern that the teachers this year really never seemed to understand MrWiggly or realize what he was capable of. The 2nd grade teacher was still sending home little 2.5 - 3.0 level 15 page booklets for reading when MrWiggly was choosing Magic Treehouse books fromt he library for silent reading. Mr. Principal said we should plan on meeting after the first week of school to get some concerns settled and plan more concretely for the school year.
My thought now is that we should definitely pursue more input. I'm thinking that many of the behaviors are due to his sheer boredom in class. He is distracted by others, doesn't do his work, bothers others, blurts out answers and comments when the teacher is presenting, wanders around when he supposed to be doing seatwork, etc. You guys have heard all this from others, too! Same song, different verse!
What do you think? Am I going too far if I have him tested privately and request consult with the school? There's a place near us that might be able to do that. They offer testing for gifted, including personality profile/learning styles and psych stuff like anxiety issues. They also offer consultation to the teachers for curriculum planning, even doing inservices for educators. Too pushy or good advocacy???! I know I asked this question before and everyone seemed to agree that it was better to test if I had questions - I think I just need more reassurance!! Thanks to all for reading and responding.
