I've raised a few questions in the past but have mostly been lurking on the board for several weeks. I've seen a few other posters reference Florida issues and thought I'd start a discussion for the Florida folks to compare notes.
My research so far seems to show that the state rules are pretty generic and that it all depends on the county how things are implemented. I live near the county boundary and the nearest elementary school in my county past my neighborhood school is almost an hour away. No magnet programs at the elementary level in the county anyway. But the next county over has a gifted magnet for elementary - currently researching what it would take to get in there.
I had to push for testing my DD6 in K last year due to her unhappiness and acting out in regular class. After all the time frames - initial request in September, she was finally placed in a gifted pullout in late March, 1/2 hr a day. Since there was no K group she was placed in the 1st and 2nd grade gifted class where she fit right in.
Of course the evaluation the school did isn't used by anyone else for any other purpose (the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scale-RIAS). And everyone, from teachers, including the gifted teacher, to other gifted parents, to her ped (whose opinion I usually appreciate very much), to her counselor looks at me like I have three heads when I talk about accelerating her. At this point in time I'm not sure acceleration is her best option, but I'm in the process of getting private testing so that I have appropriate info to plug in the IAS and follow up with the school before it starts again in August.
Any other perspectives?
