Thanks for taking your time and replying to my forum!
You are very polite to thank me, and you are very welcome.
I have a soft spot for people who are new to advocacy, especially for students.
Because you mentioned that you are interested in Language Arts, you will want to have a large and accurate vocabulary. For that reason, I will share that I replied to your
thread, or to your
post (not to your
forum). The
forums are the different groups of topics... for example, you posted your thread in the Parenting and Advocacy
forum.
I would like to emphasize that this class is not a gifted class but for kids who test above grade level.
In your school, is there a difference between "gifted" and "kids who test above grade level"? In some schools there would not be a difference.
there is no hint of the excel programs at my school on there website.
Schools may vary widely... some may have information in a printed paper course catalog, a parent/student handbook, or a letter sent home... while others may have information online within a school website, district website, school board policies, etc. The point is to find the source documents. The school can be held to these policies/practices.
On the other hand, as you mentioned that this is a small school, is this a situation where "everyone just knows", information travels by word-of-mouth, and there is little documentation?
One way or the other, you may wish to consider what information may help you move forward... for example, some things to look for:
- is there a waiting list for the excel class?
- is there a window of opportunity for add/drop after the term begins?
From your description in another
post on this thread, it appears that teacher recommendation or teacher referral is the way to get into the advanced class; Therefore speaking to your teachers proactively may help them keep you in mind when it is time for them to recommend/refer students next year.
There are 150 kids in my grade and 60 in my grade are enrolled into the Language Art excel class, percentage wise 40% of kids in my grade are enrolled into the Excel Language Arts (this is about the same statistic in every grade at my school).
This sounds like 5 sections of 30 students each: 2 sections advanced, 3 sections at grade-level. Am I understanding this correctly?
It would be unusual for the number of students who qualified for the advanced class to exactly match the number of seats available. Are there other kids who qualified for the advanced class and did not get in? Does the school cluster group these advanced students together within a section of the grade-level class and have them work at their zone of proximal development?
