Thank you, Neato. All great points. I actually have most of that information. Unfortunately we don't have partial homeschooling here in Texas or in the district. The district's policy on grade skipping is in line with what Texas law allows. There's a state test that's administered in our district in June and then July (the state leaves it up to districts but it must be given twice a year), and the student must score 90% in the different categories. I guess it's possible that the principal of a particular school could grant a grade skip without the test, but certainly if a student scores the stated minimums then the district must comply.
One thing in our favor is that the law requires that GT students be given the "opportunity to accelerate in areas of strength." This is one of the four things that GT programs must provide. In DD's case the teacher told us that she's restricted to testing her with the DRA2 for her reading level. She's only allowed to test her to a 24 in 1st grade, which is considered end of 2nd grade level. The teacher said that because of that, and because she needs to show "growth," she tested her at a 20 so that she could "grow" to a 24. But this is all false because she's clearly reading above even a 24, and the teacher told us this. I put all of this in my letter, and then I added the part about what Texas law requires as the basis for our requests.
Do you think it's too "in your face"? Oh, and my meeting will likely be on Monday. I planned on talking with the counselor about our requests and the reasons, and then giving her the letter to document it.
Last edited by AmyEJ; 10/23/08 10:57 AM.
