Hi Anne,

I got your email and you mentioned that you're going through the AppliedGiftedEd website. The website should answer most of the questions you have about PA's Gifted Ed regulations and how they apply to a gifted kid's situation.

I can answer some of your questions briefly, but I've got a large project due soon and need to put some time in on that ... again, the website addresses most of the general issues you raise.


The short answer is this:

Your school district gets, basically, three months before they have to do *anything* with a gifted kid who is in the process of being identified gifted.

That's just the bureaucracy. You can *ask* for expedited identification, but the district is under no obligation to move faster than the timeline which is sixty school days.

It doesn't matter if Bob and Jan Davidson fly in with the combined testing staffs of Johns Hopkins and Carnegie Mellon to vouch for the kid to your director of pupil services - the district gets to do its own testing using its own people.

The GIEP process will sort itself out once you get the Gifted Written Report taken care of. You *should* write up a parent's exhibit/input form for the Gifted Written Report. You can use your Davidson Application data, not the form itself, but use the information on your application to supplement the testing results. You are part of the Gifted Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team and, as such, have input.

Once you get the GWR you will sit down with the school and create the Gifted IEP. That's where you can adjust the curriculum to fit the child. The district is free, once the child is identified gifted, to modify as needed to create an appropriate plan.

The key things to keep in mind in Pennsylvania Public Education is that the district is not under any obligation to provide a gifted child (or any child for that matter) a 'Best Possible Education' but rather one of 'Meaningful Benefit' that's based on a 'Reasonable Calculation'.

If you can get a 'Best Possible' then great, but understand that is a function of the district and or teacher going above-and-beyond.

The big picture advocacy issues of why that's a shame are addressed by the Davidsons and other gifted ed advocacy groups - I don't have the luxury of theory. I've got a couple of kids going through the system.

As you roll into your Gifted Written Report, my advice would be to get through the 'Why?' stage as quickly as you can. Asking 'Why' is only going to drive you crazy. Get to the 'Who, What, When, Where, and How' stuff as soon as you can. If you can get those questions answered, you've got a Gifted IEP.

As for the placement decision - my advice, and I don't know the personalities involved, is to simply continue asking how their proposed plan meets your child's educational needs.

Eventually, if what they propose doesn't, they will/should get around to recommending something that you can approve.

Lastly, you may want to consider other cybercharters. There's a list at PDE. Do a google search on PDE and EDNA - EDNA is the Educators Directory of Names and Addresses - iirc, all the cybercharters are listed there.

Hope this helps and keep reading through the appliedgifteded site. I'm in the process of updating it.

Todd