I HAVE QUESTIONS AND NEED HELP, PLEASE!!
Hello all,
First, the back story: This is some of what I posted in the Parenting and Advocacy Board:
My dh and I have been advocating since the beginning of the year for grade acceleration for our dd6 (Dec. 1 b-day). She is currently in public school kindergarten. In early September we contacted the school inquiring about the necessary steps needed to put the action into motion. In October, they administered the district's assessments for end of year K and first grade. They would not test higher and do not outsource testing. She tested out of K and nearly out of the first grade assessments. After conferencing with her teachers, the school's principal, reading coach, and guidance counselor, it was unanimously decided that our daughter was a good candidate for grade acceleration. In early November, the principal drafted a detailed letter to the district advocating on our daughter's behalf. She was very confident that the switch would happen in the beginning of December. When we met with her before parent/teacher conferences in late November, she alerted us of the district's decision that the grade skip would not be happening as predicted. The district's excuse: lack of policy on grade acceleration. Upon our contacting them, they communicated to us that they would have to draft a policy to present to the Board for our request to be honored.
Fast forward to the present:
This past Wednesday we just received word from the Deputy Superintendent that the school district policy and guidelines for kindergarten acceleration have finally been completed. On Thursday we received the hard copy of the guidelines for our review. We were advised in writing that upon our approval(according to the guidelines), the IAS will be administered to determine dd's eligibility for grade acceleration or single subject acceleration, if whole grade acceleration is determined not possible. We did approve and testing is set to begin this week. They will be administering the WISC, ITBS, and WJ-ACH. The plan (as we understand it, the Principal is working on her responses to our questions regarding the Guidelines) is to administer these assessments in the space of this week. On Tuesday, February 9th, we are scheduled to meet with the Kindergarten Acceleration Evaluation Committee, comprised of the Principal, dd's current teachers (she has two), the future 1st grade teacher, the school's G&T specialist, and a school pshychologist or learning consultant with experience on gifted learners and the specific assessments mentioned above for about an hour and a half to discuss the results. Final decision on whether or not dd is a valid candidate for grade acceleration or subject acceleration will be made at this time.
Finally, questions:
For those of your with more experience than me with situations like this, what should we expect? What do these assessments entail? How long do they last? Is it reasonable to expect a 6 year old child to complete them in span of just one week? Is prior preparation needed?
I understand that due to the time sensitive nature of this situation, the process must now be expedited in order to secure dd's spot in a first grade classroom (provided that our request has indeed been approved) as soon as possible, but a part of me feels a little (no, a lot) resentful a the district for dragging it's heels and allowing so much time to be wasted.
Any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated!!!
Thank you in advance and have a great day!
Sincerely,
Sleepless in New Jersey
