I would offer teh school the Iowa Accel. scale and in case they aren't familiar, let them know that it provides research based recommendations and looks at the child as a whole to help make an informed decision. As for your DD, I have a strong self advocator. She too, takes the teacher's feelings into play and is very cautious on how she approaches it. She has been very polite and has told the teachers that she know what they have offered her by doing X, Y, and Z, but that she feels she could "really benefit for having more challenging work." Yes, teachers have been shocked (as i often find out after the fact, that she has already spoken to the teachers, 2 years in a row now, she has privately talked to them.) She usually waits til she is bursting at the seams and really can't take it anymore before she gets to this point to ask though. Asking to early in the year can backfire as teachers do like to get to know the child. Needless to say, while self advocacy worked, we ended up with a full grade skip in the end anyhow (with the help of the IAS).
