Yes, that is exactly what we did. What I would suggest is making a copy of the portfolio to leave with them as well, so that whatever they miss at the meeting, they can look at afterwards. Basically, we stated what we wanted, how we thought we could go about it and how we could address any issues (for example a possible concern on their part about knowledge gaps, we suggested being given the summer work that the kids going into the receiving grade would be given so that we were in the same place as them when the year started etc.) I would also be ready to respond with ways to debunk their myths on why an acceleration wouldn't be in the best interest of your child. One perfect example is they may say, well, if we allow your child to be accelerated, then we will have hundreds of people lined up asking for the same for their child. Response, actually, research proves that is not the case. No parent is going to come to you and ask for harder work if their child is sufficiently challenged. If the child can meet the requirements for an acceleration based on teh recommendation of the IAS, that that is a good problem for you to have!
