Thanks for the feedback!
In our California public school district the gifted program is running on fumes. Apparently it was recently threatened with even more cuts, which is hard to believe since there's not much left to it but a label.
So in DD's school, she and one other student are the only 2nd graders identified as gifted. They and 28 otherwise normal 2nd graders are placed with a teacher who has GATE-training. Among those 28 other students are four or five higher-level readers. Together they form the highest level reading group, which DD describes as pretty easy. DD also gets harder spelling lists.
I don't believe the school will pay for any more testing because they already did that in 1st grade, and once they identify your child "gifted and talented" in our district the label sticks at least until middle school. You never have to retest.
If you've ever been involved with a public school in a budget crisis, the first word that comes to mind is "pest" when you begin poking around for answers. I recall distinctly trying to get answers from the GATE office last year as to why there was no longer an actual special day class for the gifted students (although their website indicated there was) and the answer I got, not in so many words, was, "Look, our very best teachers just all got their pink slips. We don't even know who will have a job next year. We're having toilet paper shortages." Etc.
I think paying for independent testing will paint a clearer picture because a teacher friend of mine suggested the tests administered by the school are not all that accurate in 1st grade. I'm especially just looking forward to an educational psychologist's insights and interpretations.
