Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy New Here - Need Some Advice

My daughter is in 2nd grade at a public school. She received a score of 133 through private testing.

The next step in the process is for her teacher to complete a "needs assessment". Her teacher has expressed to me on a few occasions that she basically doesn't believe in/agree with the process the school uses for identifying gifted kids and that in her opinion, only 2 of the kids in each gifted class are "truly gifted" - the other are just high achieving, smart kids.

That being said, the teacher has expressed some concern in filling out the needs assessment for my daughter. My daughter tends to be a quiet observer at school who takes it all in, so not one of the "typical" outspoken, verbally inquisitive types. She's a totally different kid at home, but I think because she tends to be quiet at school (but not really shy), the teacher says she doesn't know if she'll be able to meet the "need" requirement since they look for things like taking leadership or being an excellent communicator.

We are going to meet next week to discuss the paperwork, but in the mean time, I wanted to get some advice on how best to approach the situation.

Thank you!

So she only needs special accomodations if she is doing really well without them? Mmm.

Bump

She scored a 133 on the RIAS through private testing. The county accepts private testing. The program at her school is a full time gifted program - each grade has classes that are entirely made up of students who have been identified as gifted. It is my understanding that in order to qualify, a student must have an IQ score of 130 or above and demonstrate "need" for specialized instruction. This need is established with this sheet the teacher fills out as well as one completed by the parents.

To be honest, I also question the method the school is using to identify "gifted" students. But regardless of how the kids are selected for the program, they are some of the brightest kids in the grade level, and I see them streaming kids at a very young age, so I want my daughter to be in a class that challenges her to reach her best potential.

As a kid, I went to a pull out program with fun enrichment activities and they are some of the best memories of school I have. I wish my daughter's school had a similar program, but it's not.

My immediate response to the teacher's comment about the rarity of "truly gifted" kids would be, "Well, my daughter tested at an IQ of 133, so she's inarguably one of the truly gifted ones, thanks." And then when the question of the needs assessment came up, I'd say, "Ahhh... now I see where the flaw in the process is that's allowing in all these non-gifted kids you mentioned earlier. But since we've already established my DD's giftedness, we've established her need for a G/T program, so we don't really need to worry about this worksheet."

Did you check if this high enough to get in?

I know that my school had a cutoff of 135.

The minimum to qualify is 130 - her score is not an issue.

Wow. That system seems really unlikely to find twice-exceptional students. Those kids, by federal law, HAVE to have access to the same educational benefits as their unaffected peers. They aren't limited to "good enough" educational opportunities... or "average" performance as a benchmark for whether they need help.

The worksheet approach also seems to be a barrier for children with emotional issues and difficulty with social settings. They are selecting for qualities associated with extroverted temperment, not gifted traits. In fact, it seems to me that the characteristics they are seeking are actually found MORE frequently in the "bright-not-gifted" group. I'd point that out-- and ASK to see the evidence upon which they are basing the (subjective) selection criteria. Because of course they wouldn't be using criteria that they pulled out of thin air, right? They must have EVIDENCE that such characteristics are uniquely associated with high cognitive ability... and that ability to gain educational benefit also correlates with those particular character traits. (Hint: it doesn't-- in fact, most studies support some degree of ability grouping, but also support enrichment for ALL ability groups.)

I'm sure that they wouldn't be deliberately excluding THOSE other kinds of children, would they? You know, the highly gifted, but shy ones... the ones with learning disabilities.



I'd offer portfolio items from home-- those which demonstrate what your DD does when she's not overwhelmed and dumbing down to fit in better.

I think that it sounds like you want to pursue it, given the early tracking and the consequences of that later on. Honestly, at 133, your DD is the kid that most in-house GT programs can help the most-- she's obviously gifted, but will probably thrive with a slightly modified curriculum, similar-ability classmates and enrichment.

It's maddening that they don't see that.

I agree with the comments above--also, BTW, aren't there lots of studies saying that gifted girls are particularly likely to be quiet/hide their abilities? (actually I know there are) I would be inclined to start making pointed comments about how this technique of choosing students would be expected to disproportionately pass over girls who might benefit from it (and be qualified based on their scores). Do you know the gender ratio of the kids in the gifted program? It seems like the way they're doing things is really inappropriate and that this should be self-evident to educators. I mean, really, isn't this in violation of something (like equal opportunity laws)? If not, it should be.

ByTheSea,

I've run into similar situations with several different teachers re filling out gifted surveys for entry into gifted programs in our school district. Our experience has included teachers who thought they knew what a gifted child "looked" like or acted like (as if all gifted students fit into one mold), a teacher who's own children didn't score highly enough to get into the program and hence didn't want to bother writing a recommendation for anyone else, to teachers who thought kids couldn't have LD and be gifted at the same time (my kids are 2e), as well as teachers who thought they could "do better" than the gifted program in their own classroom. I've also seen (just in our area) that it's much easier to get a teacher recommendation if you're a student who's disruptive in the classroom or difficult to manage in some way - which means quiet, compliant kids aren't as likely to be perceived as needing gifted services. Is any of that "right"? Of course not - but it's a reality that does happen in some schools.

SO - fwiw, this is what we did that helped get our ds into the gifted program. We bypassed his teacher and talked directly to the teachers who were the "gateway" to entry into being classified as gifted in our district. They have specific training in id'ing and teaching gifted children, and they are used to seeing a *lot* of test scores. So while our ds' qualifying ability scores (through private testing) were passed off as not meaning anything by his school teachers and school psych, when the gifted program teacher saw them *she* knew what they meant.

The other important thing we did before contacting the gifted program staff was to become familiar with what the district requirements for entry to the program were, and to be absolutely certain that we understood the testing results we had in relation to the types of tests required and cutoffs etc. We never did get a teacher to fill out a recommendation for our but we had test scores that qualified him.

Last thing we had, but never used, was notes on ds' early accomplishments - a bit like the DYS portfolio. These were all things ds had done *young* and at home, not things he'd done in school, and were also clearly way above age/grade level in terms of thinking.

It sounds like you have the test scores - but do you know for certain that your school district only requires ability testing (I think that's what you have)... is there any requirement for achievement testing? I'm sorry I'm not familiar with the test that you mentioned. Your best case scenario is to have the same type of test the school district uses, which I think from what you've said is what you have. Just be sure they don't require more than one test.

Good luck advocating!

polarbear