Yeah-- what KINDS of problems? Specifically, I mean.
Because this:
with the right structure (which he is in), over time etc. this would resolve but it would take a long time ("hopefully by high school")
strikes me as a MAJOR red flag.
Something clearly still isn't right about this placement or you wouldn't be seeing what you're seeing.
The facts that you have before you:
he's "really trying" hard
not achieving at potential
has NOT got a disability which is masking ability
is in a suitable placement
The question is then-- which of these pieces of information is incorrect? Because they
can't all be true.
I will say that barring a 2e issue, I think that many, many parents here (and I'm one of them) have watched in astonishment as the myriad, intractable "problems" (somatic complaints through underachievement and even psychiatric issues)
melt away in a matter of hours or days when a TRUE "appropriate" placement is found, or when simply removing a child from an inappropriate one.
So consider what you see in other domains outside of school. Same? Or different?
This seems to me to be possibly an unidentified 2e issue.