Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional FIRED UP that 2e is a mystery to the district

OK. So we are looking at moving to LA and the LAUSD standards for gifted are both too high and too low... either a ridiculously low top 15% for gifted or a top 0.2% percent for highly gifted... so either middle class bright or DYS level...

I also don't get the impression they are doing a good job with special ed overall...

So if you kid is not obviously DYS level gifted I would expect to be shunted into a weak program for compliant kids at best. That is a disaster for a 2E kid. Homeschooling or enriching is an option depending on how traumatic the normal school day is.

Is the selection by achievement or IQ? The only gifted programming where I am is middle school - top 15% by achievement. Not holding my breath.

raptor_dad, I'd recommend looking at some of the districts on the perimeter of LAUSD. There are some very good schools in Santa Monica, Pasadena, Beverly Hills, and (I think) Orange County.

LAUSD has only 2 elementary schools that are designated "highly gifted" where admission is for students who have had a LAUSD school psychologist-administered IQ test with a result of 145+.

There are several other GIFTED MAGNETS that are not so stringent. Access to those schools is by lottery.

Then, there are schools with SAS programming (schools for advanced studies) which are honors classes.

These are the choices for coursework above and beyond general education in LAUSD.

I found a federal grant put out by the Department of Education for gifted education that has, as a stipulation, services for underserved populations, including STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES. I read that as twice exceptional students ;-)

Here is the link - I am having trouble loading it for some reason. The deadline has passed for this year, but we have plenty of time to gear up for next year's funding season!

http://www2.ed.gov/programs/javits/applicant.html

One of the requirements is to include services to private schools, so that leaves out LAUSD or any other public school district as a sole applicant. However, I did think UC Irvine's gifted program could apply and the DAVIDSON INSTITUTE could certainly apply for twice exceptional services. :-D

Just wanted to update this post to mention that LAUSD has recently established a small magnet for 2E students. I think it is at Portola.