Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Should We Advocate Further?

Hi, I have a 4th grade son (and 2 others). We recently moved and he changed schools. Last year, based on the COGAT and GRS, he was fully admitted in the gifted program for reading and math. However, when I mentioned his previous gifted placement his new school said he had to redo placement. So, he took diagnostic tests on the first week. The gifted teacher said the results indicate he will only receive gifted services in math, not ELA. Honestly, I do not think he was able to demonstrate his full capability due to the overwhelming and stressful nature of starting a new school. Should I push further for the full gifted services with ELA, or should I let it be. Has anyone been in a similar situation? We were hoping to send him to a charter school in the near future regardless. Thanks

You ask great questions, let's see if these few thoughts may be of some aid in your decision-making:

- A school's goal is typically NOT to identify a person as gifted, but rather to make a match between available levels of educational challenge and the needs of the pupil.

- Schools typically differ in their gifted-challenge-level educational offerings (if any). Therefore when changing schools, a student's placement may differ.

- What did the prior school offer/provide as their gifted-level ELA program?

- What does the current school offer/provide as their gifted-level ELA program?

- Does the current school's offering for mainstream ELA more closely resemble the prior school's offering for gifted-level ELA?

- How close were your child's scores to the cut-off for the current school's qualification for gifted-level ELA?

These old posts may also be of interest:
1) Meeting a student's need for academic challenge -
http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....Re_what_kids_don_t_learn.html#Post233062
2) Meeting a student's need for intellectual peers -
http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....icle_about_poor_school_f.html#Post229604
3) Crowd-sourced tips for parental advocacy to meet their student's educational needs -
http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....y_Advocacy_as_a_Non_Newt.html#Post183916

Thank you for the thought-engaging questions and the older posts. After some analysis, I think we will just let it be for the current year and evaluate further options in the future.

It sounds like a challenging situation. If you genuinely believe that your son's abilities were not accurately represented due to the stress of starting a new school, it might be worth discussing this with the school and asking for a reevaluation. Explain your concerns calmly and provide any supporting information you have from his previous school. However, it's also important to consider your son's feelings in this. If he seems happy and engaged with his current classes, pushing for a change may not be necessary. If you're planning on moving him to a charter school soon, this might also affect your decision. The ultimate goal is to ensure your son has the best possible learning environment for his needs.

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