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.

hey nice post

If you feel that the diagnostic tests didn’t fully reflect his abilities, it might be worth having a conversation with the gifted teacher or school counselor to express your concerns. You could ask for a reevaluation or additional support to ensure his full potential is recognized, especially if the previous year’s results showed his strengths in both math and ELA. It’s also okay to explore other options like the charter school, but it could be helpful to clarify what services your son would receive at the new school first. Every school has its own process, so advocating for him could be a good next step.
You can refer to advice from the public on how parents can best advocate for their children's education here:
https://giftedissues.davidsongifted...y_Advocacy_as_a_Non_Newt.html#Post183916 Basketball Legends 2020

yes, it’s reasonable to push back—politely. Since he was already fully identified for gifted ELA and math, you can ask for a review using his previous COGAT/GRS scores, records, and teacher recommendations, and explain the impact of the school transition on his initial testing. This is very common, and many districts allow reconsideration or a retest window. That said, if you’re planning to move him to a charter school soon, you may decide not to invest too much energy unless ELA services matter right now. A middle ground is to request monitoring or reevaluation later in the year once he’s settled. You’re not being unreasonable—this situation happens often with school moves.