Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy What would you do next?

It looks good to me. Dottie's and Grinity's tweaks seem good. Go get 'em!

I rather like it too, but ds's dad made a good point -- he said that since she's literally ignored B's private testing up till now, maybe that's not the best tack to take. What about this one? A lot of it is the same, but with edits suggested by ds's dad:

Dear Mrs. Principal:

We appreciate all the time and thought you've put in regarding our son Benjamin and his academic placement. We understand that all involved are committed to providing Benjamin with the best, most appropriate education; however, we as Benjamin's parents are not comfortable with the current plan of simply leaving him in kindergarten.

Based on his results in the MAP Math II section, we understand that he is not eligible for first-grade pullouts under Madison School's standard guidelines. There is, however, quite a discrepancy between his Math II score and his WIAT-II scores -- and what we see in Benjamin's day-to-day knowledge of math concepts.

We feel the discrepancy may have simply been in understanding the questions in the format given. �In order to check his comprehension of the problems asked, we used example problems given by NWEA. When we first drew Benjamin the problem "square plus two equals five" and asked what "square" stood for, he answered "triangle." We believe this simply showed Benjy's lack of exposure to questions in this format, which is much simpler to teach than the concept of algebra. Quite literally five minutes later after being shown a few examples, Benjamin was able to fill in the blank for algebra problems in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division as well as fill in the mathematical sign in problems with it left out.

Similarly, Benjy would have performed extremely poorly on problems asking him "Is this odd or even?" because he was simply never taught what those words mean. �Again, after spending five minutes teaching him it, we believe he understands it. �Overall, we believe that Benjamin's performance on the MAP test would increase exponentially with a minute amount of time investment.

We therefore ask that Benjamin be granted a trial period in the first-grade accelerated math program for spring semester to assess his ability within the group, with the MAP results used as a guide to shore up weaker areas over the break and in the first week or two.

We further request that the Iowa Acceleration Scale be completed as a guide for Benjamin's educational planning. His reading is well advanced; his DRA level places him at the beginning of third grade. �Benjamin's mathematics scores have been at or above the 98th percentile on all standardized tests given, with the exception of the MAP Math II; again, we believe this a much simpler problem of understanding what is being asked, rather than understanding the mathematical concepts behind the question. His social development is well on par with that of his peers, and he has no significant behavior issues. We feel that acceleration may be in Benjamin's best interest and want to pursue academic acceleration using the Iowa Acceleration Scale.

We understand that this request carries unknown factors that may or may not affect our child�s future with regard to performance, social development, emotional stability, and his overall well being. As Benjamin�s parents, we understand and accept responsibility for his current development and believe academic acceleration will contribute positively to his future development.


And then some finishing paragraph, "Thanks for your time, blah blah blah."

Opinions? Thanks for taking the time to read and advise!

That's a strong letter Mia. If that's not effective, I sure don't know what would be.
I guess two heads really are better than one.
I wish you, DH and Benjamin good luck.


Incog

Yup, that's good. I guess I didn't realize the testing info hadn't been effective with the principal before. That does make a big difference about how you approach the situation.

Yep, I think we may have it. Ex-h and I don't always see things eye to eye, but we certainly have always complimented each other's weaknesses. I think it's a pretty balanced letter and gets the point across firmly without sounding rude.

I tended to focus on the test scores because they're "on paper" -- I like it when things are official and "provable"! I know only so much stock can be set on tests, but they seem more like solid evidence to me. I was kind of skimming over the fact that she wasn't paying attention to the other test scores; it just seems that she *should* pay at least a little attention to them, I'd think ...

Anyway, I like that we finally will stop beating around the bush and just tell them what we want done. And if it doesn't, then we'll really start looking elsewhere.

Oh, and Dottie -- I'm kind of impressed with how on top of it I am, too! Usually I'm pretty laid back. I guess I just figure that if I don't do it now, bad things will happen -- I can see ds becoming *the* biggest slacker if he doesn't have to work at school. I see so much budding potential in him and I want him to be able to move as much at his own rate as possible without full-out homeschooling him.

And I'm doing it right away because I've figured out how v e r y slowly schools move, just like any other institution. Otherwise they'll just keep coming up with ways to put us off another year, and another year ... and the kid will be bored to tears in the classroom the whole time, stagnating.

Go XH! Great job your two!

I love the letter, and the rational/
I would edit this part:
We further request that the Iowa Acceleration Scale be completed as a guide for Benjamin's educational planning. We feel that acceleration may be is in Benjamin's best interest and want to pursue academic acceleration using the Iowa Acceleration Scale. His reading is well advanced; his DRA level places him at the beginning of third grade. Benjamin's mathematics scores have been at or above the 98th percentile on all standardized tests given, with the exception of the MAP Math II; again, we believe this a much simpler problem of understanding what is being asked, rather than understanding the mathematical concepts behind the question. His social development is well on par with that of his peers, and he has no significant behavior issues. We formally request that this process begin now.

I'm assuming that the full skip is what you want, which may not be the case. You can always turn down the gradeskip, but using the IAS, they will see in much more detail how those test scores matter, and then they might be more open to providing multiple or radical subject accelertions in the future, if you want to go that way. My guess is that both a grade skip and eventual subject acceleration is the best match.

Yum, Yum - having my cake and eating it too! Remember, I was totally in the dark until 2nd grade, with behavior symptoms. I takes years, but hopefully you are off to an excellent start.


Grinity