[lindberg99]

My son is in 3rd grade and is a good reader. All year, he had been going to a reading group with a few other kids with the consulting teacher, who works with gifted children.

The other day, we get a letter in the mail saying that the school district tested DS with the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and said he did not meet the requisite state criteria for giftedness. He would have had to score 95% in three categories and he scored 94%, 92% and 94%. So I'm thinking, what does this mean??

Apparently what it meant was that DS can no longer go to his reading group! He said the consulting teacher came to his class and didn't take him out for reading and he had to stay with the rest of the class. He was very upset about it and was crying that night and woke up crying the next morning. Now I don't know if DS is "gifted" or not but he is a good reader and was doing fine in his reading group. Can a school really decide to yank a kid out of his reading group when there are like 7 weeks of school left based on the results of ONE test?

We haven't been able to talk to anyone about it yet because the principal and the consulting teacher were both gone on Friday. I tried calling DS's regular teacher right after school but she had already left. And next week is spring break. So I am still not 100% sure what is going on.

Has anyone heard of this happening to a child? How can I go in and express my concerns about this without sounding like a parent who is mad that her son isn't officially "gifted"? I really don't care if he is gifted or not, I just don't think they should take an 8 yo kid out of his routine based on the results of one test.

 

[stik]

It's so frustrating that it's Spring Break right at the moment when you have an important question. I would ask to speak to your son's teacher about his reading group placement. Explain his perception that his reading group has changed and ask if there have been any changes made lately, and if so, what the reason was for them. Don't even bring up the giftedness issue. You are concerned that your son may have been removed from a program that was working well for him.

In the current economic climate, often the gifted program has only a part time teacher. It's common for gifted teachers to spend part (or even most) of their day working with the regular population of kids, so there's no reason to assume that your son's reading group was a "gifted" group just because she taught it. Most crucially, you are correct that your son's learning plan should not be changed on the basis of a single test.

 

[lindberg99]

Oh, that's a good idea to talk to his regular teacher first and see what she says about if his reading group has changed without bringing up the testing/gifted issue.

Thanks! Now I just have to be patient and wait for break to end.

 

[quaz]

Another way to look at it...

They put him in with this pull out before the results of the test, they shouldn't be able to just yank him out because of the test. My point is if they can yank him out because of the test, then they broke protocal for putting him in there in the first place... if they can break protocal by putting him in there, then of course they can continue breaking protocal by keeping him in there.

You need to understand
- why he didn't get to go to his reading group (if it was due to this test or not)
- if it was due to this test, then you'll need to work with them to insure he is still getting the work he needs... and more than that, I'd be pushing my point on the first paragraph....

In addition, you aren't mad because your son may or may not be gifted, but because they WERE giving him services for reading and then abruptly stopped. Whether a child is gifted or not, he still needs appropriate education.

Also note to you.... your child could still be gifted and may have just had a bad test day.

Tammy

 

[CarrieMF]

IMO yes they can stop taking him out. Here the groups change all the time based on individual abilities. It does not mean your son will be getting books that are too far below his level.

 

[lindberg99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarrieMF IMO yes they can stop taking him out. Here the groups change all the time based on individual abilities. It does not mean your son will be getting books that are too far below his level.

Do they change groups without giving the student or the parents any type of explanation? That is what has bothered me about this. I could see not explaining anything if the student was just moving to a different reading group within the classroom and with the same teacher. But pulling him out all year with a different teacher and then suddenly stopping just does not seem right to me.

 

[waiflywaif]

Are you sure the reading group change is based on the test results? Could be a coincidence. My dd's reading group has switched once, and it wasn't based on ability---she stayed in the same "level," but the teachers switched who took which group. It was no big deal and I didn't expect to be notified. It's a shame they didn't explain it to him, though.

 

[Flor]

When I taught first grade we changed reading groups every few months after our classroom assessments. So, it may not be based on this one test, it may be based on other things. I didn't send out a letter, or consider it to be unusual, as it happened often and the groups were fluid.

On the other hand, was your child previously labeled gifted by a test? I would think it strange to pull kids in and out of gifted programs based on a yearly test (especially by one point). Here, I believe a child would remain in the gifted program once entered, even if the scores dipped one year.

 

[Llyra]

When I was teaching, our reading grouping changed frequently based on assessment, but in any case a child would never be moved from a group without it being carefully explained to the child why it was happening-- in advance. Typically, I'd talk to the child a few days before the change, and help the child be prepared. It's insensitive to change a child's routine without some kind of advance preparation. So no matter what turns out to be the case with the test scores and giftedness/nongiftedness, I'd protest the insensitivity of changing his expected daily activities without helping him to understand and be ready for the switch.

 

[annethcz]

I also wanted to add that I volunteer at my kids' school and help out with reading groups. Over the course of the year, kids are placed in different groups based on their progress. It's not a big deal all, the groups are quite fluid. I think it's great that kids are placed in the group that will best meet their needs as the learn and gain new skills, rather than being stuck in a group without the opportunity to move if they are learning more quickly than others or if they need a bit more practice with new skills.

 

[lindberg99]

OK, we heard back from the gifted coordinator and it was all a mistake! DS had completed his project with Mrs. L and his teacher asked if he could stay in the classroom. The gifted coordinator said that DS has been identified as gifted and they would not pull him out of the program just based on one test score.

So us receiving the letter & DS not going to his group was just a coincidence. I have a feeling that Mrs. L and DS's teacher probably did say something to him and he either didn't hear it or didn't understand.

 

[mar123]

I have a master's in Gifted Education. Once a child is labeled gifted, his/her classification will not be changed based on one test. Having a child removed from gifted classes (on the school's end) is much more than simply a reading group change. I am glad everything was sorted out so quickly! Also, there is much more to a gifted classification than a test score, although it does make up part of it.