The "More" Child

I just got off the phone with the “Literacy Coach.” The same one who I spoke with last week in the afterglow of Election Night (cue the glitter, unicorns and bunnies). The one who said she was going to make a recommendation that M. be placed in 7th grade GT English.

Well, she had her meeting with the principal–and the decision was to retain M. in her current English class and have the Literacy Coach work with the teacher to help her modify instruction for M. The subject acceleration was denied out of “concerns for the long term effects.” I could have completed her next sentence after the first few words, “Though she would be in 7th grade English for 6th grade….and 8th grade English for 7th grade…. what would happen in 8th grade?“

AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!! (Sound of head exploding.)

They were also “concerned about the social aspect.” They wanted to “ensure she was socializing with her peers and adjusting.”

AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

Deep breaths, deep breaths. Don’t rip anyone’s head off.

She continued that while M.’s Fall MAP-R scores were “pretty high” (95th percentile, I finally got them) there were some weaknesses in writing. (There’s always another shoe.) When I sweetly asked what the assessment of her writing was based on, she said it was based on talking to the teacher, samples from the class…. Um, a stammer…”artifacts,” meaning information from her file last year. Nothing really concrete. It was mostly mostly spelling issues, she assured me. It’s not an obstacle, and they wouldn’t hold her back based on that. I asked if M. was an outlier or if there were others in her class functioning at her level. She couldn’t say; she hadn’t looked at the other kids. But she said that there were lots of others scoring well in that class.

Deep breaths, deep breaths. I didn’t react one way or the other…just was non-committal, taking this all in. Sign off with open-ended niceties. Hang up.

Now. Out loud. AAARRRRGGGGHHH!!!!!

So the reading specialist confers with the teacher and recommends a subject acceleration, only to have the the principal reject it on the tritest, most bogus grounds: “What will we do in 8th grade?? Answer: You can figure it the hell out in 8th grade! Right now your job is to worry about RIGHT NOW. And if the “Literacy Coach” and the teacher–professionals both–recommend 7th grade English, well then by golly, you should probably take their professional recommendation. Who’s to even say we would still be at this freaking school in two years time?

As for the social issue, PUH-LEASE! We are talking one grade, for one class with a kid who is incredibly well-adjusted socially. We’re not asking to put an 8 year old into a class with 15 year olds. And of course we wouldn’t even be having this conversation if the subject were math.

I call Rockville once more, and speak once more to the sympathetic RLA instructional specialist. With her, I feel can be a bit more honest about my feelings/frustrations. I tell her the story and I can tell she is very surprised about the verdict of the reading coach. And the response of the principal. I tell her that my kid is miserable at this school and wants to go to the magnet. She’s duly pessimistic, especially since we already did an appeal and were denied. She tells me who to talk to but does offer a caution. To her immense credit she had pulled up M.’s scores. And according to her there are 50 kids at or above that level at M.’s current school. Half the kids in M.’s GT English class are in that same range (really?). So they do have other kids and based on this data M. is not an outlier, which would otherwise bolster the case. Also, in the magnet M.’s MAP-R, although at 95%, would put her in the lower range of students there. That said, there are students with both higher and lower scores in the program.

The AEI woman stressed to me, “she deserves to be instructed at her level. It’s their responsibility. They have to have a plan.” She used my favorite construct when talking to school officials: “Well, if it were my child….” She told me to say the following,” Could you please provide me with your plan for identifying M.’s specific needs and how you plan to address them through classroom instruction.” They should know what the next steps are. They should know the areas where she needs to develop. So what are the next steps and how are they going to get her there?

Naturally she advised that we give them some time to let them respond and make some changes. Which drives me nuts. I’ve played this game before. The longer you wait, the harder it is to make changes. Meanwhile, your kid is living unhappy dog years. Every unhappy day that passes is a week for a kid.