Level IV Appeal

[Anonymous]

Ok, here we go! My lovely child didn't get. I will spare the details. 3rd grade.

Any tips for the appeal? My biggest gripe is the work they do doesn't yield anything stellar for a work sample. I thought what we submitted was decent.

I heard about WISC. I also hear the appeal is next to impossible.

Any words of advice? So lovely to get this news right before spring break.

[Anonymous]

Data would be helpful! Advise will vary depending on scores, GBRS, etc. that said, historically a fair percentage of those who appeal are successful—especially those who probably should have been in first round.

[Anonymous]

What were the NNAT/CogAT scores? What was the GBRS? Is your child in advanced math? Is your child in an above grade level reading group?

The advice will depend on the answers to those questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, here we go! My lovely child didn't get. I will spare the details. 3rd grade.

Any tips for the appeal? My biggest gripe is the work they do doesn't yield anything stellar for a work sample. I thought what we submitted was decent.

I heard about WISC. I also hear the appeal is next to impossible.

Any words of advice? So lovely to get this news right before spring break.

The timeline for decisions has been posted publicly since last summer. What exactly are you complaining about with regard to “getting this news right before spring break”?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Data would be helpful! Advise will vary depending on scores, GBRS, etc. that said, historically a fair percentage of those who appeal are successful—especially those who probably should have been in first round.

I doubt that's true anymore. In the past, a high WISC almost guaranteed admission on appeals. Now, they largely discount it, and you have to come up with some other compelling reason why your child needs AAP.

OP, what you need to prove to the appeals committee is that your child's needs cannot be met in the general education classroom. Since your child is a 3rd grader, you should be able to supply some specific examples of how your child's needs have not been met in the current school year. If you can convince the committee in a parent letter and new work samples that your child is demonstrating many of the GBRS traits in the GBRS form, your child has not had her needs met in her 3rd grade general education classroom this year, and your child would thrive in an AAP classroom, your appeal might work, especially if your child has a high GBRS and is advanced in all subjects.

The only time I think a WISC is useful is if the kid had the high GBRS, but had something problematic in the test scores. Like, if the kid completely bombed a CogAT section or generally had low scores, the WISC could counteract that. If the child already had high CogAT scores, a high WISC is not telling the committee anything new.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What were the NNAT/CogAT scores? What was the GBRS? Is your child in advanced math? Is your child in an above grade level reading group?

The advice will depend on the answers to those questions.

Thanks for the responses!
Cogat was 135
3rd grade
Level III math
Above level on reading
Don’t know GBRS. Will the school release those?

Do grades matter? She’s has perfect or near-perfect scores on all work and is bored. There is no homework and the level IV kids get more to do. This was the motivation to apply. We didn’t refer last year. Put a lot of time on the referral to make sure bases we’re covered. At a center school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What were the NNAT/CogAT scores? What was the GBRS? Is your child in advanced math? Is your child in an above grade level reading group?

The advice will depend on the answers to those questions.

Thanks for the responses!
Cogat was 135
3rd grade
Level III math
Above level on reading
Don’t know GBRS. Will the school release those?

Do grades matter? She’s has perfect or near-perfect scores on all work and is bored. There is no homework and the level IV kids get more to do. This was the motivation to apply. We didn’t refer last year. Put a lot of time on the referral to make sure bases we’re covered. At a center school.

Contact the school ASAP to get a copy of the packet. If the GBRS is good, you can use the fact that the teachers who work with your DD on a daily basis think that she needs to be in AAP. If it's not good or if it's uneven, you can use your parent letter to demonstrate how she's displaying whatever GBRS traits that the school wasn't seeing. If the work samples are bad, you can submit new ones and add in your parent letter some commentary on what GBRS trait the sample is showing. Do not say that your child is bored. Do not directly try to rebut the GBRS form or suggest that the teachers are wrong. If your child is having social issues because she doesn't have enough of a peer group of motivated kids, or if she's developing perfection related anxiety, those actually could help your case that your child's needs aren't being met in gen ed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, here we go! My lovely child didn't get. I will spare the details. 3rd grade.

Any tips for the appeal? My biggest gripe is the work they do doesn't yield anything stellar for a work sample. I thought what we submitted was decent.

I heard about WISC. I also hear the appeal is next to impossible.

Any words of advice? So lovely to get this news right before spring break.

Is an appeal different from a parent referral?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What were the NNAT/CogAT scores? What was the GBRS? Is your child in advanced math? Is your child in an above grade level reading group?

The advice will depend on the answers to those questions.

Thanks for the responses!
Cogat was 135
3rd grade
Level III math
Above level on reading
Don’t know GBRS. Will the school release those?

Do grades matter? She’s has perfect or near-perfect scores on all work and is bored. There is no homework and the level IV kids get more to do. This was the motivation to apply. We didn’t refer last year. Put a lot of time on the referral to make sure bases we’re covered. At a center school.

Contact the school ASAP to get a copy of the packet. If the GBRS is good, you can use the fact that the teachers who work with your DD on a daily basis think that she needs to be in AAP. If it's not good or if it's uneven, you can use your parent letter to demonstrate how she's displaying whatever GBRS traits that the school wasn't seeing. If the work samples are bad, you can submit new ones and add in your parent letter some commentary on what GBRS trait the sample is showing. Do not say that your child is bored. Do not directly try to rebut the GBRS form or suggest that the teachers are wrong. If your child is having social issues because she doesn't have enough of a peer group of motivated kids, or if she's developing perfection related anxiety, those actually could help your case that your child's needs aren't being met in gen ed.

Thank you Really appreciate your time and guidance. This is very helpful.

I said she was bored in the referral. Crap! Did I blow it? Ugh I realize now that it might have sounded insulting. But that wasn't my intention. I thought that would be a good thing to show she needs more challenges and the work is easy.

I will get the packet. One thing I noticed in the samples of work samples was that the assignments were no where close to what my kid gets to work on. Now I realize that not all work is sent home. So I don't know whether in school they are getting more of the gifted level work or problem solving opportunities, But from the work I see, it's basic. The more substantial work are the projects, but those are too complex to submit as a sample and were sent home.

Perfection related anxiety I could talk to because I have seen her sit for hours perfecting/typing retyping papers.

How can one prove that a child needs to be challenged? I said she was bored which I suppose could have been taken the wrong way. She get 100's on everything and bring no daily work home as it's done in school (math gets done on the bus and projects are sporadic). So I truly tried to make a case that she's not challenged even in a center school. But looks like that didn't come through. Or is seeking more challenging work not a good need for AAP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What were the NNAT/CogAT scores? What was the GBRS? Is your child in advanced math? Is your child in an above grade level reading group?

The advice will depend on the answers to those questions.

Thanks for the responses!
Cogat was 135
3rd grade
Level III math
Above level on reading
Don’t know GBRS. Will the school release those?

Do grades matter? She’s has perfect or near-perfect scores on all work and is bored. There is no homework and the level IV kids get more to do. This was the motivation to apply. We didn’t refer last year. Put a lot of time on the referral to make sure bases we’re covered. At a center school.

Contact the school ASAP to get a copy of the packet. If the GBRS is good, you can use the fact that the teachers who work with your DD on a daily basis think that she needs to be in AAP. If it's not good or if it's uneven, you can use your parent letter to demonstrate how she's displaying whatever GBRS traits that the school wasn't seeing. If the work samples are bad, you can submit new ones and add in your parent letter some commentary on what GBRS trait the sample is showing. Do not say that your child is bored. Do not directly try to rebut the GBRS form or suggest that the teachers are wrong. If your child is having social issues because she doesn't have enough of a peer group of motivated kids, or if she's developing perfection related anxiety, those actually could help your case that your child's needs aren't being met in gen ed.

Thank you Really appreciate your time and guidance. This is very helpful.

I said she was bored in the referral. Crap! Did I blow it? Ugh I realize now that it might have sounded insulting. But that wasn't my intention. I thought that would be a good thing to show she needs more challenges and the work is easy.

I will get the packet. One thing I noticed in the samples of work samples was that the assignments were no where close to what my kid gets to work on. Now I realize that not all work is sent home. So I don't know whether in school they are getting more of the gifted level work or problem solving opportunities, But from the work I see, it's basic. The more substantial work are the projects, but those are too complex to submit as a sample and were sent home.

Perfection related anxiety I could talk to because I have seen her sit for hours perfecting/typing retyping papers.

How can one prove that a child needs to be challenged? I said she was bored which I suppose could have been taken the wrong way. She get 100's on everything and bring no daily work home as it's done in school (math gets done on the bus and projects are sporadic). So I truly tried to make a case that she's not challenged even in a center school. But looks like that didn't come through. Or is seeking more challenging work not a good need for AAP?

Are you doing any enrichment beyond schol? Find her some projects to work on at home -- story writing, making up math tests and solving them, experiments. Write a 1-2 sentence blurb to go with each on the samples. I scanned in DC's, then put them at a smaller size on a new document so I had room to add my blurb.

Are more samples submitted with an appeal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What were the NNAT/CogAT scores? What was the GBRS? Is your child in advanced math? Is your child in an above grade level reading group?

The advice will depend on the answers to those questions.

Thanks for the responses!
Cogat was 135
3rd grade
Level III math
Above level on reading
Don’t know GBRS. Will the school release those?

Do grades matter? She’s has perfect or near-perfect scores on all work and is bored. There is no homework and the level IV kids get more to do. This was the motivation to apply. We didn’t refer last year. Put a lot of time on the referral to make sure bases we’re covered. At a center school.

Contact the school ASAP to get a copy of the packet. If the GBRS is good, you can use the fact that the teachers who work with your DD on a daily basis think that she needs to be in AAP. If it's not good or if it's uneven, you can use your parent letter to demonstrate how she's displaying whatever GBRS traits that the school wasn't seeing. If the work samples are bad, you can submit new ones and add in your parent letter some commentary on what GBRS trait the sample is showing. Do not say that your child is bored. Do not directly try to rebut the GBRS form or suggest that the teachers are wrong. If your child is having social issues because she doesn't have enough of a peer group of motivated kids, or if she's developing perfection related anxiety, those actually could help your case that your child's needs aren't being met in gen ed.

Thank you Really appreciate your time and guidance. This is very helpful.

I said she was bored in the referral. Crap! Did I blow it? Ugh I realize now that it might have sounded insulting. But that wasn't my intention. I thought that would be a good thing to show she needs more challenges and the work is easy.

I will get the packet. One thing I noticed in the samples of work samples was that the assignments were no where close to what my kid gets to work on. Now I realize that not all work is sent home. So I don't know whether in school they are getting more of the gifted level work or problem solving opportunities, But from the work I see, it's basic. The more substantial work are the projects, but those are too complex to submit as a sample and were sent home.

Perfection related anxiety I could talk to because I have seen her sit for hours perfecting/typing retyping papers.

How can one prove that a child needs to be challenged? I said she was bored which I suppose could have been taken the wrong way. She get 100's on everything and bring no daily work home as it's done in school (math gets done on the bus and projects are sporadic). So I truly tried to make a case that she's not challenged even in a center school. But looks like that didn't come through. Or is seeking more challenging work not a good need for AAP?

Maybe. Gifted children don’t get bored in the classroom. Saying your child is bored is a trope and it’s not a marker of giftedness — actually the opposite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What were the NNAT/CogAT scores? What was the GBRS? Is your child in advanced math? Is your child in an above grade level reading group?

The advice will depend on the answers to those questions.

Thanks for the responses!
Cogat was 135
3rd grade
Level III math
Above level on reading
Don’t know GBRS. Will the school release those?

Do grades matter? She’s has perfect or near-perfect scores on all work and is bored. There is no homework and the level IV kids get more to do. This was the motivation to apply. We didn’t refer last year. Put a lot of time on the referral to make sure bases we’re covered. At a center school.

Contact the school ASAP to get a copy of the packet. If the GBRS is good, you can use the fact that the teachers who work with your DD on a daily basis think that she needs to be in AAP. If it's not good or if it's uneven, you can use your parent letter to demonstrate how she's displaying whatever GBRS traits that the school wasn't seeing. If the work samples are bad, you can submit new ones and add in your parent letter some commentary on what GBRS trait the sample is showing. Do not say that your child is bored. Do not directly try to rebut the GBRS form or suggest that the teachers are wrong. If your child is having social issues because she doesn't have enough of a peer group of motivated kids, or if she's developing perfection related anxiety, those actually could help your case that your child's needs aren't being met in gen ed.

Thank you Really appreciate your time and guidance. This is very helpful.

I said she was bored in the referral. Crap! Did I blow it? Ugh I realize now that it might have sounded insulting. But that wasn't my intention. I thought that would be a good thing to show she needs more challenges and the work is easy.

I will get the packet. One thing I noticed in the samples of work samples was that the assignments were no where close to what my kid gets to work on. Now I realize that not all work is sent home. So I don't know whether in school they are getting more of the gifted level work or problem solving opportunities, But from the work I see, it's basic. The more substantial work are the projects, but those are too complex to submit as a sample and were sent home.

Perfection related anxiety I could talk to because I have seen her sit for hours perfecting/typing retyping papers.

How can one prove that a child needs to be challenged? I said she was bored which I suppose could have been taken the wrong way. She get 100's on everything and bring no daily work home as it's done in school (math gets done on the bus and projects are sporadic). So I truly tried to make a case that she's not challenged even in a center school. But looks like that didn't come through. Or is seeking more challenging work not a good need for AAP?

What does she do independently? My kid who was super bored in 2nd grade taught himself multi digit multiplication and long division. He wrote insane stories. He created his own puns and did a joke off with a friend. He held a "snack stand" that included a business plan detailing profit and loss, sunk cost, how many cookies they needed to sell to fund their goal, etc. If school isn't giving her the opportunities to use her brain, what is she doing outside of school? Spring break this week, guide her towards something you could take a picture of and submit.

I would lean away from "gen ed isn't enough" and towards "look at all that my child is capable of when given the opportunity".

[Anonymous]

In your appeal, provide evidence of how she thinks differently or at a higher level than her peers. Gifted kids don't just play games, they create them. They don't just read a lot, they create their own stories with complex characters. They build things. They understand complex/abstract concepts like sarcasm. I agree with the PP - gifted kids are rarely bored. Think beyond "she needs more work because she's bored."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, here we go! My lovely child didn't get. I will spare the details. 3rd grade.

Any tips for the appeal? My biggest gripe is the work they do doesn't yield anything stellar for a work sample. I thought what we submitted was decent.

I heard about WISC. I also hear the appeal is next to impossible.

Any words of advice? So lovely to get this news right before spring break.

+1 to the work done in school not being greatest samples. We work. We do all the things with our kid but I don’t produce work samples at home. On our letter, I noticed that was the first criteria listed for selection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In your appeal, provide evidence of how she thinks differently or at a higher level than her peers. Gifted kids don't just play games, they create them. They don't just read a lot, they create their own stories with complex characters. They build things. They understand complex/abstract concepts like sarcasm. I agree with the PP - gifted kids are rarely bored. Think beyond "she needs more work because she's bored."

Super helpful. Yeah. I agree with this assessment. There's a dimension here for sure around what's gifted vs smart or good at something or gets all A's. Makes sense. This is exactly why we didn't refer in 2nd grade. She is sarcastic for sure but like a daily thing? No. I'll hear her express that maybe once every few months. Storytelling? For sure. Complex plots, not really.

I have seen some truly gifted kids. They stand out. But I didn't see that in most kids admitted and that's what led me to apply. I figured if the other parents referred (as they didn't make the "pool" or didn't stand out), it's not limited to the truly exceptional. Then there were so many comments from parents about how much math homework the Level 4 kids received. So that didn't seem "gifted" vs good at math which she is stellar at. It's confusing!