Overcoming truly awful HOPE
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Anonymous
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I requested and received my child's HOPE scores and they're terrible, which feels completely misaligned with her academics. Any advice on how to overcome this during the appeal process? I know HOPE weighs heavily into the committee decision making, so it's clear now why my kid didn't get in during initial review despite what seemed like decently high (though not off the charts) test performance.
Pyramid: Marshall In/out of pool: In pool Tests submitted by school in original packet CogAt: 140 (138 Q, 139 NonV, 125 V) NNAT: 129 Fall 2024 iReady math: 99th %ile (454, looks like just %ile submitted) Fall 2023 iReady reading: 99th %ile (I don't see the raw score submitted/can't find the old paperwork; fall 2024 VALLS similarly high but not submitted by school/not really supposed to be used for this type of determination anyway) WISC (not in original packet, done over spring break): 134 HOPE: 2 often, 5 sometimes, 4 rarely (!!!), no subjects checked/no comments. I'm floored at the HOPE. It doesn't sound like my kid at all. The work samples weren't great (mostly because of terrible handwriting) but I had felt confident we could overcome those until I saw the HOPE. Now I'm also concerned about what's going on in that classroom, because I see my child exhibiting significantly above-grade-level talent in math and reading as part of our daily life, and if the teacher isn't seeing any of that, it feels like a huge problem (maybe my kid is totally checked out, maybe there's a behavior issue no one has mentioned, maybe a weird peer dynamic, could be any number of things that mean a completely different kid at home than at school, I suppose). Any advice from people who have addressed a really bad HOPE during appeal through samples or the cover letter (or, if you were denied 2nd grade appeal, how to set up a conversation with 3rd grade teacher to make sure there isn't so much of a gulf between the at home and school experiences?). |
Anonymous
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Were the 4 rarely on social skills? What does the report card look like? Submit all of the scores that the school didn’t submit! Talk about the things your child does at home. Origami, puzzles, figuring out math problems on their own, learning, above grade level books. Request a conference with the teachers who gave the evaluation. Request the full iReady Winter score reports for math and reading and submit them if the scores are supportive of AAP. Do you think that your child may have ADHD or fine motor skill deficiencies, or a similar disorder that would be a reason for lower social scores or bad handwriting? Have your child rewrite any writing samples as neat as possible. You also need to include a 1-2 line write up of your child’s thinking for any work samples. For math work samples use gifted math problems from higher grade levels (2 grades above would be ideal). Request an appointment with your pediatrician and have the teachers fill out the forms for ADHD evaluation from your doctor (not to include in your packet, but you can write about this). Looks like the lower scores are on verbal/reading. Use your parent write up to include info about how your child is advanced in that area. Make sure you have good work samples to support that. You can use multiple work samples and shrink them onto less pages.
Don’t write anything bad about the school or teachers! You can write about how shy your child is in new situations and that at your most recent parent teacher conference the teacher said “_____” about your child. Take notes! Ask the teacher for why your child scores so high on the assessments, yet isn’t marked as above grade level at all. Request the full scores reports for prior years ready as well. How many kids are in the class? Teachers tend to give children who raise their hands a lot and answer a lot of questions and behave well better scores (even if they have lower standardized test scores.” You can submit the WISC report from George Mason. For a private psychologist you need a copy of their license to submit with the score. Only submit the score if it supports math and language arts AAP. |
Anonymous
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What did the teacher report to you at fall conferences? Was there any discussion that didn't seem to jive with your experience? You're unlikely to get any near term feedback from the teacher (or AART) on the eval, if ever. Have you talked to your kiddo? Do they feel like they hold back at school or do they participate regularly? Do they feel like they get positive feedback from the teacher? Or too little feedback? Does the teacher play favorites? If you can get to an understanding even just from your child's perspective, that will help you address it in the appeal.
My DD's 2nd grade teacher was frequently getting upset by more than one disruptive kid in the class last year. My DD's sensitivity to the situation led her to want to be the "opposite of disruptive," (her words.). Anyway, contrary to the PP's advice, we hit the issue with the teacher/ environment head on in the parent letter, along with new work samples, produced outside of that environment. DD was admitted on appeal. |
Anonymous
| If you don’t make it this year then opt out of the HOPE next year. |
Anonymous
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You can try to talk to the teacher about your child's performance, without actually referring to the hope. "Does my child participate in class?", "Does she seem engaged in learning?" etc. I also think it's good to ask whether she thinks your child is advanced in any subject areas, given the high test scores.
I would also try to get your child into level 3, if she hasn't been found eligible for that already. There's a good chance the third grade teacher will give her a much better hope. |
Anonymous
From your description, it is likely your child IS the disruptive one in class. Have you had them tested for ADD / ADHD ? I think you should be looking at special services for them, which would be a better fit, and not AAP. |
Anonymous
You're jumping to special services and ADHD, based on OP's description? That's quite the reach. OP has indicated she has gotten no feedback about behavior problems. |
Anonymous
ok. What do you think the likely explanation could be for her child’s: - high test scores + really low HOPE rating? |
Anonymous
Teacher perception? My child didn't get in with similar scores (still waiting to receive her HOPE). Her teacher is new to the school and frequently tells the students that she is overwhelmed and "stressed out." Not sure she'd be the best judge of my child's aptitude. |
Anonymous
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Teachers vary widely in how they fill out the form. My son’s second grade teacher gave my child low hope ratings even though the teacher gave me positive feedback about him. In this grade his hope ratings were much better with a different teacher and he got in.
I am mostly puzzled by how the OPs teacher didn’t check advanced for any subject areas, even though the child scored 99th percentile on both iready tests. I would ask the AART or teacher about that. |
Anonymous
Sorry - in THIRD grade. Not “this” grade. |
Anonymous
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Might be too late for this but my kid has terrible handwriting and I submitted an occupational therapist evaluation where I highlighted relevant sections (note they are reading the application very quickly, which is why I did this) and in the notes section at the bottom of the parent survey said something like "See attached highlighted sections. Handwriting reflects XYZ issues and not motivation." Got in on the regular application with lower scores (don't know HOPE but expect it was good). I don't think explicitly addressing the handwriting could hurt.
You might be able to get Fairfax Pediatric Therapy to turn a report around quickly. I don't know for sure but we got an initial appointment pretty quickly and the report within 2 weeks without asking for it to be expedited. Therapy itself took more of a waiting period to have an opening. |
Anonymous
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Pp here. FWIW, handwriting can cause lower output because it's so hard/tiring to them so your kid may not be writing everything they know or would expand on when talking out loud about the same topics/creative ideas.
Do they have one area of interest like dogs that they know everything about? I'd mention that too. Ways that go deeper at home - Reading every dog book, identifying breeds, bringing up relevant stuff in conversations. I gave examples like that. |
Anonymous
| Is the HOPE report inconsistent with the report card? If the first time you are hearing about some of these issues is on the HOPE report, that is a problem that I would address with the teacher. |
Anonymous
That child should be in AAP (ADHD or not!) And to be honest, some teachers are not that nice. Appeal. AAP is not that difficult. |