FYI on MCPS middle school magnet appeal with child with IEP

[Anonymous]

Ignore this thread if you're not interested in the nitty-gritty nitpicky aspects of magnet selection.
I had appealed our child's rejection, since two of his test scores were well above the median of accepted students, and the third was right at the median. Grades in 4th were poor, and I am sure teacher's rec was lukewarm. Child has IEP. IEP was not followed in 4th grade, hence poor grades.

Level 1 appeal, with committee selected by the magnet coordinator, just like the general selection committee: rejected. This committee is partly composed of magnet teachers.
Level 2 appeal, with committee selected by the chief academic officer (office of curriculum and instructional programs), presumably not the same people: waitlisted.
For the Level 2 appeal, we submitted a WISC-V score, which showed a range of above-average and gifted subscores. The letter from the chief academic officer underlined the fact that the committee was unable to use outside testing to decide, but that magnet test scores showed my child should be placed in the waitlist. Which begs the question, why was the child not placed there at once?

My conclusions are:
1. Magnet teachers really don't want to take children with special needs which might disturb the class in academic or other ways. They could have waitlisted my child but chose to reject instead.
2. The office of Curriculum and Instructional Programs is too far removed from direct instruction to have those hang-ups, plus it's illegal anyway to discriminate on IEP status.
3. Everybody knows that at this stage, it is unlikely that any accepted student will decline a spot, and if it happens, and the waitlist is examined again, the magnet coordinator and his selection committee will select the extra student, and will understandably choose someone they placed there themselves, not my child.

My child will therefore not attend a magnet program, which is fine by me!
I just want to let fellow parents know about the appeal process and also express my conviction, borne out by years of communicating with teachers in MCPS, that when you're flagged with an IEP, it is extraordinarily hard to be recognized as a gifted student and receive the correct placement.

[Anonymous]

What's the IEP for?

[Anonymous]

Wait - you can apply to an HGC for 5th grade only? I thought the entry point was testing in 3rd for rising 4th graders?

[Anonymous]

MS magnet, not HGC.

[Anonymous]

How can you know he was rejected because of having an IEP, and not just because of his poor grades? You are concluding that his grades were low because his IEP was not followed, but how can a committee be sure that this was the reason? I can imagine a committee wanting to give a spot to a child with higher grades that it thinks would get more out of the program.

[Anonymous]

OP here.

An IEP is a legal document guaranteeing and spelling out personalized services and accommodations for students with special needs. Legally, entry to gifted programs should not depend on IEP status, since if the child is receiving adequate accommodations and is performing up to the required standard, this should not pose a problem.

This is not a discussion about the Highly Gifted Program. This is for magnet middle schools, the application for which is in the fall of 5th grade.

[Anonymous]

I mean, right now all you know is that your personal child did not make the cut for whatever reason. Maybe the IEP. Maybe the 4th grade marks. That doesn't mean there is a bias against kids with IEPs. Your n=1 and that's not much of a sample.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How can you know he was rejected because of having an IEP, and not just because of his poor grades? You are concluding that his grades were low because his IEP was not followed, but how can a committee be sure that this was the reason? I can imagine a committee wanting to give a spot to a child with higher grades that it thinks would get more out of the program.

Each committee was made aware of all the information. Grades shot up in 5th grade when the IEP was followed, and there is proof of that.
I am NOT saying my child deserved an outright acceptance, since obviously other students have stellar grades AND test scores!

I am saying that he should have been waitlisted from the beginning, and that I strongly suspect the fact he had an IEP pushed the balance towards a rejection from the first selection committee.
The timing of waitlist placement is important, because the sooner you are placed there, the most likely you are to be picked out of it when accepted students start declining their spots to go to the other magnet program - there are two, and often students apply to both and then choose which one they wish to attend, if they are accepted to both (my child only applied for one).

It's complicated, I know.

[Anonymous]

I meant what is your child's IEP for?

[Anonymous]

I have 2 kids in the MS magnets - one at Takoma and one at Eastern. I assure you, there are plenty of kids with IEP's in both programs. Many students are disruptive in the classroom. If anything, I would say that the programs are better at managing and being responsive to students with IEPs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Ignore this thread if you're not interested in the nitty-gritty nitpicky aspects of magnet selection.
I had appealed our child's rejection, since two of his test scores were well above the median of accepted students, and the third was right at the median. Grades in 4th were poor, and I am sure teacher's rec was lukewarm. Child has IEP. IEP was not followed in 4th grade, hence poor grades.

Level 1 appeal, with committee selected by the magnet coordinator, just like the general selection committee: rejected. This committee is partly composed of magnet teachers.
Level 2 appeal, with committee selected by the chief academic officer (office of curriculum and instructional programs), presumably not the same people: waitlisted.
For the Level 2 appeal, we submitted a WISC-V score, which showed a range of above-average and gifted subscores. The letter from the chief academic officer underlined the fact that the committee was unable to use outside testing to decide, but that magnet test scores showed my child should be placed in the waitlist. Which begs the question, why was the child not placed there at once?

My conclusions are:
1. Magnet teachers really don't want to take children with special needs which might disturb the class in academic or other ways. They could have waitlisted my child but chose to reject instead.
2. The office of Curriculum and Instructional Programs is too far removed from direct instruction to have those hang-ups, plus it's illegal anyway to discriminate on IEP status.
3. Everybody knows that at this stage, it is unlikely that any accepted student will decline a spot, and if it happens, and the waitlist is examined again, the magnet coordinator and his selection committee will select the extra student, and will understandably choose someone they placed there themselves, not my child.

My child will therefore not attend a magnet program, which is fine by me!
I just want to let fellow parents know about the appeal process and also express my conviction, borne out by years of communicating with teachers in MCPS, that when you're flagged with an IEP, it is extraordinarily hard to be recognized as a gifted student and receive the correct placement.

As you know, teachers recommendations are not from the child's 4th grade teachers, but the 5th grade teachers.

[Anonymous]

OP you may want to see if you can get this thread moved to the special needs forum. Lots of unnecessary bashing from PPs in this one. I'm sorry for what happened to you and think what you wrote is helpful for other 2e kids.

[Anonymous]

This may be more complicated but I do not know for sure.

Takoma has ton of kids with problems.
However there is big difference between 504 and IEP.
504 are just accommodations. They do not need to change curriculum or spend extra individual time with kids.
My child has 504 and needs just extra time for test (due to slow processing speed), teacher's notes, laptop for writing, and front seats. This is not difficult to implement.

IEP is different story = It is Individual Education Plan. That means teachers should revise curriculum to accommodate your child.
Also if your child had poor grades and since magnets are very demanding, success for your child in magnet may be questionable.
You do not want child in magnet who is failing when everyone around are successful. That does not help self-esteem much.

[Anonymous]

Are the middle school magnets designed for gifted kids?

[Anonymous]

I appreciate OP share her experience here. She already said she would be fine if her DC not going to magnet. She kindly contributed her experence and did not asking for suggestion and judgement.