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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]op here.

Okay, help me out please -- [b]Do I have a legitimate cause to escalate?[/b]  DH wants to leave it alone, while I want fairness and appropriate challenge level for my son...

My son will be starting grade 3.

[b]Principal refused to place my son in local L4 aap, after the school made a mistake in aap file.[/b]
We caught the error late...in June... the school included inaccurate test score, which suggested [b]below avg [/b]rather than close to cut-off achievement.  So, all the paperwork we put together for parent-referral was for nothing with that score.  I also got WISC later for appeal, unaware of previous error in package by school[!].

I will omit other layers of the case for simplicity, but I observed [b]teacher incompetence [/b]in both academic and child's behavior analysis on teacher' part last school year for the first time actually - things were goon in K and grade 1.  The year was a disaster, compared to K- and 1st grade with all indications of ahead of the curve performance...

2nd grade teacher was very young, with provisional license, must be her early career, so I do feel for her - everyone deserves a chance and has to start somewhere.

However, when in her hand-written note she spells "using" as "useing" that's a red line, and there were [b]more[/b] similar red lines that are kind of unacceptable one would think.  Bottom-line, we had a bad match with a teacher in the second grade... grades went down across the board from predominantly 4s to 3s.  - I did not complain during the year although considered it seriously, but I had many iterations on math grades that were low despite accurate answers, which was puzzling, and triggered my follow-ups directly with teacher only... - ultimately, low math grade on test could not be justified by her and she insisted:  3 is still a good grade, and just, trust us, other kids provide more complete answers to word problems.

Regional super (RS) is aware of my request "to principal-place to L4 even for a few months to see if it works," but RS did not interfere - just heard me out together with principal in June.  Now, August, and principal rejected my request... and just apologized for the error with the file.  So my June request was answered, after two follow-ups, only last week...  Not sure if RS was notified by school. Most likely "no."

Additional support for my child's academic achievement that makes him a potential candidate for ft app track comes from WISC scores; that Russian school of math identified DC as advanced 3rd grader level; that third-party FCPS teacher w 20years of experience tested DC, and concluded the reading level is much more advanced than assessed by 2nd grade school teacher.  Generally, my son kept saying grade 2 was too easy, and we had to enrich at home to provide appropriate challenge...

I am also keen to hear from teachers... am I taking it too far?  To me, the whole thing boils down to a borderline kid whose app file was screwed-up, and so the kid did not get a fair review... why not give him a chance? if this does not work out, he is too young to realize a step back, if a step-back as a potential consequence is feared possibly by the principal [?]...

Thanks for the feedback.

[/quote]

Okay.  I am probably not a good person to respond as I have been out of the system for a few years.

First, the inaccurate test score.  Was this a clerical error?  Teacher error?  Why was it inaccurate? [b] How close to cut-off was the accurate score?[/b]  If the accurate score were above the cut-off, you would have a grievance.  But, below?   Not so sure.

I understand the concern about the grades from the teacher--but, it does seem a little late to question those unless you have documentation.  You mention word problems.  I cannot judge on those.

What did the WISC say?  You did not address that in your post.  You also only mentioned the error on the one test.  Which test was that?  What did the other tests say?

My advice:  leave it alone and watch carefully.  It seems to me it would be easy for the principal to "place" your child if the scores supported that.  But, it is not good policy to place "for just a few months to see if it works."  It is much easier to move a child "up" rather than "down."  
Encourage your child to do his best.  Do not encourage him to say that he is "bored."  Do not interrogate him about what is going on with his teacher.  Conversation is okay, but don't push to find out if he is the "best" in his class.

This is not the end of the road for your son.

FWIW, the "useing" would bother me greatly, too.[/quote]

Agree with this poster. I'd bet any amount of money that you are not the first parent to try and escalate an AAP denial. FCPS keeps those decisions close to the vest and I've never known a parent who has successfully gotten any insight into the process (and I am mildly surprised by this, because I could believe there have at least been threatened lawsuits/ numerous FOIA requests about it). I have one kid in AAP whose scores were exactly the same as their younger sibling, who was not accepted last year. Apparently there are not hard and fast rules. I would suggest applying again in third grade if you think the program would be a good fit for your child.[/quote]

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