Reply to live in DC, plane don public schools, learning that DC might be gifted

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[quote=Anonymous]1. What type of academic assessment?  You realize that if you pay, they'll tell you what you want to hear, right?
2. you and 50,000 others - In MCPS something like 80% of white children (yes, white) are GT, which basically means nothing.

[quote=Anonymous]I really don't want this to come across as a humble brag.

A couple of years ago I signed DC up for an academic assessment - they assess his progress every 6 months, part of a larger study.  Every six months he gets assessed on his "academic" skills, and we receive results as a percentile, compared to a national sample.  The categories are things number fluency, receptive language, etc.  So it's not an IQ test, as I understand it, more an assessment of where he is.  As it happens, he is consistently scoring just above the 90th percentile in all categories.  Which is great - we know he's great, we think he's awesome, etc, but we're also pretty laid back and not pushing him an any area, just enjoying seeing how quick and bright he is.  He's a great kid.

But now, after getting a series of these results, and spending too much time on DCUM, I'm starting to wonder a couple of things.  First, he's just going into K.  So I'm trying not to overanalyze things.  He's going into a good public school west of the park, where a great deal of kids seem to be advanced.  We all know DC doesn't have a gifted and talented program.  But we had planned to stay in DC, doing public school, for the duration.  Given his high scores, though,I wonder if at some point we're doing him a disservice.  Our plan thus far is to take it as it comes, and I am definitely keeping my eye on schools like Basis or Latin or others where there might be more differentiation.  We're really not in position to send to an elite private school - where I think a kid like him would excel.  I also have little desire to move to a county that has a gifted and talented program, like AAP or Montgomery County.  But are we being short sighted?

A related question: DC has an older sibling who appears to be a bright kid, but bright in the way all DC kids of highly educated parents are.  Older sibling is slightly above grade level in reading and math, but mostly right on track, according to teachers.  I am wondering if we should have older sibling tested in some form or fashion to have a better handle on where older sibling really is.  But what kind of testing would that be, and where would we get it?  I'm wondering if there is a way to get more data that can help us focus older child to excel, if that makes sense.  [/quote][/quote]

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