Reply to Advanced Students in DCPS Upper Elementary

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think the level of shock and disbelief in this thread is showing is that it’s impossible to generalize, and one family’s experience at one school could be vastly different than another school. It also highlights the importance of really prioritizing and digging hard into the priorities, systems and structures, and leadership at the individual school level. It’s REALLY hard to know what questions to ask when you’re at the pre-K level, but the good news is DC has a lottery and often seats open up in elementary grades. [/quote]

This thread is making me happy that we're just going with our neighborhood school for PK-3 rather than figuring out what school he'll need later. I don't know what to look for yet![/quote]

Oh, 100%. Plus, not only will what your kid needs change, but the schools may change too, in between now and then. [/quote]

Yes, development can be uneven.  My 3rd grader was a late reader, but is now reading above grade level. Similarly, was barely at grade level in math for the last couple of years, but is now leaping ahead.  Some of this was pandemic related, but there was no indication in pre-K and K that they'd be working above grade level. [/quote]

Right. Unless you have actual IQ testing that shows your child in the highly gifted range, it’s NBD if they are within a year or two either way of “grade level.” They don’t need special instruction. [/quote]

In a class in which most kids are not at grade level, a first grader reading at a 3rd or 4th grade level - who may not be 'highly gifted' - can still be 3-4 years ahead of most of their classmates. Hard to teach that range. [/quote]

This is a classic debate. IMO with a kid that is multiple grade levels ahead in READING, I don’t think she actually needs instruction in reading itself anymore. But ELA is the mechanics of reading, comprehension and analysis, writing, sentence composition, etc. Unless your kid is multiple grade levels ahead in all of that subject matter, then they still have more to learn. And that kid who may be terrible at decoding may be great at higher level analysis (or math, etc). That’s why you need strong teachers and small class sizes. It is hard to teach and you just can’t expect perfection in early elementary ANYWHERE.[/quote]

I don't have anything against strong teachers and small classes, but even with those, it's asking a whole lot for teachers to be providing the kind of instruction you're describing when most of the kids in the class can't read. My kid has tons to learn, but I'm accepting that I'm going to have to figure out how to make that happen myself. I thought this would only be an issue if my kids were genuinely extremely gifted, and that's just not been how this plays out for us. And the other UMC kids are supplementing as well. [/quote]

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