Anonymous wrote:OP, in my experience, differentiation really varies by school. My 9 year old ds was in pool 2 years ago. His CogAt Composite was 99%, he scored well on all sections-99%ile) (90, and 18 above the benchmark (then 130) on one section as well (148/perfect on Nonverbal). Due to a mediocre GBRS (9) he was not found eligible. His grades were all 0's and G's. Most adults who knew him (some teachers themselves) were really surprised that he was not found eligible. This was a child who was reading chapter books before Kindergarten, and writing stories. Always performed extremely well in math as well. Anyway, when I asked about eligibility for Level III, they told me he was also not found eligible for Level III, but that the way they were doing Level III, the whole class was getting it anyway. In his school, the AART is only there 2 days a week, so IMO, Level III is practically non-existent. It is not the same situation, but I wanted to share. This is at a desired school with good test scores.
As an aside, my younger ds goes to a different Elementary (we had opted out of our neighborhood school for older ds, but lost that right due to rising scores at our neighborhood school. we had also decided ds2 needed smaller classes, which our neighborhood school offered). He is in K, and has an IEP for social/emotional delays, but is also very bright like his brother. We just got a letter last week that he had been identified as being eligible for Advanced pull outs. We had to give permission, which we did. The principal at this school found extra $$ to make sure they had an AART there full time. This school is at Title I school with lower test scores, though is no longer under sanction through NCLB.
I would strongly recommend that you see how many days your AART is there related to the student body. If you think your daughter might need differentiation, you can always wait until next year, and see how this year goes. You can parent refer in any grade if you think she is not being challenged. For us, we decided to parent refer in 3rd grade (could not shell out for WISC as so many do). We used our same scores, since they were well above the benchmark, and provided work samples from school and home, and verified the teacher felt it was a good fit. She felt he was bored, and we agreed. Ds was found eligible first round of 3rd on parent referral, and is doing great this year. We decided to stick with his base school, so he is in Local Level IV (they have one class per grade), though we could have sent him to center. I felt strongly that I wanted to leave him at his same school.
I have read your story no less than 5 times on this board in the past month. I know all about your son's denial, behavioral issues, low GBRS, and subsequent acceptance with a higher GBRS the following year. I'm not sure why you post it on nearly every thread. You could certainly post a response without the life story...