She may also know who your child's academic peers are and whether they are likely to go to the HGC or stay. That would be important to me.

Of course you do. You never know what she'll say and you would not have found out if you didn't ask. For all you know she may bring up social issues like maybe your DC has trouble making friends and that might be a challenge if he or she goes to a different school or other things that are not related to pure ability.
There are definitely some kids who are truly exceptional and have difficulty being happy in a normal classroom and that need the HGCs. But there are many more kids who would do great at either their home school or the HGC and if you have a choice of going or not going I would want to know what my child's most recent teacher thinks. She may also have some information about children from your school and how they do there. At ours one student left for an HGC and was miserable and returned after a quarter. I don't think it had anything to do with academics but he just didn't like the commute and missing all his activities with his friends.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my experience, the home school teachers don't have much understanding of what is offered at the HGC or what the selection is based on. I say that having had two kids accepted to the HGC. One of my children's teachers said that the school is sometimes surprised by who gets in and who doesn't. It is not always who the school recommends. I think that is why a lot of teachers tell parents that if they have any interest they should apply.

I also remember that a 3rd grade teacher told all the parents at back to school night that the HGCs didn't offer anything different than the home schools. That is simply not true, especially for certain kids who really need a different peer group.

Yes, my experience as well (had 2 attend HGCs). And we came from an elementary school that sends between 3 to as many as 8 a year to HGC. In addition to not really understanding the process or the HGC curriculum, the teachers have to tell us that the acceptance rates are low and that the home school can meet the needs of the students.

I agree with that as well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

And with the crazy PENIS (ES,p,I,N) grading, one can't determine how a child is doing based on grades. The test most important and that makes it fair.

That's ESPIN. ES/P/I/N is, at worst, no less informative than O/S/I.

OP, I think it's worth bringing up with the teacher -- just something simple and open-ended like, "We put in an application for the HGC, and I'm also wondering about compacted math. What do you think?"

Thank you all for the advise. Especially the one above.. I like it... bring it up, but short and simple.

Anonymous wrote:In my experience, the home school teachers don't have much understanding of what is offered at the HGC or what the selection is based on. I say that having had two kids accepted to the HGC. One of my children's teachers said that the school is sometimes surprised by who gets in and who doesn't. It is not always who the school recommends. I think that is why a lot of teachers tell parents that if they have any interest they should apply.

I also remember that a 3rd grade teacher told all the parents at back to school night that the HGCs didn't offer anything different than the home schools. That is simply not true, especially for certain kids who really need a different peer group.

Yes, my experience as well (had 2 attend HGCs). And we came from an elementary school that sends between 3 to as many as 8 a year to HGC. In addition to not really understanding the process or the HGC curriculum, the teachers have to tell us that the acceptance rates are low and that the home school can meet the needs of the students.

I do advise you ask about compacted math. Our first child is in 4th now and we didn't know anything about compacted math despite him being apparently a good math student. He was not selected for it and we didn't even know it existed until we heard other parents talking about it in the beginning of 4th. At our 4th grade conference I plan on asking whether he is still in a math group that suits him or whether he should have gone into the compacted.

In my experience, the home school teachers don't have much understanding of what is offered at the HGC or what the selection is based on. I say that having had two kids accepted to the HGC. One of my children's teachers said that the school is sometimes surprised by who gets in and who doesn't. It is not always who the school recommends. I think that is why a lot of teachers tell parents that if they have any interest they should apply.

I also remember that a 3rd grade teacher told all the parents at back to school night that the HGCs didn't offer anything different than the home schools. That is simply not true, especially for certain kids who really need a different peer group.

Anonymous wrote:

And with the crazy PENIS (ES,p,I,N) grading, one can't determine how a child is doing based on grades. The test most important and that makes it fair.

That's ESPIN. ES/P/I/N is, at worst, no less informative than O/S/I.

OP, I think it's worth bringing up with the teacher -- just something simple and open-ended like, "We put in an application for the HGC, and I'm also wondering about compacted math. What do you think?"

I agree you should ask about compacted math and whether child is being assessed.

Ask about whether your DC will be assessed for compacted math. I don't think they assess all kids for this.

I asked last year. The teacher told me the teacher's recommendation was organized by the school and done for all applicants. She is in HGC now, but I don't think the asking made any difference.

Anonymous wrote:I think the test score is the biggest factor. We mentioned it at my child's third grade conference and she said she agreed it was a good fit. The discussion was about 4 sentences. Keep in mind about 40% of mcps students are labeled GT in second grade and only 3-5% get into the HGCs...not discouraging applying but the criteria is very different.

And with the crazy PENIS (ES,p,I,N) grading, one can't determine how a child is doing based on grades. The test most important and that makes it fair.

Go for it. We let the teacher know that our kids were applying and asked for the recommendations. Say what you just described of your child. He/she seems a good candidate. Good luck!

I think the test score is the biggest factor. We mentioned it at my child's third grade conference and she said she agreed it was a good fit. The discussion was about 4 sentences. Keep in mind about 40% of mcps students are labeled GT in second grade and only 3-5% get into the HGCs...not discouraging applying but the criteria is very different.

So I have my 3rd graders parent-teacher conference coming up shortly. I have put an application for magnet school. I know that teachers recommendation matters quite a bit for admission. My DC was recognized as GT in 2nd grade and is pretty good in reading, comprehension and writing skills, although DC struggles with spellings a bit. DC is also good in math and ever since start of 3rd grade, DC has been getting ES in lot of worksheets brought home. So should I talk to teacher about what she thinks about DC's application to GT program and get recommendations on what areas, if any, she needs improvement in? Or is this a taboo topic for conference? I know many kids whose applications were impacted by the teachers feedback. My DC's teacher is somewhat strict but I like her a lot since she pushes the kids to do their best. So I have seen a few 'I' on work sheets even for a single mistake!
Can any teachers or other parents here give me some advice on to what I should be asking at the conference or if I should not even bring it up and stick with her performance in school for the grade level?