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What do I do to insure my gifted son is not forgotten about in the classroom? Anything I should be doing now?
My son is 4yrs 2 mos. He reads fluently at a fall GR 4 level (DIBELS ORF), and can also independently read and comprehend fiction and non-fiction picture books at this level. I am a reading specialist, and am familiar with differentiation and IEPs. Some colleagues have said I should push for an IEP for him when he enters school in Aug 2011. Agree?
Since this is over a year from now, is there anything else I should be doing?
In Topics:
Working with my child's teacher(s), National education standards and No Child Left Behind, My gifted child
Since this is over a year from now, is there anything else I should be doing?
> 60 days ago
Answers (3)
I'm not really sure how you're gauging that he's a GR 4 level (I'm assuming that's 4th grade fall level), I've never really heard of DIBELS relayed as GR 4, etc. ... DIBELS, unfortunately, doesn't test comprehension, intonation, inflection, ability to read smoothly, etc. It's merely a timed test that measures how many words a students can read in a set amount of time. I think yes, he is ahead of himself at only being 4 years old. However, there are other things that need to be taking into consideration ... I think you should mention it to the teacher - but, remember - they're the teacher not you.
I'm a teacher, and if a parent voiced a concern or something, I certainly would address it with a solution/answer. I think your best bet would be to let him go through the first quarter or kindergarten and then bring it up with the teacher when you have a conference. The teacher will probably be able to gauge his abilities against the other students pretty fairly. If an IEP is needed for gifted, then it will be pursued through the target process at that school - no need to get super involved. Also, if you think he's very gifted, try some outside data gathered and perhaps enroll him in a magnet or charter school or private school where he can excel with other students with comparable intelligence.
Does that help?
I'm a teacher, and if a parent voiced a concern or something, I certainly would address it with a solution/answer. I think your best bet would be to let him go through the first quarter or kindergarten and then bring it up with the teacher when you have a conference. The teacher will probably be able to gauge his abilities against the other students pretty fairly. If an IEP is needed for gifted, then it will be pursued through the target process at that school - no need to get super involved. Also, if you think he's very gifted, try some outside data gathered and perhaps enroll him in a magnet or charter school or private school where he can excel with other students with comparable intelligence.
Does that help?
> 60 days ago
OH! try to get a DRA2 test on him to see where he's really READING and comprehending.
> 60 days ago
MissDeb- Good idea with the DRA. I am definitely in agreement with you about the limitations of the DIBELS ORF. Unfortunately the district where I work doesn't use the DRA, but I'll ask friends from other districts. I tried another published company (which will remain nameless), but it was pretty terrible, and my son HATED it. I don't want to be too pushy, especially since he LOVES reading right now. I considered using the QRI, but it's more like a rough estimate of the grade level. Anecdotally, he reads with great prosody, and has comp at the levels listed below, evidenced by conversations that occur immediately, as well as days afterward, but I thought it might be more helpful to have something more concrete. A colleague of mine also mentioned looking into charter schools, and his pre-school director encouraged me to look into private schools and possible scholarship. I don't want to be the crazy pushy parent, but I also know how often the on-level and above kids get "left behind".
> 60 days ago
