Tell me what you think of this...

[Julieofsardis]

My dd went to public school this year for the first time. Things have been going really well -- surprisingly well. Today, she came home with a sheet of paper. It described some enrichment classes that were to being offered for 30 minutes each morning. The note on the bottom said that students who did not test proficient on the ACTAPP last spring would automatically go into tutoring instead of enrichment classes.

 

My dd filled out the form for her choices for enrichment classes. The form came back and had a note on the top that said, "The student homeschooled until this year." "Please inform student that she will be in tutoring."

 

Dd did not take the ACTAPP last year because she wasn't required to take it as a homeschooled student. She did however, go through a battery of tests last spring to determine placement into classes. In every test she scored at least 10th grade level, and lots of them were post high school (she started 8th this year).

 

What would your reaction be?

[Hillary in KS]

Did the form just come home today?

 

I suppose I would go to the school and ask to speak to the person who determines where children will go. Whatever you could bring to show that your dd isn't a remedial student would be a help.

 

Did your daughter take any standardized test last year? Could you bring in copies of those results? Who has copies of the placement tests she took before she enrolled in ps? Can you get copies to show? I'm going to assume your dd did well on her most recent report card? A failing student wouldn't get good grades, so that may be a help.

 

If you present all the information demonstrating that your dd is not a struggling student, and they are adamant that she be in tutoring, there's not much you can do. As a parent, I'd probably ask how they plan to address the stigma and embarrassment a good student might feel at having to go to tutoring, while her friends go to enrichment. (But that's mostly because I'd enjoy watching them tap dance around that.)

[teamturner]

Is this 30 minutes each morning before school starts or part of the official school day? If it's part of the school day then I definitely think you should speak to the person who does the placement and try to get her into the enrichment classes.

 

That person may just be unaware at your dd's placement test scores. If it's earlier than the official school time and they don't let her into the enrichment classes, then I would just keep her out of the tutoring. She could do her own enrichment with that time just by reading some challenging books or reading up on a topic of interest to her.

[Mom2boys]

Did the form just come home today?

 

I suppose I would go to the school and ask to speak to the person who determines where children will go. Whatever you could bring to show that your dd isn't a remedial student would be a help.

 

Did your daughter take any standardized test last year? Could you bring in copies of those results? Who has copies of the placement tests she took before she enrolled in ps? Can you get copies to show? I'm going to assume your dd did well on her most recent report card? A failing student wouldn't get good grades, so that may be a help.

 

If you present all the information demonstrating that your dd is not a struggling student, and they are adamant that she be in tutoring, there's not much you can do.

 

 

:iagree:

[Tutor]

I'd also ask them if this is a general rule for all transfer students to be placed in tutoring their first yeat or if the rule only applies to previously homeschooled students and ask to see the written policy. If the policy states that a student can't take enrichment classes unless they have taken and receive a particular score or higher on the ACTAPP the previous year, there isn't really anything you can do, but if the written policy states that if a student was enrolled in an Arkansas school the previous year and took the ACTAPP and received a particular score, then you have a basis from which to argue that your daughter should be placed in enrichment classes based on her placement scores when she entered the school system.

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

My dd went to public school this year for the first time. Things have been going really well -- surprisingly well. Today, she came home with a sheet of paper. It described some enrichment classes that were to being offered for 30 minutes each morning. The note on the bottom said that students who did not test proficient on the ACTAPP last spring would automatically go into tutoring instead of enrichment classes.

 

My dd filled out the form for her choices for enrichment classes. The form came back and had a note on the top that said, "The student homeschooled until this year." "Please inform student that she will be in tutoring."

 

Dd did not take the ACTAPP last year because she wasn't required to take it as a homeschooled student. She did however, go through a battery of tests last spring to determine placement into classes. In every test she scored at least 10th grade level, and lots of them were post high school (she started 8th this year).

 

What would your reaction be?

 

Uh, my reaction would be a resounding, "No." Absolutely not. What is their policy for transfer students from outside the state? If it is that they require "tutoring," then perhaps I would tone down my "No."

 

But if this is about the fact that he was educated at home last year? Well, they'd better come up with something better and fast.

[Hillary in KS]

I'd also ask them if this is a general rule for all transfer students to be placed in tutoring their first year or if the rule only applies to previously homeschooled students and ask to see the written policy.

 

Ooh! That's a good question!

[Julieofsardis]

I'm planning to go in tomorrow and ask some questions. My feeling is that she's being punished for being homeschooled, but I will have to find out if all transfers are required to tutor.

 

My next question will be, "In what subject area will she be tutoring?" Because I'm unclear as to which area needs work. Although she is not a brainiac, she is doing well in all her classes.

 

Thanks again!

 

Any other input is welcome. I'll have to admit I'm a little miffed.

 

Julie

[Dooley]

In CA. Come testing time, they wouldnt allow her to even test because she did not take the classes at their school. I did have a rather lively conversation with the counselor, who kept saying it was the decision of the Principal. But, when I finally said, "Oh, I understand, you are discriminating against my daughter (who had skipped a grade and had excellent SAT scores). How 'bout I call my lawyer?" Needless to say, within moments, all the hurdles this school put up for my daughter dropped.

 

In our case, our school system had an unlawful bias. What they were doing would not hold up and they knew it.

 

If I were you, I would definately push it and not accept their decision until you absolutely must. KWIM?

[Harriet Vane]

I am disgusted by it. I would fight this tooth and claw. They need to show that your daughter needs remediation rather than assuming that your homeschooling was poor. It is discriminatory.

[OhM]

In Ohio, state law mandates (paraphrase following-I'm no lawyer!) that gifted students be identified and properly served. I'd check with your state's board of ed. and see if similar requirements exist, and have the verbage in hand. I would formally request that she be tested for identification per the state's requirements (if there are any.)

 

Good luck!

[Snickerdoodle]

I'm very curious. What are they enriching and what are they tutoring? Do you know anything about it?

[kalanamak]

Maybe its the drawling Kansan in me, but I'd go in with the most cheerful of miens to correct this "oops". I would NOT assume she is being punished. Most likely a system error for dealing with the "oddball out" (this is not an insult....I am proudly an oddball). Bring the test scores you do have and just find a reasonable person who has the power to make the round peg fit in the round hole, even though it doesn't have the standard round certificate.

 

(I can almost hear one of my neighbors saying something folksy like "They think one a th pigs got in the heifer pen, but she's a heifer, all right. Maybe a oink here and there, but she's a heifer, all right.")

[JFSinIL]

Go talk to the school folk...and if you do not have any test scores from before, at least have them look at her current grades and teacher reports! Our high school set up 30 weeks of mandatory daily ACT prep for kids "at risk" (the entire Jr. class has to take the test in the spring as part of our State testing) and stuck in my high school JR (who had not homeschooled since 8th grade and was in AP and Honors classes with a high GPA). I DID call the principal (who had the bright idea to stick my kid in the prep classes)...the principal actually agreed to let my son skip the classes rather than deal with a Mean Mom ;)

 

PS ds took the ACT this Dec. just to see what he'd get and scored 27 - highest on English stuff, so he knows to work on the math sections of the prep books I have bought him.

 

PPS our lovely Illinois Gov. was in the paper last week bragging how he got an 18 on his ACT.

[Annie G]

PPS our lovely Illinois Gov. was in the paper last week bragging how he got an 18 on his ACT.

 

 

I live in Illinois, too, and I think Rod's 18 is probably the only thing he can think of to legitimately brag about. I mean, it's better than bragging about being the only governor impeached TWICE. But of course the real question is whether he cheated to earn that 18. g Sorry for being snarky but it's -24 here right now and I need some entertainment!

[dirty ethel rackham]

:D from a fellow Illinoisian - who made it out of the house this am in below zero temps at 6:30 to exercise. Good thing the 'Y' was nearly empty:).

Edited January 16, 2009 by dirty ethel rackham
hit submit too soon.

[OH_Homeschooler]

Maybe its the drawling Kansan in me, but I'd go in with the most cheerful of miens to correct this "oops". I would NOT assume she is being punished.

:iagree:Save the outrage for after your discussion, if they do not hear you out. Homeschoolers are used to taking education into their own hands. In this case, that just means you have to talk to someone. Not a big deal.

[RoughCollie]

The same thing happened to my DD -- she has not taken the MCAS since she was in 3rd grade, so she has been put into an MCAS tutoring class instead of an enrichment class.

 

I'm fine with it. DD doesn't need to be enriched. She does want to do well on the MCAS because her scores will help determine the levels of classes she will be placed in next year (9th grade). I figure it can't hurt, might help.

 

I will also be tutoring her at home for the MCAS, which is basically reviewing the material she should already know to make sure it is fresh in her mind.

[Hillary in KS]

I live in Illinois, too, and I think Rod's 18 is probably the only thing he can think of to legitimately brag about. I mean, it's better than bragging about being the only governor impeached TWICE. But of course the real question is whether he cheated to earn that 18. g Sorry for being snarky but it's -24 here right now and I need some entertainment!

 

LOL! :D

[Carol in Cal.]

Maybe its the drawling Kansan in me, but I'd go in with the most cheerful of miens to correct this "oops". I would NOT assume she is being punished. Most likely a system error for dealing with the "oddball out" (this is not an insult....I am proudly an oddball). Bring the test scores you do have and just find a reasonable person who has the power to make the round peg fit in the round hole, even though it doesn't have the standard round certificate.

 

(I can almost hear one of my neighbors saying something folksy like "They think one a th pigs got in the heifer pen, but she's a heifer, all right. Maybe a oink here and there, but she's a heifer, all right.")

 

I think that a lot of times when you go head to head with a bureaucracy, their reflex is to squash you like a little bug. OTOH, if you're all friendly, and take the attitude that you're SURE this is just one of those little old mistakes that do happen sometimes, and be all calm and smiley and just asking the next question, sometimes you can effect change. For example, "Well, great, and who would you recommend I talk with about this? Awesome, thank you so much for your help. By the way, what is his phone number? Which organization does he work for again? Oh, thank you, you have been SO helpful." Lather, rinse, repeat.

 

People hate to feel threatened or judged. Give them a way out to do what they KNOW is right, and a lot of times they will.

[CookieMonster]

Maybe its the drawling Kansan in me, but I'd go in with the most cheerful of miens to correct this "oops". I would NOT assume she is being punished. Most likely a system error

 

Honestly, this was my first thought, too.

 

My guess is that someone was assigned the task of checking the test scores of each student who filled out an application. This person just looked up the student name, recorded the score, and from that sheet the students were filed "tutoring" or "enrichment". When they got to your daughter's application, there was no test score. Aack, now they need a third pile. The someone who was assigned this task goes and talks to someone else about your daughter's application. This other person digs a bit wondering why in the world your daughter wouldn't have a test score and discovers that, indeed, your daughter did not take the test last year because she was homeschooled. Now what do they do with a "no test score" student????

 

So they go talk to someone else. "Oh, no test score?" they say. "Well, then she just needs to go into tutoring."

 

Anomaly solved. Hitch in the get-along taken care of.

 

My guess is no one took the time to research the rest of your daughter's placement file, etc.

 

Now, I could be wrong. There may be some secret, hidden vendetta of whoever was in charge of assigning students based on test scores. Most likely, however, this is not the case. So I would go into the situation assuming they simply were unaware of your daughter's achievements and abilities. Also, if there was someone who exercised said vendetta, approaching the situation from this vantage point would put vendetta-person in the corner as you spoke with more reasonably-minded folks who make the ultimate decisions.

 

Just a thought...

Edited January 17, 2009 by CookieMonster

[Julieofsardis]

Honestly, this was my first thought, too.

 

My guess is that someone was assigned the task of checking the test scores of each student who filled out an application. This person just looked up the student name, recorded the score, and from that sheet the students were filed "tutoring" or "testing". When they got to your daughter's application, there was no test score. Aack, now they need a third pile. The someone who was assigned this task goes and talks to someone else about your daughter's application. This other person digs a bit wondering why in the world your daughter wouldn't have a test score and discovers that, indeed, your daughter did not take the test last year because she was homeschooled. Now what do they do with a "no test score" student????

 

So they go talk to someone else. "Oh, no test score?" they say. "Well, then she just needs to go into tutoring."

 

Anomaly solved. Hitch in the get-along taken care of.

 

My guess is no one took the time to research the rest of your daughter's placement file, etc.

 

Now, I could be wrong. There may be some secret, hidden vendetta of whoever was in charge of assigning students based on test scores. Most likely, however, this is not the case. So I would go into the situation assuming they simply were unaware of your daughter's achievements and abilities. Also, if there was someone who exercised said vendetta, approaching the situation from this vantage point would put vendetta-person in the corner as you spoke with more reasonably-minded folks who make the ultimate decisions.

 

Just a thought...

 

I think the situation happened just as you described. I don't think there was any hidden vendetta. However, because she has not got a test score from last year, she will still be in tutoring.

 

The principal said that any student who transfers in without an ACTAPP score must take the tutoring. I asked if that applied to public school students and her answer was yes. She did tell me that the teacher in charge of tutoring would quickly assess her to determine whether she needed to be there and would move her back to the enrichment if that was the case.

 

Someone had asked about what type of enrichment and what type of tutoring. I didn't get a direct answer for this, but I think that basically the state law dictates that any who did not score on grade level had to have remediation. Therefore, a certain amount of time was set aside for this. They created the enrichment for those who didn't need remediation.

 

The enrichment classes are basically just extra things like art, music, P.E., etc. They are just extra instruction and time fillers. As for the tutoring, I figure they will tutor students in the areas they weren't proficient in. I'm not sure what they'll do with my dd.

 

The principal was very professional and apologetic. She said that in no way was my dd singled out for being homeschooled and offered to apologize to her directly if I wanted. I told her it wasn't necessary.

 

I guess we'll just let it go for now. I think I got a wrong impression based on the notes scribbled on the paper.

 

Thanks everyone for your input. It did help me calmly state my case.