Sweeby, does your son HAVE to be tested? Can you request that he be exempted from the standardized testing? Can you tell them that he WILL not be tested?

If it can be established that he will not be participating in the testing, would it be easier to make your case for their teaching him the basics first?

Bless your heart- I'm sure you feel like knocking some heads together.

Good suggestion Pecan - but I tried it early on!

And they can only exempt the most severely-disabled kids. For kids whose disabilities are more moderate, there's a 'TAKS-M' modified test. That test covers grade-level material but in a modified format. He just took the test last week and said it was 'easy' -- which unfortunately, could mean anything! However, if the reading TAKS-M is any indication, the test probably WAS easy. But we will see...

What I was thinking is that since he's already taken the standardized test, how about we change gears RIGHT NOW to go back and cover 3rd grade in the remaining one month? I know it's not much -- but to my way of thinking, he can either learn multiplication and division now, skipping adding and subtracting fractions with mixed denominators (how's he supposed to learn that anyway without multiplication and division?) Or he can continue to 'skip' multiplication and division. Either way, there's a 'hole' in his education -- But which is the better topic to skip?

Incidentally, I also asked them to teach him during summer school and got NOWHERE.

sweeby, I can't believe this!! Well, yes I can, but you know what I mean... How exasperating and LUDICROUS to be so focused on teaching to the test that we neglect to educate. Because that's what is happening here--true education is getting tossed aside.

Unfortunately, I don't know very much about your rights in this situation. My *guess* is that they are out of compliance in some way if they have skipped over the core material in direct contrast to what you've set up and requested, but I don't know how to enforce it. It does seem, however, since it is a very specific goal that is included in John's IEP, that you should be able to hold them to it. Do you have a resource agency that you could contact about it? We have a homegrown one here and they've been a great help to me with IEP-related issues.

But you know, at least no child is left behind...

There should be someone in charge of your state's and your school district's No Child Left Behind program, which it sounds like you need to have pay for a tutor to assist your son in bringing him up to speed on his math IEP.

Maybe I'm being picky here, but it seems the IEP requires what they TEACH him, but not how they TEST him. The state has an interest in knowing how many kids are learning at grade level. To do that they need to test the kids on the materials that is considered "at grade level" for that grade. However, that doesn't mean the school should ignore the IEP and teach to the test, so to speak. Let them test him at 5th grade level, but they should be teaching him at third grade level. Of course this makes them look bad because he will clearly do poorly on the 5th grade test, but that is their issue.

Are there people in your area that are advocates for learning disabled children? They may not take you seriously until you get "legal" with them. I wouldn't let them use the new state rules as an excuse. Those rules (from what you've written) are about testing, not teaching. Good luck.

I wonder if they've got spies? Or maybe just some TKO remodelers ;-)

So after writing this out, while responding to Pecan's suggestion, it occurs to me to simply call the school to suggest an immediate "now that the test it over" course change. May not work - but certainly "nicer" than "going all legal." So I do. Neither the Asst. Principal or SpEd teacher are in their offices so I leave a message to call me back regarding DS's IEP. So far, we haven't spoken.

But miracle of miracles, what should appear today as my son's math homework? VERY BASIC multiplication worksheets with elementary multiplication concept exercises. Woo Hoo! Could it be they figured it out from the fact that I left a phone message requesting a callback instead of rubber-stamping the paperwork?

Ladies, cross your fingers!

Good news, sweeby! Hopefully your DS will now get the math he needs to fill in the gap. Communication these days gets so convoluted, I swear.

Yes! Yes! Yes!
Cue Meg Ryan's famous scene in 'When Harry Met Sally'

The school is happy to go along now that they've had their precious standardized test, and the mother of the other boy in DS's little math group (also his best buddy) is also thrilled with the change in course.

Sometimes you get lucky --

Sweeby, I am so frustrated to read about your experience! Fear of the repercussions from "The State" for having kids perform poorly on an inappropriate assessment has led to so many incredibly unsound educational decisions. Your son's case is a perfect example.

Yes, the school was absolutely legally required to teach him the skills specified on the IEP. This is Special Education Law 101, and surely they knew they were out of compliance. I admire your restraint. Most parents would not have hesitated to go the legal route, but in the long run, at least in this instance, it was probably best not to.

As I was reading this thread, I was all set to send you some materials that would allow you to teach your son basic multiplication and division concepts and facts yourself. I'm glad that the school seems to be coming through, although as you clearly know, it makes no sense whatsoever to teach skills in the sequence you describe.

Oh, wow, Sweeby, how well I understand your situation. My daughter is taking 5th grade math again--my choice--even though she is in 6th grade. When I found out they would test her on a 6th grade math level, I was ticked!

My main concern is how do they think a child, already frustrated with math, will feel when the math given on the PSSA is something they've never seen before? How is that good for the child? How does the child's confidence in their ability? It doesn't. Arrgghhh!

I'm glad they did come through for you. School have their own agenda now, unfortunately it is the children who are not average or above who are getting left behind.

Sdionne -- Is your daughter on an IEP? With an identified learning disability and everything? Or just having trouble with math?

If she doesn't have an IEP, I'm surprised they agreed to teach her anything different from the rest of the class -- but it's good they are. And while I imagine the PSSA will be frustrating, at least that is only a day or two. Better that than a whole year of math that's above her level.

Are you doing any outside testing or tutoring to find out more information about why she is having trouble and getting her back up to speed? In our case, I've already accepted that it won't be possible no matter what we do -- but outside efforts might pay off for you.