School rant

[agnes!]

I live in one of the supposedly richest school districts in the US. My DD(middle schooler) wanted to take one of those "old" languages in the fall. OUR middle school doesn't offer it anymore because the previous teacher retired about two or three years ago.
*So* I found what I thought was a viable option, an online school that is run by the Virginia Department of Education, therefore following the all-important Virginia Standards of Learning(SOLs) and the all-important Programs of Study(POS). Today I was informed that the VAPS(Virtual Advanced Placement School) was [insert condescending tone here] "really put together for rural schools & that online courses don't really match up to our curriculum and that "our county does not accept ANY online courses outside of (our) County".
Ummm...EVEN if it is offered by the state Department of Education?
"Yes. We won't let her take that course for credit."

I am almost beyond caring, this system has screwed my DD before out of certain advanced course offerings. She's a good kid, gets great grades, has incredible verbal and math and science aptitude, doesn't cause trouble... WHY is it so hard for *her* to get services? Why is it ok for adults to tele-commute but not good for a middle-schooler? Why is it ok for MY county to provide the Chinese component for the VAPS for the 2006/07 school year BUT NOT ALLOW THEIR OWN STUDENTS TO ACCESS VAPS?!?

ugh.

agnes!

 

[mrsv98]

Bummer. I am sure it has something to do with funding. Schools are hysterical when it comes to getting credit for each student and snarl at anything that threatens funding.

 

[agnes!]

Oh, yeah, I sure think you got that right (about the funding).

I can hardly believe it, but I am thinking of hiring an "educational advocate" for my DD's situation. And sometimes I think...what about other kids? What about next year if she decides she doesn't want to take this "old" language anymore? What about all the parents who can't lobby for their children's situations due to time constraints, scheduling problems, money woes... I can choose/sacrifice to do this, what about all the parents whose kids get lost in the shuffle?
I've always though that you need to strike while the student's interest is hot, that all this education is all for the children, all this funding is for the children, all this effort is for the children ...

ugh.

agnes!

 

[disneyeveryyear]

I am not mocking you, just have a basic question.

Could you daughter take the tele-course and not get credit? If she is truly interested in it, then maybe the credits aren't that important.

 

[agnes!]

She might be able to take the class, but I'm not sure that VAPS would even give us access.

*sigh*

This is a kid who said her first word when she was four months old, who was able to speak with and understand a student who'd had four years of Latin (when she had only had two *weeks*!), got one of the top three scores in her school in a Math Contest, read all the L. Frank Baum's Oz books in 3rd grade and Lord of the Rings books(the Hobbitt, the first 1 1/2 books) when she was in third or fourth grade, etc., etc.

She'll keep learning in spite of whatever possible discouragement that gets thrown her way

agnes!

 

[nkjzmom]

She's a good kid, gets great grades, has incredible verbal and math and science aptitude, doesn't cause trouble... WHY is it so hard for *her* to get services?

Have you had her tested to see if she qualifies as gifted? That's the only way to get appropriate services in our city.

 

[Christine]

Bunch of snobs!

 

[agnes!]

Well, she got screwed on that as well. Her year she was 3 POINTS total short of being in the pool for the gifted/talented center. (They combined a couple of tests and averaged them out or something, so this is 3 POINTS out of a total of 300+.) Year before? Year after? Her score would not have been a problem, she would have gotten in *easily*.

She did supposedly qualify to be in the G/T pool at her elementary school, but the G/T "teacher" didn't convey information very well, so we missed the deadline for applying to be "G/T" at her middle school. She did get into all Honors classes & has a GPA that got her into the National Junior Honors Society.

ugh.

agnes!

 

[Honu]

Are students entitled to advanced placement courses?

 

[Toby'sFriend]

Are students entitled to advanced placement courses?

no they are not.

 

[SandiH]

So if a student transfered into your district from one of the "rural" districts, wouldn't they have to accept those credits? What's the difference in this case? I would petition as high as you can to get them to accept the credit - or find out how you can gain access to the course via the state.

 

[lookingforward]

Can't you reapply for gifted? It should be allowed. Also, I would try and sign her up for the non credit online class as prep for her high school years. They should also allow it since it is a state approved program. It is important that your daughter has you for an advocate, we should always fight for our kids. Have you considered some of the great middle school summer college enrichment programs. They are designed specifically for gifted children.
Good luck!

 

[Hannathy]

I think it comes down to schools can't offer every course available and they have chosen which they will offer. If your DD likes language that much as you have bragged I'm sure she can pick another for credit and take the other for enrichment. My DD has been in a gifted program charter school for 4 yrs and they have had to take french- no choice, so they all have and now for HS some are switching but it hasn't hurt any of them. If she is in middle school she has plenty of time to take the other one later. IMO you are just picking a battle for the battle.

 

[Pixiedust34]

If the school isn't meeting her needs, perhaps she can study the language of her choice on her own:

http://www.rosettastone.com/en/?a=b

I've never used Rosetta Stone, though it is popular among homeschoolers for foreign language studies.

I know that she wouldn't get formal school credits for studying a language on her own time outside of school, but having that experience under her belt on a college application is sure to be impressive.

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

The squeaky wheel gets the grease. We had to fight daily for our DS's for several years... then magically they get into middle school with an administrator who would listen. All of the sudden our 6th grader is in high school classes. Started AP classes in 8th grade. It was right for him and she knew it. All of our homeschool high school stuff was put on their official transcripts for credit. Second DS just followed the same track - different classes but same idea.

Sometimes you have to argue your point longer and harder than you think you should.... but it just might be worth it in the end.

I would probably contact someone higher up, and maybe the Dept. of Ed. as well to plead your case.

Good luck!!!

 

[agnes!]

Thanks to *everyone* for all your opinions & thoughts.

I just got the news today, all the NO's...no official regulations, just "that is what is allowed", etc. so a CB rant seemed to be in order .

agnes!

 

[Christine]

agnes,
If you don't mind giving out the info, what school is your DD in. I am always contemplating moving to Fairfax County (where I think you might be) and I have two kids. Just wondering what school is doing this.

 

[MorganLeFey]

so let me get this straight...you're upset because your school has set standards that are higher than the statewide standards? that the courses they offer in language are more advanced than the online course your child wants to take, but don't include the language she wants? and they don't ewant to give her creidt for a class that's beneath their standards?

our middle school -- one of the best on Long Island --offers 3 choices for language. if a student wants more choices he/she has to wait for high school to take independent study in that language. we've also eliminated gifted programs at the middle school level in favor of honors and advanced classes. my dd is in hionors classes for all her core subjects. almost 1/3 of my dd's class (incuding my dd) were accepted into National Junior Honor Society.

when my dd was in elementary school I sent her to a gifted program every Saturday at a local college. it was learning for the sake of learning. shre didn't get any "redit" for it, but she learned a lot.

 

[paigevz]

I live in one of the supposedly richest school districts in the US. My DD(middle schooler) wanted to take one of those "old" languages in the fall. OUR middle school doesn't offer it anymore because the previous teacher retired about two or three years ago.
*So* I found what I thought was a viable option, an online school that is run by the Virginia Department of Education, therefore following the all-important Virginia Standards of Learning(SOLs) and the all-important Programs of Study(POS). Today I was informed that the VAPS(Virtual Advanced Placement School) was [insert condescending tone here] "really put together for rural schools & that online courses don't really match up to our curriculum and that "our county does not accept ANY online courses outside of (our) County".
Ummm...EVEN if it is offered by the state Department of Education?
"Yes. We won't let her take that course for credit."

I am almost beyond caring, this system has scr*wed my DD before out of certain advanced course offerings. She's a good kid, gets great grades, has incredible verbal and math and science aptitude, doesn't cause trouble... WHY is it so hard for *her* to get services? Why is it ok for adults to tele-commute but not good for a middle-schooler? Why is it ok for MY county to provide the Chinese component for the VAPS for the 2006/07 school year BUT NOT ALLOW THEIR OWN STUDENTS TO ACCESS VAPS?!?

ugh.

agnes!

Hey, agnes, I feel your pain.........I had to fight for my son to get into the G/T program at his new school when we moved.............long story, but getting him in only gave him a minimum of something to do there. He still did most of his real learning at home. I taught at school, tutored in after-school programs and then home-schooled in the evenings this year!

BUT, not to make light or anything, but I just can NOT believe that the standards are SOLs and the study programs are POS. Is it just a Texas thing or a Southern thing..........do you understand what WE might use those acronyms for?

 

[agnes!]

I will give it to you straight .

Lol, the County standards are not higher than the state standards. They are just refusing to even consider an alternative that fulfills all the state standards because the state runs it AND they refuse to let the county school students participate in this state-provided online alternative EVEN THOUGH the county is happy to take money to provide programming for this very same online school.

Oh, and the county has its *own* online campus with various course offerings. So it's not like they are against all online courses...they're just against everybody else's online courses.

agnes!