Q. Our 11-year-old son is our middle child and scored 95 percent in math, 93 percent in science, 91 percent in language, and 76 percent in the reading section on the Terra Nova CAT achievement test. His test results showed an IQ of 120. Do you consider this gifted? Is he borderline? He is very forgetful, and the teacher doesn't seem to present challenges that reveal his true ability. Should I push to get him into the gifted and talented program, or would I be doing him a disservice? We recently moved. He came from a gifted school and has always been outstanding in math and average in reading.

A. Schools and states use different cut-off points for placing students into gifted programs. One test is often not enough to determine for sure whether a child should be identified as gifted. Teacher and parent observations, as well as in-class performance, contribute to determining whether a child should be placed in special programs. Judging by the scores you've given, your son is likely to need more challenge in math, and perhaps science. Schools don't always make arrangements for separate programs in specific subjects. Ideally, the teacher could differentiate your son's math program by pretesting him in every new area to determine if he already knows the material. If he performs well on pretests, he could move forward independently or with some assistance from the teacher. It's possible that there are other math students in his class at his level, in which case, an accelerated math cluster group within the class could be formed.

Your son's science challenge can be provided with the same curriculum in which the class is engaged. Normally, an enriched science program can be achieved by providing some children with more in-depth questions and projects on the same topic the whole class is working on.

Perhaps it will be easier for you to advocate for the math acceleration and enriched science if you explain to the teacher that you don't expect your son to participate in the parts of the gifted program where he doesn't qualify. Then listen carefully to what the teacher has to say about his classroom behavior and propose an experimental compromise. I've put together a parent-teacher communication acrostic to emphasize good home-to-school communication. It's in my new edition of "Why Bright Kids Get Poor Grades and What You Can Do About It" (Great Potential Press, 2008) and is shown below:

Ally with the teacher privately about your concerns.

Listen to what the teacher has observed about your child.

Learn about what the teacher thinks is best for your child.

Initiate a conversation about your child's strengths and problems.

Ask about experimental ideas for engaging and interesting curricular and extracurricular activities.

Negotiate to find appropriate adult and peer role models.

Consent to alternatives if experimental opportunities are not effective.

Extend possibilities patiently.

For a free newsletter about gifted children, send a large self-addressed, stamped envelope to P.O. Box 32, Watertown, WI, 53094, or visit www.sylviarimm.com and read the parenting article “So Your Child is Gifted.”

Dr. Sylvia B. Rimm is the director of the Family Achievement Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, a clinical professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and the author of many books on parenting. More information on raising kids is available at www.sylviarimm.com. Please send questions to: Sylvia B. Rimm on Raising Kids, P.O. Box 32, Watertown, WI 53094 or srimm@sylviarimm.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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