is this discrimination?

[beachbather]

What is the name of your state? California My children transferred into a public school from a private "religious " school this year. My daughters National Test scores
80-90th Percentile) for 2 years were given to the new school to aid in her placement. She was placed into a split class with children almost 2 years younger than her, non readers and with test score well below average. When we asked why she was placed in this group the teacher told us my daughter was right where she should be because my daughter "didn't know anything."
The administrator said my daughter was "average" and they would bring her test scores up through this split class and get her where she needed to be for grade level.

Coincidently, all but 1 out of the 10 children that transferred over from this religious school were placed into this split class.

My daughter is clearly out of place in this group. She still reads 2 grade levels above , however she is starting to display regressive behavior such as tantrums and whining and talks very negativly about her own skills, somewhat typical of the young children she has been placed with.

Is she being discriminated against by this teacher and adm. because she simply came from this religious school?

 

[CdwJava]

Is she being discriminated against by this teacher and adm. because she simply came from this religious school?

There are always problems bringing children into public school from a private school. One problem is that the public school has no track record to base student performance on for proper placement. Also, they may not have a classroom with an accelerated track that you might like. The unfortunate reality of many public schools is that they often teach down to the lowest denominator. In your case, this sounds like an evaluation situation. Since you have knowledge of where she is relative to her grade level or her classmates, it would appear that some testing is being done.

My children transferred from Catholic school to public school, and my wife is a public school teacher, so I have some personal knowledge of the issues. Until the children have a track record in an environment where they can be evaluated, they will be placed where the school feels it is best to conduct these evaluations. You are certainly free to disagree and speak to the principal about the matter. However, I doubt there is any illegal discrimination in this matter. Keep in mind that most discrimination is perfectly legal.

Talk to the principal about other options.

- Carl