In need of advise for failing 6th grader

[fancypants]

We live in NY and I have an 11 year old son who has always struggled with school. I do not home school, but was hoping someone might have some words of wisdom. In third grade a brief psychological screening was done with the following summary: Cognitive functioning falls within the low average as evidenced by his Full Scale IQ standard score of 84 (14th percentile). A statistically significant difference between his verbal and nonverbal reasoning skills exists; suggesting better developed language-based reasoning abilities versus hands-on (visual) problem solving skills. Hence it is recommended that the CST review all evaluative and screening information in order to determine appropriate academic planning and support to ensure future skill growth and development.
In fourth and fifth grade he received AIS (academic intervention services) for reading and math. His scores for the state testing in fourth grade were 594 (minimum for meeting standard 650) for math and 590 for English language. His fifth grade test results were 623 for math and 638 for English.
In fifth grade his teacher referred him to the Committee on Special Education for a full screening with the following reports:
Speech/Language remediation does not appear to be warranted at this time.
Psychological evaluation: Cognitive testing completed with the WISC-IV indicates that his functioning falls just below the average range. He demonstrates evenly developed verbal and nonverbal problem solving skills. His short-term memory with auditory information falls just below the average range. His pattern of scores suggest that he might require slightly more repetition than his peers to learn new information; however, it should be noted that his Full Scale IQ is not substantially below the level expected of a child his age. His pattern of scores suggest that he is a visual learner. Visual learners are more tuned into, as well as distracted by, visual information. Minimizing visual distractions may improve his focusing in the classroom. Incorporating visual information during instructional lessons is likely to improve his attention and understanding of information.
The results of this evaluation can be used to rule out or confirm the presence of a learning disability. If a severe discrepancy exists between achievement (i.e., WIAT-II or WJ_III) and intellectual ability (i.e. WISC-IV), and if he has not responded to scientific, research-based interventions, then it is possible that a learning disability is present.
On the WIAT-II he fell out on reading comprehension (grade equivalent 3:4); numerical operations (3:8) and math reasoning (4:4).
Based on this information we were told he does not qualify for any type of intervention, other than AIS, which is not helping.
Now he is in 6th grade and failing. We have had him tested privately and he will begin the PACE program next week. What should I be doing differently to get the school more involved? I am in constant contact with the guidance councelor, and his only suggestion is getting homework done and in on time, which to my knowledge he does. When I e-mail teachers about a concern, their standard response is “I am available for extra help during lunch and after school”. I have given the guidance councelor copies of the testing that has been done; apparently this information does not follow along with the child!
I truly apologize for the length of this, but I really don’t know if I am doing the right things. I truly believe my son has the capability but something is blocking it. I have been banging my head on a wall trying to get help or direction from the school, but it just doesn’t happen. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Claire]

I don't see anything in what you posted that would help you get services from the school for your child. They base qualification for services on discrepancies between IQ and achievement test scores. Since they are saying his IQ is slightly below average, his below-average achievement in school tells them he is performing near capacity. Schools are legally required only to provide an "appropriate" education. They are not legally required to provide the best education for a child.

IMO, PACE is likely to help. Be *sure* you are faithful in spending the time on PACE homework assignments, even if it means skipping school homework assignments. If you haven't already, I would urge you to make arrangements with the school and your son's teachers for him to have a reduced homework load while he does PACE. Some parents arrange to have their child take time off from school to do PACE and its related homework assignments. In general, you want to do a *minimum* of one hour of homework training for every hour spent with the PACE provider. 2 to 3 hours of homework for every hour of provider training is even better. Because PACE is intensive, it's unrealistic to expect a child to attend a full day of school, keep up with homework assignments, and do PACE training as well. Something has to give, and IMO it should be the school work.

Our experience with PACE is that we did not see gains outside of the program until about halfway through, when it "seemed" as if we were seeing some subtle improvements. By two-thirds of the way through we were sure we were seeing improvements. At the end, the sum of improvements was quite dramatic. However, every child responds differently. Our provider had put about 30 children through the program. He said that, for the most part, how dramatic the gains were seemed to depend on how faithfully the parents did the homework with the child. Many of his students were in public school and he suspected the parents were not consistent about the homework. He said those students made gains, but they were not as dramatic as ours. (We were homeschooling at the time and made PACE our top priority for work at home.)

[Kathy in MD]

We used BrainSkills, the no longer available home based version. We had dramatic results, but we worked 1 hour/day, 6 days/week for 14 weeks. And we worked! We set aside one hour before school every morning when he was fresh. If he started with a bad attitude, he was given a short time to straighten up before he was sent out to run and then the hour restarted. That only failed us once. He did get off for head colds, but we just extended the program. Like Claire, I didn't see results until we were about half way through. (My ds was in school at the time, but his school assigned little homework.)

[fancypants]

Thanks for the responses. I am a totally frustrated mother who just doesn’t know what to do to help her son. I have two other sons, they are older (14 and 17), and they excel in school, so I am totally lost as to what to do for my 11 year old. I know he has the ability but something is blocking it, and that is just my gut talking. He has started the PACE program and he seems excited about it so far. I guess I just need to deep breath for the next 12 weeks and hope this will make a difference. If it’s only a little difference at least it’s a start.

[Laurie4b]

I agree with Claire. Your son's test scores are such that he "falls between the cracks" of school's intervention programs. I homeschooled a foster child for this very reason. She didn't qualify for services, yet was years behind in several subjects.

One thing that works is repetition, repetition, repetition. I'd seriously consider afterschooling him if you can't homeschool him. Get him through his homework quickly, then work at home on drilling foundational skills. Math skills really can come up with the overteaching method. (Teach a skill until he gets those kind of problems correct to within 90% for at least 3 days in a row. Review a week later. If they're still good, review another week later, then another. After that, review monthly. If at any time, he forgets that skill, go back to doing it each day.

Also, find his strengths and help him develop those. Be thinking ahead about what jobs he could succeed in with t he kinds of strengths he has and give him lots of opportunities for developing those.