APS gifted services
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Anonymous
| Curious what APS gifted services look like in practice for your school, particularly early elementary (1-2 grade). Thanks! |
Anonymous
| I don't think they normally identify kids officially until second grade. And even after that, it's pretty low key. If gifted services are really important to you, you may be happier in FCPS. |
Anonymous
| I think it is nip to the school. For my child there was a teacher who came into the room twice a week and did group work with the gifted kids. It didn’t seem like much but DD loved it. |
Anonymous
| I thought kids were normally not placed before 2nd grade but our kids school said there is a cohort in one class in 1st grade this year - not sure how kids would have even been identified in K last year given the way the year went… |
Anonymous
| It’s a nothingburger now that most are push in. |
Anonymous
What does this mean? |
Anonymous
| I think the term is "push in" rather than "pull out". My DD was ID'd as gifted in maybe 3rd or 4th, but especially because of COVID, they didn't do much. Instead of pulling the gifted kids out for separate classes, they "push in" the gifted teacher who does activities with the whole class, or something like that. Honestly I never fully understood it. |
Anonymous
| I believe kids are loosely identified by their teachers (or parents...) early on, but aren't officially assessed for gifted services until 2nd grade. My kid qualified last year in 2nd, but I haven't seen/heard anything yet for 3rd. Always possible that they are getting something extra, but I'm just not aware of it. |
Anonymous
Yes, I think this is the general process for identification. It's a push-in model, more info here. https://www.apsva.us/gifted-services/services-by-school-level/elementary-school/ To my knowledge my kid doesn't know they're identified as gifted. I have no idea how the gifted resource teacher is introduced. I also have no idea if the resource teacher does the extra lessons for the whole class, or just works with the cluster of gifted kids, or maybe both. My kid was identified early and I get the sense that the resource teacher did whole class enrichment lessons for the early grades, but don't really know. |
Anonymous
It’s a combo platter, and looks different at different schools, depending on the needs. The primary role of gifted resource teachers in APS is to train teachers in delivering differentiated material, but they also can spend time with groups in the classroom, or providing an activity to an entire class. Kids won’t necessarily even know what the GR teacher’s position is, especially in the younger grades. APS tries to blend the gifted extension materials in with the standard curriculum as much as possible- same assignment but more complex questions for gifted kids. That sort of thing. |
Anonymous
| They’re a total joke. My kid was ID’d in K (no, I didn’t push anything) and the next year got 30 minutes once a week about 3/4 of the time doing puzzles with the “coach.” |
Anonymous
What do you want for a 1st grader, exactly? |
Anonymous
That was more than mine got. IDed in all 4 areas in K (not a parent referral). I was told to sit tight until 3rd. |
Anonymous
| Whiners. Maybe you should homeschool. |
Anonymous
Not to waste their time, mostly. We switched to a private school and supplement at home for stuff that is actually challenging. |