Why aren't children re-evaluated for AAP annually?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do strangers care if someone else's kids are failing AAP? If the kid is okay with it and the parents are okay with it being on their record why do you care? AAP doesn't have a limited number of seats. Even if that kid in AAP fails every assignment and test, that still doesn't mean your kid will get in. The sour grapes on this forum regarding AAP is unreal.

I think you're confused about who is complaining - some of us are frustrated because even AAP teaches to the lowest denominator. So your kid who only got into AAP because you coached her to get in and is now struggling is the reason that the rest of the class isn't able to do more advanced work.

That isn't an across the board problem. Local level IV is going to make this issue so much worse for you. Congrats to those of you constantly complaining. You'll get even worse now that the students will just be top performing only relative to others in their grade at their own school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because risk of “failing out” is not appropriate for young children. Their parents can always decline if it’s not working.

Is it appropriate to tell young children that they're not smart and can't be educated in the same classroom as their friends? Is it appropriate for gen ed advanced math kids to "fail out" of advanced math if they don't get a pass advanced on the SOL? Is is appropriate for principal placed kids to lose their placement even if they're doing fine, simply because there isn't space? All of these are very common in FCPS. Why do you and FCPS only care about the emotional wellbeing of AAP kids and not the bright gen ed kids?

If you are so concerned about the fall out of Gen Ed kids, who is stopping them to take WISC, Cogat and any other IQ or eligibility tests? If they score how the AAP kids scored to get into the AAP program, they can join AAP classes. It’s not fair for AAP kids to be evaluated every year. If you don’t want to get evaluated every year, appeal and join AAP classroom.
In case of kids who are only advanced in math, I’m sure you can stop the fall out by excellent cogat quantitative scores and preforming well on math tests.

Why are you after AAP kids and trying to pull them and their parents down?

Kids are evaluated every year and classroom choices are made to match kids with classroom environments that best fit their needs. The schools look at Teaching styles, friends, people of a similar ethnicity so that a kid is less likely to be the only POC in their class, kids they don’t get along with, and special needs. Kids who struggle in AAP can be moved back to Gen Ed the next year if that is a better fit for them.

The fact that you mention pulling the parents down is problematic. The parent is not the one in the class getting an education, the child is. The child needs to be in a placement that fits them. If the child is struggling in AAP then the child needs to return to Gen Ed because that is a better fit for the child. Just like a child who needs resource support for speech or a LD needs to have those supports offered.

I don’t mean, the child is in the lowest reading group, there will always be a lowest reading group. But a kid who is not able to keep up with the faster pace of AAP, the additional writing, the faster math, and the extensions. That kid should be in Gen Ed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do strangers care if someone else's kids are failing AAP? If the kid is okay with it and the parents are okay with it being on their record why do you care? AAP doesn't have a limited number of seats. Even if that kid in AAP fails every assignment and test, that still doesn't mean your kid will get in. The sour grapes on this forum regarding AAP is unreal.

I think you're confused about who is complaining - some of us are frustrated because even AAP teaches to the lowest denominator. So your kid who only got into AAP because you coached her to get in and is now struggling is the reason that the rest of the class isn't able to do more advanced work.

That isn't an across the board problem. Local level IV is going to make this issue so much worse for you. Congrats to those of you constantly complaining. You'll get even worse now that the students will just be top performing only relative to others in their grade at their own school.

I am not so sure about this. The average class size at my sons school is 18, we are not Title I just smaller. The AART said that there are about 10 kids selected for AAP each year. If the kids in Advanced math are pushed into the AAP class for math and the kids in Level III push in for LA then you have a complete class with the kids who need the specific extensions. Our school just started LLIV so this is new and it does not impact my sons class because he was selected the year before the program started.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because risk of “failing out” is not appropriate for young children. Their parents can always decline if it’s not working.

Is it appropriate to tell young children that they're not smart and can't be educated in the same classroom as their friends? Is it appropriate for gen ed advanced math kids to "fail out" of advanced math if they don't get a pass advanced on the SOL? Is is appropriate for principal placed kids to lose their placement even if they're doing fine, simply because there isn't space? All of these are very common in FCPS. Why do you and FCPS only care about the emotional wellbeing of AAP kids and not the bright gen ed kids?

If you are so concerned about the fall out of Gen Ed kids, who is stopping them to take WISC, Cogat and any other IQ or eligibility tests? If they score how the AAP kids scored to get into the AAP program, they can join AAP classes. It’s not fair for AAP kids to be evaluated every year. If you don’t want to get evaluated every year, appeal and join AAP classroom.
In case of kids who are only advanced in math, I’m sure you can stop the fall out by excellent cogat quantitative scores and preforming well on math tests.

Why are you after AAP kids and trying to pull them and their parents down?

Kids are evaluated every year and classroom choices are made to match kids with classroom environments that best fit their needs. The schools look at Teaching styles, friends, people of a similar ethnicity so that a kid is less likely to be the only POC in their class, kids they don’t get along with, and special needs. Kids who struggle in AAP can be moved back to Gen Ed the next year if that is a better fit for them.

The fact that you mention pulling the parents down is problematic. The parent is not the one in the class getting an education, the child is. The child needs to be in a placement that fits them. If the child is struggling in AAP then the child needs to return to Gen Ed because that is a better fit for the child. Just like a child who needs resource support for speech or a LD needs to have those supports offered.

I don’t mean, the child is in the lowest reading group, there will always be a lowest reading group. But a kid who is not able to keep up with the faster pace of AAP, the additional writing, the faster math, and the extensions. That kid should be in Gen Ed.

They actually can’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
That isn't an across the board problem. Local level IV is going to make this issue so much worse for you. Congrats to those of you constantly complaining. You'll get even worse now that the students will just be top performing only relative to others in their grade at their own school.

Hopefully, when they roll out LLIV in every school, kids who are borderline or only strong in one subject area will stop getting centrally placed. After all, there's no reason to centrally place and guarantee AAP through 8th for kids who are below grade level or have mediocre test scores.

My kids' Title I school typically had classes of 25 kids and then about 25 kids out of 125 were centrally placed in AAP. At least half of these kids did not belong in full time AAP and only got in because the parents were highly motivated to escape the Title I school. Ideally, rolling out LLIV would coincide with drastically decreasing the number of kids centrally placed and guaranteed AAP through 8th. That would give the local school much more flexibility to place the kids in the LLIV classroom based on who needs it most for that subject.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
That isn't an across the board problem. Local level IV is going to make this issue so much worse for you. Congrats to those of you constantly complaining. You'll get even worse now that the students will just be top performing only relative to others in their grade at their own school.

Hopefully, when they roll out LLIV in every school, kids who are borderline or only strong in one subject area will stop getting centrally placed. After all, there's no reason to centrally place and guarantee AAP through 8th for kids who are below grade level or have mediocre test scores.

My kids' Title I school typically had classes of 25 kids and then about 25 kids out of 125 were centrally placed in AAP. At least half of these kids did not belong in full time AAP and only got in because the parents were highly motivated to escape the Title I school. Ideally, rolling out LLIV would coincide with drastically decreasing the number of kids centrally placed and guaranteed AAP through 8th. That would give the local school much more flexibility to place the kids in the LLIV classroom based on who needs it most for that subject.

While this may be true it's also true that there are likely kids who arent objectively qualified for AAP but are relatively more advanced than their peers. In those cases, they are still going to slow down the class for those who cant keep up. At our center class slows down for no one. Keep up or fail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
That isn't an across the board problem. Local level IV is going to make this issue so much worse for you. Congrats to those of you constantly complaining. You'll get even worse now that the students will just be top performing only relative to others in their grade at their own school.

Hopefully, when they roll out LLIV in every school, kids who are borderline or only strong in one subject area will stop getting centrally placed. After all, there's no reason to centrally place and guarantee AAP through 8th for kids who are below grade level or have mediocre test scores.

My kids' Title I school typically had classes of 25 kids and then about 25 kids out of 125 were centrally placed in AAP. At least half of these kids did not belong in full time AAP and only got in because the parents were highly motivated to escape the Title I school. Ideally, rolling out LLIV would coincide with drastically decreasing the number of kids centrally placed and guaranteed AAP through 8th. That would give the local school much more flexibility to place the kids in the LLIV classroom based on who needs it most for that subject.

While this may be true it's also true that there are likely kids who arent objectively qualified for AAP but are relatively more advanced than their peers. In those cases, they are still going to slow down the class for those who cant keep up. At our center class slows down for no one. Keep up or fail.

That works well until you get a kid who can advocate for themselves and insists on asking questions or a 2E who has no self control and no problem disturbing the class. Sure they can fail, but a 1 in ES is absolutely meaningless and they will still be AAP in 7th because that part of the program they were accepted into.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
At our center class slows down for no one. Keep up or fail.

Lucky you. At our center, class slows down for every single unqualified or unmotivated kid. My kid was stuck doing so much Dreambox and so much independent reading while the teacher worked with struggling kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
That isn't an across the board problem. Local level IV is going to make this issue so much worse for you. Congrats to those of you constantly complaining. You'll get even worse now that the students will just be top performing only relative to others in their grade at their own school.

Hopefully, when they roll out LLIV in every school, kids who are borderline or only strong in one subject area will stop getting centrally placed. After all, there's no reason to centrally place and guarantee AAP through 8th for kids who are below grade level or have mediocre test scores.

My kids' Title I school typically had classes of 25 kids and then about 25 kids out of 125 were centrally placed in AAP. At least half of these kids did not belong in full time AAP and only got in because the parents were highly motivated to escape the Title I school. Ideally, rolling out LLIV would coincide with drastically decreasing the number of kids centrally placed and guaranteed AAP through 8th. That would give the local school much more flexibility to place the kids in the LLIV classroom based on who needs it most for that subject.

While this may be true it's also true that there are likely kids who arent objectively qualified for AAP but are relatively more advanced than their peers. In those cases, they are still going to slow down the class for those who cant keep up. At our center class slows down for no one. Keep up or fail.

That works well until you get a kid who can advocate for themselves and insists on asking questions or a 2E who has no self control and no problem disturbing the class. Sure they can fail, but a 1 in ES is absolutely meaningless and they will still be AAP in 7th because that part of the program they were accepted into.

What do I care if another kid fails? That is for him/his parents to be concerned with. I'm happy the class keeps moving as it should.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
At our center class slows down for no one. Keep up or fail.

Lucky you. At our center, class slows down for every single unqualified or unmotivated kid. My kid was stuck doing so much Dreambox and so much independent reading while the teacher worked with struggling kids.

Yikes. I'd be pissed too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
That isn't an across the board problem. Local level IV is going to make this issue so much worse for you. Congrats to those of you constantly complaining. You'll get even worse now that the students will just be top performing only relative to others in their grade at their own school.

Hopefully, when they roll out LLIV in every school, kids who are borderline or only strong in one subject area will stop getting centrally placed. After all, there's no reason to centrally place and guarantee AAP through 8th for kids who are below grade level or have mediocre test scores.

My kids' Title I school typically had classes of 25 kids and then about 25 kids out of 125 were centrally placed in AAP. At least half of these kids did not belong in full time AAP and only got in because the parents were highly motivated to escape the Title I school. Ideally, rolling out LLIV would coincide with drastically decreasing the number of kids centrally placed and guaranteed AAP through 8th. That would give the local school much more flexibility to place the kids in the LLIV classroom based on who needs it most for that subject.

While this may be true it's also true that there are likely kids who arent objectively qualified for AAP but are relatively more advanced than their peers. In those cases, they are still going to slow down the class for those who cant keep up. At our center class slows down for no one. Keep up or fail.

That works well until you get a kid who can advocate for themselves and insists on asking questions or a 2E who has no self control and no problem disturbing the class. Sure they can fail, but a 1 in ES is absolutely meaningless and they will still be AAP in 7th because that part of the program they were accepted into.

What do I care if another kid fails? That is for him/his parents to be concerned with. I'm happy the class keeps moving as it should.

Because one student can slow down a class easily if they make a nuisance of themselves or if their parents insist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
That isn't an across the board problem. Local level IV is going to make this issue so much worse for you. Congrats to those of you constantly complaining. You'll get even worse now that the students will just be top performing only relative to others in their grade at their own school.

Hopefully, when they roll out LLIV in every school, kids who are borderline or only strong in one subject area will stop getting centrally placed. After all, there's no reason to centrally place and guarantee AAP through 8th for kids who are below grade level or have mediocre test scores.

My kids' Title I school typically had classes of 25 kids and then about 25 kids out of 125 were centrally placed in AAP. At least half of these kids did not belong in full time AAP and only got in because the parents were highly motivated to escape the Title I school. Ideally, rolling out LLIV would coincide with drastically decreasing the number of kids centrally placed and guaranteed AAP through 8th. That would give the local school much more flexibility to place the kids in the LLIV classroom based on who needs it most for that subject.

While this may be true it's also true that there are likely kids who arent objectively qualified for AAP but are relatively more advanced than their peers. In those cases, they are still going to slow down the class for those who cant keep up. At our center class slows down for no one. Keep up or fail.

That works well until you get a kid who can advocate for themselves and insists on asking questions or a 2E who has no self control and no problem disturbing the class. Sure they can fail, but a 1 in ES is absolutely meaningless and they will still be AAP in 7th because that part of the program they were accepted into.

What do I care if another kid fails? That is for him/his parents to be concerned with. I'm happy the class keeps moving as it should.

Because one student can slow down a class easily if they make a nuisance of themselves or if their parents insist.

Nope. Not for a teacher who knows how to keep control of their classroom. Hasn't happened yet and my kid has been in AAP for years. Sorry your kid's school isn't like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Nope. Not for a teacher who knows how to keep control of their classroom. Hasn't happened yet and my kid has been in AAP for years. Sorry your kid's school isn't like this.

DP. I think it has less to do with the individual teachers and more to do with the principal's philosophy about how the school should run. If the principal's goal is to minimize SOL failures and the principal doesn't care about AAP, then the AAP classes will teach to the lowest common denominator. If the principal values having a rigorous AAP program, the AAP classes won't slow down.

There should be standards applied across all AAP centers. Unfortunately, there aren't any. My kid's AAP 5th and 6th grade math classes were gen ed math given one year earlier. They didn't do any of the M^3 extensions or really anything to make the class AAP. The only language arts extension was Wordmasters, but the homework for it was inane. Like, they'd be asked to copy each word on their list 5 times, but doing so in different colors or by making spooky letters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
That isn't an across the board problem. Local level IV is going to make this issue so much worse for you. Congrats to those of you constantly complaining. You'll get even worse now that the students will just be top performing only relative to others in their grade at their own school.

Hopefully, when they roll out LLIV in every school, kids who are borderline or only strong in one subject area will stop getting centrally placed. After all, there's no reason to centrally place and guarantee AAP through 8th for kids who are below grade level or have mediocre test scores.

My kids' Title I school typically had classes of 25 kids and then about 25 kids out of 125 were centrally placed in AAP. At least half of these kids did not belong in full time AAP and only got in because the parents were highly motivated to escape the Title I school. Ideally, rolling out LLIV would coincide with drastically decreasing the number of kids centrally placed and guaranteed AAP through 8th. That would give the local school much more flexibility to place the kids in the LLIV classroom based on who needs it most for that subject.

While this may be true it's also true that there are likely kids who arent objectively qualified for AAP but are relatively more advanced than their peers. In those cases, they are still going to slow down the class for those who cant keep up. At our center class slows down for no one. Keep up or fail.

That works well until you get a kid who can advocate for themselves and insists on asking questions or a 2E who has no self control and no problem disturbing the class. Sure they can fail, but a 1 in ES is absolutely meaningless and they will still be AAP in 7th because that part of the program they were accepted into.

What do I care if another kid fails? That is for him/his parents to be concerned with. I'm happy the class keeps moving as it should.

Because one student can slow down a class easily if they make a nuisance of themselves or if their parents insist.

Nope. Not for a teacher who knows how to keep control of their classroom. Hasn't happened yet and my kid has been in AAP for years. Sorry your kid's school isn't like this.

It happened to my kid. They couldn't permanently remove the 2E kid who talked through the entire day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Nope. Not for a teacher who knows how to keep control of their classroom. Hasn't happened yet and my kid has been in AAP for years. Sorry your kid's school isn't like this.

DP. I think it has less to do with the individual teachers and more to do with the principal's philosophy about how the school should run. If the principal's goal is to minimize SOL failures and the principal doesn't care about AAP, then the AAP classes will teach to the lowest common denominator. If the principal values having a rigorous AAP program, the AAP classes won't slow down.

There should be standards applied across all AAP centers. Unfortunately, there aren't any. My kid's AAP 5th and 6th grade math classes were gen ed math given one year earlier. They didn't do any of the M^3 extensions or really anything to make the class AAP. The only language arts extension was Wordmasters, but the homework for it was inane. Like, they'd be asked to copy each word on their list 5 times, but doing so in different colors or by making spooky letters.

The principal does have some influence but I do believe it depends mostly on the teachers. My kid has had nice, quirky, and serious AAP teachers. None of them slowed down for students or allowed the interruptions to take over the classes. I can't speak for the other teachers in the school but I have been very pleased with the quality of teaching.