APS gifted services question

[Anonymous]

My APS 2nd grader was flagged for gifted screening based on CogAT scores. It was determined that they do not qualify for gifted services. Is it typical to be identified via the screener, but not qualify (I do recognize that it’s just a screener, but this not being my area of expertise, I don’t know how accurate the screener is at identifying people).

[Anonymous]

I don't think that is common. What were his cogat scores?

[Anonymous]

Standard age composure score was 135 (99%). Verbal was very high, with quantitative and non-verbal lower.

[Anonymous]

Did you fill out a questionnaire with anecdotes about your kid?
Does your teacher like your kid?

My Ashlawn 2nd grades strikes me as smart and well behaved for a boy, but not necessarily gifted. He was flagged for CogAT and we filled out the form. We tried to paint an honest and fair picture of our child in the answers. We figured he was on the cusp and the teacher who is trained in child development, sees him every day, and has taught hundreds of 2nd graders is a better judge of his giftedness than we are. He got in, but I think it is because his teacher LOVES him and gushes about him in his report cards. I’m happy for my kid, I think it will be good for him socially to be grouped with his nerdier peers. However, I think a lot of the reason his teacher loves him is that he is a good rule follower and doesn’t cause trouble. There are some very boisterous, spirited boys in his class (I know them from sports teams) and by comparison he probably looks like an angel.

[Anonymous]

PP is interesting. I have a girl who is not the best behaved kid in class. By far not the worst. But can be willful, etc. She's also very social so a talker. And I don't think her 2nd grade teacher loves her, which is fair.

She still got in. And I was wondering if her teacher would sandbag her. I've heard of it happening.

I don't know how common it is to not get in. Her CogAT was very high though and across the board high and so are all her assessments they do in class. If she hadn't gotten in, I was going to at least consider appealing.

[Anonymous]

That score seems like it should have gotten him in. Odd. Maybe there are some school politics going on behind the scenes.

[Anonymous]

I did fill out the questionnaire. To be honest, I think my kid is smart, but not sure if they are gifted. But in my mind, I think of gifted as genius-level. And there’s no way 20% (or whatever the high number is) of APS students are geniuses! So I’m trying to figure out difference between smart and gifted. My child definitely has academic areas where they could improve. Relationship with teacher was fine, but nothing special. I’m just unsure if this is normal and I should let it go or if it’s unusual and I should question the decision more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did fill out the questionnaire. To be honest, I think my kid is smart, but not sure if they are gifted. But in my mind, I think of gifted as genius-level. And there’s no way 20% (or whatever the high number is) of APS students are geniuses! So I’m trying to figure out difference between smart and gifted. My child definitely has academic areas where they could improve. Relationship with teacher was fine, but nothing special. I’m just unsure if this is normal and I should let it go or if it’s unusual and I should question the decision more.

I felt this way about my older child. He had been referred (this was pre-pandemic) and his test scores were right on the edge. He didn't qualify for services and I never pushed it. My reasoning was that I didn't think my kid was bored or under challenged in class. Also, the way they push in the gifted content, all the kids can take advantage of it if inclined. He is very strong in math and over the years has done a lot of the extended content in math.

He's in middle school now and no regrets on my part.

[Anonymous]

If work done in class isn’t consistent with what would be expected of a kid with a high cogat score, the committee may elect to deny. Unfortunately a lot of parents prep their kids to take the test, so high cogat and nnat scores aren’t always enough for a kid to be identified.

[Anonymous]

OP here: definitely no test prep done here! We’re pretty hands off with these sorts of things. With school work not really graded (and the hard to interpret standards based grading), I will admit it’s hard to assess as a parent whether classwork performance is incongruent with standardized test results.

[Anonymous]

You could always ask his teacher OP.

Our kid had been referred prior to the spring conference and we asked her what she thought based on what she had seen in the classroom. She gave good feedback.

[Anonymous]

I would push back -- if your kid got a 99% on COGAT they should probably be in. For my kids, gifted services was one of the best things about school. They loved it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If work done in class isn’t consistent with what would be expected of a kid with a high cogat score, the committee may elect to deny. Unfortunately a lot of parents prep their kids to take the test, so high cogat and nnat scores aren’t always enough for a kid to be identified.

Different poster, not OP - Test prep is not common in APS, at least among people I know. I only know about it from the Fairfax / AAP posts on DCUM. My elementary told us about CogAT on a Monday for testing later the same week. I suppose if I had older kids I could have known to prep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If work done in class isn’t consistent with what would be expected of a kid with a high cogat score, the committee may elect to deny. Unfortunately a lot of parents prep their kids to take the test, so high cogat and nnat scores aren’t always enough for a kid to be identified.

Different poster, not OP - Test prep is not common in APS, at least among people I know. I only know about it from the Fairfax / AAP posts on DCUM. My elementary told us about CogAT on a Monday for testing later the same week. I suppose if I had older kids I could have known to prep.

New poster. I agree it's not common. I have 3 kids and know enough Type As I believe I would have heard if it's a common thing.

In Fairfax, those people go bonkers. That's why AAP is a messed up model, but that's a different thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That score seems like it should have gotten him in. Odd. Maybe there are some school politics going on behind the scenes.

I agree that score should have gotten your kid in. Weird. I'd follow up at least.