New to the concept of AAP
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Anonymous
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Hello... I have a first grader. I have been reading about AAP and NNAT and COGAT and Level 3, 4 etc. What are these levels?
At what grade do kids start AAP and do they have to change schools?? Can someone please explain to me all that is involved in this process? My child is at FCPS and I am new to the American school system. Thank you. |
Anonymous
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I would suggest touching base with the AART teacher at your school.
Basically there are 4 levels. Level III means a kid is getting pulled out weekly. Level IV means they are being taught at an advanced level on all 4 subjects. Much of it is project based learning. Level IV may be at your base school or you may elect to go to the "center school" for your region. Testing starts in first grade with an NNAT test. In second grade, the kids take the COGAT test. The most important piece of the puzzle are ratings from the second grade teacher. There is a parent referral. Some will say you don't need to refer and the school will identify. I would tell any parent interested that they should refer. Hold onto examples of times your child truly showed exemplary thinking or creativity or curiosity. The parent referral asks for examples. If your child gets into Level IV, they are in through 8th grade. https://www.fcps.edu/academics/academic-overview/advanced-academic-programs Some people on this page are very snarky and competitive. Weed through the snark and you will find parents just trying to help one another. |
Anonymous
You’ll get a good amount of info by looking at the FCPS AAP website, I would google that. Essentially, the Advanced Academic Program (AAP) is meant to provide services to children in ES and MS who need to be challenged more then they are in the regular classroom. Kids can start to receive LII services as early as Kindergarten. These differ from school to school but normally are some type of additional worksheets or specialized groupings of kids who are ahead. The main services kids receive start in 3rd grade for kids who are selected into LIII or LIV services. LIII services are supposed to be a weekly pull out that is an hour long and provides the kids in the group with some more challenging work or activities to complete. LIV is the set of services that kids have to be selected into by a Central Committee. Kids selected into LIV services can choose to stay at their base school or move to a Center school. Most ES have some type of local LIV program that might be a LIV class at the school with a combination of kids accepted into LIV that stayed at the base school and kids who are placed in the Advanced class. The Center school has classes that are only for kids selected into LIV and include kids from the Center school and other schools. There is also Advanced Math. That can start in third grade or fifth grade, it depends on the school, and kids are selected by their school to be in that math grouping. Normally kids are placed in it due to some combination of iReady scores, grades, and SOL scores. |
Anonymous
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Great information both of you! Thank you so much!
What is SOL and what grade is it in? |
Anonymous
Have you heard of this thing called Google? |
Anonymous
Standards of Learning, they start in third grade. While the PP was snarky, they are not wrong. There is a lot of info on the FCPS website about all of these subjects. I would start there. The info here is going to be from parents and biased, my info included. Your kids school should have informational meetings about AAP in the fall. They are normally advertised by the school, look for those in the fall and your AART will walk you through the program and how it works. In second grade there will be a specific meeting for parents interested in info on how to apply for LIV services that start in third grade. |
Anonymous
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Thank you, PP!
FCPS has a page on SOL but doesn't say what grade that is conducted in. Thanks a lot for all the info! I will keep an eye on communications from the school next academic year. |
Anonymous
They start in third and happen every year after until high school. Then kids need a certain number of SOLs but not every class or every year. You’ll get tons of info on the SOLs when you get to third. |
Anonymous
Gotcha. Thank you! |
Anonymous
| I find this page helpful, not just for SOLs, but you can see how many tests there are and a (generally large) window of when they will take place. https://www.fcps.edu/student-assessment/grade-level-tests |
Anonymous
| This is fantastic! Thank you! |
Anonymous
| And I just thought AAP was a program to segregate UMC kids to mollify their high-maintenance parents. |
Anonymous
Understandable, some people are so snarky and jaded they can't see past their own nose. AAP is a program that supports students at all income levels (with fairly predictable distributions). Economic segregation happens primarily as a result of housing policy and higher-income folks self-selecting to purchase/rent in various zip codes and school zones, less so by the GenEd/AAP split within a given school (and/or transferring to Centers). The latter may occur to a degree, but it's not the primary driver. |
Anonymous
| What % students go into AAP? |
Anonymous
You need to contact Gatehouse for that. |