Possible AAP changes at ES

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting back on topic - OP, this means that there will be two dumbed down AAP classes with Level II, III, IV kids in them and two "smartened up" GenEd classes with everyone else. We spoke with the principal and AART about it and are moving to Lemon Road next year. We have two in AAP and they need a challenging curriculum with their peers, not one dumbed down for kids whose parents complained they weren't in AAP. I can tell you that we are not the only ones making the switch.

Don't be surprised if those level III kids end up being as good as the level IV kids at class work.

Of course. My concern is the Level II kids that will be placed with Level IV.

That was not me, but yes, I am concerned about the grouping/mixing and not being able to meet my children at their very advanced levels. It's hard enough when there are children principal placed into the classroom that are having a hard time keeping up but whose parents won't send them back to GenEd because of the "prestige" of being in AAP. It's not about prestige, its about academics and challenge.

I hear you. DC's class went from 17 last year to 25 this year (with two of the original 17 moving), and some of the "newer" AAP students are struggling to keep up. I know the Principal or perhaps one of the AAP teachers mentioned that the 3rd grade class only had 14 kids in it. I think they're getting pressure to equalize the class sizes.

Right. Isn’t this a move to remedy this concern? There needs to be equal sized classes and if there aren’t enough level IV students to make an entire class, they need to get divided into the two classrooms. Those kids that were placed in there will get redistributed. Though it is interesting that your perspective on how they’re doing directly conflicts with the evidence presented.

Not sure I'm following you. They're filling an advanced academic class with non-advanced students for the purpose of filling the class? This doesn't solve the problem of those kids not being able to keep up. My DC's teacher complains about this daily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting back on topic - OP, this means that there will be two dumbed down AAP classes with Level II, III, IV kids in them and two "smartened up" GenEd classes with everyone else. We spoke with the principal and AART about it and are moving to Lemon Road next year. We have two in AAP and they need a challenging curriculum with their peers, not one dumbed down for kids whose parents complained they weren't in AAP. I can tell you that we are not the only ones making the switch.

Don't be surprised if those level III kids end up being as good as the level IV kids at class work.

Of course. My concern is the Level II kids that will be placed with Level IV.

That was not me, but yes, I am concerned about the grouping/mixing and not being able to meet my children at their very advanced levels. It's hard enough when there are children principal placed into the classroom that are having a hard time keeping up but whose parents won't send them back to GenEd because of the "prestige" of being in AAP. It's not about prestige, its about academics and challenge.

I hear you. DC's class went from 17 last year to 25 this year (with two of the original 17 moving), and some of the "newer" AAP students are struggling to keep up. I know the Principal or perhaps one of the AAP teachers mentioned that the 3rd grade class only had 14 kids in it. I think they're getting pressure to equalize the class sizes.

Right. Isn’t this a move to remedy this concern? There needs to be equal sized classes and if there aren’t enough level IV students to make an entire class, they need to get divided into the two classrooms. Those kids that were placed in there will get redistributed. Though it is interesting that your perspective on how they’re doing directly conflicts with the evidence presented.

Not sure I'm following you. They're filling an advanced academic class with non-advanced students for the purpose of filling the class? This doesn't solve the problem of those kids not being able to keep up. My DC's teacher complains about this daily.

So you think it's ok for there to be classrooms with 14 kids while the other classrooms have 30 kids? Shouldn't there be a more equitable redistribution?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting back on topic - OP, this means that there will be two dumbed down AAP classes with Level II, III, IV kids in them and two "smartened up" GenEd classes with everyone else. We spoke with the principal and AART about it and are moving to Lemon Road next year. We have two in AAP and they need a challenging curriculum with their peers, not one dumbed down for kids whose parents complained they weren't in AAP. I can tell you that we are not the only ones making the switch.

Don't be surprised if those level III kids end up being as good as the level IV kids at class work.

Of course. My concern is the Level II kids that will be placed with Level IV.

That was not me, but yes, I am concerned about the grouping/mixing and not being able to meet my children at their very advanced levels. It's hard enough when there are children principal placed into the classroom that are having a hard time keeping up but whose parents won't send them back to GenEd because of the "prestige" of being in AAP. It's not about prestige, its about academics and challenge.

I hear you. DC's class went from 17 last year to 25 this year (with two of the original 17 moving), and some of the "newer" AAP students are struggling to keep up. I know the Principal or perhaps one of the AAP teachers mentioned that the 3rd grade class only had 14 kids in it. I think they're getting pressure to equalize the class sizes.

Right. Isn’t this a move to remedy this concern? There needs to be equal sized classes and if there aren’t enough level IV students to make an entire class, they need to get divided into the two classrooms. Those kids that were placed in there will get redistributed. Though it is interesting that your perspective on how they’re doing directly conflicts with the evidence presented.

Not sure I'm following you. They're filling an advanced academic class with non-advanced students for the purpose of filling the class? This doesn't solve the problem of those kids not being able to keep up. My DC's teacher complains about this daily.

So you think it's ok for there to be classrooms with 14 kids while the other classrooms have 30 kids? Shouldn't there be a more equitable redistribution?

Historically, the first year (3rd grade) has had a smaller group and it had grown each year based on Principal and AART evaluation and placement. Some of those placements in the later grades have been merited; others have not. The example cited above was an extreme jump which has impacted the class' overall ability to function.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting back on topic - OP, this means that there will be two dumbed down AAP classes with Level II, III, IV kids in them and two "smartened up" GenEd classes with everyone else. We spoke with the principal and AART about it and are moving to Lemon Road next year. We have two in AAP and they need a challenging curriculum with their peers, not one dumbed down for kids whose parents complained they weren't in AAP. I can tell you that we are not the only ones making the switch.

Don't be surprised if those level III kids end up being as good as the level IV kids at class work.

Of course. My concern is the Level II kids that will be placed with Level IV.

That was not me, but yes, I am concerned about the grouping/mixing and not being able to meet my children at their very advanced levels. It's hard enough when there are children principal placed into the classroom that are having a hard time keeping up but whose parents won't send them back to GenEd because of the "prestige" of being in AAP. It's not about prestige, its about academics and challenge.

I hear you. DC's class went from 17 last year to 25 this year (with two of the original 17 moving), and some of the "newer" AAP students are struggling to keep up. I know the Principal or perhaps one of the AAP teachers mentioned that the 3rd grade class only had 14 kids in it. I think they're getting pressure to equalize the class sizes.

Right. Isn’t this a move to remedy this concern? There needs to be equal sized classes and if there aren’t enough level IV students to make an entire class, they need to get divided into the two classrooms. Those kids that were placed in there will get redistributed. Though it is interesting that your perspective on how they’re doing directly conflicts with the evidence presented.

Not sure I'm following you. They're filling an advanced academic class with non-advanced students for the purpose of filling the class? This doesn't solve the problem of those kids not being able to keep up. My DC's teacher complains about this daily.

So you think it's ok for there to be classrooms with 14 kids while the other classrooms have 30 kids? Shouldn't there be a more equitable redistribution?

Historically, the first year (3rd grade) has had a smaller group and it had grown each year based on Principal and AART evaluation and placement. Some of those placements in the later grades have been merited; others have not. The example cited above was an extreme jump which has impacted the class' overall ability to function.

Which grade? 4th?
It could be the teacher or it could be COVID but lots of classes are struggling to keep pace. It's not specific to Level IV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting back on topic - OP, this means that there will be two dumbed down AAP classes with Level II, III, IV kids in them and two "smartened up" GenEd classes with everyone else. We spoke with the principal and AART about it and are moving to Lemon Road next year. We have two in AAP and they need a challenging curriculum with their peers, not one dumbed down for kids whose parents complained they weren't in AAP. I can tell you that we are not the only ones making the switch.

Don't be surprised if those level III kids end up being as good as the level IV kids at class work.

Of course. My concern is the Level II kids that will be placed with Level IV.

That was not me, but yes, I am concerned about the grouping/mixing and not being able to meet my children at their very advanced levels. It's hard enough when there are children principal placed into the classroom that are having a hard time keeping up but whose parents won't send them back to GenEd because of the "prestige" of being in AAP. It's not about prestige, its about academics and challenge.

I hear you. DC's class went from 17 last year to 25 this year (with two of the original 17 moving), and some of the "newer" AAP students are struggling to keep up. I know the Principal or perhaps one of the AAP teachers mentioned that the 3rd grade class only had 14 kids in it. I think they're getting pressure to equalize the class sizes.

Right. Isn’t this a move to remedy this concern? There needs to be equal sized classes and if there aren’t enough level IV students to make an entire class, they need to get divided into the two classrooms. Those kids that were placed in there will get redistributed. Though it is interesting that your perspective on how they’re doing directly conflicts with the evidence presented.

Not sure I'm following you. They're filling an advanced academic class with non-advanced students for the purpose of filling the class? This doesn't solve the problem of those kids not being able to keep up. My DC's teacher complains about this daily.

So you think it's ok for there to be classrooms with 14 kids while the other classrooms have 30 kids? Shouldn't there be a more equitable redistribution?

Historically, the first year (3rd grade) has had a smaller group and it had grown each year based on Principal and AART evaluation and placement. Some of those placements in the later grades have been merited; others have not. The example cited above was an extreme jump which has impacted the class' overall ability to function.

Which grade? 4th?
It could be the teacher or it could be COVID but lots of classes are struggling to keep pace. It's not specific to Level IV.

It can be an attributable factor when the specific kids that are struggling to keep up are the ones that are newly placed at that level, presumably to satisfy the need to "fill the class", as is the case here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know how they're going to handle Math with this approach? I believe we are at the same school and my Level IV kid will be going into 6th grade (doing 7th grade math) next year. How are those Level III kids going to keep up? Or perhaps I should ask how is the teacher going to handle this issue? Or are all the Level III kids very good at math?

I believe the plan is to keep the advanced math a grade level higher for those kids who are currently in AAP, with the possibility of also offering it to those who are Level III Advanced math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting back on topic - OP, this means that there will be two dumbed down AAP classes with Level II, III, IV kids in them and two "smartened up" GenEd classes with everyone else. We spoke with the principal and AART about it and are moving to Lemon Road next year. We have two in AAP and they need a challenging curriculum with their peers, not one dumbed down for kids whose parents complained they weren't in AAP. I can tell you that we are not the only ones making the switch.

Don't be surprised if those level III kids end up being as good as the level IV kids at class work.

Of course. My concern is the Level II kids that will be placed with Level IV.

That was not me, but yes, I am concerned about the grouping/mixing and not being able to meet my children at their very advanced levels. It's hard enough when there are children principal placed into the classroom that are having a hard time keeping up but whose parents won't send them back to GenEd because of the "prestige" of being in AAP. It's not about prestige, its about academics and challenge.

Argh it's parents like you that give AAP parents a bad rap. Stop it already.

[Anonymous]

Level IV local and center kids end up in the same AAP classes in middle school.

[Anonymous]

My kid is currently taking 7th grade math in 6th, they also took 6th grade math in 5th. However, there are a bunch of kids in their current math class who weren't on the advanced pathway prior to this year.

My kid was also told you had to score pass advanced on the sol last year, but obviously not the case because some of the kids didn't even take the 6th grade sol because they weren't in advanced math.

My kid was pissed because the beginning of the year things moved sooo slowly and they basically spent the first two quarters reteaching 6th grade math. Now they are doing more challenging work and many of those kids aren't doing that great. Lots of retests going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is currently taking 7th grade math in 6th, they also took 6th grade math in 5th. However, there are a bunch of kids in their current math class who weren't on the advanced pathway prior to this year.

My kid was also told you had to score pass advanced on the sol last year, but obviously not the case because some of the kids didn't even take the 6th grade sol because they weren't in advanced math.

My kid was pissed because the beginning of the year things moved sooo slowly and they basically spent the first two quarters reteaching 6th grade math. Now they are doing more challenging work and many of those kids aren't doing that great. Lots of retests going on.

Your kid sounds like a pill. I didn’t even have advanced/differentiated math classes until 9th grade. Wonder how y’all would have survived. Still made it to Stanford and completed an engineering degree successfully.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting back on topic - OP, this means that there will be two dumbed down AAP classes with Level II, III, IV kids in them and two "smartened up" GenEd classes with everyone else. We spoke with the principal and AART about it and are moving to Lemon Road next year. We have two in AAP and they need a challenging curriculum with their peers, not one dumbed down for kids whose parents complained they weren't in AAP. I can tell you that we are not the only ones making the switch.

Don't be surprised if those level III kids end up being as good as the level IV kids at class work.

Of course. My concern is the Level II kids that will be placed with Level IV.

Honestly, the LII kids, LIII kids, and the bottom half of the LIV kids are pretty much indistinguishable. For the most part, LII and LIII kids will only be placed in the AAP classroom if they're above grade level in that subject and have strong test scores. On the other hand, there are kids who were accepted into LIV AAP who are on or below grade level readers, or they're completely average in math. It is likely that the kids most responsible for dumbing down the class will be LIV accepted kids who really shouldn't have been accepted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting back on topic - OP, this means that there will be two dumbed down AAP classes with Level II, III, IV kids in them and two "smartened up" GenEd classes with everyone else. We spoke with the principal and AART about it and are moving to Lemon Road next year. We have two in AAP and they need a challenging curriculum with their peers, not one dumbed down for kids whose parents complained they weren't in AAP. I can tell you that we are not the only ones making the switch.

Don't be surprised if those level III kids end up being as good as the level IV kids at class work.

Of course. My concern is the Level II kids that will be placed with Level IV.

That was not me, but yes, I am concerned about the grouping/mixing and not being able to meet my children at their very advanced levels. It's hard enough when there are children principal placed into the classroom that are having a hard time keeping up but whose parents won't send them back to GenEd because of the "prestige" of being in AAP. It's not about prestige, its about academics and challenge.

I hear you. DC's class went from 17 last year to 25 this year (with two of the original 17 moving), and some of the "newer" AAP students are struggling to keep up. I know the Principal or perhaps one of the AAP teachers mentioned that the 3rd grade class only had 14 kids in it. I think they're getting pressure to equalize the class sizes.

I really don’t understand why they can’t gave one class and you fill the rest with other high achieving kids. Our school has one L4 class. 50-75 percent are level 4. The rest are high achieving kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting back on topic - OP, this means that there will be two dumbed down AAP classes with Level II, III, IV kids in them and two "smartened up" GenEd classes with everyone else. We spoke with the principal and AART about it and are moving to Lemon Road next year. We have two in AAP and they need a challenging curriculum with their peers, not one dumbed down for kids whose parents complained they weren't in AAP. I can tell you that we are not the only ones making the switch.

Don't be surprised if those level III kids end up being as good as the level IV kids at class work.

Of course. My concern is the Level II kids that will be placed with Level IV.

That was not me, but yes, I am concerned about the grouping/mixing and not being able to meet my children at their very advanced levels. It's hard enough when there are children principal placed into the classroom that are having a hard time keeping up but whose parents won't send them back to GenEd because of the "prestige" of being in AAP. It's not about prestige, its about academics and challenge.

I hear you. DC's class went from 17 last year to 25 this year (with two of the original 17 moving), and some of the "newer" AAP students are struggling to keep up. I know the Principal or perhaps one of the AAP teachers mentioned that the 3rd grade class only had 14 kids in it. I think they're getting pressure to equalize the class sizes.

All of the third grade classes were small at the beginning of the year, but then the teacher of the largest class quit in the second week of school without giving notice and instead of hiring a new teacher, they just redistributed those kids to all of the other classes - except AAP. So the AAP class remained small while the other classes are huge. It's a really bad look.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting back on topic - OP, this means that there will be two dumbed down AAP classes with Level II, III, IV kids in them and two "smartened up" GenEd classes with everyone else. We spoke with the principal and AART about it and are moving to Lemon Road next year. We have two in AAP and they need a challenging curriculum with their peers, not one dumbed down for kids whose parents complained they weren't in AAP. I can tell you that we are not the only ones making the switch.

Don't be surprised if those level III kids end up being as good as the level IV kids at class work.

Of course. My concern is the Level II kids that will be placed with Level IV.

That was not me, but yes, I am concerned about the grouping/mixing and not being able to meet my children at their very advanced levels. It's hard enough when there are children principal placed into the classroom that are having a hard time keeping up but whose parents won't send them back to GenEd because of the "prestige" of being in AAP. It's not about prestige, its about academics and challenge.

I hear you. DC's class went from 17 last year to 25 this year (with two of the original 17 moving), and some of the "newer" AAP students are struggling to keep up. I know the Principal or perhaps one of the AAP teachers mentioned that the 3rd grade class only had 14 kids in it. I think they're getting pressure to equalize the class sizes.

All of the third grade classes were small at the beginning of the year, but then the teacher of the largest class quit in the second week of school without giving notice and instead of hiring a new teacher, they just redistributed those kids to all of the other classes - except AAP. So the AAP class remained small while the other classes are huge. It's a really bad look.

I would assume hiring an AAP teacher would be slightly more difficult than a gen ed teacher. Presumably AAP instructors have some additional accreditation /county-based certification, which could be less common.

[Anonymous]

Our school is starting LLIV. My sons Teachers were telling us that they are being trained this year for AAP so that they can be ready for next year. I suspect it is not that hard to prep Teachers for AAP.