AAP 3d grade

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

My child is currently in 3rd grade and was initially placed in part-time AAP, but the school accepted him to full-time and he is doing really great . he now in full-time AAP but has to be reevaluated every year.

I'm planning to refer him for a permanent spot and was wondering if I can use his CogAT score from last year (which was 141) for the referral. Also, does anyone know if they'll use his iReady scores from this fall or from 2nd grade for the evaluation? Do you think the fact that he was selected by the school and is thriving in the full-time classes will increase his chances of getting a permanent spot?

Can I use same sample I used I apply a poem he wrote and it’s really good
Thanks for any advice!

[Anonymous]

141 CogAT is very good; they probably should have accepted him to begin with. Ask these questions of the AART at your school because your application is not a typical one.

[Anonymous]

You can use the 141 CogAT. Everything else in the packet will be new, so they'll do new work samples, a new HOPE form, the latest iready scores, and the latest report cards. Generally, if a kid is principal placed and doing well in the LIV classroom, then the HOPE score should be high. I would not use the same sample as last year. What is good for a 2nd grader isn't necessarily good for a 3rd grader.

[Anonymous]

DD was principal placed in 4th, then applied for AAP that year and is officially in for 5th. A score of 141 is high, I think he has a great chance. If his teacher is supportive, then he will hopefully get good HOPE scores and work samples.

[Anonymous]

The HOPE is the most important factor, so I agree if his teacher is supportive it should go well.

When filling out the parent referral and the optional (but not really in this case, definitely do it) parent questionnaire, make sure to keep HOPE and the old GBRS traits in mind. Give very specific examples of these so-called "gifted" (OK, so I'm skeptical on some of them) traits and make sure you explain clearly how the examples demonstrate the traits. This gives you the best chance to convince the committee that your child really needs this opportunity.

The 2 pages of work samples should not be worksheets, but things demonstrating critical thinking and engagement. My 3 kids did - some of this in the era of 4 pages of sheets:

- a song written for the Reflections art contest with lyrics and tune, including the author statement that explains why
- a poem for Reflections including author statement
- a story for Reflections (we used Reflections a lot, ha)
- a math problem from NRICH Maths that required higher level math thinking
- a math problem she spontaneously made up in the classroom because was bored
- pictures of an entire play society she had made up because she was into creating social structures with figurines and buildings to go with them, with a write-up dictated by her describing the social structure
- a board game she made requiring math problems to move the pieces

Other than pushing the Reflections thing, I looked at their interests and we ran with them, turning them into something work sample worthy. Our AART said to have the kids describe the work sample in a few sentences, so where there wasn't already a description we did that.

I have no idea if this moved the needle or not, but all 3 of my kids got in. It definitely helped that their teachers were supportive and our AART is great, which means I'm sure school write-ups and packets were well-done.