What percentage of AAP kids are truly genius level gifted

[Anonymous]

Our teacher spent 25 minutes telling us how our daughter is very bright but she’s not gifted. She gave examples that I don’t think were a proper interpretation of gifted vs just a bright child. It was pretty upsetting. We clearly have a different impression vs the classroom teacher and yes maybe biased but we definitely know our DD better than the teacher. Nnat 99% cogat I believe was 134. Iready reading 99% iready math 89%. In pool but did not get it but I did appeal.

I thought part of AAP was the potential for high achievement. I’m disappointed in the teachers impression. Are all kids truly geniuses?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our teacher spent 25 minutes telling us how our daughter is very bright but she’s not gifted. She gave examples that I don’t think were a proper interpretation of gifted vs just a bright child. It was pretty upsetting. We clearly have a different impression vs the classroom teacher and yes maybe biased but we definitely know our DD better than the teacher. Nnat 99% cogat I believe was 134. Iready reading 99% iready math 89%. In pool but did not get it but I did appeal.

I thought part of AAP was the potential for high achievement. I’m disappointed in the teachers impression. Are all kids truly geniuses?

89th percentile for math is not gifted, I'm sorry. She's bright!

[Anonymous]

I’d trust the teacher who has experience and sees tons of kids. 99% is a big range. My daughter is 99th percentile for everything too … her COGAT was 156 in 2nd.

[Anonymous]

A genius has around a 150 iq. A 130 iq is bright and capable of most careers but not genius level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our teacher spent 25 minutes telling us how our daughter is very bright but she’s not gifted. She gave examples that I don’t think were a proper interpretation of gifted vs just a bright child. It was pretty upsetting. We clearly have a different impression vs the classroom teacher and yes maybe biased but we definitely know our DD better than the teacher. Nnat 99% cogat I believe was 134. Iready reading 99% iready math 89%. In pool but did not get it but I did appeal.

I thought part of AAP was the potential for high achievement. I’m disappointed in the teachers impression. Are all kids truly geniuses?

I have no idea what test scores qualify someone to be a genius; I would suspect a minimum of 99th percentile in a series of tests. CoGAT and NNAT are proxies, so at best a reflection but not something that I would count. I am not sure why the label is important to you. We are focusing on turning in work, making his best effort in subjects he doesn't care about, being a good friend, and finding what he enjoys in life. All of those things will help him advance and do well in life. Running around telling people "I'm a genius" does nothing for him. And yes, his test scores were all in the 99th percentile, as were additional school tests that were done for an IEP. He is smart. He picks up on math concepts quickly. Is he a genius? I doubt it or maybe he just needs to get to a point in school where he finds that thing that really interests him and he takes off. But he is smart.

That said, AAP is for kids who are advanced and not just geniuses. The 89th percentile in math is probably why your kid is not in AAP, she will be served just fine in gen ed math and might be placed in Advanced Math.

You are not the first person to be disappointed by how the Teacher sees your kid during this process. I know a bunch of folks who seem devastated that the Teachers didn't see their kid as rising to the level that needs AAP. They are seeing one side of your kid at school, not the entire picture. But they see a lot and their observations might not match what you see. I suspect that you get a complete picture when you combine the two views. Parents see their kids in a different environment then the Teachers do, that is why they have the parent questionnaire that you can answer if you want. And kids will respond differently to teaching styles and classroom environments. If the fit is bad, your kid might not be showing their best self. That can change each year.

[Anonymous]

The generally accepted definition of "gifted" is 2 standard deviations above the norm. That would be ~2.5% of the population.

Assuming Fairfax draws gifted people who (maybe, if you think intelligence is genetic) have gifted kids, maybe you could up that to 3-4%.

Your child is bright, not gifted. THAT'S A GOOD THING. The world, society, life are made for people who are bright, not gifted.

[Anonymous]

Let me clarify the 89% math was iready math in early September. I don’t have any other math score but I assume it has gone up.

I’m not questioning if he’s gifted or just bright, I thought most aap are bright and not truly gifted….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our teacher spent 25 minutes telling us how our daughter is very bright but she’s not gifted. She gave examples that I don’t think were a proper interpretation of gifted vs just a bright child. It was pretty upsetting. We clearly have a different impression vs the classroom teacher and yes maybe biased but we definitely know our DD better than the teacher. Nnat 99% cogat I believe was 134. Iready reading 99% iready math 89%. In pool but did not get it but I did appeal.

I thought part of AAP was the potential for high achievement. I’m disappointed in the teachers impression. Are all kids truly geniuses?

That said, AAP is for kids who are advanced and not just geniuses. The 89th percentile in math is probably why your kid is not in AAP, she will be served just fine in gen ed math and might be placed in Advanced Math.

This!

Math is likely the single biggest distinguishing factor between GenEd and AAP (and its not that big of difference). Its not to say your child wouldn't be able to keep up, but most children in AAP get 99% in Math, so that's the outlier here.

I'd still appeal, and submit some samples showing her capabilities outside the classroom. If her Quantative score in COGAT is respectable (130+), you might want to lean into that in your letter as well.

[Anonymous]

I would try a year of mathnasium

[Anonymous]

I just spoke with a local elementary AAP teacher. More than half the kids have at least one disability, especially including ADHD.
You may need to see if your insurance will cover a psychoeducational evaluation, and the admissions committee will make an allowance for any disabilities. I am also reasoning out that, at least in FCPS, teachers have been actively hiding my child's dyslexia that came out in the private report. There may be something going on with the kid that the teacher is not telling you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let me clarify the 89% math was iready math in early September. I don’t have any other math score but I assume it has gone up.

I’m not questioning if he’s gifted or just bright, I thought most aap are bright and not truly gifted….

Most kids in AAP are scoring in the 99th percentile in one iReady and probably 95th or higher percentile in the second. DS was 99th percentile for both iReadys and Passed Advanced for all of his SOLs, including 600s two out of four years in reading and math and a 600 on the science SOL. He is not a genius, but he is really smart.

The 89th percentile in Math is strong but not high enough for AAP at most schools.

[Anonymous]

None. From my well regarded elementary school in McLean, the kids in AAP were the ones whose parents did extra work with them after school or sent them to Basis for a couple of years and then had them rewrite an essay or whatever 3-4 times to make it perfect. Lots of children of immigrants work a lot harder than the rest of us think - and the math and reading at that age is all about input in - output out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our teacher spent 25 minutes telling us how our daughter is very bright but she’s not gifted. She gave examples that I don’t think were a proper interpretation of gifted vs just a bright child. It was pretty upsetting. We clearly have a different impression vs the classroom teacher and yes maybe biased but we definitely know our DD better than the teacher. Nnat 99% cogat I believe was 134. Iready reading 99% iready math 89%. In pool but did not get it but I did appeal.

I thought part of AAP was the potential for high achievement. I’m disappointed in the teachers impression. Are all kids truly geniuses?

89th percentile for math is not gifted, I'm sorry. She's bright!

You can’t judge giftedness by one 89th percentile on one math iReady test. That is ridiculous. I have a genius level son who in elementary school would rush through iReady tests sometimes (because they didn’t count for anything in his mind) so he could have extra free time. The 99th percentile NNAT/CoGat definitely shows giftedness and a child capable of handling AAP level coursework who should be admitted. A lot of parents prep their children for cogat/NNAT, so don’t compare to someone else’s 150 or whatever high score they post.

Gifted and genius level are not the same thing. The majority of kids in AAP are not geniuses. Genius level is 140 or higher IQ (on a WISC or other IQ test administered by a psychologist). Gifted in FCPS used to be a cutoff of 132 on Cogat or NNAT (or just one section with a 132 or higher). They moved to comparing students from the same building for DEI purposes to be able to accept students from lower scoring schools who wouldn’t typically be considered gifted based on their CoGat/NNAT (even though NNAT is a nonverbal test).

What were some of the reasons the teacher gave?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let me clarify the 89% math was iready math in early September. I don’t have any other math score but I assume it has gone up.

I’m not questioning if he’s gifted or just bright, I thought most aap are bright and not truly gifted….

Most kids in AAP are scoring in the 99th percentile in one iReady and probably 95th or higher percentile in the second. DS was 99th percentile for both iReadys and Passed Advanced for all of his SOLs, including 600s two out of four years in reading and math and a 600 on the science SOL. He is not a genius, but he is really smart.

The 89th percentile in Math is strong but not high enough for AAP at most schools.

Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.

My first was a 99th percentile kid, all the time.

My second was a low-90th percentile kid.

My third was like 88th percentile.

All 3 were admitted to AAP.

Very tired of the "if your kid is merely bright they don't belong in AAP" tropes. People - it's not that special. It's 20% of the county.

[Anonymous]

^^^

Also my 99th percentile on the iReadys kid was typically far ahead of peers within AAP, with maybe 3 or 4 exceptions in each class (and there were 3 classes in the school, so we'll say about 20 kids throughout the program at our center).