AAP Appeals Questions Thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It feels like you either get in from 2nd grade or you are caught out? True?

No. For reference, at our school 20+ got in at second grade. In third an additional 6 joined. I do believe it might be harder to get in after 2nd, but have no direct knowledge on that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just received the email. DC is in.

Can you share info about what you did to get in? My kid got rejected after very high scores on everything! What grade is your child in?

Thanks.

Can I ask about what your Hope evaluation looked like?

Our son got in on appeal - sorry you got rejected and it sounds strange. Our original packet weak point was very clearly Hope. So we addressed that head-on in cover letter, as well as with WISC-V score, ADHD diagnosis information and a new and improved winter over fall CoGAT. We added new super AAP-focused samples and also a letter from his first grade teachers who asked to write one, saying they could not believe he wasnt accepted to begin with.

Who knows what did it. We are glad but sorry for you bc it seems hard to know what the yes/no factor. We are, however, not fans of Hope and its application.

We had very good scores initially (including perfect NNAT) but the Hope was not good, maybe terrible. We had a few meetings and found out more or less that our team low scored many kids on Hope. (They told us many kids got “never” for everything - ! - and the fact that our son was above that - with “sometimes” - was positive. But we knew it had to look terrible on the county evaluation end.)

I can deep dive into the - to us - wild standards they were using but I think the Hope scoring, esp in the rollout year here is the opposite of the intention- it holds kids back rather than includes them. We wonder if it is especially not great for kids who are not extra outgoing or are 2e. (We get that leadership is part of the AAP system in general.)

(Though it very well could be there are accepted cases that disprove this and we don’t see bc they got in w lower testing and high Hope and were happy/successful.)

Anyway, we - and our school team made us feel they don’t disagree - really have concerns about Hope.

What did that look like in your packet?

We never had one of those. I have 2 kids applying for AAP. One was 2nd grader with mediocre scores on tests but really good work output and work samples. The other was 5th grader with high scores on cogat (90th i believe) and wisc-v (91st), good writing samples etc, scored advanced math on SOL, high GBRS from teacher. Both were rejected so Im just confused on what they want. The AART teacher is no helpful in guiding what we should do.

[Anonymous]

I am so disappointed that 99% NNAT 97% Cogat and 98% WISCV didnt get my child in AAP. Hope rating is mostly sometimes and this is only her teacher’s 2nd year of teaching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so disappointed that 99% NNAT 97% Cogat and 98% WISCV didnt get my child in AAP. Hope rating is mostly sometimes and this is only her teacher’s 2nd year of teaching.

That is baffling. You will not get direct answers, but it can't hurt to meet with the AART teacher and AAP coordinator for the county about this. Our approach was to be a non-hostile, understanding but very squeaky wheel and to raise concerns and ask questions with anyone in contact with the decision for our kid. So there were a lot of meetings but I honestly think they helped in the end. Whether they just helped us prep better or if they helped us get in, I don't know. But they helped.

(This is the mom who wrote about how we did the appeal/Hope concerns.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am disappointed that my child who was no less than 98th percentile in everything was not accepted. I’m trying hard to understand why. It was a solid application.

I don't understand FCPS at all. It wouldn't bother me so much except my kids' friends were selected and he was not, although DN also has very good scores and grades. I'm going to focus on my child having a great 3rd grade experience regardless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am disappointed that my child who was no less than 98th percentile in everything was not accepted. I’m trying hard to understand why. It was a solid application.

Feel like you need 99th to get in. DC had 98 on nnat and 99 on cogat and got rejected the first time. She took the wisc v and got 99th so we're in from appeal

What is 99th on WISC V? 130 or 135?

[Anonymous]

Is level III any good or just a consolation prize?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so disappointed that 99% NNAT 97% Cogat and 98% WISCV didnt get my child in AAP. Hope rating is mostly sometimes and this is only her teacher’s 2nd year of teaching.

This is terrible. This system is broken. What is even the point of having our kids take these tests if the test scores are irrelevant? I think FCPS is opening themselves up to a lot of risk with these inconsistent practices. Massive liability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am so disappointed that 99% NNAT 97% Cogat and 98% WISCV didnt get my child in AAP. Hope rating is mostly sometimes and this is only her teacher’s 2nd year of teaching.

That is baffling. You will not get direct answers, but it can't hurt to meet with the AART teacher and AAP coordinator for the county about this. Our approach was to be a non-hostile, understanding but very squeaky wheel and to raise concerns and ask questions with anyone in contact with the decision for our kid. So there were a lot of meetings but I honestly think they helped in the end. Whether they just helped us prep better or if they helped us get in, I don't know. But they helped.

(This is the mom who wrote about how we did the appeal/Hope concerns.)

This is crushing. I'm so sorry. My child is in the same BOAT. This is NOT an equitable process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am disappointed that my child who was no less than 98th percentile in everything was not accepted. I’m trying hard to understand why. It was a solid application.

Feel like you need 99th to get in. DC had 98 on nnat and 99 on cogat and got rejected the first time. She took the wisc v and got 99th so we're in from appeal

What is 99th on WISC V? 130 or 135?

Above 130 is very superior. My daughter had 133 and it says 99 percentile. Also i read that the visual spatial index and fluid reasoning index scores are more important than others from WISCV. Good to have 99% on those.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am disappointed that my child who was no less than 98th percentile in everything was not accepted. I’m trying hard to understand why. It was a solid application.

Feel like you need 99th to get in. DC had 98 on nnat and 99 on cogat and got rejected the first time. She took the wisc v and got 99th so we're in from appeal

What is 99th on WISC V? 130 or 135?

Above 130 is very superior. My daughter had 133 and it says 99 percentile. Also i read that the visual spatial index and fluid reasoning index scores are more important than others from WISCV. Good to have 99% on those.

132 is 98% so I guess above 133 is 99%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am so disappointed that 99% NNAT 97% Cogat and 98% WISCV didnt get my child in AAP. Hope rating is mostly sometimes and this is only her teacher’s 2nd year of teaching.

This is terrible. This system is broken. What is even the point of having our kids take these tests if the test scores are irrelevant? I think FCPS is opening themselves up to a lot of risk with these inconsistent practices. Massive liability.

There are quite literally 5th and 6th graders in AAP who can’t read at grade level. Yet, kids with near perfect test scores and grades who don’t get in. The program needs to be overhauled.

[Anonymous]

Does the review committee care about the GAI at all or is it only focused on the FSIQ? My DN was 137 on GAI but 130 on FSIQ. The assessment coordinator highlighted only the GAI in the summary report. I plan to get DN tested for 2e.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is level III any good or just a consolation prize?

It depends on the school and the AART, unfortunately. Hope it's a good experience for you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does the review committee care about the GAI at all or is it only focused on the FSIQ? My DN was 137 on GAI but 130 on FSIQ. The assessment coordinator highlighted only the GAI in the summary report. I plan to get DN tested for 2e.

What test is for 2e identification?