FCPS Appeals decision are out

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where do we send the re-eval request? To Maloney or somewhere else??

Yes try Maloney to start with. I recived an answer from her. She is using the great wall of "holistic" as defense.
She agrees that she cannot provide a specific reason for disqualification.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where do we send the re-eval request? To Maloney or somewhere else??

Yes try Maloney to start with. I recived an answer from her. She is using the great wall of "holistic" as defense.
She agrees that she cannot provide a specific reason for disqualification.

She is who I emailed earlier today for a reason on why my son was declared ineligible and I got the cookie cutter “holistic” answer. So she won’t do anything.

[Anonymous]

My child is at an AAP center and I was told by two teachers they heard that the county is trying to reduce the number in AAP because it has become watered down. And the reason for a larger pool to consider was to identify those in minority groups whose parents might not apply on their own. Both make sense to me. But many parents are upset because they assumed if they were in the pool that acceptance would be a breeze.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child is at an AAP center and I was told by two teachers they heard that the county is trying to reduce the number in AAP because it has become watered down. And the reason for a larger pool to consider was to identify those in minority groups whose parents might not apply on their own. Both make sense to me. But many parents are upset because they assumed if they were in the pool that acceptance would be a breeze.

Yeah. The program has become too watered down, so the way to fix it is to get rid of all of those pesky 99th percentile kids. Sounds legit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child is at an AAP center and I was told by two teachers they heard that the county is trying to reduce the number in AAP because it has become watered down. And the reason for a larger pool to consider was to identify those in minority groups whose parents might not apply on their own. Both make sense to me. But many parents are upset because they assumed if they were in the pool that acceptance would be a breeze.

Yeah. The program has become too watered down, so the way to fix it is to get rid of all of those pesky 99th percentile kids. Sounds legit.

To make room for AA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child is at an AAP center and I was told by two teachers they heard that the county is trying to reduce the number in AAP because it has become watered down. And the reason for a larger pool to consider was to identify those in minority groups whose parents might not apply on their own. Both make sense to me. But many parents are upset because they assumed if they were in the pool that acceptance would be a breeze.

Yeah. The program has become too watered down, so the way to fix it is to get rid of all of those pesky 99th percentile kids. Sounds legit.

To make room for AA.

To make room for AA? Confused.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child is at an AAP center and I was told by two teachers they heard that the county is trying to reduce the number in AAP because it has become watered down. And the reason for a larger pool to consider was to identify those in minority groups whose parents might not apply on their own. Both make sense to me. But many parents are upset because they assumed if they were in the pool that acceptance would be a breeze.

Yeah. The program has become too watered down, so the way to fix it is to get rid of all of those pesky 99th percentile kids. Sounds legit.

To make room for AA.

Well, here's my cynical view after reading the entire AAP equity report. Asians are highly over-represented, Whites are over-represented, and URMs are under-represented, despite the efforts to get more URMs into AAP. They can't lower the standards more than they already have, since they would end up with kids being unsuccessful in AAP. Therefore, the way to close the representation gap is to get rid of some white and Asian kids. The AAP equity report also showed that the average test scores for the URMs who are admitted to AAP are significantly lower than the test scores for the white and Asian kids. If they got rid of the bottom white and Asian kids, that gap in test scores would become even more pronounced. By not admitting the white and Asian kids with the highest test scores, the average test scores for the kids in those groups admitted to AAP will decrease. On paper, it will look like FCPS has solved the achievement gap!

I don't think FCPS cares at all about how well their programs actually serve kids. They care about looking good on paper. For years now, they've pressured URM kids who are not qualified to take AP classes to do so. Most of the agencies that rate high schools care about URM participation in AP classes. They don't care about whether the URM kids actually pass the AP exam. This is the same. It doesn't matter if AAP is truly AAP. What matters is that they can create graphs and tables that show equal representation among all races and relatively equal qualifying scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child is at an AAP center and I was told by two teachers they heard that the county is trying to reduce the number in AAP because it has become watered down. And the reason for a larger pool to consider was to identify those in minority groups whose parents might not apply on their own. Both make sense to me. But many parents are upset because they assumed if they were in the pool that acceptance would be a breeze.

Yeah. The program has become too watered down, so the way to fix it is to get rid of all of those pesky 99th percentile kids. Sounds legit.

To make room for AA.

Well, here's my cynical view after reading the entire AAP equity report. Asians are highly over-represented, Whites are over-represented, and URMs are under-represented, despite the efforts to get more URMs into AAP. They can't lower the standards more than they already have, since they would end up with kids being unsuccessful in AAP. Therefore, the way to close the representation gap is to get rid of some white and Asian kids. The AAP equity report also showed that the average test scores for the URMs who are admitted to AAP are significantly lower than the test scores for the white and Asian kids. If they got rid of the bottom white and Asian kids, that gap in test scores would become even more pronounced. By not admitting the white and Asian kids with the highest test scores, the average test scores for the kids in those groups admitted to AAP will decrease. On paper, it will look like FCPS has solved the achievement gap!

I don't think FCPS cares at all about how well their programs actually serve kids. They care about looking good on paper. For years now, they've pressured URM kids who are not qualified to take AP classes to do so. Most of the agencies that rate high schools care about URM participation in AP classes. They don't care about whether the URM kids actually pass the AP exam. This is the same. It doesn't matter if AAP is truly AAP. What matters is that they can create graphs and tables that show equal representation among all races and relatively equal qualifying scores.

Wow. So, reject Asian-American and White kids with high test scores but OK GBRS. That makes the test score gap a bit better.

[Anonymous]

A lot of these theories make sense. But this won’t help us. They won’t give us any answers. Nor will they likely allow re-evals. Just Maloney’s cookie cutter response today said that. Now I get why people often switch to private schools despite being in a great school district. So ridiculous. I may consider private school next year after Covid is hopefully ok. This whole process feels like such a waste of time. And btw, what IS Level III? Are there just advanced classes? In what areas ? I’ve heard only math. My son is in level III and I have no clue what that even means.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not in 149 WISC-V - all subsections were high
3 new samples (realistic fiction, science oriented writing and math problem solving)
3 recommendation letters

Original submission CogAt 141, 4FO, NNAT 126 (can't remember the exact number)

No words. Beyond frustrated.

Wow. Have you considered consulting an education attorney.

I am just in shock at the moment, so haven't considered anything. Honestly, my daughter should have been admitted the first round and we thought it was a mistake. But now, I don't know what is going on. We also have an older kid in the full-time program, so we have a sense of the process and believe that the full-time AAP will serve my daughter well. Yikes.

This is how Asians feel when they receive rejection letters from colleges/universities. Shocked and frustrated.

I am the poster above. We are Asian-Americans. Didn't want to go there but since you brought it up.

Time to address the elephant in the room - is it possible candidates are being denied (or accepted) based on race?

Not in FCPS, but lurking... How would the people reviewing the applications know the race of the children?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not in 149 WISC-V - all subsections were high
3 new samples (realistic fiction, science oriented writing and math problem solving)
3 recommendation letters

Original submission CogAt 141, 4FO, NNAT 126 (can't remember the exact number)

No words. Beyond frustrated.

Wow. Have you considered consulting an education attorney.

I am just in shock at the moment, so haven't considered anything. Honestly, my daughter should have been admitted the first round and we thought it was a mistake. But now, I don't know what is going on. We also have an older kid in the full-time program, so we have a sense of the process and believe that the full-time AAP will serve my daughter well. Yikes.

This is how Asians feel when they receive rejection letters from colleges/universities. Shocked and frustrated.

I am the poster above. We are Asian-Americans. Didn't want to go there but since you brought it up.

Time to address the elephant in the room - is it possible candidates are being denied (or accepted) based on race?

Not in FCPS, but lurking... How would the people reviewing the applications know the race of the children?

They don’t. People are unwilling to look at what the Teachers are telling them about their child and want to hang onto test scores saying their kid is gifted. The Teacher evaluations are not matching the scores so the explanation is that the Teachers are awful, not that their kid isn’t doing what they should be doing in school.

A high percentage of in pool kids, kids with scores in the 99th percentile are accepted into AAP every year. A smaller percentage of parent referred kids are accepted. There are some high test scores not accepted every year.

The committee knows that kids are prepped for tests. They trust that Teachers are not trying to sabotage kids.

The parents will have a chance to apply again next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not in 149 WISC-V - all subsections were high
3 new samples (realistic fiction, science oriented writing and math problem solving)
3 recommendation letters

Original submission CogAt 141, 4FO, NNAT 126 (can't remember the exact number)

No words. Beyond frustrated.

Wow. Have you considered consulting an education attorney.

I am just in shock at the moment, so haven't considered anything. Honestly, my daughter should have been admitted the first round and we thought it was a mistake. But now, I don't know what is going on. We also have an older kid in the full-time program, so we have a sense of the process and believe that the full-time AAP will serve my daughter well. Yikes.

This is how Asians feel when they receive rejection letters from colleges/universities. Shocked and frustrated.

I am the poster above. We are Asian-Americans. Didn't want to go there but since you brought it up.

Time to address the elephant in the room - is it possible candidates are being denied (or accepted) based on race?

Not in FCPS, but lurking... How would the people reviewing the applications know the race of the children?

They don’t. People are unwilling to look at what the Teachers are telling them about their child and want to hang onto test scores saying their kid is gifted. The Teacher evaluations are not matching the scores so the explanation is that the Teachers are awful, not that their kid isn’t doing what they should be doing in school.

A high percentage of in pool kids, kids with scores in the 99th percentile are accepted into AAP every year. A smaller percentage of parent referred kids are accepted. There are some high test scores not accepted every year.

The committee knows that kids are prepped for tests. They trust that Teachers are not trying to sabotage kids.

The parents will have a chance to apply again next year.

Race is absolutely listed on the application that the school sends over.

[Anonymous]

Time to address the elephant in the room - is it possible candidates are being denied (or accepted) based on race?

Not in FCPS, but lurking... How would the people reviewing the applications know the race of the children?

Race is on the first page of the application, after the name. Also - the name can suggest the race.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Time to address the elephant in the room - is it possible candidates are being denied (or accepted) based on race?

Not in FCPS, but lurking... How would the people reviewing the applications know the race of the children?

Race is on the first page of the application, after the name. Also - the name can suggest the race.

I JUST looked at my son’s GBRS report. Right ON the cover, it says ETHNICITY: ASIAN.

So YES, they DO know race. Is it a factor? Likely in terms of how many are being let in. And maybe even more so this year it seems.

To the individual stating that we are calling teachers stupid, we are not. But we are also not calling EVERYONE else who refers our children (tutors, coaches, music instructors) stupid either! Oh, and why have Test scores in the first place? The psychologist must also be stupid.

I understand that they SHOULD consider more than test scores. But again, I have a kid who has such unique extracurriculars at which he has excelled. My son’s teacher constantly over the year said “he doesnt focus. He doesn’t focus.” He still got all 4s. He still scored in the 99th percentile. He focused enough for that. My son is an all rounder WITH the test scores. So WHY is he rejected?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

They don’t. People are unwilling to look at what the Teachers are telling them about their child and want to hang onto test scores saying their kid is gifted. The Teacher evaluations are not matching the scores so the explanation is that the Teachers are awful, not that their kid isn’t doing what they should be doing in school.

Which teacher should they listen to? My now middle schooler was rejected. K, 1st, and 3rd grade teachers strongly felt that she belonged in AAP and was great. 4th-6th grade teachers also thought highly of her. 2nd grade teacher didn’t think my DD belonged in AAP. Some PPs are in the same boat, where numerous teachers think the kid is highly gifted, but unfortunately the second grade teacher is not one of them.