Homework in AAP so far

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay, I can't not ask anymore. What in the world is AAP?

I wondered the same thing

AAP seems to have much, much more drama than any of the other schools our kids or their cousins have attended. Perhaps it is because there is such a large base of students involved and the program has more prominence than in districts with far less funding. At our other school districts, the pool of students is much smaller (2/100 1st graders accepted at one school, only 5 students tested out of 3 classes in another school). The testing was much smaller and more discreet (only a small number tested as opposed to everyone), so it wasn't such a big production. Everything was discreet and low key, so there was far less drama. Funding was limited, so the kids who received the services were the ones who truly needed a differentiated instruction (profoundly gifted), and others did not complain because most people saw those kids as "different" learners.

Here it seems that because everyone is tested and such a large sample is accepted, the drama is reflective of the prominance of the program. Perhaps if the program was smaller there would be less angst. This is like nothing I have ever seen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay, I can't not ask anymore. What in the world is AAP?

Yes you can ask nicely.

[Anonymous]

Got back from back to school.
Experienced AAP teacher of my DD said about 45min everyday shall be good including mandatory reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps it is because there is such a large base of students involved

This. I am guessing that the school district you came from did not have over 177,000 students from a population base of over a million people. FCPS is the 11th largest school system in the United States.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay, I can't not ask anymore. What in the world is AAP?

I wondered the same thing

AAP seems to have much, much more drama than any of the other schools our kids or their cousins have attended. Perhaps it is because there is such a large base of students involved and the program has more prominence than in districts with far less funding. At our other school districts, the pool of students is much smaller (2/100 1st graders accepted at one school, only 5 students tested out of 3 classes in another school). The testing was much smaller and more discreet (only a small number tested as opposed to everyone), so it wasn't such a big production. Everything was discreet and low key, so there was far less drama. Funding was limited, so the kids who received the services were the ones who truly needed a differentiated instruction (profoundly gifted), and others did not complain because most people saw those kids as "different" learners.

Here it seems that because everyone is tested and such a large sample is accepted, the drama is reflective of the prominance of the program. Perhaps if the program was smaller there would be less angst. This is like nothing I have ever seen.

Two different purposes and ideas. AAP is different from selecting profoundly gifted kids.
How they select those few students? I don't like secrecy in education with my tax money.
I like to see open established process for any program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two different purposes and ideas. AAP is different from selecting profoundly gifted kids.
How they select those few students? I don't like secrecy in education with my tax money.
I like to see open established process for any program.

It wasn't secretive, just not a big production. In one school, the program started in Kinder. A letter was sent home listing the characteristics of gifted children, and any parent who felt their child had those characteristics were welcome to refer for the program, as were teachers. The info was also posted on both the school and district webpage (much simpler website than FCPS due to the much smaller district size, so it was very easy to find.) I think there were around 12 kids/100 in kinder referred for testing (this included parent and teacher referalls), and 2 children were selected for full services; a third was selected for a specific subject only. My DC was not a teacher referral, in fact the teacher felt DC did not fit the criteria based on classroom behavior, but was one of the 2 placed in the program. I think the number of kids tested and/or accepted (lots of transfer students) was a bit higher in 3rd-6th grade, probably around 4-6 kids/grade. In another school district (very limited funds so much smaller program and fewer services) GT services began in 4th grade, with testing at the end of 3rd. The information was public on the district site, including referral and selection procedure. My understanding of the program was that it was through teacher recommendation and the annual state test scores. Only a handful were tested. They sent out a letter a few days prior to the test, and the kids tested after school. This program was very small, and did not offer the same level of services as FCPS, which resulted in far less intensity about the selection process. I don't think it was done this way to be secretive, but was more about lack of funding for testing.

[Anonymous]

Back on topic.

3rd grader has 1 math sheet. Vocab test next week. Nightly reading.

5th graders has had two Wordly Wise tests w/assoc. sections for homework, couple of writing assignments and nightly reading. No math (but could be bc he's getting it done before getting home.)

[Anonymous]

3rd grader had one page of math that took all of 5 minutes. Another 10 minutes on spelling exercises. 15 minutes on September project due next week. 20 minutes of reading.