If your child was on the cusp or didn't get invited to AAP, what happened at your base school?
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Anonymous
| ITA. I found 14:47's post to be helpful, unlike 14:59's, which offers no help, only snark. I like 14:47's style - she has been through a lot in the AAP process and wants to share what she's learned along the way to help others. That's what this board is all about. |
Anonymous
I totally agree. Most of us instinctively lash back out with some snark of our own, instead of responding with understanding and thereby defusing - not escalating - the situation. Your kind response was so refreshing to read! |
Anonymous
| I am the poster who received the snark. Thanks for the support. I started this whole process knowing nothing. I was not anticipating the AAP pool, did not even really know that much about how the process went. I was not surprised by ds' test scores, but did not fully understand them either. It was as I went through the process, and the appeal first year (without WISC) that I began to see how this really tended to work. I let the county make their decision their way, even if I did not agree. (plus doing the WISC would have been a $$ stretch). I imagine I spent too much time on this board too, which only made me feel I had shortchanged my son for not ordering the WISC (since I did feel he really needed the challenge). Anyway, the point I was trying to get across to OP is that it varies GREATLY what services are offered out of AAP. This was the main impetus for us choosing to return our youngest to our neighborhood school. It is a school with lower test scores, but a full time AART and Young Scholars program. Though my younger ds is not among the under represented minority target for this program, I am already seeing that he is reaping the rewards. |
Anonymous
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OP here --
I did some more research and was kind of disappointed with what I found. If you don't go to the center (either b/c you were on the cusp or you were not invited after being in pool), the most you can get at the local school is one hour every other week and/or the advanced math class (which would be every day). If math isn't your strong suit, then it's just one hour with the AART every other week in an area that is considered your strength. That's a BIG difference from what a kid gets at the AAP center -- yet the CogAT score difference is just one percentile! It seems to be an "all or almost nothing" situation. I was hoping that the local school would have a lot more to offer to their higher performers, but apparently not. It makes me realize why so many people push to get their kids into AAP. And it has made me think twice about whether we want to parent refer. I really appreciated the comments from PPs, especially the one who mentioned whether DC is a self-starter and generally gets homework done by him/herself. DC is completely capable of doing the current homework, but is not a self-starter in the least and tends to get distracted and frustrated. DC can answer a math fact five times but then will get frustrated when she has more questions involving the SAME fact and DC will start the tears and generally dramatize the process which would take 3 min. if DC attended to it. I don't know if AAP would add more stress to DC's homework, but I fear that it would. For that reason, and our own desire to keep things simple with just one school for two kids, we are not planning to refer. (But it is with disappointment that there is so little AA time offered to those who are at the top of charts ar the local school.) |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
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[quote=Anonymous]OP here --
I did some more research and was kind of disappointed with what I found. If you don't go to the center (either b/c you were on the cusp or you were not invited after being in pool), the most you can get at the local school is one hour every other week and/or the advanced math class (which would be every day). If math isn't your strong suit, then it's just one hour with the AART every other week in an area that is considered your strength. That's a BIG difference from what a kid gets at the AAP center -- yet the CogAT score difference is just one percentile! It seems to be an "all or almost nothing" situation. I was hoping that the local school would have a lot more to offer to their higher performers, but apparently not. It makes me realize why so many people push to get their kids into AAP. And it has made me think twice about whether we want to parent refer.[/quote] Yes, but saying that it is just one percentage point is somewhat deceptive. That one point actually represents a range of scores that crosses into double digits. In terms of raw scores only, the difference between a 99.8% and a 98.2% or a 98.9% and a 97.5% are actually significant. |
Anonymous
[list]I said this in another post and boy did the fangs come out. I to have a child "on the cusp" and I am very disappointed in what is offered in the Gen. Ed. curriculum. Gen. Ed needs to differentiate the classrooms by ability and allow children to move in, or out, of the classrooms based on their individual academics achievements. In this way, “all” children will have the opportunity to advance. This is not tracking as some seem to think. It is providing the best challenge to “all children” not just the “select few” allowed into the AAP program. The AAP center program should be for the “off the charts” achievers and Advanced Academics should be afforded to all Gen. Ed. children with class differentiation (not within the same classroom). Right now to many “on the cusp” children are being afforded the AAP center opportunity while many other “on the cusp” children are being denied this opportunity. The process as it exists now for AAP/AAP center is “tracking”. Selecting a certain group of children and affording them an advance curriculum which is not “reasonably” attainable by those students in Gen. Ed. is tracking. Yes, Yes I know any child can be referred at anytime during their elementary school years but let’s get real here. A lot of these children may not need the AAP center program but do need Advanced Academics in certain areas such as the “on the cusp” who were lucky enough to gain acceptance into the AAP program. The group of children who need immersion in all core subjects is really small. I believe these “on the cusp” children in the AAP center should be in Gen. Ed. schools with classes meeting them, and all of the other “on the cusp” children, in their academic successes. FCPS needs to fix this problem. I believe they are walking on the edge of a “class action” here. They really need to look closely at how this AAP program is working. |
Anonymous
I have not found that my AAP student has "extra homework" compared to gen. ed. |
Anonymous
| Indeed, it's extra projects, book reports, etc. that kill us in AAP. Far from keeping the family apart, we are involuntarily thrust together to get the projects done. You'd be shocked at how much parent involvement is required . . . because the teacher assumes the parents are helping with at-home projects! |
Anonymous
This is not the case at our Center. In fact the opposite is true - the students are required to do project work at school. Evidently some teachers believe students are not doing all their own work at home and that parents are (at a minimum) assisting in the project work. |
Anonymous
| We are not helicopter patents and would prefer not to help with projects. DC comes home with rubrics for us to sign attesting that we will basically assist . . . on weekends, it is not unusual for us to get parent homework, I kid you not, involving lots of cutting out of tiny shapes and things . . . the teacher does not want the kids to do it, because she wants it to be neatly done. WTF? |
Anonymous
15:12 here -- that would make me nuts! |
Anonymous
my child is young but i read the vaps board b/c one day he'll be in vaps and maybe gifted. This comment was particularly interesting to me. As little kids (me first grade, DH a little later) we were both tested for gifted programs at our schools. I missed the mark (at our school 140 was cut off and I was below, dk how much). DH was found to be gifted and in special programs through high-school graduation. I always felt not smart enough! This is the deep south and I'm not sure that the gifted classes were much better than the honors and AP classes that I took but still, that feeling remained. I remember the EXACT moment when I realized I was "smart enough". I was 29 and having an intellectual debate with two other people who had graduated from top schools...and holding my own. |
Anonymous
| OP here -- FWIW, we have never talked to DC about the "gifted program" or in any way implied that DC would or could go to another school where smart kids go. As far as DC knows, the CogAt was to show the teachers what DC is good at. I told DC that the scores were very good. Eventually, DC will probably find out that some friends are going to another school, but we have remained quiet about it so far. |
Anonymous
This is completely at odds with our AAP experience. We don't do any of our DC's homework. We have to sign tests to show that we saw them. Sometimes she has something that she is supposed to discuss with us (maybe 1x/year). Our teachers do not expect nor want parents to do the work. If you're doing your kid's work, they probably shouldn't be in AAP. |