Does particular AAP Center affect chances of getting in?

[Anonymous]

The first part of what 20:21 said is true -- that FCPS is trying to increase representation in underrepresented areas, and that includes students of certain races or ethnicities. They said so at the cluster meetings in November. I heard it with my own ears, and saw the slide presentation with my own eyes, from FCPS admin officials. I don't think it's a bad thing. So it's entirely plausible that the rest of what 20:21 said is also true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: if a school was heavy in underrepresented races it would seem that their average scores for admission could be lower.

FCPS uses multiple criteria in the screening process to determine Center eligibility. It is not all about a single score on a single day on a single test.

http://www.fcps.edu/is/aap/faqs/idfaqs.shtml

How important are the test scores in determining eligibility for full-time AAP (level IV) center placement?
Test scores are just one piece of data considered when a file is reviewed for full-time AAP (level IV) center placement. The Level IV Center Central Selection Committee, made up of FCPS teachers, specialists, and administrators, considers multiple criteria, including: the Gifted Behaviors Rating Scale (GBRS), ability and achievement test scores, work samples, student progress reports, and other optional information such as the Parent/Guardian Questionnaire (available at http://www.fcps.edu/is/aap/forms.shtml).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP, your teacher friend was grossly misinformed; race, economics, ethnicity play no role in AAP. The scores aren't lowered for any school.

I thought that FCPS was trying to increase representation of underrepresented races in AAP. Not saying it would intentionally vary by school, but if a school was heavy in underrepresented races it would seem that their average scores for admission could be lower.

10:21 posting clarification in dialogue with those who replied in a civil manner.

I thought that FCPS was trying to increase representation of underrepresented races in AAP. Not saying it would intentionally vary by school, but if a school was heavy in underrepresented races it would seem that ITS (THE SCHOOL'S) average scores for admission could be lower.

[Anonymous]

^20:21

[Anonymous]

PP, please provide the link from the Nov Meeting. It would have been videotaped if a school board session or would be in some official document if said. I am not saying that you are lying, just I never heard of such and would like to hear it with my own ears or see it with my own eyes. Also, did fcps state that they were lowering the test scores for these other races or ethnicities? If you don't have the data, why imply such?

[Anonymous]

It was at the cluster meetings on AAP in November. They were not videotaped. I'm a different poster, but I remember them saying that. I was the the Cluster 1/2 meeting. I'm not sure which meeting the other poster attended. I assume the prepared remarks were the same at all of them.

[Anonymous]

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/30/165225.page

http://www.fcps.edu/is/aap/ys.shtml

[Anonymous]

The materials from the November community meetings are all posted on the FCPS website here:

http://www.fcps.edu/is/aap/centers/reorg/index.shtml

I attended two of the three community meetings and there was absolutely no mention made of increasing underrepresented populations that are found in AAP Centers by lowering the test score requirements for these groups.

The PowerPoint presentation used is here:
http://www.fcps.edu/is/aap/pdfs/expansion/AAPClusterMeetings.pdf

[Anonymous]

Maybe it's not a case of lowering the baseline requirements, but rather that the overall pool of kids from non-Farms/non-white backgrounds is lower than the Farms/minority background (while still meeting the baseline)... So maybe a kid at X school usually has to have more than a 132 (or GBRS 11) to get the invite, while a kid at Y school might get in with a 132 (or GBRS of 9) because the competition at Y is not as fierce as the competition at X. It's not that the stated/published standards are lower -- as both groups have met the baseline -- but maybe the invites go to kids with the highest scores at X. I'm not saying this is true, but it could explain how FCPS would say that they are trying to reach out but also not lowering the score requirements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not that the stated/published standards are lower -- as both groups have met the baseline -- but maybe the invites go to kids with the highest scores at X.

Well, since a test score (be it highest, or lowest, or somewhere in the middle) is not the only determinant of Center eligibility, and that the central screening committee is looking for reasons to find students Center eligible and not the reverse, I don't know if a median and range of scores matter at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought that FCPS was trying to increase representation of underrepresented races in AAP.

It's actually underrepresented populations, and as another poster noted, this is a goal of (but not limited to) Young Scholars.

http://www.fcps.edu/is/aap/ys.shtml

Young Scholars is a K-8 initiative that is designed to increase the proportion of historically underrepresented students in gifted programs.

There is also an effort to reach out to twice-exceptional learners, who are also historically underrepresented in gifted programs.

http://www.fcps.edu/is/aap/column/columntwicelearners.shtml

Twice-exceptional learners are students who have the ability to think, reason, and problem-solve at very high levels but also have special education needs. These children are best served by teachers who recognize and build on their exceptional strengths while at the same time are flexible in areas where the students require accommodations and support. For example, teachers may modify assignments, offer flexible timelines, provide alternative learning experiences, and employ other strategies that are often used with students who have special needs. These adaptations provide the twice exceptional learner important access to the many advanced learning opportunities that Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) provides.

[Anonymous]

Look, almost half of high income McLean schools are in the level 4 AAP classes. There is NO QUOTA going on in these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look, almost half of high income McLean schools are in the level 4 AAP classes. There is NO QUOTA going on in these schools.

Maybe there isn't a quota, but could it be that the scores are in fact higher on average at these schools? I don't know the answer. I'm the PP who was told by the first grade teacher that the scores for kids getting into the school where she worked were higher than the scores for kids getting into the center where my kids would go if they were in AAP.

It seems plausible that scores at one school could be higher on average than scores at another school -- and not because FCPS used any different standard, it's just geographically a different set of kids (and scores).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought that FCPS was trying to increase representation of underrepresented races in AAP.

It's actually underrepresented populations, and as another poster noted, this is a goal of (but not limited to) Young Scholars.

http://www.fcps.edu/is/aap/ys.shtml

Young Scholars is a K-8 initiative that is designed to increase the proportion of historically underrepresented students in gifted programs.

There is also an effort to reach out to twice-exceptional learners, who are also historically underrepresented in gifted programs.

http://www.fcps.edu/is/aap/column/columntwicelearners.shtml

Twice-exceptional learners are students who have the ability to think, reason, and problem-solve at very high levels but also have special education needs. These children are best served by teachers who recognize and build on their exceptional strengths while at the same time are flexible in areas where the students require accommodations and support. For example, teachers may modify assignments, offer flexible timelines, provide alternative learning experiences, and employ other strategies that are often used with students who have special needs. These adaptations provide the twice exceptional learner important access to the many advanced learning opportunities that Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) provides.

From FCPS website:

"A growing concern with the continual under representation of Black, Hispanic, and English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students in gifted programs impelled the Fairfax County Public Schools Gifted and Talented Central Office staff to take a more comprehensive approach to this issue during the 1999-2000 school year."

Link:
http://www.fcps.edu/is/aap/column/columnyoungscholars.shtml

The same webpage states, "Young scholars are held to the same high standards and performance expectations as other gifted students."

So there is no OFFICIAL WRITTEN statement that I recall seeing that claims that test score standards are lower for students from the groups that FCPS would like to see represented more in AAP. Apologies if I offended anyone or made any unfounded assumptions based on generalizations about "affirmative action" programs (which incidentally may have helped with my own college admissions and those of my family members).

I do notice that the NNAT (which helps to draw in non-native English speakers) SEEMS to have an effectively lower threshold than the FxAT, the way the pool benchmarks are set this year. NNAT threshold is 132, same as last year, but FxAT benchmark of 95% draws in only 5% of FCPS students, versus last year about 10% being targeted through the CogAT benchmark of 98% nationally (roughly equivalent to 10% in FCPS). So in that regard the non-native English speakers' chance to be in-pool seems to have been maintained even if standards have been tightened overall. Sorry, I do not have time to hunt through all the many threads from 2011 and 2012 that contribute to my believing this, so disregard or flame the idea if you wish!

Signed,

20:21 (and 9:42)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, please provide the link from the Nov Meeting. It would have been videotaped if a school board session or would be in some official document if said. I am not saying that you are lying, just I never heard of such and would like to hear it with my own ears or see it with my own eyes. Also, did fcps state that they were lowering the test scores for these other races or ethnicities? If you don't have the data, why imply such?

Different poster.

It was made crystal clear at the Nov AAP expansion meeting that fcps was actively trying to increase under represented minority groups' participation in AAP.

If my memory serves me correctly, there was a slide showing that hispanics and African Americans were woefully under represented as compared to their overall percentage in the district and asians were over represented.

Fcps was very open about this goal.