above average kids but not "advanced"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you should speak with someone at your school about the specifics. None of us know exactly how it works at your school.

That. ^^ You shouldn't worry about looking like a pushy parent if you're simply asking questions. Plus, it's your job to advocate for your child and see to it that his needs are being met.

That being said, was he in advanced math last year, and how high were his math SOLs? I disagree with the PP who insisted that the SOLs and grades have no bearing on current math needs. The math curriculum spirals, so if he fully understood the 3rd grade material, he's more than ready to move onto the more advanced stuff.

I also think you made a bad call by not applying for Level IV. It seems like Level IV kids get priority for advanced math spots, even if gen ed kids have higher metrics for math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS is good for kids in AAP and kids with severe special needs.

The kids in the middle- average to above average- are just pushed along.

Get your kid into the AAP program or get them to a private school. We opted for the latter.

Not true.

Fully agree. We moved away after our kid got parked for a year in the classroom in third grade. Whole lotta logic worksheets while she concentrated on the slowest students.

[Anonymous]

Serious question again who cares

so your kid is bored for a year wahhhhhhh

yall are pathetic

It's not the job of a school to entertain your kid

As UMC to UC people all of your kids are going to be fine whether they take Algebra 1 in 6th 7th 8th or gasp even 9th

Yall are a bunch of freaks

[Anonymous]

Serious question again who cares

so your kid is bored for a year wahhhhhhh

yall are pathetic

It's not the job of a school to entertain your kid

As UMC to UC people all of your kids are going to be fine whether they take Algebra 1 in 6th 7th 8th or gasp even 9th

Yall are a bunch of freaks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm really struggling this year with our FCPS ES. My DC tested very, very well in SOLs last year and gets across the board 4's (for what that is all worth). DC is a solid student. DC made "the pool" for AAP but we didn't pursue it for reasons having nothing to do with academics, but does get pulled out for level three (which is ok but they don't do much in math).

DC is not in advanced math but is definitely above grade level (the advanced class is limited to one class based on last year's SOL scores and other metrics). We are a month in and still doing very easy review (think rounding up decimals). The advanced class is doing integers. I'm highly annoyed. Since DC didn't make the metric for the limited advanced spots, DC is stuck with this review process while the other kids are moving on to more challenging subjects. In short, I kind of feel like DC's falling in the cracks of advanced but not advanced enough and so not getting the challenges DC needs. So what do I do? I'm usually very deferential to the teacher and am wary of bringing it up in our conference (esp. in our school which has a very high concentration of helicopter parents and pushy parents who request teachers, make all sorts of demands . . . things I've never done.) But, I also feel DC is being done a disservice here. I'm fundamentally struggling with the one-size approach for all "non-advanced" students when DC needs something above grade level but not "advanced." If we're not going to make more individual curriculum then they need to open up those advanced classes more, imo, to give other kids the chance (not something I'd raised but that's my personal view).

Has anyone else faced this? What do I do?

If you push, you will come across like "that" parent. Your child was in the pool and you decide not to submit a packet. If he was in the pool, he was autayicau screened but since you didn't explicitly state he was offered admission, I'm guessing he wasn't actually admitted. (Had he had two high test scores or one high test score and a high gbrs, he would have been). There is probably 25% of the kids where he is who aren't even getting level 3 services. They won't be stellar however. The only other thing you could push for is IF you are at a local level if school, to see if he could get placed in at least math in an aap classroom.

Since I said that I'm not going to push, your post is a non-issue. We opted out of AAP and did not apply. I think it's too late to make the switch now as the kids who have been in it since 3d are a full year ahead in math. That doesn't seem productive. I may have made a different decision had I known that DC's individual needs -which, again, are not "advanced" but definitely well above grade level- would not be met. All I want is that to be the case, that is, DC is sufficiently challenged and not lagging behind due to some arbitrary cut off for who is deemed "advanced" or not. DC was advanced SOL and all 4's last year (and so far this year).

His grades last year and his sol score means little with regard to his current needs. All those numbers mean is that he understands what was previously taught to him. There will always be some review in math and then some new material taught. There will also be the iready assessment this year and, as someone else said, there was likely some preassessment done. The point is that:

- prior grades and sol score aren't indicative of his need for more advanced math
- plenty of kids join aap after third grade and do ok with the jump in math, even if they didnt attend aap starting in third
- you child didnt qualify for aap admission but was merely in the pool. That means he has a test that shows he may have some innate ability but he is also with 1/3 of the kids who were in the pool and not admitted. Meaning, 1/3 of those kids are with him.
-he likely took and did not do a great job during a preassessment
- LOTS of kids are above grade level in fcps, both in and out of aap...that is not the basis for admission

This was the basis for determining the advanced math class. And, we did not apply for AAP despite making the pool.

I understand that DC did not qualify for the advanced class. Again, get her into it is NOT my question. Right now, the review is mindlessly boring for DC and that's a problem for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you should speak with someone at your school about the specifics. None of us know exactly how it works at your school.

You seem to be a little confused about how some things work re: AAP (and possibly the advanced math). For example, if your kid was "in pool" you wouldn't have had to "apply." He would have automatically been screened.

I only meant to convey background information re: DC's scores and what not so as to see if other people were in the same position. The AAP vs. Advanced are different things. "Advanced" was not utilized last year, you were either AAP or not. This year, the "advanced" is a limited class (likely due to having no space at our overcrowded school) and is for non-AAP kids.

I did not intend this post to focus on the AAP, pool, or how smart people think my kid is or what she's ready for . . . I'm not pushing the school to include DC in the advanced class if the "requirements" weren't satisfied. Fine. I'm looking at this point for what I could ask the school for, if anything, in terms of supplementing in class and/or at home. Was hoping someone had been there/done that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm really struggling this year with our FCPS ES. My DC tested very, very well in SOLs last year and gets across the board 4's (for what that is all worth). DC is a solid student. DC made "the pool" for AAP but we didn't pursue it for reasons having nothing to do with academics, but does get pulled out for level three (which is ok but they don't do much in math).

DC is not in advanced math but is definitely above grade level (the advanced class is limited to one class based on last year's SOL scores and other metrics). We are a month in and still doing very easy review (think rounding up decimals). The advanced class is doing integers. I'm highly annoyed. Since DC didn't make the metric for the limited advanced spots, DC is stuck with this review process while the other kids are moving on to more challenging subjects. In short, I kind of feel like DC's falling in the cracks of advanced but not advanced enough and so not getting the challenges DC needs. So what do I do? I'm usually very deferential to the teacher and am wary of bringing it up in our conference (esp. in our school which has a very high concentration of helicopter parents and pushy parents who request teachers, make all sorts of demands . . . things I've never done.) But, I also feel DC is being done a disservice here. I'm fundamentally struggling with the one-size approach for all "non-advanced" students when DC needs something above grade level but not "advanced." If we're not going to make more individual curriculum then they need to open up those advanced classes more, imo, to give other kids the chance (not something I'd raised but that's my personal view).

Has anyone else faced this? What do I do?

If you push, you will come across like "that" parent. Your child was in the pool and you decide not to submit a packet. If he was in the pool, he was autayicau screened but since you didn't explicitly state he was offered admission, I'm guessing he wasn't actually admitted. (Had he had two high test scores or one high test score and a high gbrs, he would have been). There is probably 25% of the kids where he is who aren't even getting level 3 services. They won't be stellar however. The only other thing you could push for is IF you are at a local level if school, to see if he could get placed in at least math in an aap classroom.

Since I said that I'm not going to push, your post is a non-issue. We opted out of AAP and did not apply. I think it's too late to make the switch now as the kids who have been in it since 3d are a full year ahead in math. That doesn't seem productive. I may have made a different decision had I known that DC's individual needs -which, again, are not "advanced" but definitely well above grade level- would not be met. All I want is that to be the case, that is, DC is sufficiently challenged and not lagging behind due to some arbitrary cut off for who is deemed "advanced" or not. DC was advanced SOL and all 4's last year (and so far this year).

His grades last year and his sol score means little with regard to his current needs. All those numbers mean is that he understands what was previously taught to him. There will always be some review in math and then some new material taught. There will also be the iready assessment this year and, as someone else said, there was likely some preassessment done. The point is that:

- prior grades and sol score aren't indicative of his need for more advanced math
- plenty of kids join aap after third grade and do ok with the jump in math, even if they didnt attend aap starting in third
- you child didnt qualify for aap admission but was merely in the pool. That means he has a test that shows he may have some innate ability but he is also with 1/3 of the kids who were in the pool and not admitted. Meaning, 1/3 of those kids are with him.
-he likely took and did not do a great job during a preassessment
- LOTS of kids are above grade level in fcps, both in and out of aap...that is not the basis for admission

This was the basis for determining the advanced math class. And, we did not apply for AAP despite making the pool.

I understand that DC did not qualify for the advanced class. Again, get her into it is NOT my question. Right now, the review is mindlessly boring for DC and that's a problem for me.

What do you mean you didn't apply for AAP, you don't have to, if you're in pool. The kid gets screened automatically then.

[Anonymous]

This is why we live in a different school district. None of this one shot at being taught at your level crap or only 100 lucky kids get to have a shot at an appropriate education in a magnet.

Teachers can and should teach every kid in the room at that child's level, no matter how different it is from the kid sitting next to him or her. That is what our school does and does very well.

But, there will always be some boring review, OP. Not everything is new and exciting every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is why we live in a different school district. None of this one shot at being taught at your level crap or only 100 lucky kids get to have a shot at an appropriate education in a magnet.

Teachers can and should teach every kid in the room at that child's level, no matter how different it is from the kid sitting next to him or her. That is what our school does and does very well.

But, there will always be some boring review, OP. Not everything is new and exciting every day.

This!

Here's a little secret: even in AAP classes there is a huge span of ability. It does not make it better. signed, Teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is why we live in a different school district. None of this one shot at being taught at your level crap or only 100 lucky kids [b]get to have a shot at an appropriate education in a magnet.

Teachers can and should teach every kid in the room at that child's level, no matter how different it is from the kid sitting next to him or her. That is what our school does and does very well.

But, there will always be some boring review, OP. Not everything is new and exciting every day.

100 lucky kids? It isn't a lottery system. While the process is far from perfect, it isn't based on luck at all.

[Anonymous]

OP-what grade is your son in in? We are dealing with the same issue-in another school district-son missed advanced math by one point. It really sucks. He is in 4th and will NOT have access to much if any 5th grade math. I really understand why the US scores so low on these math tests -especially as years progress--because instead of learning more as the years pass kids learn less and less unless in advanced classes.
At this point not sure what can be done except math after school. We don't have a tutor--we may get one but I am not sure how to find a quality one in this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS is good for kids in AAP and kids with severe special needs.

The kids in the middle- average to above average- are just pushed along.

Get your kid into the AAP program or get them to a private school. We opted for the latter.

It's so interesting to hear this. We are in Alexandria City Public Schools and that's how it is for my DD as well. She's smart, but just missed the cut for the equivalent of the AAP program. We were considering moving to FCPS because I thought it would be better there (especially once she hits middle and high school), but now I'm not sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS is good for kids in AAP and kids with severe special needs.

The kids in the middle- average to above average- are just pushed along.

Get your kid into the AAP program or get them to a private school. We opted for the latter.

It's so interesting to hear this. We are in Alexandria City Public Schools and that's how it is for my DD as well. She's smart, but just missed the cut for the equivalent of the AAP program. We were considering moving to FCPS because I thought it would be better there (especially once she hits middle and high school), but now I'm not sure.

It will be better in a school with few English language learners and poor kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP,

Here is a FWIW. What is your goal? Some college professors are saying that the kids who are rushing through these math classes are missing out. There was an article in WAPO last week (it may have been a letter to the editor) about this. The professor said that basic math skills are being ignored in the schools in favor of pushing kids toward calculus early. He said basic skills are not coming to school with some of these kids.

I cannot speak to this issue, but it makes sense to me. I was a teacher and always felt that foundations were extremely important. These days education seems like a race--I prefer to think of it as a building. You need a good base. With the race, some kids don't make it to the end--they peter out early. Others may finish and collapse at the finish line. Some just give up. A building requires a good strong base--if you don't have that, the building may topple over. However, you can have good low lying buildings and good high rises if they are built properly.

Pushing ahead is not always a good thing--even for "advanced" kids.

This was me. Advanced in the early years. They used to pull me out of class in elementary and send me to a math class with 2 grade older kids. By high school I had severe math anxiety and started doing poorly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS is good for kids in AAP and kids with severe special needs.

The kids in the middle- average to above average- are just pushed along.

Get your kid into the AAP program or get them to a private school. We opted for the latter.

It's so interesting to hear this. We are in Alexandria City Public Schools and that's how it is for my DD as well. She's smart, but just missed the cut for the equivalent of the AAP program. We were considering moving to FCPS because I thought it would be better there (especially once she hits middle and high school), but now I'm not sure.

I'm sure it depends on the school, but I disagree with PP for the elementary schools I'm familiar with. FCPS gives a good education to gen ed students, in general.