I need an am I going crazy check here

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I disagree with your premise that because your older kid was found eligible for Level IV, he should have been identified for Level II services starting in K. Kids mature at different rates. I know kids who were just accepted to AAP for next year who were not even reading confidently at the end of K. Why would that kid get differentiated services in reading? See what I mean?

I agree. There are kids who are on grade level and appear average in every way, but then knock the CogAT out of the park. The school didn't make a mistake by not identifying them, since there was no indication at all that the kid needed differentiation.

OP: Was your K child above grade on i-ready? Is that child reading full chapter books? Was your older child above grade level in K or 1st? The school is probably identifying kids who are above grade level based on their math reasoning tests, DRA tests, and i-ready.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I disagree with your premise that because your older kid was found eligible for Level IV, he should have been identified for Level II services starting in K. Kids mature at different rates. I know kids who were just accepted to AAP for next year who were not even reading confidently at the end of K. Why would that kid get differentiated services in reading? See what I mean?

I agree. There are kids who are on grade level and appear average in every way, but then knock the CogAT out of the park. The school didn't make a mistake by not identifying them, since there was no indication at all that the kid needed differentiation.

OP: Was your K child above grade on i-ready? Is that child reading full chapter books? Was your older child above grade level in K or 1st? The school is probably identifying kids who are above grade level based on their math reasoning tests, DRA tests, and i-ready.

This is a fair enough point, and one that I don't disagree with (that kids mature at different rates, etc.). With DC1, after K, I got none of the data listed above (I don't believe anyone did). As you know, in FPCS the report card says y or n for receiving above grade level instruction in math, and for grades K-2, DC1's report card always said "n" there. BUT, DC1's level IV AAP application packet, that I requested, did say "yes" for working above grade level in math. I have no idea what the disconnect is there - is it that the report card says "receiving above grade level instruction" and DC1 wasn't receiving it, because it is not offered at our base school? And the level IV packet states: "working above grade level", and it said "yes" there because DC1 was indeed working above grade level in math, even though DC1 was not being instructed by any teacher at that level? I don't know if anyone at our base school, for grades K-2, ever gets a "y" for math on the report card there. I do know, there are no pullouts or advanced math groups for anyone in grades K-2 at our ES.

For DC2, who just finished K, I guess I would have previously received no data after K like for DC1, but due to the recent change to have iReady, I did actually get the iReady report this year. DC2's iReady was in the 510-520 range for reading (pick the middle, I'm trying to maintain some anonymity!!) and the report said above grade level for everything. Is that in level II AAP range? Are all Kers scoring in that range? Am I taking crazy pills? LOL. I feel like that seems "good" to me, because I purposely don't teach any of my kids to read before K because despite how this post makes me seem, I believe in play! DC2 learned to do CVC words alone before K, and then just picked it all up quickly once they started learning to read in K.

I really felt like I was taking crazy pills with DS1, until I got the COGAT scores - then I felt vindicated and like I wasn't going crazy. And now in Level IV, DC1's report card says above grade level for reading and "y" in math and DC1 got a 600 in math on the SOL (and advanced pass in reading) - so I feel like I wasn't actually going crazy but for some reason the base school was not recognizing or at least not relaying any of this to me!!! HA!

ANYWAY, for DC2, I decided to wait and see if I get any letter about being identified for Level II AAP after K, since I know some kids are (because IMO comparing to DC1, DC2 is advanced). Now I have reached that point and have gotten nothing, so trying to figure out where to go from here, ha. I guess the answer is nowhere Stop thinking about it

[Anonymous]

Maybe your school requires parents to fill out the school based AAP application form to identify kids for Level II.

https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/forms/AAPSchoolBasedServicesReferralForm_0.pdf

[Anonymous]

OP, in our school, the AART has told me that Level II services are provided by classroom teachers in grade 2, but students do not receive pullout services until 3rd grade. Level II services include in-class differentiation in area(s) of need, which all of this school's second grade teachers do, regardless of AAP labels. At our old school, in contrast, DC#1 was identified as "level II" by a special letter at the end of 1st.... and received...nothing extra in 2nd. If I were you I would focus on the substance of what is being provided to your child, and not the label. IMHO, talk to the teacher(s) about this when school starts and/or supplement at home as needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyway thanks for the help, everyone. My friends accept that my occasional neurosis is part of my charm

I feel like the way my base school does things feeds my neurotic tendencies, though, lol. With DC1, I didn't do anything about AAP in any grade (K-2). The true story is that I received DC1's COGAT scores in the weekly take home folder, a few days before the Friday deadline to submit any supplemental information for the packets. Packets were due that Friday, and I did not receive the in-pool letter until that Saturday, the day after the packets were due. As a result, I tried to use google to find out what the in-pool score was, and that is how I found DCUM and this board. I was able to glean online that DC1 had an in-pool score prior to receiving the letter, and I did fill out the optional parental questionnaire in time for the Friday deadline.

I'm sure that's what they tell you. I'm also sure they're lying to you, because you sound exhausting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe your school requires parents to fill out the school based AAP application form to identify kids for Level II.

https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/forms/AAPSchoolBasedServicesReferralForm_0.pdf

Thanks - they have not communicated to the parents that we should fill it out in order to be considered, but it is something to consider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, in our school, the AART has told me that Level II services are provided by classroom teachers in grade 2, but students do not receive pullout services until 3rd grade. Level II services include in-class differentiation in area(s) of need, which all of this school's second grade teachers do, regardless of AAP labels. At our old school, in contrast, DC#1 was identified as "level II" by a special letter at the end of 1st.... and received...nothing extra in 2nd. If I were you I would focus on the substance of what is being provided to your child, and not the label. IMHO, talk to the teacher(s) about this when school starts and/or supplement at home as needed.

Thanks - all fair points, though I probably won’t talk to the teacher despite what this post makes it seem like, I don’t tell teachers that I think my kid needs more advanced stuff, etc. I tell my kids to do good stuff like read, write, draw, or make up math problems in their free time if they are done with school work early. Then, I vent anonymously on the internet about wanting more information about the level II identification process, lol.
I suppose the reason I “care” about the label is because I know it goes in the level IV application packet and some kids do get it after K, though I know it is not determinative since DC1 didn’t have it.

[Anonymous]

Well, I heard back from my other mom friend that she didn't get any formal letter relating to level II AAP identification for her kindergartner this year, and she doesn't think our school sends formal letters for kids in grades K-2. (With this friend, the topic previously arose organically in a prior conversation about our older children at the Center, and younger kids at the base). I suppose there are other people I could ask, but that would be reaching a line I try to draw for myself, so I will stop here for sanity reasons And, I wouldn't want to put it on their radar if they didn't previously know about it, so they don't have to "worry" about it, too.

I could see our school waiting until the school year ended to send letters out, but PP made a good point that they're probably not sending anything out this late, now. So I will stop thinking about it for the summer! And, I may actually attend the AAP info session next year, for the first time, and ask this question there.

Thanks for letting me vent / think it out, and for being mostly not mean!

[Anonymous]

Really bright kids don’t need to be told to make up math problems in their free time. Kids whose parents want them to appear bright to their teachers do this, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really bright kids don’t need to be told to make up math problems in their free time. Kids whose parents want them to appear bright to their teachers do this, though.

Phew, I wasn’t expecting this tidbit to come in handy, but I thought of it when DC2 on his own decided to do multiplication in fog on the shower door.

[Anonymous]

OP, I think you can contact the school and bug them all you want --- about anything. When a school does not give clear communication, as routine, then them having to answer to the-crazy-parent and any version thereof, is what they deserve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really bright kids don’t need to be told to make up math problems in their free time. Kids whose parents want them to appear bright to their teachers do this, though.

Phew, I wasn’t expecting this tidbit to come in handy, but I thought of it when DC2 on his own decided to do multiplication in fog on the shower door.

Joke all you want - telling your kid to make up math problems in his spare time at school is an obvious way to try to make sure the teacher see your kid is smart. And if the teacher missed it, I’m sure the op would mention at conferences and in the aap application that her kid makes up math problems in his spare time at school. I’m a former teacher. We did a project with real pumpkin seeds for kindergarteners one year. It dealt with counting by 2s with partners. We then worked with tally marks to count by fives the total number of seeds in the class. The last question the kids did on their own was what would you do with all these seeds if you could keep them. One boy scribbled that there were enough seeds for everyone to get 5 and the leftover four would go to the two teachers. (His one sentence showed he was dividing a three digit number that had a remainders. If you say to other kids to just work on math when you’re done, most kindergarters would have something far simpler.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure your school even does any meaningful level II services? We received a letter home in my Kindergartener's take-home folder during the last week of school. Same was true for my older--last week or two of K and 1st. But the actual services were pretty meaningless. No pullouts, just differentiation in the classroom. We also got a letter home back on May telling us everyone would be screened and notified by June 8th, I think it was.

OP here. I am sure that my school does NO meaningful level II services. BUT they do identify kids and it does go in the Level IV application packet. I would have liked some kind of information that you got there with the letter home, etc., LOL.

A few years ago, after DC1 finished K, another friend told me that she got a letter sent home from our school saying her kid, who also had just finished K, was identified for Level II. I did just ask another friend who has a kid who just finished 2nd grade at our base school (and will attend Level IV in the fall) if her kid was identified for Level II after K and she said she recalls no letter and that she believes it just started showing up on the report card at some point. Yet another friend who also has a kid who just finished K hadn’t received any letter prior to the last day of school this year. I just asked her if she’s gotten anything since then. I guess if she’s gotten nothing by now either or confirms that she has gotten something - I’ll drop it for the summer.

I get that they are only in K but FCPS does identify kids for Level II after K so this is why I am thinking about it.

Having Level II on the Level IV packet means nothing. There are many kids who received Level II services who aren't found eligible and vice versa. You're getting way to obsessed with this. My DC didn't have Level II services and was found eligible for Level IV first round. DC's best friend received Level II services and was found ineligible for Level IV. If you DC has the scores and GBRS, no one cares that he didn't have Level II pullout. If your DC doesn't have the scores and GBRS, no one care that he had Level II pullout. It's an independent determination. Enjoy your summer and stop obsessing about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really bright kids don’t need to be told to make up math problems in their free time. Kids whose parents want them to appear bright to their teachers do this, though.

Phew, I wasn’t expecting this tidbit to come in handy, but I thought of it when DC2 on his own decided to do multiplication in fog on the shower door.

Joke all you want - telling your kid to make up math problems in his spare time at school is an obvious way to try to make sure the teacher see your kid is smart. And if the teacher missed it, I’m sure the op would mention at conferences and in the aap application that her kid makes up math problems in his spare time at school. I’m a former teacher. We did a project with real pumpkin seeds for kindergarteners one year. It dealt with counting by 2s with partners. We then worked with tally marks to count by fives the total number of seeds in the class. The last question the kids did on their own was what would you do with all these seeds if you could keep them. One boy scribbled that there were enough seeds for everyone to get 5 and the leftover four would go to the two teachers. (His one sentence showed he was dividing a three digit number that had a remainders. If you say to other kids to just work on math when you’re done, most kindergarters would have something far simpler.

You seemed really fixated on this point. I’m OP and a former teacher too. And I don’t think it’s relevant but the older one was the one doing it on his own accord and when I realized that, I thought, sure great idea, and in passing having learned the idea from him, thrown it out in a list of ideas such as: read, write, draw, or math rather than talking to friends when done with work to HELP the teacher if the teacher ever in passing said one of them was being a little chatty from time to time. And not sure it’s relevant but I don’t bring it up at conferences and to date haven’t done a parent referral for AAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure your school even does any meaningful level II services? We received a letter home in my Kindergartener's take-home folder during the last week of school. Same was true for my older--last week or two of K and 1st. But the actual services were pretty meaningless. No pullouts, just differentiation in the classroom. We also got a letter home back on May telling us everyone would be screened and notified by June 8th, I think it was.

OP here. I am sure that my school does NO meaningful level II services. BUT they do identify kids and it does go in the Level IV application packet. I would have liked some kind of information that you got there with the letter home, etc., LOL.

A few years ago, after DC1 finished K, another friend told me that she got a letter sent home from our school saying her kid, who also had just finished K, was identified for Level II. I did just ask another friend who has a kid who just finished 2nd grade at our base school (and will attend Level IV in the fall) if her kid was identified for Level II after K and she said she recalls no letter and that she believes it just started showing up on the report card at some point. Yet another friend who also has a kid who just finished K hadn’t received any letter prior to the last day of school this year. I just asked her if she’s gotten anything since then. I guess if she’s gotten nothing by now either or confirms that she has gotten something - I’ll drop it for the summer.

I get that they are only in K but FCPS does identify kids for Level II after K so this is why I am thinking about it.

Having Level II on the Level IV packet means nothing. There are many kids who received Level II services who aren't found eligible and vice versa. You're getting way to obsessed with this. My DC didn't have Level II services and was found eligible for Level IV first round. DC's best friend received Level II services and was found ineligible for Level IV. If you DC has the scores and GBRS, no one cares that he didn't have Level II pullout. If your DC doesn't have the scores and GBRS, no one care that he had Level II pullout. It's an independent determination. Enjoy your summer and stop obsessing about this.

I have given up thinking about it for the summer but fair point, too, that maybe what matters more is the scores anyway.