What will be the future purpose of "Advanced Academic Programs (AAP)" forum

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Exactly, if everyone can get into AAP and TJ is lottery, what is the purpose of this forum ? How else can parents motivate their children to compete in academics ?

That is not what AAP is for. That may or may not be one of the side effects, and it may or may not be desirable. But it's not the purpose of the program and 2nd graders are not competing for admittance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Exactly, if everyone can get into AAP and TJ is lottery, what is the purpose of this forum ? How else can parents motivate their children to compete in academics ?

Since when was academics a competition? I view my children's education as fostering a lifelong love of learning, teaching them about the world, and most importantly helping them to rightly order the things they love so they can rightly order their lives. It just so happens that at least one of them is in AAP because the curriculum is the best fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AAP is going to be watered down. I mean every school is now going to be center school. Everyone can get into AAP.
No purpose of TJ , as it is going to be diluted with lottery selection on not best of the best.

So, is there a place for this forum in future ?

AAP has been watered down by the county for the past 5 to 10 years. And it will just continue to be watered down. AAP is the new Gen Ed. I taught general education for years. I'm using the same material that I used 15 years ago in general education for my current AA students.

This is simply not true. For English and social studies, fine. Nobody said that intelligent people develop language faster or understand history better ("wow, they learned about the civil war REAL GOOD!" lol). It's mostly about math. I was in a top private school 30 years ago that is very respected for its math and science. My son is doing the same math in AAP that I was doing in the advanced math class at that school. AAP is basically one year ahead math work. That's what it was designed to be and that's what it still is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AAP is going to be watered down. I mean every school is now going to be center school. Everyone can get into AAP.
No purpose of TJ , as it is going to be diluted with lottery selection on not best of the best.

So, is there a place for this forum in future ?

AAP has been watered down by the county for the past 5 to 10 years. And it will just continue to be watered down. AAP is the new Gen Ed. I taught general education for years. I'm using the same material that I used 15 years ago in general education for my current AA students.

This is simply not true. For English and social studies, fine. Nobody said that intelligent people develop language faster or understand history better ("wow, they learned about the civil war REAL GOOD!" lol). It's mostly about math. I was in a top private school 30 years ago that is very respected for its math and science. My son is doing the same math in AAP that I was doing in the advanced math class at that school. AAP is basically one year ahead math work. That's what it was designed to be and that's what it still is.

NP. I've heard anecdotally that the AAP/GT program of 10-20 years ago was brutal. Much more work in class and hours of nightly homework. Not so much better or a higher level as just more work.

We're at one of the "middle" centers, not one of the most watered down centers or one of the highest level/most competitive ones. It seems like a good program for DC, who is an "average gifted" student, not a prodigy nor a kid who thrives on hours of homework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AAP is going to be watered down. I mean every school is now going to be center school. Everyone can get into AAP.
No purpose of TJ , as it is going to be diluted with lottery selection on not best of the best.

So, is there a place for this forum in future ?

AAP has been watered down by the county for the past 5 to 10 years. And it will just continue to be watered down. AAP is the new Gen Ed. I taught general education for years. I'm using the same material that I used 15 years ago in general education for my current AA students.

This is simply not true. For English and social studies, fine. Nobody said that intelligent people develop language faster or understand history better ("wow, they learned about the civil war REAL GOOD!" lol). It's mostly about math. I was in a top private school 30 years ago that is very respected for its math and science. My son is doing the same math in AAP that I was doing in the advanced math class at that school. AAP is basically one year ahead math work. That's what it was designed to be and that's what it still is.

NP. I've heard anecdotally that the AAP/GT program of 10-20 years ago was brutal. Much more work in class and hours of nightly homework. Not so much better or a higher level as just more work.

We're at one of the "middle" centers, not one of the most watered down centers or one of the highest level/most competitive ones. It seems like a good program for DC, who is an "average gifted" student, not a prodigy nor a kid who thrives on hours of homework.

What the heck is a "watered down" center? Don't all centers teach the same curriculum?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

NP. I've heard anecdotally that the AAP/GT program of 10-20 years ago was brutal. Much more work in class and hours of nightly homework. Not so much better or a higher level as just more work.

We're at one of the "middle" centers, not one of the most watered down centers or one of the highest level/most competitive ones. It seems like a good program for DC, who is an "average gifted" student, not a prodigy nor a kid who thrives on hours of homework.

What the heck is an "average gifted student?" If your kid is gifted at all, he would be at the top in his AAP class. If he's an average AAP student, then he's probably around a 120 IQ and is bright but nowhere near gifted.

Also, to the PP who said that AAP is intended to be one year advanced math and nothing more: That's available for most gen ed students. Every school could easily offer advanced math starting in 3rd, so what's the point of a separate AAP program then?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NP. I've heard anecdotally that the AAP/GT program of 10-20 years ago was brutal. Much more work in class and hours of nightly homework. Not so much better or a higher level as just more work.

We're at one of the "middle" centers, not one of the most watered down centers or one of the highest level/most competitive ones. It seems like a good program for DC, who is an "average gifted" student, not a prodigy nor a kid who thrives on hours of homework.

What the heck is an "average gifted student?" If your kid is gifted at all, he would be at the top in his AAP class. If he's an average AAP student, then he's probably around a 120 IQ and is bright but nowhere near gifted.

Also, to the PP who said that AAP is intended to be one year advanced math and nothing more: That's available for most gen ed students. Every school could easily offer advanced math starting in 3rd, so what's the point of a separate AAP program then?

Not PP, but I once saw something about "levels of giftedness." The IQ level you mentioned would be "high acheiver," and then above that were 4 tiers of gifted kids roughly grouped by IQ and education needs. Most kids in AAP probably fit that bright, high achiever group. Plenty of kids at TJ do too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AAP is going to be watered down. I mean every school is now going to be center school. Everyone can get into AAP.
No purpose of TJ , as it is going to be diluted with lottery selection on not best of the best.

So, is there a place for this forum in future ?

AAP has been watered down by the county for the past 5 to 10 years. And it will just continue to be watered down. AAP is the new Gen Ed. I taught general education for years. I'm using the same material that I used 15 years ago in general education for my current AA students.

Then you are a huge part of the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is not a TJ forum. Also AAP still exists. Our local base school still doesn’t offer adv math until 5th grade so local level iv looks a long way off from where I sit and we will still hope for AAP at center for our youngest child (older kids already in).

AAP will soon face the same fate as TJ.

That's not going to happen. The benchmarks considered are not absolute so can be manipulated to let whomever they want in. What AAP centers need to do is separate classes by ability. That way, they can still serve the gifted kids while appearing more inclusive. There were two or three AAP classes, sometimes four, in each grade in my kids' elementary school. My oldest belonged in the highest class. My youngest was in pool but just not as interested in academics so would have done fine one tier down.

[Anonymous]

If we're just talking about the future of this forum, I vote for it to be broadened to a "gifted" forum, not just AAP. Yes, there would be a lot of discussion of AAP, but there would be room to talk about other area gifted programs. There's really no other forum for that on DCUM. Jeff, make it happen!

[Anonymous]

AAP is essentially a normal class minus the disruptive kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AAP is essentially a normal class minus the disruptive kids.

Except for all the disruptive AAP kids...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AAP is essentially a normal class minus the disruptive kids.

That's highly dependent on the mix of students in the class. There was a group at my kid's center this past year who had behavior issues on a regular basis.

AAP is essentially a normal class minus the kids who are way below grade level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AAP is essentially a normal class minus the disruptive kids.

My child’s AAP class is full of extremely smart kids. I am often impressed by so many of these kids. We came from a school that was 30% FARMS/ESOL. AAP and gen ed are worlds apart depending on your school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh as long as they don't water down the curriculum any further I don't care

It can't get any more watered down than it is. As of two years ago, teachers are only required to execute one AA activity per quarter. Not one each subject per quarter - one activity for the WHOLE quarter. Of course, some teachers do more, but that is the minimum requirement.

What is AA?

Advanced Academic? May be.