What really IS the point of AAP?
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Anonymous
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When we moved here from elsewhere, everyone in the neighborhood, at work, and at church told us the same thing:
"AAP is the FCPS standard track, and GenEd is the slow track. Do everything you can to get DC in AAP." Once DC get to school age, we will see how it plays out. |
Anonymous
I did not hear about this, but it is exactly how I feel about the program. AAP is how entire FCPS should have been run with a "slow" track for kids who are having difficulty catching up. These kids should be provided with additional coaching/tutors/after school support with the goal being to get them into the regular i.e. AAP track. |
Anonymous
| It will all shake out in high school. If your kid is truly gifted, AAP in the lower grades won’t matter. |
Anonymous
This is true, but 3rd-6th grade is rough for above average kids who are stuck in Gen Ed at low performing schools. Ask me how I know. Our oldest got into AAP and the difference between his experience and his sibling’s experience has been night and day. |
Anonymous
Amen. At my kids' school there are 3 classes per grade. There is one class where the kids can barely talk or read by the time they move on to middle school. Sad |
Anonymous
This is a strawman argument. We are talking about kids who are academically advanced for their level - most likely as a result of parents who invested lots of time and resources on them from an early age. Some of them might also be gifted. For many of these kids, general ed is a bad fit. AAP is a better fit. |
Anonymous
Not really... If they simply did groupings at the base school, none of this would be necessary and the county could direct more funds to education than this bizarre system to segregate rich from poor. |
Anonymous
If you mean reading to my child and playing games with him, then yes I invested a lot of time and effort into him. He was selected for AAP in second grade. We started math enrichment through AoPS or RSM (we changed programs) in third grade because the math that was taught during virtual learning was, well, easy. He had not complained to us but listening to his class a few times and looking at the work they were doing made it clear that he needed something else if we wanted him to continue to enjoy math as a subject. I would have no problem with ability based groups at his base school. I know he would be in the higher groups for most subjects but probably not writing but there are issues with those programs as well. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
Cogat is NOT an IQ test. Just a simple reasoning test with no words. It does not reveal one’s innate intelligence like an IQ test would. Let’s get that straight. Therein lies most of the problem on why AAP is phony and not a gifted program. Only 1-2% of kids would be found gifted and would not constitute a whole class of Level 4’s. For example, 25% of kids at our elementary school would not be found ‘gifted’. |
Anonymous
You would have segregation, it would be in the form of classrooms and not schools. The kids who go to the Center from Title 1 schools would be in different classes then the kids who would have stayed at the base school. ie The kids who are higher SES and end up qualifying for AAP in Title 1 schools would be different classes. Is it better that the segregation happen at the school vs different buildings? |
Anonymous
Sure, how many clusters have zero title 1 schools? Most of the schools that parents target have almost no farms students let alone enough to make a school title 1 |
Anonymous
It is better and effectively much less segregated. In the AAP center model, the segregation is permanent, across all subjects, except perhaps some token integration in specials, and leaves little room for kids strong in one area to join the advanced class in their area of strength. Groupings at the school level would mean that homerooms and multiple subjects could still be integrated. The designation wouldn't be permanent, meaning that kids could move into and out of the advanced grouping based on performance. Also, kids who are strong at only one of math and reading could more easily join the advanced class in their area of strength. Many LLIVs use this model, and it works quite well. |
Anonymous
This! A true gifted program wouldn’t have so many kids. In our old school district, maybe 2 kids in a grade level were labeled gifted. They were put in advanced math with other bright kids, but not gifted (the advanced math kids and higher reading group kids). They also had a dedicated “learning plan” that involved work outside of a school day. |
Anonymous
The schools were you see segregation are the Title 1 schools. Those are the schools were parents are desperate to get their kids into AAP so that they can move away from the school to a different school with a different peer group. The high income and more middle income schools the AAP push is much more about getting into position for TJ. Both are generalizations but I suspect reasonably accurate ones. The LLIV that parents choose to keep their kids at tend to be more the middle class/upper class ES because the overall school population is more likely to be on grade level and so parents are happy with the base school. They are more likely to stay at the base because it is convenient. The parents interested in TJ are more likely to send their kids to the Center. I have friends who bought in the Title 1 areas because the houses are less expensive and then fight tooth and nail to get their kids into AAP so they could be moved to a different school. I have friends looking to get their kid into AAP so they can go to Carson and not Herndon MS, they are fine with the ES but they want to avoid Herndon MS as much as possible. I doubt that they are the outliers. |