APS is failing my gifted child

[Anonymous]

You are insufferable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do people at APS know their children are gifted?

The mini IQ test? The spacial relationship test? That's not a real good test for giftedness. A true IQ test? People are not testing their in APS to get into gifted like they do in FFX. No. They test their kids if they have problems.

My two are "gifted" according to a true IQ test but they also have learning disabilities. They also did well on the APS tests despite them. It's crazy.

IQ and giftedness are different measures and schools do not give IQ tests. Giftedness is a broader concept that includes a range of talents and characteristics, such as creativity, problem-solving, and the ability to understand complex concepts. Gifted individuals may also be highly curious, passionate about learning, and able to make connections between different ideas.

Arlington uses the CogAT and NNAT tests - the same ones used by Fairfax.

[Anonymous]

Last year our APS elementary school paid for IXL accounts for kids who they considered at risk for failing the math SOL so they could get extra practice. Advanced and gifted kids didn't get an IXL account and were told to read quietly at their dest after finishing their work. It was really unfair and made many of the advanced kids upset that they didn't have access to IXL to work on new material.

APS has really decided that it doesn't need to meet the needs of advanced and gifted students. It's a remarkable turnaround from our experience pre-covid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS is failing other parents' non-gifted kids, too. You're not special.

APS only job is to get kids to pass the SOLs. Period.

Thanks to NCLB.

APS is significantly underfunded so why are some parents expecting a highly personalized educational experience?

I agree with an earlier PP about letting the kids - even the “gifted” ones - have a more chill ES/MS experience. If you want all of the craziness of AAP and the race to nowhere then you’ll have to move to FCPS.

How is APS underfunded? Don’t we pay more per child than most jurisdictions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Last year our APS elementary school paid for IXL accounts for kids who they considered at risk for failing the math SOL so they could get extra practice. Advanced and gifted kids didn't get an IXL account and were told to read quietly at their dest after finishing their work. It was really unfair and made many of the advanced kids upset that they didn't have access to IXL to work on new material.

APS has really decided that it doesn't need to meet the needs of advanced and gifted students. It's a remarkable turnaround from our experience pre-covid.

Of course it doesn’t need to address advanced students. Parents who are all in to academics already moved to FCPS; people move to Arlington for an easier life: short commutes, close amenities, walkable neighborhoods. Schools are “good enough” in that no one is failing and there is little crime. The key measure to being “good enough” is passing SOL scores, that’s it. In fact, families can focus on sports and vacations and recreation because of the no homework policy, and the ease of school lets the kids miss class with little impact, etc.

It’s Dickensian system: it invests in the struggling students and ESL learners, as they would affect the metrics; and the wealthy students who don’t need to go to challenging colleh to obtain a comfortable life can coast on thru before heading to Wake Forest and then joining the job their dad lines up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last year our APS elementary school paid for IXL accounts for kids who they considered at risk for failing the math SOL so they could get extra practice. Advanced and gifted kids didn't get an IXL account and were told to read quietly at their dest after finishing their work. It was really unfair and made many of the advanced kids upset that they didn't have access to IXL to work on new material.

APS has really decided that it doesn't need to meet the needs of advanced and gifted students. It's a remarkable turnaround from our experience pre-covid.

Of course it doesn’t need to address advanced students. Parents who are all in to academics already moved to FCPS; people move to Arlington for an easier life: short commutes, close amenities, walkable neighborhoods. Schools are “good enough” in that no one is failing and there is little crime. The key measure to being “good enough” is passing SOL scores, that’s it. In fact, families can focus on sports and vacations and recreation because of the no homework policy, and the ease of school lets the kids miss class with little impact, etc.

It’s Dickensian system: it invests in the struggling students and ESL learners, as they would affect the metrics; and the wealthy students who don’t need to go to challenging colleh to obtain a comfortable life can coast on thru before heading to Wake Forest and then joining the job their dad lines up.

I'm new to this thread. Telling people "just move to FCPS" doesn't work. I'm here. I vote, and I pay taxes. I have as much a right to a say in my child's education as anyone. And the IXL situation described above is totally unacceptable to me. APS needs to do better with advanced academics, and this thread shows I'm not alone in that opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is OP saying they are at Taylor, or is that someone else responding?

Someone else I think. We are from Taylor but I’m like 90% sure most of the parents aren’t from Harvard… maybe some UVA but all I’ve met are from UmD and Penn State etc

How do you even know where the other parents in your kid's elementary school went to college? This comes up in casual conversation?

Status-obsessed strivers love to bring this stuff up in conversations.

You're wrong. I went to a status school, and I promise you I never bring it up. I often deflect even when asked directly.

This is VERY typical behavior by the way with people who went to my college.

No you didn't.

I’m a NP but come on. You’ve never noticed that when asked where they went to college, Harvard grads say “in Boston”? A lot more people deflect than you might think.

That person outed themselves as knowing no actual people who went to HYP or comparable schools, or else they would have known this. They just have pre conceived notions, probably based on Andy Barnard on the Office!

Well, in some ways Andy was on point…

you wouldn't know, because that's your only exposure to what you think Ivy League is.

This is exactly the kind of comeback a status-obsessed striver would make.

I'm sad for you. This is consuming you. Get help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS is failing other parents' non-gifted kids, too. You're not special.

APS only job is to get kids to pass the SOLs. Period.

I mean, if you look at where the bulk of their money and effort gets directed, that’s certainly what it seems like. But I think that would be a rather embarrassing admission of institutional failure.

Can you imagine the motto? “Come to APS, where we will spend 13 years teaching your kid to pass a test that they probably could have passed after the first 8 or 9.”

I am very annoyed that APS has reassigned the former gifted teachers, now AACs, from supporting advanced learners to being directed to supporting all students. Most APS elementary schools have a large portion of gifted or advanced students (~30+%) and it was good having at leasr one person per elementary school who was tasked with making learning more appropriate and challenging for these students. There are lots of other teachers supporting students who need help passing SOLs, as well as it being the main classroom focus. And in the past, the main classroom teacher often got extra bandwidth to help those students when the gifted teacher was working with the advanced students. It's a shame APS has ditched this model and the AAC is now told to only work on materials and projects for the whole class and all learners. It's very anti-differentiation, when it is necessary and appropriate to differentiate. Ignoring gifted and advanced students isn't equitable, despite what APS admin is touting.

To those with middle and high schoolers chiming in, this is a new change as of last year and has had a big impact for my kids. Far less is being offered to challenge them than was available pre-covid.

The old policy had drawbacks too. Some kids were not identified who should have been. The AACs were too resistant to identification because it increased their caseloads. So students couldn't access those pullouts. Also the pullouts had no connection to the instruction in the classroom either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS is failing other parents' non-gifted kids, too. You're not special.

APS only job is to get kids to pass the SOLs. Period.

Thanks to NCLB.

APS is significantly underfunded so why are some parents expecting a highly personalized educational experience?

I agree with an earlier PP about letting the kids - even the “gifted” ones - have a more chill ES/MS experience. If you want all of the craziness of AAP and the race to nowhere then you’ll have to move to FCPS.

How is APS underfunded? Don’t we pay more per child than most jurisdictions?

The county gives less as a percentage as compared to other counties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do people at APS know their children are gifted?

The mini IQ test? The spacial relationship test? That's not a real good test for giftedness. A true IQ test? People are not testing their in APS to get into gifted like they do in FFX. No. They test their kids if they have problems.

My two are "gifted" according to a true IQ test but they also have learning disabilities. They also did well on the APS tests despite them. It's crazy.

I had both of mine tested privately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS is failing other parents' non-gifted kids, too. You're not special.

APS only job is to get kids to pass the SOLs. Period.

I mean, if you look at where the bulk of their money and effort gets directed, that’s certainly what it seems like. But I think that would be a rather embarrassing admission of institutional failure.

Can you imagine the motto? “Come to APS, where we will spend 13 years teaching your kid to pass a test that they probably could have passed after the first 8 or 9.”

I am very annoyed that APS has reassigned the former gifted teachers, now AACs, from supporting advanced learners to being directed to supporting all students. Most APS elementary schools have a large portion of gifted or advanced students (~30+%) and it was good having at leasr one person per elementary school who was tasked with making learning more appropriate and challenging for these students. There are lots of other teachers supporting students who need help passing SOLs, as well as it being the main classroom focus. And in the past, the main classroom teacher often got extra bandwidth to help those students when the gifted teacher was working with the advanced students. It's a shame APS has ditched this model and the AAC is now told to only work on materials and projects for the whole class and all learners. It's very anti-differentiation, when it is necessary and appropriate to differentiate. Ignoring gifted and advanced students isn't equitable, despite what APS admin is touting.

To those with middle and high schoolers chiming in, this is a new change as of last year and has had a big impact for my kids. Far less is being offered to challenge them than was available pre-covid.

The old policy had drawbacks too. Some kids were not identified who should have been. The AACs were too resistant to identification because it increased their caseloads. So students couldn't access those pullouts. Also the pullouts had no connection to the instruction in the classroom either.

This is why we need separate classrooms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS is failing other parents' non-gifted kids, too. You're not special.

APS only job is to get kids to pass the SOLs. Period.

I mean, if you look at where the bulk of their money and effort gets directed, that’s certainly what it seems like. But I think that would be a rather embarrassing admission of institutional failure.

Can you imagine the motto? “Come to APS, where we will spend 13 years teaching your kid to pass a test that they probably could have passed after the first 8 or 9.”

I am very annoyed that APS has reassigned the former gifted teachers, now AACs, from supporting advanced learners to being directed to supporting all students. Most APS elementary schools have a large portion of gifted or advanced students (~30+%) and it was good having at leasr one person per elementary school who was tasked with making learning more appropriate and challenging for these students. There are lots of other teachers supporting students who need help passing SOLs, as well as it being the main classroom focus. And in the past, the main classroom teacher often got extra bandwidth to help those students when the gifted teacher was working with the advanced students. It's a shame APS has ditched this model and the AAC is now told to only work on materials and projects for the whole class and all learners. It's very anti-differentiation, when it is necessary and appropriate to differentiate. Ignoring gifted and advanced students isn't equitable, despite what APS admin is touting.

To those with middle and high schoolers chiming in, this is a new change as of last year and has had a big impact for my kids. Far less is being offered to challenge them than was available pre-covid.

The old policy had drawbacks too. Some kids were not identified who should have been. The AACs were too resistant to identification because it increased their caseloads. So students couldn't access those pullouts. Also the pullouts had no connection to the instruction in the classroom either.

This is why we need separate classrooms.

This is a joke comment right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS is failing other parents' non-gifted kids, too. You're not special.

APS only job is to get kids to pass the SOLs. Period.

I mean, if you look at where the bulk of their money and effort gets directed, that’s certainly what it seems like. But I think that would be a rather embarrassing admission of institutional failure.

Can you imagine the motto? “Come to APS, where we will spend 13 years teaching your kid to pass a test that they probably could have passed after the first 8 or 9.”

I am very annoyed that APS has reassigned the former gifted teachers, now AACs, from supporting advanced learners to being directed to supporting all students. Most APS elementary schools have a large portion of gifted or advanced students (~30+%) and it was good having at leasr one person per elementary school who was tasked with making learning more appropriate and challenging for these students. There are lots of other teachers supporting students who need help passing SOLs, as well as it being the main classroom focus. And in the past, the main classroom teacher often got extra bandwidth to help those students when the gifted teacher was working with the advanced students. It's a shame APS has ditched this model and the AAC is now told to only work on materials and projects for the whole class and all learners. It's very anti-differentiation, when it is necessary and appropriate to differentiate. Ignoring gifted and advanced students isn't equitable, despite what APS admin is touting.

To those with middle and high schoolers chiming in, this is a new change as of last year and has had a big impact for my kids. Far less is being offered to challenge them than was available pre-covid.

The old policy had drawbacks too. Some kids were not identified who should have been. The AACs were too resistant to identification because it increased their caseloads. So students couldn't access those pullouts. Also the pullouts had no connection to the instruction in the classroom either.

Every single kid has at least 2 screening tests (NNAT and COGAT) and any kid with a qualifying score is considered and further evaluated. And APS schools have a large percentage of identified students, so it's very hard to imagine that under identification is a reason to end the program.

Besides, my statement was not about pull outs, but about APS ending push ins. They've effectively ended all gifted services, as AACs are no longer offering differentiation for advanced and gifted students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS is failing other parents' non-gifted kids, too. You're not special.

APS only job is to get kids to pass the SOLs. Period.

I mean, if you look at where the bulk of their money and effort gets directed, that’s certainly what it seems like. But I think that would be a rather embarrassing admission of institutional failure.

Can you imagine the motto? “Come to APS, where we will spend 13 years teaching your kid to pass a test that they probably could have passed after the first 8 or 9.”

I am very annoyed that APS has reassigned the former gifted teachers, now AACs, from supporting advanced learners to being directed to supporting all students. Most APS elementary schools have a large portion of gifted or advanced students (~30+%) and it was good having at leasr one person per elementary school who was tasked with making learning more appropriate and challenging for these students. There are lots of other teachers supporting students who need help passing SOLs, as well as it being the main classroom focus. And in the past, the main classroom teacher often got extra bandwidth to help those students when the gifted teacher was working with the advanced students. It's a shame APS has ditched this model and the AAC is now told to only work on materials and projects for the whole class and all learners. It's very anti-differentiation, when it is necessary and appropriate to differentiate. Ignoring gifted and advanced students isn't equitable, despite what APS admin is touting.

To those with middle and high schoolers chiming in, this is a new change as of last year and has had a big impact for my kids. Far less is being offered to challenge them than was available pre-covid.

The old policy had drawbacks too. Some kids were not identified who should have been. The AACs were too resistant to identification because it increased their caseloads. So students couldn't access those pullouts. Also the pullouts had no connection to the instruction in the classroom either.

This is why we need separate classrooms.

This is a joke comment right?

What joke? FCPS has AAP and TJ. Loudoun has similar. If you get the gifted kids out of the classroom, the gen ed kids would learn better, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS is failing other parents' non-gifted kids, too. You're not special.

APS only job is to get kids to pass the SOLs. Period.

I mean, if you look at where the bulk of their money and effort gets directed, that’s certainly what it seems like. But I think that would be a rather embarrassing admission of institutional failure.

Can you imagine the motto? “Come to APS, where we will spend 13 years teaching your kid to pass a test that they probably could have passed after the first 8 or 9.”

I am very annoyed that APS has reassigned the former gifted teachers, now AACs, from supporting advanced learners to being directed to supporting all students. Most APS elementary schools have a large portion of gifted or advanced students (~30+%) and it was good having at leasr one person per elementary school who was tasked with making learning more appropriate and challenging for these students. There are lots of other teachers supporting students who need help passing SOLs, as well as it being the main classroom focus. And in the past, the main classroom teacher often got extra bandwidth to help those students when the gifted teacher was working with the advanced students. It's a shame APS has ditched this model and the AAC is now told to only work on materials and projects for the whole class and all learners. It's very anti-differentiation, when it is necessary and appropriate to differentiate. Ignoring gifted and advanced students isn't equitable, despite what APS admin is touting.

To those with middle and high schoolers chiming in, this is a new change as of last year and has had a big impact for my kids. Far less is being offered to challenge them than was available pre-covid.

The old policy had drawbacks too. Some kids were not identified who should have been. The AACs were too resistant to identification because it increased their caseloads. So students couldn't access those pullouts. Also the pullouts had no connection to the instruction in the classroom either.

Every single kid has at least 2 screening tests (NNAT and COGAT) and any kid with a qualifying score is considered and further evaluated. And APS schools have a large percentage of identified students, so it's very hard to imagine that under identification is a reason to end the program.

Besides, my statement was not about pull outs, but about APS ending push ins. They've effectively ended all gifted services, as AACs are no longer offering differentiation for advanced and gifted students.

Children of color have always been under-identified