Fairfax County GT/AAP Decisions

[Anonymous]

PP here -- sorry about all of the typos.

[Anonymous]

I just called the GT office, they said all the kids who are in the screening pool will receive the decision mail no matter eligible or ineligible.

I just called as well and was told the same thing. I specifically asked if they mailed letters saying children were ineligible and was told, yes, all the letters - eligible and ineligible - were mailed on Wednesday.

We still haven't received ours and today's mail already came - frustrating!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I have a question about WISC scores. My DC would meet the 135+, but only for GAI because there is a signficant difference between the verbal and perceptive reasonging and the processing and working memory scores. Her FSIQ is lower (because processing was so slow -- the tester noted that it is probably because DC has fine motor difficulties and it is written). From my research I've learned that many believe GAI is a better indicator of "giftedness" than FSIQ. Does anyone know how FCPS addresses this? Will they look at FSIQ only? I had the test doen at George Mason, so all of the subtests are included and I think it gives a great picture of DC's profile. ALso, the tester did not recommend any follow up because DC does well in school.

Any expereince with this on appeal???

No experience on appeal, but my DC is in the GT Center now with an FSIQ of only 135 and a GAI of 158 (due to issues re: processing speed). DC ceilinged out on two of the subtests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I have a question about WISC scores. My DC would meet the 135+, but only for GAI because there is a signficant difference between the verbal and perceptive reasonging and the processing and working memory scores. Her FSIQ is lower (because processing was so slow -- the tester noted that it is probably because DC has fine motor difficulties and it is written). From my research I've learned that many believe GAI is a better indicator of "giftedness" than FSIQ. Does anyone know how FCPS addresses this? Will they look at FSIQ only? I had the test doen at George Mason, so all of the subtests are included and I think it gives a great picture of DC's profile. ALso, the tester did not recommend any follow up because DC does well in school.

Any expereince with this on appeal???

No experience on appeal, but my DC is in the GT Center now with an FSIQ of only 135 and a GAI of 158 (due to issues re: processing speed). DC ceilinged out on two of the subtests.

I'm the one who posted the question. PP, would you mind telling me if your child has ADHD? Some people (not professionals) that I discussed DC's scores with seem convinced that DC must have ADHD or and LD because of the discrepancy. I'm curious to hear about real world examples.

[Anonymous]

Not the PP, but my DD's WISC scores were similar in that her GAI is much higher than her FSIQ due to lower processing speed scores. Her teachers sometimes think she has ADHD, but we have her in therapy for other issues and the psychologist who assessed her and the therapist do not think she has ADHD. The PP's child's score must be more discrepant than ours though, because her child's FSIQ was lower, but the GAI was higher. My DD's verbal and processing speed scores were about 30 points apart.

My understanding though is that FCPS tends to look at the verbal and reasoning scores more than the processing speed scores.

[Anonymous]

Another anxious parent here -- mail came today and no letter! I did call, and confirmed that we should receive the letter tomorrow and that they were all mailed Weds. How can it take three business days to travel 10 miles? Ugh. Another day to wait.

[Anonymous]

Not PP, but my DD has ADHD and had an FSIQ of 133 and a GAI of 158. WISC-IV subtests were VCI 152, WMI 107, PRI 131 and PSI 100. She's in 3rd grade at a GT Center this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not the PP, but my DD's WISC scores were similar in that her GAI is much higher than her FSIQ due to lower processing speed scores. Her teachers sometimes think she has ADHD, but we have her in therapy for other issues and the psychologist who assessed her and the therapist do not think she has ADHD. The PP's child's score must be more discrepant than ours though, because her child's FSIQ was lower, but the GAI was higher. My DD's verbal and processing speed scores were about 30 points apart.

My understanding though is that FCPS tends to look at the verbal and reasoning scores more than the processing speed scores.

For what its worth, I've read on the internet that a 25+ point difference may be a sign of ADD/ADHD.

[Anonymous]

Another anxious parent here -- mail came today and no letter! I did call, and confirmed that we should receive the letter tomorrow and that they were all mailed Weds. How can it take three business days to travel 10 miles? Ugh. Another day to wait.


I wrote email to our principal today and this is his answer:
The letters to parents come from a central committee and are scheduled to go out today. You should know in a day or two when the letters arrive.
so Why the GT office said the mails were out on Wed. I found the whole AAP selection process is full of things hidden under the table!

[Anonymous]

I wrote email to our principal today and this is his answer:
The letters to parents come from a central committee and are scheduled to go out today. You should know in a day or two when the letters arrive.
so Why the GT office said the mails were out on Wed. I found the whole AAP selection process is full of things hidden under the table!

It does not surprise me at all that they may have delayed sending out the letters. If they were mailed on Wednesday, most of us would have them by now, and I think only one person on this thread claimed to have received it. So I doubt they were really mailed on Wednesday.

My perception is that it's a purposeful delay. The committee finished with the decisions during the first week of April. It doesn't take 3 weeks to computer-generate these form letters, but they hold onto them until the end of April. The timeline for this process is set up so that there will be very limited time for appeals because they want to dissuade parents from filing appeals.

[Anonymous]

FWIW- my letter came late last year ( after some of his friends recieved a yay or nay)- he was accepted.

[Anonymous]

For what its worth, I've read on the internet that a 25+ point difference may be a sign of ADD/ADHD.

Yes, it may be a sign. And certain behaviors led to an evaluation with ADHD as something we were potentially looking for. But when no less than 3 mental health professionals have seen her and evaluated her and don't think she has ADHD, then I believe them.

[Anonymous]

Well, I'm the one with the child with the large discrepency in the WISC scores. It looks like we will need to submit the scores because she did not get in (had a perfect score on one section of the Cogat, which gave her a composite of 132 but other scores were lower). He GBRS must not have been that great. Apparently, no one else thinks she's as smart as we do.

Actually, she's a little bit of a late bloomer. Also this is her first year in schools in the US (although we're American, but she's been living overseas). I think it took her a while to get into the groove. She has not spent a ton of time around native English speakers the past few years. I also think her homeroom teacher doesn't like her very much (although her reading and math teachers seems to really like her).

So I guess I request the file from the school to see the GBRS and figure out if that was the problem? Then file an appeal, right?

ANother question -- she's from a school without Local Level IV. I wonder if they rank the kids low to try to keep them whereas a school with LL IV would try to convince the kids to say. I say this because at the AAP intro meeting, the AAP counselor at the school talked about how kids often leave our school for the centers and then come back because the centers aren't always as great as everyone says and our school is so great, etc.

Is it possible to get the stats of the percentage of kids accepted out of the pool from various schools? Not to use for anything but to satisfy my curiosity.

Honestly, I don't want to send her somewhere that is not right for her, but she seems to get brighter by the day. this year has been a huge leap forward for her. I guess of she doesn't get in this year, I could refer her next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, I'm the one with the child with the large discrepency in the WISC scores. It looks like we will need to submit the scores because she did not get in (had a perfect score on one section of the Cogat, which gave her a composite of 132 but other scores were lower). He GBRS must not have been that great. Apparently, no one else thinks she's as smart as we do.

Actually, she's a little bit of a late bloomer. Also this is her first year in schools in the US (although we're American, but she's been living overseas). I think it took her a while to get into the groove. She has not spent a ton of time around native English speakers the past few years. I also think her homeroom teacher doesn't like her very much (although her reading and math teachers seems to really like her).

I'm sorry that she did not get in.

Anonymous wrote:
So I guess I request the file from the school to see the GBRS and figure out if that was the problem? Then file an appeal, right?

Yes, you should request an appointment with the Advanced Academics Resource Teacher (AART) at your school to review the file that was submitted to the central screening committee.

Anonymous wrote:
ANother question -- she's from a school without Local Level IV. I wonder if they rank the kids low to try to keep them whereas a school with LL IV would try to convince the kids to say.

It really varies on school, principal, AART, teacher, etc. It's very subjective.

Anonymous wrote:
Is it possible to get the stats of the percentage of kids accepted out of the pool from various schools? Not to use for anything but to satisfy my curiosity.

I do not know of recent statistics on that, but it is a good question to ask your school's AART, the AAP office at FCPS, or even your School Board member.

[Anonymous]

Received the acceptance letter today. Letter was postmarked yesterday.