Possible AAP changes at ES

[Anonymous]

This school board needs to be voted out. They are not concerned about providing the best education but are playing dirty politics in the name of race based education. Diversity is important in classrooms but AAP selection has to be merit based.
We also moved to a high SES school pyramid and my DC is in pool after scoring more than 140 in cogat and NNAT, receiving level II services in math and language arts. But due to the dirty politics in play I’m concerned about the selection process and future of AAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here who has taught AAP and regular. It truly depends on your school make up. Very few schools have full Gen Ed programs who can handle AAP curriculum in science and SS. You need to be a strong reader. My SS curriculum is pretty much built on primary sources and even kids who are reading at a 7th grade level find it challenging. If a kid is way below grade level in reading, they will struggle.

Why does AAP assume a child needs to be a strong reader in order to have critical thinking skills? This is the biggest drawback I find to AAP -- my child can handle the critical thinking, complex thought processes, etc., but is not a strong reader and therefore wasn't allowed in AAP. She's bored out of her mind with science and social studies, and could definitely handle the AAP curriculum.

My kid is not strong in reading or writing and is doing well in AAP. In 3rd grade AAP, still got pull outs with the reading specialist.

I guess at our school the teachers teach the material rather than relying on the kids reading too much? Does very well on tests, projects, homework, class work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This school board needs to be voted out. They are not concerned about providing the best education but are playing dirty politics in the name of race based education. Diversity is important in classrooms but AAP selection has to be merit based.
We also moved to a high SES school pyramid and my DC is in pool after scoring more than 140 in cogat and NNAT, receiving level II services in math and language arts. But due to the dirty politics in play I’m concerned about the selection process and future of AAP.

Except that it's not merit-based. A lot of people game the system and that is one of the reasons AAP isn't as diverse as it should be. A lot of parents I know prepped their kids for NNAT and CoGAT and their kids are working with tutors or going to a math center to keep up with the curriculum, my own included tbh.

[Anonymous]

Lots of speculation on this thread - OP, I am not sure why you started this thread before next week's meeting. Maybe wait until the school explains it to you then come complain once you know what is going on?

[Anonymous]

#2 is already happening “mostly” in our kids general 3rd class classroom in AAP center school. The teacher highlights each week in the newsletter all of the AAP curriculum being used in each subject. We were told Science/Social studies was the same exact curriculum that AAP is getting and Reading/Writing/Math use many of the different AAP resources and some same curriculum under . We re applied our child for AAP next year, but other than having different kids in classes I’m not sure much will be different in 4th, maybe 6th…. We already had one child in AAP and go through MS(all HN MS) and now in HS. Aside from math AAP was no different than HN in MS. Now in HS everyone picks courses they want to take.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here who has taught AAP and regular. It truly depends on your school make up. Very few schools have full Gen Ed programs who can handle AAP curriculum in science and SS. You need to be a strong reader. My SS curriculum is pretty much built on primary sources and even kids who are reading at a 7th grade level find it challenging. If a kid is way below grade level in reading, they will struggle.

Why does AAP assume a child needs to be a strong reader in order to have critical thinking skills? This is the biggest drawback I find to AAP -- my child can handle the critical thinking, complex thought processes, etc., but is not a strong reader and therefore wasn't allowed in AAP. She's bored out of her mind with science and social studies, and could definitely handle the AAP curriculum.

My kid is not strong in reading or writing and is doing well in AAP. In 3rd grade AAP, still got pull outs with the reading specialist.

I guess at our school the teachers teach the material rather than relying on the kids reading too much? Does very well on tests, projects, homework, class work.

I don’t think people are talking about third grade. But 6th AAP is heavy on reading and writing. My child in in 6th and they have a lot of open response questions and a ton of reading. They do a ton of book clubs and projects. They read a lot of articles and do vocabulary. When they were in third, it was definitely less because they are younger and expectations were lower as they should be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some schools already teach the AAP curriculum (except for Advanced Math) to all students. The critical thinking teaching is excellent at our school and a parent who has kids in both AAP and Gen Ed is frustrated that the program is not rolled out to the entire school. She admits that it would have to be differentiated, with different texts, etc., for students who are not above grade level.

It could be done but it would be asking a lot of the teachers, IMO, the AAP teachers are experienced at teaching their materials and the gen ed teachers are experienced at teaching their materials but new materials would have to be generated to do it properly.

Which schools do this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think parents in this area are obsessed with AAP. Kids will be gone even if they are not in AAP.
Selection process is holistic but test scores and GBRS are the main ones. Reading is important but done kids do become advanced readers in 3rd and 4th grade.

GenEd is mind numbingly boring for a lot of kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think parents in this area are obsessed with AAP. Kids will be gone even if they are not in AAP.
Selection process is holistic but test scores and GBRS are the main ones. Reading is important but done kids do become advanced readers in 3rd and 4th grade.

GenEd is mind numbingly boring for a lot of kids.

AAP would be too frustrating for many more.

[Anonymous]

It won’t happen but they really just need Advanced LA as well as Advanced Math. The schools are relying too much on in class differentiation which is not working for many kids. But it is like they don’t think that parents are will to accept that there are some kids who need more. Everyone seems to be ok with the idea that there are kids who need more help because they are behind but suggest that kids who are ahead and people freak out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think parents in this area are obsessed with AAP. Kids will be gone even if they are not in AAP.
Selection process is holistic but test scores and GBRS are the main ones. Reading is important but done kids do become advanced readers in 3rd and 4th grade.

GenEd is mind numbingly boring for a lot of kids.

AAP would be too frustrating for many more.

What needs to happen is each grade level should have a ESOL teacher who pushes in all day. ESOL support is a huge problem in ES. They get waay more support in middle and high school with ESOL designated classes. We are lucky if ESOL kids get 20 mins of support in a given day. This is where change needs to start.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think parents in this area are obsessed with AAP. Kids will be gone even if they are not in AAP.
Selection process is holistic but test scores and GBRS are the main ones. Reading is important but done kids do become advanced readers in 3rd and 4th grade.

GenEd is mind numbingly boring for a lot of kids.

AAP would be too frustrating for many more.

What needs to happen is each grade level should have a ESOL teacher who pushes in all day. ESOL support is a huge problem in ES. They get waay more support in middle and high school with ESOL designated classes. We are lucky if ESOL kids get 20 mins of support in a given day. This is where change needs to start.

No, the problem is not ESOL students. You are vastly overestimating gen ed. You must be unfamiliar with students outside of your AAP bubble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think parents in this area are obsessed with AAP. Kids will be gone even if they are not in AAP.
Selection process is holistic but test scores and GBRS are the main ones. Reading is important but done kids do become advanced readers in 3rd and 4th grade.

GenEd is mind numbingly boring for a lot of kids.

AAP would be too frustrating for many more.

I love all the AAP parents who know absolutely nothing about the curriculum saying things like this. Do you really know the differences between what your child is learning and what your neighbor's kid is learning? Really???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think parents in this area are obsessed with AAP. Kids will be gone even if they are not in AAP.
Selection process is holistic but test scores and GBRS are the main ones. Reading is important but done kids do become advanced readers in 3rd and 4th grade.

GenEd is mind numbingly boring for a lot of kids.

AAP would be too frustrating for many more.

What needs to happen is each grade level should have a ESOL teacher who pushes in all day. ESOL support is a huge problem in ES. They get waay more support in middle and high school with ESOL designated classes. We are lucky if ESOL kids get 20 mins of support in a given day. This is where change needs to start.

No, the problem is not ESOL students. You are vastly overestimating gen ed. You must be unfamiliar with students outside of your AAP bubble. [/quote


Um actually I am a teacher who has taught both Gen Ed and AAP. The support Gen Ed has for ESOL students is lacking which then falls on the classroom teacher. ]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Make opt-in AAP available for all, but then create a true gifted program for truly gifted--not just bright--kids.

What qualifies them as truly gifted? Test scores? Back to square 1.

Test scores much higher than the current cut-offs, for one.

A 132 on a test such as the Cogat or NNAT reasonably identifies gifted students. The complaints are about the students who are admitted who scored much lower on both tests and on all subsections.

It honestly doesn’t. Mine had a CogAT of 138. She’s smart. She’s not gifted. She has a friend who had a perfect score on the NNAT. Also not gifted. The gifted kids I know (handful) that have taken the CogAT scored in the 150s (without any prep). You’d probably need to use IQ tests to identify most of them.

I have a friend elsewhere in the country, whose daughter was screened for gifted services after she was identified by her teachers. They don’t have this sort of let’s give everyone an ability test and call it done approach, and since the screening test is an IQ test, is much more likely to actually identify giftedness.

I agree!! Have a program for the truly gifted.
Let the rest of the kids opt in/out of aap.
Current cut offs capture bright kids, not gifted. Many bright children (including my own) benefit from parents who place emphasis on advancing their child through out of school exposures and a culture of learning. This is likely most parents who come to this forum. The truly exceptional kids are not the ones scoring a Cogat of 132. I do not know the truly gifted cut offs, but would agree with 150+.