APS gifted screening

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the timing is based on the school. We didn't receive a screening letter until later in February as I recall from the G&T person at the school.

Since then, I don't see much differentiation. If the label makes you happy, then that's great, because that's all it is.

Ok, then pull your kid from the program.

Weird. It's not actively harmful, it's also not actively enriching. Why should that require action on the PP's part?

That and there is no program to “pull from”. It’s a push in model. It just affects what class/teacher your kid gets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the timing is based on the school. We didn't receive a screening letter until later in February as I recall from the G&T person at the school.

Since then, I don't see much differentiation. If the label makes you happy, then that's great, because that's all it is.

Ok, then pull your kid from the program.

Weird. It's not actively harmful, it's also not actively enriching. Why should that require action on the PP's part?

It's the smug, backhanded last sentence, "if the label makes you happy..." to the parents of prospective gifted students.

Two of my four kids are gifted according to aps. The first one didn’t services— identification happened during covid and we all had more important things to focus on. She is doing fine, she is in highschool now and is flourishing. My second gifted kid has been marked as gifted but does not receive much if any differentiation. She’s in fourth grade and the gifted teacher comes to her classroom once every two weeks.

My two other kids are not gifted according to aps— the first because he never got to take the cogat or nnat because of covid, the second who is genuinely average/not gifted.

After elementary school, my non-gifted kids experiences and opportunities were identical to those of my gifted kids. It really is just a label and a pretty meaningless one at that. No smugness or snark on my end intended!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why we just self referred in kindergarten. The testing is a crapshoot; but our kid was reading, writing her own poetry, and putting together her own books in her free time — she would benefit more from being around other involved kids and not stuck with the kids who just need someone to babysit their kids. It is what it is.

Come again?

Sorry, I clearly wasn’t gifted.

Kids of the parents who just want someone to watch the kids. You know the ones, who don’t want homework so they can prioritize sports, leave a week vacation middle of school year, etc. APS has drained any rigor, and gifted is one arrow in the quiver to help restore it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone had the opposite happen- NNAT scores that qualify followed by significantly lower CoGAT?

This happened to us. Not sure what to make of it- kid got identified in some areas (not all) as gifted in 1st but the CoGAT scores actually make it seem like the identification should be in other subject areas. Going to reach out to the AAC at the school to see what they think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She didn't do great on the NNAT. Not sure what that was about, since she generally does well on standardized tests, but it goes to show one test score shouldn't be the sole determinant.

My daughter had the same profile- not great on NNAT but scored very high on COGAT. Her teachers were surprised about her NNAT scores but said some kids are more visual learners that do well on NNAT... and kids that are used to breezing through their work don't take their time on NNAT. Not sure if that's true but we were in Gifted after COGAT.

The NNAT missed both of my gifted kids as well. It's just not a great test, it's more of a screener. This was in the days before APS even did the Cogat, so I got the WISC done privately. I seem to recall APS did more testing for at least one of my kids after I parent-referred too. The follow up scores were high and both kids were identified as gifted.

Don't rely on the teacher to pick it up either. I will never forget an APS teacher trying to explain to me that one of my kids could not be gifted because gifted kids always have their hands in the air to show how much they know (like her own kid). Never mind that my kid quietly knew all the answers but was too shy to raise her hand. I admit I got a little satisfaction later as my kid soared past hers academically.

Trust your gut.

[Anonymous]

Does the gifted identification status reset each year? Specifically, if a student was identified using NNAT in first grade, will their identification status be reevaluated based on their CogAT results in second grade, regardless of their previous identification?

[Anonymous]

No, it does not change: once a student is identified as gifted in a certain area, they remain identified that way throughout the rest of their school career in Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does the gifted identification status reset each year? Specifically, if a student was identified using NNAT in first grade, will their identification status be reevaluated based on their CogAT results in second grade, regardless of their previous identification?

No, they keep the gifted status. Areas can be added but not taken away. I guess unless a parent requests it.

[Anonymous]

Everybody in Arlington thinks their kids are gifted.

[Anonymous]

Gifted in APS = on grade level

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the timing is based on the school. We didn't receive a screening letter until later in February as I recall from the G&T person at the school.

Since then, I don't see much differentiation. If the label makes you happy, then that's great, because that's all it is.

Ok, then pull your kid from the program.

Weird. It's not actively harmful, it's also not actively enriching. Why should that require action on the PP's part?

It's the smug, backhanded last sentence, "if the label makes you happy..." to the parents of prospective gifted students.

While their own kids is already all set.