Is AAP really necessary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. My niece was in AAP from 3rd-8th grade. In high school now. When I sat down with her recently to prep for PSAT and SAT, I was shocked at how little critical reading skills she had. Math she aced no problem, but it took a lot of work to help her read critically. She was a straight 4s, straight A kid in Vienna.

It seems to me that AAP morphed over the past couple of decades into more of math heavy program that really was geared ultimately for the previous TJ application process. In other words, I am concerned hat the AAP program isn't really as broadly educational as it should be for true advanced academics.

Unfortunately, this is true across FCPS. Reading is severely lacking at many schools for all grades and levels. It’s pretty sad and probably one the larger reasons many kids do poorly on all the exams and benchmarks. Hard to answer correctly when you can barely understand the question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lol, there is no way you know who the "smartest kids in the AAP class" are.

NP. I've had three kids go through AAP and they certainly had a clear sense of who was struggling and who wasn't, who needed extra help, who was always done first. It varied by subject but these differences are impossible to hide in a classroom where kids are learning together.

Are you in the classroom grading math assessments and reviewing written narratives and engaging with kids?

If not, then you truly have no idea. As a classroom teacher, I know who my students would say is the smartest kid in the class--the loudest, most confident one. The one who always says, "this is so easy." His writing is actually terrible, but he is a confident dude who has grandiose ideas and an amazing sense of self and tells everyone how great his essays are. When we do in class presentations, his are great. He's a natural performer. The kids are mesmerized. His grades aren't that great though.

Another girl is super good at following procedures. She aces every math question that is a mirror of something we've done before. She memorizes steps. Give her something even slightly different than she's seen before, and she falls apart. Her classmates would probably say she's super smart--she gets As on all math tests. I don't think she's that great of a math student though. She has little independent number sense.

These are AAP kids.