Should we take WISC before reapplying for 3rd grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To answer the OP's question... (without debating AAP itself!) Yes, absolutely. It definitely couldn't hurt, especially as it sounds like you are set on getting in. If the scores are lower, you just don't submit them. As another poster said, also retake the COGAT for free, which a lot of kids do. Request from your AART now, so it's on the calendar. It's a new application each year with a new appeal allowed each year, which is not clearly communicated. My daughter's test scores were VERY high, and she only got in for 3rd grade on appeal with work samples, so search for the work sample recs here and spend some real time on those between now and Dec deadline. You can talk to the AART and teacher and have them send home copies of the LIII work, which you can always redo/ add at home with additional time. If nothing else, you'll know what's being collected/ submitted and where your student might have gaps to fill.

OP here - I don't think we need to retake the COGAT, the scores on both NNAT and COGAT match up with what other people have posted their children got into AAP with. I really think it was the HOPE and I truly didn't understand the HOPE ratings based on feedback we've received from teachers in the past. All I can imagine is my child was new to the school and the HOPE was submitted so early that the teacher just didn't know the children well at all yet, which also meant that the work samples submitted from the school were pretty awful (the ones we submitted from home were better, but your'e right, I need to do some research into what's considered more acceptable).

Hi again. All of the HOPE scores are generated in Oct, for all kids, not just yours. So, your teacher didn't really know any of the children super well. My child had a low HOPE score in leadership, despite my telling the teacher at our conference that 4 of the girls in the class pulled her aside in a planned, collective attack to tell her that they didn't want to be her friend. The teacher didn't change the score, despite the documented bullying. My un-prepped daughter had a 160 NNAT, 153 COGAT (no I'm not a troll) and was found NOT eligible by the AAP committee in the nominal application. So, when I say it couldn't hurt to retest w/ some prep, I mean it. You can't control the HOPE, but you can prep for the COGAT/ WISC and work samples. With our overwhelmed teacher, my daughter's original work samples weren't great. She was able to produce far superior work on her own at home and got in with those on appeal.

Honestly, maybe these ratings should be able to get you into AAP but should not be able to keep you out. They are literally saying that gifted is a personality type. It's subject to cultural biases and frankly a bit of racism if we're honest.

I like the way you stated this. A child with these scores warrants differentiated academic instruction via AAP LIV. Prepped or not, they’re clearly advanced relative to their peers. Students without such scores should be considered for AAP based on other factors, but what is the point of AAP if it denies entry to a child WITH these scores? There needs to be some level of objectivity.
I say this as a parent of a child with decent, but lower scores than PP of 160/153. I chose not to appeal our rejection because I was satisfied that my smart (but not exceptional) kid would be fine in gen ed and LIII services. I’ll make sure they’re positioned to take algebra and honors classes in 7th if they’re ready, but my kid doesn’t NEED LIV. This PP’s child probably does based on those scores, which is the mission of AAP. It’s all so bizarre. AAP has become a path for ambitious parents of above average kids rather than a program to serve super bright kids. I don’t deny that it’s a great program that benefits those that get in, but it’s silly to see who gets in vs who doesn’t and makes me question if the program is serving the intended population. I understand that test scores can’t be the sole criterion, but it’s frustrating that high-scoring kids don’t get in and much more subjective criteria are used to admit kids with lower scores.

Let me explain the perspective of a parent of an above average kid, my kid had high scores in NNAT, COGAT (146), iready 97-99 percentiles, not as high as the gifted PP, so you might be consider them above average, in their second grade classroom they received meaningless worksheets to keep them entertained, while the teacher focused on the kids that needed attention as they were below expectations, I saw the little assignments in their friday folder with no feedback, even when my kid was phoning it in, they would get a generic checkmark, instead of asking them to re-do it with higher expectations (as my kid could have done it so much better, they just didn't need to)... I don't consider them gifted, but I do believe they were truly underserved by gen-ed and I hope they are challenged in the AAP classroom.

That’s great and I don’t dispute anything you said. My primary point was that HOPE was keeping out a kid with super high scores. That seems silly.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone try to get a FOIA request on these AAP result or some kind of data shows what is the benchmark? Just curious.