Some parents need to cool it.
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Anonymous
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Like that quote from the Pixar movie, the incredibles : when everyone is special, no one is!
FCPS should just raise the standard of gen Ed curriculum, and tighten the AAP student selections. Back to what GT program was liked 15 years ago! Truly gifted only. |
Anonymous
| I was gifted and have a gened child. I wouldn't care if they wanted to track. |
Anonymous
What they're currently doing is tracking, is it not? Segregated AAP/Gen Ed classes? |
Anonymous
+1000, to all of the above. |
Anonymous
It absolutely is. I guess it just isn't obvious in the schools that AREN'T centers? |
Anonymous
I can't believe FCPS is actually planning to *add* centers in the future. Seriously? |
Anonymous
Yes, because there are overcrowded centers (such as Greenbriar West). The solution? Add more centers to siphon off kids from the overcrowded ones. |
Anonymous
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They have to add the one at poplar tree, unless they plan to cometely revamp the system and accept less kids/kick kids out.
GBW is close to 270 kids over capacity because of this program. Poplar Tree is sending a classroom full of kids per grade to GBW and is under capacity by about 100 kids. It's insanity. |
Anonymous
| ^^^ love how my phone will autocorrect the weirdest things yet can't fix "completely." WTF, autocorrect ;p |
Anonymous
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Rather than build more centers, they should put some money into making it a true gifted program. (I do not have a child in AAP so no dog in this fight other than knowing too many stressed out kids who were pushed and pressured into the program). Vary the test enough each year that it would be near impossible to study for it if this is even possible. I am sure parents would be up in arms if they think their kid got an unfair test. Also, not sure if they should consider the WISC unless that also varies year to year. They also need to hire good lawyers so parents cannot intimidate by threatening lawsuit.
I understand there are bad testers. Perhaps if multiple teachers strongly feel your kid belongs in AAP that should be a factor. I say multiple, because occasionally I think teachers feel intimidated by the parents, and while it's hopefully rare, I would assume there are always going to be people who can be influenced by expensive gifts from the parents. (Had a coworker that gave every teacher $200 before they had to fill out recommendations for one of the tech schools-not sure if it was Jefferson. All but one teacher accepted the gift, rather than seeing it as a conflict of interest.) Also, FYI manipulating the system dates pretty far back. I had a friend who's mom did this back in the 80s. Her scores did not come close to meeting criteria and she was not a particularly good student either. I don't know what her parents did to get her in, but she did say her dad is a lawyer and he got involved. It was much more rare for parents to push a kid into AAP and manipulate back then, but it was not unheard of. Same kid dropped out of college. True story. Not saying...this is what will happen if you push into AAP. I am just saying AAP does not mean the gates of Harvard will open up. |
Anonymous
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OP, unfortunately none of this is a surprise.
With this system in place - it's the way kids react. It's ugly. |
Anonymous
No, the obvious solution is to simply send all kids back to their base schools. Problem solved. |
Anonymous
Such an approach does not meet the needs of the students. |
Anonymous
in the less wealthy suburbs perhaps. but i don't think anyone in McLean, Vienna or Great Falls, for example, can say that their kid needs to be bused to a center because they can't find a critical mass of their intellectual peers in the local neighborhood. The kids whose needs wouldn't be met by this approach are in different parts of the county and certainly adjustments could be made so that these kids could still go to centers. That's one reason why McLean schools are starting to offer the AAP curriculum to everyone. Sooner or later the fraud that is AAP in these parts will be obvious to everyone -- including some smart lawyers who realize it is tracking, renamed. |
Anonymous
| How can it not already be recognized as a tracking method? You're grouping kids into classes by ability level. Starting in 3rd grade. |