cutoff scores for Fairfax County GT centers for this year?

[donalan]

Meet with your AAP representative and discuss the differences in level III services offered at your home school vs. a Level IV AAP center (or 'Local Level IV). In our case some major differences were:

1. Level IV Center School offers full day Level IV curriculum and instruction 5 days a week; Home School would offer 1 class in a trailer 1 day a week with minor enhancements to standard curriculum.

2. Level IV Center School offers teachers specializing in gifted students; Home School shares 1 AA teacher with several other schools (she is at Home School only a few days each month).

3. Level IV Center School offers group learning among AAP students every day; Home School offers limited or no peer group learning among AAP students.

4. Level IV Center School offers compacted math; Home School does not have the resources to offer compacted math at this time.


At the moment transportation funds for AAP students have been cut. That means that if your child has qualified for Level IV services and your home school offers Level IV services he will not be bussed to the Center school.

If you have an AAP student and want them bussed to a Level IV center you should contact your school board representative asap and tell them you want aap transportation funding (~$208,000) refunded.

EDIT We got the information about Level IV services from our schools Special Education Teacher in charge of the AAP program. I sat down with her for an hour and discussed in great detail the differences in our Home school Level IV services vs. the services offered at the Level IV Center school.

[Anonymous]

PP, I am not sure where you are getting your info. My DD is currently in a GT classroom at a LLIV school. I have plenty of issues with the program at her school, but your description is most definitely NOT at all reflective of what she is getting at school. She has a full time, self-contained GT classroom. At our school the class is made up of about 90% kids who were center eligible but chose to stay at the base school LLIV. Her teacher is GT certified (and not all GT center teachers are). They share the same curriculum as most GT Centers (the curriculum varies even among GT centers). Her math is compacted and our base school offers compacted math to gen ed students as well as the LLIV class. Many schools do this.

The big area where I have concerns about our LLIV is the peer group. While most of the class is GT center eligible, the mix of kids at our school and in her grade is very much high achievers with not really any quirky kids. Some LLIV programs are very large (for example, Spring Hill) and offer multiple classrooms per grade. Our program is not that large so there is only one teacher per grade and one classroom of kids that stays together for grades 3-6. I am moving her to our GT Center next year largely to increase the population of kids and expanded teacher choice. However, our GT Center is not considered that strong and I do have reservations about it.

So all of that is to say that I think it is very important for a parent to know their kid and to know what the LLIV programs and GT Center programs are like. They are NOT all the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, I am not sure where you are getting your info. My DD is currently in a GT classroom at a LLIV school. I have plenty of issues with the program at her school, but your description is most definitely NOT at all reflective of what she is getting at school. She has a full time, self-contained GT classroom. At our school the class is made up of about 90% kids who were center eligible but chose to stay at the base school LLIV. Her teacher is GT certified (and not all GT center teachers are). They share the same curriculum as most GT Centers (the curriculum varies even among GT centers). Her math is compacted and our base school offers compacted math to gen ed students as well as the LLIV class. Many schools do this.

The big area where I have concerns about our LLIV is the peer group. While most of the class is GT center eligible, the mix of kids at our school and in her grade is very much high achievers with not really any quirky kids. Some LLIV programs are very large (for example, Spring Hill) and offer multiple classrooms per grade. Our program is not that large so there is only one teacher per grade and one classroom of kids that stays together for grades 3-6. I am moving her to our GT Center next year largely to increase the population of kids and expanded teacher choice. However, our GT Center is not considered that strong and I do have reservations about it.

So all of that is to say that I think it is very important for a parent to know their kid and to know what the LLIV programs and GT Center programs are like. They are NOT all the same.

ITA with this entire post.

Local Level IV services follow the same intended curriculum as the Centers. The biggest difference is the peer group. Some schools have one Local Level IV class per grade and the number of Center-eligible students is very few.

Sure, the academics of the majority of the "fill in" students may be approaching a similar level of the Center-eligible kids, but in many cases they are not (wonderfully) quirky like many Center-eligible kids. The social issues are also important and not just what level math they are working on.

[donalan]

Anonymous wrote:PP, I am not sure where you are getting your info. My DD is currently in a GT classroom at a LLIV school. I have plenty of issues with the program at her school, but your description is most definitely NOT at all reflective of what she is getting at school. She has a full time, self-contained GT classroom. At our school the class is made up of about 90% kids who were center eligible but chose to stay at the base school LLIV. Her teacher is GT certified (and not all GT center teachers are). They share the same curriculum as most GT Centers (the curriculum varies even among GT centers). Her math is compacted and our base school offers compacted math to gen ed students as well as the LLIV class. Many schools do this.

The big area where I have concerns about our LLIV is the peer group. While most of the class is GT center eligible, the mix of kids at our school and in her grade is very much high achievers with not really any quirky kids. Some LLIV programs are very large (for example, Spring Hill) and offer multiple classrooms per grade. Our program is not that large so there is only one teacher per grade and one classroom of kids that stays together for grades 3-6. I am moving her to our GT Center next year largely to increase the population of kids and expanded teacher choice. However, our GT Center is not considered that strong and I do have reservations about it.

So all of that is to say that I think it is very important for a parent to know their kid and to know what the LLIV programs and GT Center programs are like. They are NOT all the same.

Interesting. Guess every school is different. We got the information about Level IV services from our schools Special Education Teacher in charge of the AAP program. I sat down with her for an hour and discussed in great detail the differences in our Home school Level III services vs. the services offered at the Level IV Center school.

Clarification - Our home school does not offer Level IV I was mistaken. Sorry if I added confusion

[Anonymous]

Home school Level IV services

Level 4 services at a school are NOT the same as Local Level IV. Kids who qualify for Level 4 services, but do not have a Local Level 4 program still get GT services, but they would be of the pullout type that you describe. I do know families who for various reasons choose not to go to the Center even if their base school does not have a Local Level IV Gt (AAP) classroom. But the whole point of the "Local Level IV" is that it provides a GT classroom at the base school. A pullout service is not a LLIV.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, PP again. At this link you can find the list of GT Centers and also the school with Local Level 4 GT programs.

http://www.fcps.edu/dis/gt/centers.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But the whole point of the "Local Level IV" is that it provides a GT classroom at the base school.

And the "Local Level IV" (often) does NOT provide a GT classroom at the base school as it (often) is not populated with solely Center-eligible students.

[Anonymous]

PP, I am 10:33 above. I agree with you that the GT classroom of a Local Level IV may not have a high percentage of GT eligible kids in it. But it is a self-contained classroom vs the pullout type services that the donalan poster was describing. The quality of any individual Local Level IV needs to be evaluated on it's own, because they are all very different. There are some LLIV programs that probably do rival GT Centers. I know of Local Level IV programs that have more GT eligible kids than my child's assigned GT Center! But there are also LLIV programs that may only have 4 or 5 GT Center eligible kids in the class.

[Anonymous]

we are in no way enamored of APP - he is in immersion and that is a good program. We are new to it all. In many ways it would be much easier if he were more normal. If he had not made the cut it would have been fine with us. He has a good heart and a good mind so we think he will be fine with or without APP.

I was surprised when they told us we should basically embellish his score with our observations in applying for app. I mean I would have though 99 percentile was an automatic in. Apparently a lot of parents push really hard for their marginal kids to get in. Not sure why they would do that. I mean why would you put your normal kid in with sort of odd balls like my son - they are not normal. They are literally smarter than me, my Phd wife and virtually all the people I meet.

A lot of people say 'you must be so proud of him' - I am but not because he is smart. It would be like being proud of him because he is really tall. I dont get it. he has a good heart and is kind - im proud of that sure enough. The fact that he memorizes every single thing he sees, reads or does - thats just luck of the draw...

PS teachers have little or nothing to do with this process as I understand it. The fact that people are trying, for their kids, to force them into this program is alien to me. Whom do they think they are helping pushing an unprepared student into an accelerated learning environment? Self esteem is far more important than APP.

PPS sorry to for the poor choice of the word 'marginal' - sounds like the cut off is absurdly high. I understand the frustration having a very smart kid and having to deal with some teachers and admin on that issue. There is nothing 'marginal' about any of our children. I apologize for the gaff.

First, submitting additional information about your child is not "embellishing" the test scores. The County has decided that there are multiple factors relevant to determining eligibility for the Center, and one of those is test scores. Others are teacher assessments, demonstrated achievement in the form of awards or work samples, letters of recommendation from other adults who know the child, and other things. You may or may not agree with it, but that is how the County has decided to evaluate children for placement in the program.

Second, teachers have a TON to do with this process. I cannot emphasize enough how important the teacher recommendations and the GBRS are. Just take a look at the thread regarding the decisions that were mailed out on Friday, and you will see how many children apparently got in on the strength of GBRS/teacher recs when they did not have strong test scores and were not in the automatic screening pool. Teacher input is absolutely crucial in this process. Parents are not "forcing" their children into the Center because it's not possible. Parent input just doesn't carry that much weight; parents are obviously biased in writing glowing recommendations about their kids. Teachers' input, on the other hand, is considered far more objective and carries substantial weight with the selection committee.

Donalan, you describe yourself as totally new to the process. That's fine, but then why not characterize your opinions as exactly that - your opinions? Please stop putting forth so much misinformation as it it were absolute fact. This can be a confusing process, and I fear you are just adding to the confusion without having taken the time to do your homework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But it is a self-contained classroom vs the pullout type services that the donalan poster was describing.

I believe the donalan poster was describing Level III services.

http://www.fcps.edu/DIS/gt/school.html

[donalan]

From the sounds of it Non-Center Level IV services vary greatly from school to school.

As I said in my school Level IV services (yes I am absolutely certain they are Level IV not Level III) at our base school are a pull-out class once a week (in a trailer) + a GT teacher works with a mainstream teacher in a mainstream class to enhance the curriculum for the Level IV student.

Others here have posted quite different (and better) Level IV services provided at their own base school (non-Level IV Center). Our school is a magnet school for language immersion so they are faced with a pretty complex schedule (half day immersion in math and science + half day English Lang. arts and Social Studies). The kids change classrooms and teachers at lunch so there is a lot of shifting around. This may be the reason they do not offer more dedicated Level IV services...

Correction I was wrong about the services at my Home school they are, as the other posters correctly pointed out Level III not Level IV. Level IV whether at a Center School or 'Local Level IV' school require dedicated classes for AAP. Sorry for my mistake and adding confusion...

[Anonymous]

Sorry, PP again. It could be Level 3 or it could be the Level 4 services offered by a school that does NOT have a Local Level 4 GT classroom. It does sound like what a couple kids I know of received as Level 4 services in a school without Local Level 4. One child was in a language immersion school and the parents decided not to move from that. The other was pulled back to the base school by her parents because she was having issues with bullying at the GT Center and the parents didn't feel like the school was handling it well. Both of them got pullout Level 4 services by the base school.

[Anonymous]

donalan wrote:From the sounds of it Non-Center Level IV services vary greatly from school to school.

As I said in my school Level IV services at our base school are a pull-out class once a week (in a trailer) + a GT teacher works with a mainstream teacher in a mainstream class to enhance the curriculum for the Level IV student.

Others here have posted quite different (and better) Level IV services provided at their own base school (non-Level IV Center). Our school is a magnet school for language immersion so they are faced with a pretty complex schedule (half day immersion in math and science + half day English Lang. arts and Social Studies). The kids change classrooms and teachers at lunch so there is a lot of shifting around. This may be the reason they do not offer more dedicated Level IV services...

NP here, but I believe that you are wrong, donalan. what you are describing are level III services, not local level IV. Is your current school in this list of schools that provide local level IV services that was posted by 12:23?

http://www.fcps.edu/dis/gt/centers.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, PP again. It could be Level 3 or it could be the Level 4 services offered by a school that does NOT have a Local Level 4 GT classroom.

Level IV services are offered in one of two places -- a traditional Center or as Local Level IV services at a base school. Level IV services are offered nowhere else. If an Advanced Academic Resource Teacher is doing the instruction, it is not Level IV.

[donalan]

PP no it is not thus your clarification is a good one.

My school does not offer 'Local Level IV' per se. That would explain the Level IV services (may indeed be Level III or some form of modified Level IV). This is good news for me as they will have to provide transportation for DS if we choose to send him to the Level IV Center school.

Thanks for the clarification