Did AAP L3 just disappear?
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Anonymous
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Sorry for the dramatic title, but here is my reality. DD did not qualify for full time AAP, despite advanced skills in all 4 core subjects. Her issue was attitude -- she has been inattentive in the classroom, and dreading any drills. So now she's starting 3rd grade in a GE track. Her typical modus operandus is to get ahead fast in one subject, then coast while others catch up. By fast, I mean get one or even two academic years ahead in 6 months. Then all learning is off, and she is coasting in the subject for the rest of the year, and well into the next. Next year, new subject of interest and she gets ahead fast, then coasts. And so on. Which explains her accross-the-board advanced skills, as well as her slightly exasperated teachers for the last two years. In her defense, she has ADHD, and operates in an all-or-nothing world most times.
I was pretty certain that at least she was going to get L3 services through pull-out programs in her areas of strength -- again, pretty much all core areas, which was something I was hoping would bring back her interest in learning across the board. She does well with a challenge a high goal and with some light-touch individualized attention. Perfect for L3, I thought. When I chatted with the principal about my hopes for the year, I found out that the school no longer implements a L3 pull-out, and has instead instructed teachers to teach each unit with differentiated skills. Essentially everyone is getting what used to be L2 services, PER UNIT of study. Meaning each new unit is a big transition, an assessment and a decision on how to teach. No L3 pull outs anymore. For a child who has a hard time transitioning, and who prefers to go deep in any one subject, this can be really bad news. For a child who panics whenever she realizes she's ahead, it's even worse. So I went to the FCPS AAP site, looking for an argument to still get my kid the pull out program that she really needs. The AAP now describes the model as a school-based continuum of services. No more pull outs, no more individualized teaching for children who advance fast in a given subject. The information for school-based services is completely new and watered down. Does anyone know what happened? Are L3 pullouts completely out of the picture in FCPS? I thought it was school-by-school, and I was going to advocate to bring at least some pull out programs back.... What's left looks like simply two academic tracks, one for high achievers, one for the rest. Great if you happen to have the teacher who can manage differentiated instruction, though luck otherwise... Our school is a new AAP center, so we definitely have the resources, but they already seem exclusively focused on the AAP side. How do others schools do L3 this year? |
Anonymous
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OP again -- this is particularly frustrating as we've been told for the last 3 years of public school that we can't expect much in terms of differentiated instruction in such a large classroom. So... what changed? Is 3rd grade that much easier to teach than, say, Kindergarten?
I feel lied to, and my child is falling through the cracks. |
Anonymous
| My daughter did pull out back in the GT days. Unless it has changed, it was worthless--just enrichment. The kids didn't want to go and really didn't need it. A good teacher can differentiate and provide a challenge for all students. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
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Not sure what was on the FCPS AAP site before, as it is my understanding that Levels II and III have always been school-based services, and what is really done in Levels II and/or III is dependent upon the school.
Do a search on the boards here on DCUM and you will many posts by parents expressing frustration that Level II or Level III at their school is so very different than at another (neighboring) school. It is really dependent on the school, the principal, the AART, etc. As for what you should do -- I would get in touch with the AART at your school and ask how to best proceed. You may here the same thing that you already heard from the principal. Or, perhaps the AART will have some recommendations for you. For what it is worth -- reading between the lines of your post I wonder if you have a twice exceptional (2E) learner. You may wish to ask the AART about 2E students. (Of course I may be totally off base, too.) |
Anonymous
| We're in the same boat, OP. DC was identified for Level III AAP for 3rd grade. I asked the teacher and the AART what this means. I was told the teacher would evaluate GE and AAP curriculum for each subject and make a determination on which the teacher thought was at an appropriate level for the class. We feel lied to as well. We didn't parent refer for Level IV, but we likely will this year. I don't understand why they even have the Level III identification. |
Anonymous
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PP, that may be the case, but it's really difficult to prove. Unmedicated, she barely could sit through any of the IQ tests we tossed at her. That's how we found out she had ADHD. We started her on a program of treatment -- behavior, counseling for anxiety and some meds, but we're still fiddling to find the best fit. Once we figure that out, we can follow the 2E thread. Until then, nobody is giving us an ear.
Her WISC was high average (but she barely sat down while taking it and doodled all over the page!), and her Stanford Binet (which we took to find out how medication is affecting her) was higher end of the high superior (97-99%) in non-verbal activities, but high average only whenever something was verbal. Yet reading and comprehension came back as her special talents from the WISC.... Examiner posited that she was probably simply bored with the verbal part of the Binet test -- it did not hit her area of interest like some of the WISC did. So more homework to do before we can do anything to support her as a 2E student. Meanwhile, our mission is to not let her fall through the cracks... |
Anonymous
| I'd keep her in Gened and encourage her to work harder. She can learn plenty there. |
Anonymous
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But yes, I will chat with the school's AAP resource teacher. Thank you for the input.
12:12 -- I do hope your child will get the services your DC needs! Overall, the issue may be less about AAP and more about a sense that the GE curriculum is just too slow to be engaging for many children. So we latch on to these key words like "differentiated teaching", "pull-out" and "AAP", when the issue is one of a curriculum that does not work very well -- not for the fast learners, nor, apparently, for the kids who glossed over the basics and now cannot keep up a faster pace. The real solution is to spend more time in the early grades making sure the basics are covered, so that all / most children can participate in a more advanced curriculum. Right now, the kids in the middle get penalized. We finally started Singapore math this summer at home, and the difference in confidence and willingness to work is amazing. We'll see if it transfers into the classroom. |
Anonymous
I strongly recommend that you contact Carol Horn's office and ask for advice from one of the staff members. There are great resources within FCPS for 2E students but not all local schools know how to (quickly) find them. http://www.fcps.edu/is/aap/directory.shtml ~ parent of two 2E students in AAP |
Anonymous
| I have never seen any proof of Level III's existence. It means nothing at our school. |
Anonymous
+2 |
Anonymous
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Also, really think about why you wanted AAP center. We got accepted and turned it down. My DC loves having a life. We do less "projects" that suck up time and my DC has a normal class size.
My DC also has lots of confidence (too much). I have a neighbor who's DD self-confidence got crushed in AAP center. (of course I have another neighbor who sent her DS to crush his self-confidence). AAP track isn't going to get you into or out of honors classes in middle school. |
Anonymous
| We are a center school in Fairfax and I have yet to see LLIII implemented. Louise Archer (Vienna) pushes their LLIII into the center for math, not ours. My DD was noted as going to receive LLIII this school year. We WISC'd and got in on appeal, instead. The Psychologist told us to inform the school if our child was not found AAP eligible, we would request FT LLIV on her behalf. Which the Dr noted would be FT placement in AAP classes. Thankfully, we din't have to, as she got in on appeal. |
Anonymous
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we were told that, as an AAP center, they could not mix the classes like a local l4 could. So, no "principal assignment" and no pull out for l3 services. Hence, the in-classroom services while the AAP resource teacher focuses on the new AAP track.
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