AAP appeal declined

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here

Got a call today from the coordinator

- she said many communities prepare for NNAT and cogat so they want to see samples showing critical thinking
- I accepted we did not do well with work samples but asked her Wisc cannot be prepared or coached and in that one on one assessment my son has been evaluated for critical thinking, processing etc so why that has been denied too
- there was no straight answer for this but she said he can be referred for level II or level Iii immediately or even level IV from second semester

So we got to know why the original application was denied but no info on appeal decision.

So I was the second poster with the child with 99 percentile NNAt, 99 percentile Cogat, 99 percentile Wisc and 15 GRBS. I spoke with Kristen Maloney today and she went through my application with me. She started by saying AAP is not based only on the testing but other things as well because people can do well on tests by prepping. I said although we did not prep, i can understand that, but that wouldn't explain the High WISC score that you can't prep for and I had a few days to get done between being found ineligible and needing to submit my appeal. I asked for examples of what these "other things" were and she elaborated to say progress reports, GRBS and work samples. I said we had all A's on our progress report and a high GRBS and solid work samples. She went through everything and said I am not sure why the committee did not accept you, the only issue I see is the commentary on your GRBS didn't have enough examples to support the GRBS of 15. She wanted to see more specific examples of why the GRBS was high. I pointed out that at the beginning she stated that AAP was not based on one specific criteria and that the only possible reason she could give me was the commentary and she responded by getting defensive and saying that there is not a report stating why my daughter did not get in and she agrees the application is good and I should reapply next year. She said no need to retake any of the tests and gave me a few examples of how the commentary could be more specific for my daughter and that was that.

At the end of the conversation I felt completely irritated because I had no real answer except for the commentary which is one aspect out of an otherwise solid application.

[Anonymous]

^^^Were you the poster with the kid at the private school where all the children apply to AAP?

[Anonymous]

I am a poster who went to private school but I don't think all the children applied. But yes there were children who got in with lower scores and lower progress reports. I did see the GRBS for some class mates and the were slightly more specific. I had spoke to our teacher about the commentary but she said my daughter is very quite so it was harder to come up with examples.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here

Got a call today from the coordinator

- she said many communities prepare for NNAT and cogat so they want to see samples showing critical thinking
- I accepted we did not do well with work samples but asked her Wisc cannot be prepared or coached and in that one on one assessment my son has been evaluated for critical thinking, processing etc so why that has been denied too
- there was no straight answer for this but she said he can be referred for level II or level Iii immediately or even level IV from second semester

So we got to know why the original application was denied but no info on appeal decision.

So I was the second poster with the child with 99 percentile NNAt, 99 percentile Cogat, 99 percentile Wisc and 15 GRBS. I spoke with Kristen Maloney today and she went through my application with me. She started by saying AAP is not based only on the testing but other things as well because people can do well on tests by prepping. I said although we did not prep, i can understand that, but that wouldn't explain the High WISC score that you can't prep for and I had a few days to get done between being found ineligible and needing to submit my appeal. I asked for examples of what these "other things" were and she elaborated to say progress reports, GRBS and work samples. I said we had all A's on our progress report and a high GRBS and solid work samples. She went through everything and said I am not sure why the committee did not accept you, the only issue I see is the commentary on your GRBS didn't have enough examples to support the GRBS of 15. She wanted to see more specific examples of why the GRBS was high. I pointed out that at the beginning she stated that AAP was not based on one specific criteria and that the only possible reason she could give me was the commentary and she responded by getting defensive and saying that there is not a report stating why my daughter did not get in and she agrees the application is good and I should reapply next year. She said no need to retake any of the tests and gave me a few examples of how the commentary could be more specific for my daughter and that was that.

At the end of the conversation I felt completely irritated because I had no real answer except for the commentary which is one aspect out of an otherwise solid application.

but isn't that exactly what she said, that the decision is based on more than just test scores? so the committee supposedly looked at everything in the file and didn't like the commentary (for whatever reason) therefore found it ineligible. in other words, a file might have to "check all the marks" for it to be found eligible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

At the end of the conversation I felt completely irritated because I had no real answer except for the commentary which is one aspect out of an otherwise solid application.

but isn't that exactly what she said, that the decision is based on more than just test scores? so the committee supposedly looked at everything in the file and didn't like the commentary (for whatever reason) therefore found it ineligible. in other words, a file might have to "check all the marks" for it to be found eligible.

It sounds like the committee can just reject anyone for any reason at all, and there's nothing you can do about it. The whole system needs to be overhauled to have standards and transparency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here

Got a call today from the coordinator

- she said many communities prepare for NNAT and cogat so they want to see samples showing critical thinking
- I accepted we did not do well with work samples but asked her Wisc cannot be prepared or coached and in that one on one assessment my son has been evaluated for critical thinking, processing etc so why that has been denied too
- there was no straight answer for this but she said he can be referred for level II or level Iii immediately or even level IV from second semester

So we got to know why the original application was denied but no info on appeal decision.

So I was the second poster with the child with 99 percentile NNAt, 99 percentile Cogat, 99 percentile Wisc and 15 GRBS. I spoke with Kristen Maloney today and she went through my application with me. She started by saying AAP is not based only on the testing but other things as well because people can do well on tests by prepping. I said although we did not prep, i can understand that, but that wouldn't explain the High WISC score that you can't prep for and I had a few days to get done between being found ineligible and needing to submit my appeal. I asked for examples of what these "other things" were and she elaborated to say progress reports, GRBS and work samples. I said we had all A's on our progress report and a high GRBS and solid work samples. She went through everything and said I am not sure why the committee did not accept you, the only issue I see is the commentary on your GRBS didn't have enough examples to support the GRBS of 15. She wanted to see more specific examples of why the GRBS was high. I pointed out that at the beginning she stated that AAP was not based on one specific criteria and that the only possible reason she could give me was the commentary and she responded by getting defensive and saying that there is not a report stating why my daughter did not get in and she agrees the application is good and I should reapply next year. She said no need to retake any of the tests and gave me a few examples of how the commentary could be more specific for my daughter and that was that.

At the end of the conversation I felt completely irritated because I had no real answer except for the commentary which is one aspect out of an otherwise solid application.

I think that when they are considering whether or not a child has been prepped, the commentary on the GBRS is an important data point when it does not back up the test scores strongly enough. It is not unusual for very bright kids to be quiet, so that should not be an issue. Usually, teachers can see kids showing certain behaviors regardless of how talkative they are. For example, a quiet child might have his head buried in a book whenever he can and the teacher sees the advanced level of the books he likes to read and how much he enjoys reading.

Also, sadly, it is possible to prep for the WISC, so it is not unheard of for kids to get high scores on the WISC because of prepping.

Will you transfer your child to public school and reapply?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here

Got a call today from the coordinator

- she said many communities prepare for NNAT and cogat so they want to see samples showing critical thinking
- I accepted we did not do well with work samples but asked her Wisc cannot be prepared or coached and in that one on one assessment my son has been evaluated for critical thinking, processing etc so why that has been denied too
- there was no straight answer for this but she said he can be referred for level II or level Iii immediately or even level IV from second semester

So we got to know why the original application was denied but no info on appeal decision.

So I was the second poster with the child with 99 percentile NNAt, 99 percentile Cogat, 99 percentile Wisc and 15 GRBS. I spoke with Kristen Maloney today and she went through my application with me. She started by saying AAP is not based only on the testing but other things as well because people can do well on tests by prepping. I said although we did not prep, i can understand that, but that wouldn't explain the High WISC score that you can't prep for and I had a few days to get done between being found ineligible and needing to submit my appeal. I asked for examples of what these "other things" were and she elaborated to say progress reports, GRBS and work samples. I said we had all A's on our progress report and a high GRBS and solid work samples. She went through everything and said I am not sure why the committee did not accept you, the only issue I see is the commentary on your GRBS didn't have enough examples to support the GRBS of 15. She wanted to see more specific examples of why the GRBS was high. I pointed out that at the beginning she stated that AAP was not based on one specific criteria and that the only possible reason she could give me was the commentary and she responded by getting defensive and saying that there is not a report stating why my daughter did not get in and she agrees the application is good and I should reapply next year. She said no need to retake any of the tests and gave me a few examples of how the commentary could be more specific for my daughter and that was that.

At the end of the conversation I felt completely irritated because I had no real answer except for the commentary which is one aspect out of an otherwise solid application.

but isn't that exactly what she said, that the decision is based on more than just test scores? so the committee supposedly looked at everything in the file and didn't like the commentary (for whatever reason) therefore found it ineligible. in other words, a file might have to "check all the marks" for it to be found eligible.

No sorry what she said is the decision is not based on only one criteria such as test scores alone, but then yet the only criteria she did not like was the commentary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here

Got a call today from the coordinator

- she said many communities prepare for NNAT and cogat so they want to see samples showing critical thinking
- I accepted we did not do well with work samples but asked her Wisc cannot be prepared or coached and in that one on one assessment my son has been evaluated for critical thinking, processing etc so why that has been denied too
- there was no straight answer for this but she said he can be referred for level II or level Iii immediately or even level IV from second semester

So we got to know why the original application was denied but no info on appeal decision.

So I was the second poster with the child with 99 percentile NNAt, 99 percentile Cogat, 99 percentile Wisc and 15 GRBS. I spoke with Kristen Maloney today and she went through my application with me. She started by saying AAP is not based only on the testing but other things as well because people can do well on tests by prepping. I said although we did not prep, i can understand that, but that wouldn't explain the High WISC score that you can't prep for and I had a few days to get done between being found ineligible and needing to submit my appeal. I asked for examples of what these "other things" were and she elaborated to say progress reports, GRBS and work samples. I said we had all A's on our progress report and a high GRBS and solid work samples. She went through everything and said I am not sure why the committee did not accept you, the only issue I see is the commentary on your GRBS didn't have enough examples to support the GRBS of 15. She wanted to see more specific examples of why the GRBS was high. I pointed out that at the beginning she stated that AAP was not based on one specific criteria and that the only possible reason she could give me was the commentary and she responded by getting defensive and saying that there is not a report stating why my daughter did not get in and she agrees the application is good and I should reapply next year. She said no need to retake any of the tests and gave me a few examples of how the commentary could be more specific for my daughter and that was that.

At the end of the conversation I felt completely irritated because I had no real answer except for the commentary which is one aspect out of an otherwise solid application.

I think that when they are considering whether or not a child has been prepped, the commentary on the GBRS is an important data point when it does not back up the test scores strongly enough. It is not unusual for very bright kids to be quiet, so that should not be an issue. Usually, teachers can see kids showing certain behaviors regardless of how talkative they are. For example, a quiet child might have his head buried in a book whenever he can and the teacher sees the advanced level of the books he likes to read and how much he enjoys reading.

Also, sadly, it is possible to prep for the WISC, so it is not unheard of for kids to get high scores on the WISC because of prepping.

Will you transfer your child to public school and reapply?

At this point, for 3rd grade, I will not transfer her to public school. I am a little jaded right now. That being said I will have to transfer to Public school at some point because I cannot continue to afford private school and I personally went to public school. I don't think it really matters at the end of the day if you went to public or private or were in a Gifted program or not. I was in public, my brother was in public in GT, most friends of mine were in Private and we are all doing incredibly well and are very blessed. I really think it depends on your child and as a parent what you put in to them. Making sure your children understand the importance or academics as well as hard work. I believe that God must have a different plan for my daughter right now and in that sense I know it will be ok.
However the principle of the AAP program is where my issue lies and I feel like she should and needs to be in that program and as a parent it is my duty to advocate for her and am feeling frustrated with not getting helpful answers or being told it is not based on one criteria and then being told there is only one criteria that could have been the reason for her not getting in ( which I don't believe by the way). My other issue is that I emphasize to my kids that as long as you work hard and do well, things should work in a certain way and I am not ready to introduce them to the reality that although she works hard, gets A's, scores well and has High IQ, she is in a race that is known to have high scores or because she was in a private school or whatever other reason, she was discriminated against.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here

Got a call today from the coordinator

- she said many communities prepare for NNAT and cogat so they want to see samples showing critical thinking
- I accepted we did not do well with work samples but asked her Wisc cannot be prepared or coached and in that one on one assessment my son has been evaluated for critical thinking, processing etc so why that has been denied too
- there was no straight answer for this but she said he can be referred for level II or level Iii immediately or even level IV from second semester

So we got to know why the original application was denied but no info on appeal decision.

So I was the second poster with the child with 99 percentile NNAt, 99 percentile Cogat, 99 percentile Wisc and 15 GRBS. I spoke with Kristen Maloney today and she went through my application with me. She started by saying AAP is not based only on the testing but other things as well because people can do well on tests by prepping. I said although we did not prep, i can understand that, but that wouldn't explain the High WISC score that you can't prep for and I had a few days to get done between being found ineligible and needing to submit my appeal. I asked for examples of what these "other things" were and she elaborated to say progress reports, GRBS and work samples. I said we had all A's on our progress report and a high GRBS and solid work samples. She went through everything and said I am not sure why the committee did not accept you, the only issue I see is the commentary on your GRBS didn't have enough examples to support the GRBS of 15. She wanted to see more specific examples of why the GRBS was high. I pointed out that at the beginning she stated that AAP was not based on one specific criteria and that the only possible reason she could give me was the commentary and she responded by getting defensive and saying that there is not a report stating why my daughter did not get in and she agrees the application is good and I should reapply next year. She said no need to retake any of the tests and gave me a few examples of how the commentary could be more specific for my daughter and that was that.

At the end of the conversation I felt completely irritated because I had no real answer except for the commentary which is one aspect out of an otherwise solid application.

I think that when they are considering whether or not a child has been prepped, the commentary on the GBRS is an important data point when it does not back up the test scores strongly enough. It is not unusual for very bright kids to be quiet, so that should not be an issue. Usually, teachers can see kids showing certain behaviors regardless of how talkative they are. For example, a quiet child might have his head buried in a book whenever he can and the teacher sees the advanced level of the books he likes to read and how much he enjoys reading.

Also, sadly, it is possible to prep for the WISC, so it is not unheard of for kids to get high scores on the WISC because of prepping.

Will you transfer your child to public school and reapply?

At this point, for 3rd grade, I will not transfer her to public school. I am a little jaded right now. That being said I will have to transfer to Public school at some point because I cannot continue to afford private school and I personally went to public school. I don't think it really matters at the end of the day if you went to public or private or were in a Gifted program or not. I was in public, my brother was in public in GT, most friends of mine were in Private and we are all doing incredibly well and are very blessed. I really think it depends on your child and as a parent what you put in to them. Making sure your children understand the importance or academics as well as hard work. I believe that God must have a different plan for my daughter right now and in that sense I know it will be ok.
However the principle of the AAP program is where my issue lies and I feel like she should and needs to be in that program and as a parent it is my duty to advocate for her and am feeling frustrated with not getting helpful answers or being told it is not based on one criteria and then being told there is only one criteria that could have been the reason for her not getting in ( which I don't believe by the way). My other issue is that I emphasize to my kids that as long as you work hard and do well, things should work in a certain way and I am not ready to introduce them to the reality that although she works hard, gets A's, scores well and has High IQ, she is in a race that is known to have high scores or because she was in a private school or whatever other reason, she was discriminated against.

Where did your child take Cogat/NNAT/WISC? Sounds like scores are not carrying weight in this case.

Earlier in the thread, it was mentioned that seems there are private schools and psychologist that could have hammered your child admission. Reading GBRS, I feel FCPS doesn't know enough about your child hence discounting it. again school could be an issue here. If your Dc stays in public school and gets good GBRS then his chances of being admitted will improve drastically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here

Got a call today from the coordinator

- she said many communities prepare for NNAT and cogat so they want to see samples showing critical thinking
- I accepted we did not do well with work samples but asked her Wisc cannot be prepared or coached and in that one on one assessment my son has been evaluated for critical thinking, processing etc so why that has been denied too
- there was no straight answer for this but she said he can be referred for level II or level Iii immediately or even level IV from second semester

So we got to know why the original application was denied but no info on appeal decision.

So I was the second poster with the child with 99 percentile NNAt, 99 percentile Cogat, 99 percentile Wisc and 15 GRBS. I spoke with Kristen Maloney today and she went through my application with me. She started by saying AAP is not based only on the testing but other things as well because people can do well on tests by prepping. I said although we did not prep, i can understand that, but that wouldn't explain the High WISC score that you can't prep for and I had a few days to get done between being found ineligible and needing to submit my appeal. I asked for examples of what these "other things" were and she elaborated to say progress reports, GRBS and work samples. I said we had all A's on our progress report and a high GRBS and solid work samples. She went through everything and said I am not sure why the committee did not accept you, the only issue I see is the commentary on your GRBS didn't have enough examples to support the GRBS of 15. She wanted to see more specific examples of why the GRBS was high. I pointed out that at the beginning she stated that AAP was not based on one specific criteria and that the only possible reason she could give me was the commentary and she responded by getting defensive and saying that there is not a report stating why my daughter did not get in and she agrees the application is good and I should reapply next year. She said no need to retake any of the tests and gave me a few examples of how the commentary could be more specific for my daughter and that was that.

At the end of the conversation I felt completely irritated because I had no real answer except for the commentary which is one aspect out of an otherwise solid application.

I think that when they are considering whether or not a child has been prepped, the commentary on the GBRS is an important data point when it does not back up the test scores strongly enough. It is not unusual for very bright kids to be quiet, so that should not be an issue. Usually, teachers can see kids showing certain behaviors regardless of how talkative they are. For example, a quiet child might have his head buried in a book whenever he can and the teacher sees the advanced level of the books he likes to read and how much he enjoys reading.

Also, sadly, it is possible to prep for the WISC, so it is not unheard of for kids to get high scores on the WISC because of prepping.

Will you transfer your child to public school and reapply?

At this point, for 3rd grade, I will not transfer her to public school. I am a little jaded right now. That being said I will have to transfer to Public school at some point because I cannot continue to afford private school and I personally went to public school. I don't think it really matters at the end of the day if you went to public or private or were in a Gifted program or not. I was in public, my brother was in public in GT, most friends of mine were in Private and we are all doing incredibly well and are very blessed. I really think it depends on your child and as a parent what you put in to them. Making sure your children understand the importance or academics as well as hard work. I believe that God must have a different plan for my daughter right now and in that sense I know it will be ok.
However the principle of the AAP program is where my issue lies and I feel like she should and needs to be in that program and as a parent it is my duty to advocate for her and am feeling frustrated with not getting helpful answers or being told it is not based on one criteria and then being told there is only one criteria that could have been the reason for her not getting in ( which I don't believe by the way). My other issue is that I emphasize to my kids that as long as you work hard and do well, things should work in a certain way and I am not ready to introduce them to the reality that although she works hard, gets A's, scores well and has High IQ, she is in a race that is known to have high scores or because she was in a private school or whatever other reason, she was discriminated against.

Where did your child take Cogat/NNAT/WISC? Sounds like scores are not carrying weight in this case.

Earlier in the thread, it was mentioned that seems there are questionable private schools and psychologist used that could have hammered your child admission. Reading GBRS, I feel FCPS doesn't know enough about your child hence discounting it. again school could be an issue here. If your Dc stays in public school and gets good GBRS then his chances of being admitted will improve drastically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here

Got a call today from the coordinator

- she said many communities prepare for NNAT and cogat so they want to see samples showing critical thinking
- I accepted we did not do well with work samples but asked her Wisc cannot be prepared or coached and in that one on one assessment my son has been evaluated for critical thinking, processing etc so why that has been denied too
- there was no straight answer for this but she said he can be referred for level II or level Iii immediately or even level IV from second semester

So we got to know why the original application was denied but no info on appeal decision.

So I was the second poster with the child with 99 percentile NNAt, 99 percentile Cogat, 99 percentile Wisc and 15 GRBS. I spoke with Kristen Maloney today and she went through my application with me. She started by saying AAP is not based only on the testing but other things as well because people can do well on tests by prepping. I said although we did not prep, i can understand that, but that wouldn't explain the High WISC score that you can't prep for and I had a few days to get done between being found ineligible and needing to submit my appeal. I asked for examples of what these "other things" were and she elaborated to say progress reports, GRBS and work samples. I said we had all A's on our progress report and a high GRBS and solid work samples. She went through everything and said I am not sure why the committee did not accept you, the only issue I see is the commentary on your GRBS didn't have enough examples to support the GRBS of 15. She wanted to see more specific examples of why the GRBS was high. I pointed out that at the beginning she stated that AAP was not based on one specific criteria and that the only possible reason she could give me was the commentary and she responded by getting defensive and saying that there is not a report stating why my daughter did not get in and she agrees the application is good and I should reapply next year. She said no need to retake any of the tests and gave me a few examples of how the commentary could be more specific for my daughter and that was that.

At the end of the conversation I felt completely irritated because I had no real answer except for the commentary which is one aspect out of an otherwise solid application.

but isn't that exactly what she said, that the decision is based on more than just test scores? so the committee supposedly looked at everything in the file and didn't like the commentary (for whatever reason) therefore found it ineligible. in other words, a file might have to "check all the marks" for it to be found eligible.

No sorry what she said is the decision is not based on only one criteria such as test scores alone, but then yet the only criteria she did not like was the commentary

It's both the comments that undermines the 'questionable' scores. Probably the work samples too.

And as much as DCUM likes to think IQ/WISC/WPPSI/whathaveyou trumps everything else, it is still just 'one aspect' of many.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here

Got a call today from the coordinator

- she said many communities prepare for NNAT and cogat so they want to see samples showing critical thinking
- I accepted we did not do well with work samples but asked her Wisc cannot be prepared or coached and in that one on one assessment my son has been evaluated for critical thinking, processing etc so why that has been denied too
- there was no straight answer for this but she said he can be referred for level II or level Iii immediately or even level IV from second semester

So we got to know why the original application was denied but no info on appeal decision.

So I was the second poster with the child with 99 percentile NNAt, 99 percentile Cogat, 99 percentile Wisc and 15 GRBS. I spoke with Kristen Maloney today and she went through my application with me. She started by saying AAP is not based only on the testing but other things as well because people can do well on tests by prepping. I said although we did not prep, i can understand that, but that wouldn't explain the High WISC score that you can't prep for and I had a few days to get done between being found ineligible and needing to submit my appeal. I asked for examples of what these "other things" were and she elaborated to say progress reports, GRBS and work samples. I said we had all A's on our progress report and a high GRBS and solid work samples. She went through everything and said I am not sure why the committee did not accept you, the only issue I see is the commentary on your GRBS didn't have enough examples to support the GRBS of 15. She wanted to see more specific examples of why the GRBS was high. I pointed out that at the beginning she stated that AAP was not based on one specific criteria and that the only possible reason she could give me was the commentary and she responded by getting defensive and saying that there is not a report stating why my daughter did not get in and she agrees the application is good and I should reapply next year. She said no need to retake any of the tests and gave me a few examples of how the commentary could be more specific for my daughter and that was that.

At the end of the conversation I felt completely irritated because I had no real answer except for the commentary which is one aspect out of an otherwise solid application.

but isn't that exactly what she said, that the decision is based on more than just test scores? so the committee supposedly looked at everything in the file and didn't like the commentary (for whatever reason) therefore found it ineligible. in other words, a file might have to "check all the marks" for it to be found eligible.

No sorry what she said is the decision is not based on only one criteria such as test scores alone, but then yet the only criteria she did not like was the commentary

It's both the comments that undermines the 'questionable' scores. Probably the work samples too.

And as much as DCUM likes to think IQ/WISC/WPPSI/whathaveyou trumps everything else, it is still just 'one aspect' of many.

She told the poster not to have her child retake any of the tests, so it doesn't sound like she's saying where or who administered the test is not considered credible. She said to just adjust the commentary. I think this poster or OP should get the press involved so they can do some investigative research into how the process works. Are certain groups being stereotyped and therefore there is defacto discrimination? My DC was at a title 1 school, and I know of multiple Caucasian kids who had scores in the low 120s but were all given a high GBRS. They all were admitted first round and moved to the center. I think the teachers may have thought they were saving these kids from having to stay at an underperforming school. I can't imagine all these kids with 120s scores somehow displayed gifted behavior to get the high GBRS they got. And the moms are very open about discussing scores. One told me that she told the AART that she prepped her son and the AART said it isn't possible to bump scores up significantly by prepping. I just think there is too much inconsistency in the process. There is no recourse for parents in this arbitrary process. I would like to see a FOIA disclosure listing how many kids of each ethnic group with high scores are found ineligible. It sounds like individuals are being made to take the blame for what a group as a who is perceived to be doing.

[Anonymous]

I really doubt getting the press involved is going to paint the parents here in a positive light. Specifically, to give the press what it needs for this story, you’re going to have to be willing to give up a lot of your privacy and it doesn’t seem worth it.

I know a lot of theories have been tossed around, but what about a private school blacklist? Maybe the private school admin has said something to keep you guys in the school, despite the test scores? Because it seems to me that FCPS has nothing to lose by rejecting you but the private school has your tuition for the next several years to lose? And they may be more motivated to keep you, because you’re long term stats would benefit them?

Just a thought. I know this is frustrating to you but I can’t help but think that money talks and in this case, the private school has more to lose than the public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here

Got a call today from the coordinator

- she said many communities prepare for NNAT and cogat so they want to see samples showing critical thinking
- I accepted we did not do well with work samples but asked her Wisc cannot be prepared or coached and in that one on one assessment my son has been evaluated for critical thinking, processing etc so why that has been denied too
- there was no straight answer for this but she said he can be referred for level II or level Iii immediately or even level IV from second semester

So we got to know why the original application was denied but no info on appeal decision.

So I was the second poster with the child with 99 percentile NNAt, 99 percentile Cogat, 99 percentile Wisc and 15 GRBS. I spoke with Kristen Maloney today and she went through my application with me. She started by saying AAP is not based only on the testing but other things as well because people can do well on tests by prepping. I said although we did not prep, i can understand that, but that wouldn't explain the High WISC score that you can't prep for and I had a few days to get done between being found ineligible and needing to submit my appeal. I asked for examples of what these "other things" were and she elaborated to say progress reports, GRBS and work samples. I said we had all A's on our progress report and a high GRBS and solid work samples. She went through everything and said I am not sure why the committee did not accept you, the only issue I see is the commentary on your GRBS didn't have enough examples to support the GRBS of 15. She wanted to see more specific examples of why the GRBS was high. I pointed out that at the beginning she stated that AAP was not based on one specific criteria and that the only possible reason she could give me was the commentary and she responded by getting defensive and saying that there is not a report stating why my daughter did not get in and she agrees the application is good and I should reapply next year. She said no need to retake any of the tests and gave me a few examples of how the commentary could be more specific for my daughter and that was that.

At the end of the conversation I felt completely irritated because I had no real answer except for the commentary which is one aspect out of an otherwise solid application.

I think that when they are considering whether or not a child has been prepped, the commentary on the GBRS is an important data point when it does not back up the test scores strongly enough. It is not unusual for very bright kids to be quiet, so that should not be an issue. Usually, teachers can see kids showing certain behaviors regardless of how talkative they are. For example, a quiet child might have his head buried in a book whenever he can and the teacher sees the advanced level of the books he likes to read and how much he enjoys reading.

Also, sadly, it is possible to prep for the WISC, so it is not unheard of for kids to get high scores on the WISC because of prepping.

Will you transfer your child to public school and reapply?

At this point, for 3rd grade, I will not transfer her to public school. I am a little jaded right now. That being said I will have to transfer to Public school at some point because I cannot continue to afford private school and I personally went to public school. I don't think it really matters at the end of the day if you went to public or private or were in a Gifted program or not. I was in public, my brother was in public in GT, most friends of mine were in Private and we are all doing incredibly well and are very blessed. I really think it depends on your child and as a parent what you put in to them. Making sure your children understand the importance or academics as well as hard work. I believe that God must have a different plan for my daughter right now and in that sense I know it will be ok.
However the principle of the AAP program is where my issue lies and I feel like she should and needs to be in that program and as a parent it is my duty to advocate for her and am feeling frustrated with not getting helpful answers or being told it is not based on one criteria and then being told there is only one criteria that could have been the reason for her not getting in ( which I don't believe by the way). My other issue is that I emphasize to my kids that as long as you work hard and do well, things should work in a certain way and I am not ready to introduce them to the reality that although she works hard, gets A's, scores well and has High IQ, she is in a race that is known to have high scores or because she was in a private school or whatever other reason, she was discriminated against.

I'm not sure if you saw the bolded paragraph, but I do think that could be a big part of this. The GBRS contains observations of daily behaviors over weeks and months, as opposed to a test which is one day. The GBRS is many data points not just one, so the FCPS rep you spoke to was referring to an aspect of the application that covers many days worth of information about a child, not just one.

[Anonymous]

Op here

I tried calling the coordinator as in the first call did not give any answer about rejection with Wisc score

Haven’t spoken to her yet

I am thinking of asking her whom should I reach out if I want the application to be looked at again. If the reasons are arbitrary like work samples and commentary then we will keep seeing cases like us

After the pp mentioned about commentary I went and checked the same in our application . His teacher has not given samples either