What's your impression of gifted/talented services in Arlington elementary schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:200 - 300 kids designated as gifted at one middle school? That's ridculous. If that's true, APS needs to re-define "gifted." That's about 1/4-1/3 of that school's population. When I was a kid, we had about 6-10 kids in our entire elementary school designated as gifted, and it was a school on Long Island with a similar demographic to North Arlington with about 700 kids K-6. (We were pulled out for 1/2 day once a week and bused to a center for district-wide services.)

My sense is that gifted = high achieving in Arlington. If you actually administered a full IQ test, I suspect most would not score above the 130 threshold.

Well this is most definitely a description of the AAP program in FCPS. Absolutely no longer a "gifted" program.

[Anonymous]

How are the children classified as "gifted"?

We tested our child (privately) because we were concerned with his (poor) reading achievement. Turns out he is dyslexic, but superior verbal skills and IQ, and tested 4 grade levels above his current grade level in math (in 2nd and tested beyond 6th grade). I know he is bored with the current math in school, but the teacher treats him like an idiot because of the reading deficit.

There are SEVEN students in my child's class in the GT program for math. My child is NOT one of them. The program seems like BS to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:200 - 300 kids designated as gifted at one middle school? That's ridculous. If that's true, APS needs to re-define "gifted." That's about 1/4-1/3 of that school's population. When I was a kid, we had about 6-10 kids in our entire elementary school designated as gifted, and it was a school on Long Island with a similar demographic to North Arlington with about 700 kids K-6. (We were pulled out for 1/2 day once a week and bused to a center for district-wide services.)

My sense is that gifted = high achieving in Arlington. If you actually administered a full IQ test, I suspect most would not score above the 130 threshold.

Well this is most definitely a description of the AAP program in FCPS. Absolutely no longer a "gifted" program.

Yes indeed, as your opinion is the sole determinant of what is a "gifted" program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Williamsburg MS used to try to group the gifted kids in the same core subject classes, but maybe the school has gotten too big to do that anymore. My child went through Arlington elementary and middle schools from K-8 and then went to TJ for high school. He was identified gifted in all the core subjects, and had various amounts (from none to a great deal) of differentiated instruction over the years, depending on the teachers and the gifted resource teacher. When he got TJ, he was not at any disadvantage compared to the Fairfax Co. kids who'd been in AAP since elementary school. So I don't know if gifted instruction really makes a difference.

The teachers at TJ say they can see a difference in the students from western Fairfax County vs. others, as the students from the western part of Fairfax County are far better prepared than the other students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am not the OP, but I am interested in the bolded part above. The gifted resource teacher at my sons' school said that Swanson does differentiate in middle school. She had a name for it, but I can't remember what it was. It sounded to me like it was a full program that was almost like tracking in that if your student was labeled as gifted they would go through middle school with other kids who were also gifted. She said that is also trickling down to the elementary school level where the gifted students would be put in classes together as well. I know Arlington's gifted program is subject specific so I am not sure how that would all work, but she thought it was important that my son was identified by the time he got to middle school for this reason (he's in 4th now).


This resource teacher is lying. There is no such program in APS middle schools. There are different levels of math only. In every other subject, students are designated as gifted, but get nothing for it, except that the classroom teacher is aware of it, and will try their best to offer enrichment to those students in a regular classroom. There is one GT resource teacher per middle school. Think about that: one person is supposed to provide a full program to some 200-300 designated kids in each middle school? Not.


I really don't think she was lying as she has nothing to gain from doing that. In a way, putting those kids together in one class would make it easier for the gifted teacher - she could hit them all in one full swoop. It was surprising for me to hear her say that, but she said our school is moving that way, and I know of another N. Arlington elementaries where they are doing the same thing.

Is your child in the gifted program and are they are Swanson?

Yes, she does have something to gain by lying, which is to create a public perception that there is a viable gifted program in Arlington middle schools. And your suggestion that it is easier to put them in one class for her is ridiculous--gifted teachers in middle schools do not actually teach classes or pull students out, they come into classes and help the general ed teacher. Even the gifted math classes are taught by general ed teachers, not by the gifted resource teacher.

I completely disagree with you. If you have an entire class of gifted students, the general ed teacher along with the gifted teacher is going to be able to do different types of activities in that class. They could do a whole class activity that used more higher order thinking skills, or some other type of "gifted" activity. It would also allow the gifted teacher to just come into one class rather than trying to split her time to work with 4-5 students in 4-5 classes. It is easier for the general ed teacher, too, if all of her students are working at a similar level. I am not saying this is PC or something that schools would admit to doing because it is tracking, but it does make sense to me. And as a PP stated, it is something that Williamsburg does or used to do so it is not ridiculous at all.

Our Arlington school experimented with "clustering" this year. Most of the gifted kids in my kid's grade were put into one classroom -- regrettably with a teacher who was ill-equipped w/r/t teaching style to deal with them. Very rigid, discourages questions, discourages interests in more advanced topics, seems to believe teaching is all about keeping kids quiet in the classroom. Meanwhile, our "gifted resource teacher" is similarly regimented in her teaching. Materials taught in pull-outs are pretty much the same as what the general ed teacher is teaching. Maybe Fairfax County has the right idea -- one would hope that the gifted centers there actually have teachers who know something about gifted pedagogy.

Yes, that doesn't really seem to make sense. Sorry that happened. But I do think if the general ed and gifted resource teacher are properly trained, willing to work with gifted students and their different way of learning, and work well together (as a teacher myself, I think this is one of the most important things), it could work and be beneficial to all kids. It would obviously be something that would take a few years and would rely on stability of these teachers staying at the school and working with the students to figure out what they need and what lessons work best.

[Anonymous]

What do you consider "western Fairfax County"? I have a hard time believing kids from Longfellow are not adequately prepared for TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How are the children classified as "gifted"?

We tested our child (privately) because we were concerned with his (poor) reading achievement. Turns out he is dyslexic, but superior verbal skills and IQ, and tested 4 grade levels above his current grade level in math (in 2nd and tested beyond 6th grade). I know he is bored with the current math in school, but the teacher treats him like an idiot because of the reading deficit.

There are SEVEN students in my child's class in the GT program for math. My child is NOT one of them. The program seems like BS to me.

I hear you PP - I'm also the parent of a dyslexic but high IQ child. (Before the dyslexia was diagnosed we had him seeing a therapist for his anxiety issues, the therapist called the 1st grade teacher to say "you know, I think he's 2e - learning disability and gifted" the teacher said "no, he's just not that smart." Thanks lady. IQ test the next year put him over 160. Smarter than that teacher, even if he couldn't read Hop on Pop at the start of second grade...)

Anyway, I digress. We've looked into gifted services at our school a few times and have finally decided it's not the right fit for him. He had to be pulled out for two years for reading and writing help with the SpEd teacher, we didn't want him pulled out any more than that because we wanted him to be in the classroom some. The next two years he hasn't had any pull out services for the dyslexia, but he adamantly wants to stay in the classroom. Given his slower speed when writing, I also don't want him to feel any more out of synch than he already does. That said, when I asked the gifted teacher about work for him a few years ago related to math/science/social studies, she told me that it wouldn't be good for him because he really needed to be able to read and write better to keep up with the other kids.

Thanks lady. He can read much better now, but I'm not interested in whatever minimal bonus she seems to provide and her poor attitude towards 2e kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How are the children classified as "gifted"?

We tested our child (privately) because we were concerned with his (poor) reading achievement. Turns out he is dyslexic, but superior verbal skills and IQ, and tested 4 grade levels above his current grade level in math (in 2nd and tested beyond 6th grade). I know he is bored with the current math in school, but the teacher treats him like an idiot because of the reading deficit.

There are SEVEN students in my child's class in the GT program for math. My child is NOT one of them. The program seems like BS to me.

I hear you PP - I'm also the parent of a dyslexic but high IQ child. (Before the dyslexia was diagnosed we had him seeing a therapist for his anxiety issues, the therapist called the 1st grade teacher to say "you know, I think he's 2e - learning disability and gifted" the teacher said "no, he's just not that smart." Thanks lady. IQ test the next year put him over 160. Smarter than that teacher, even if he couldn't read Hop on Pop at the start of second grade...)

Anyway, I digress. We've looked into gifted services at our school a few times and have finally decided it's not the right fit for him. He had to be pulled out for two years for reading and writing help with the SpEd teacher, we didn't want him pulled out any more than that because we wanted him to be in the classroom some. The next two years he hasn't had any pull out services for the dyslexia, but he adamantly wants to stay in the classroom. Given his slower speed when writing, I also don't want him to feel any more out of synch than he already does. That said, when I asked the gifted teacher about work for him a few years ago related to math/science/social studies, she told me that it wouldn't be good for him because he really needed to be able to read and write better to keep up with the other kids.

Thanks lady. He can read much better now, but I'm not interested in whatever minimal bonus she seems to provide and her poor attitude towards 2e kids.

I hear you! Our son tested at 160 IQ and his APS school said that didn't qualify him for gifted services. Some teachers get him, and others just don't. I think Aps does its student a disservice with the poor identification process. I've found half a dozen other parents with similar stories. Keep tutoring your son at home! The county is not going to do its job, but you can be a huge resource for him. And when you finally have enough of it, you can go the IEP route. They listen up then.

[Anonymous]

We went through the whole process for "Gifted" 3 times. His teachers kept recommending him almost every year. Finally he gets a yes and it means absolutely nothing. I had to self place him in an appropriate math for middle school based on my gut. Thank God I did, because he ended up being a real star in math. Fast forward to his junior year and he has scored perfect scores on SAT and ACT for math. The point is that if I had relied on where they were going to place him, he would have missed a year of math. Trust your instincts where your kid is concerned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We went through the whole process for "Gifted" 3 times. His teachers kept recommending him almost every year. Finally he gets a yes and it means absolutely nothing. I had to self place him in an appropriate math for middle school based on my gut. Thank God I did, because he ended up being a real star in math. Fast forward to his junior year and he has scored perfect scores on SAT and ACT for math. The point is that if I had relied on where they were going to place him, he would have missed a year of math. Trust your instincts where your kid is concerned.

Nice to hear. You sound like a class act and a great mom. Good for you, and great for your son!