How are GT decisions made at APS elementary schools?
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Anonymous
| Child scored really well on tests, but teacher seems lukewarm on recommending him. |
Anonymous
APS does GT by subject matter, not in a global way. also, in my experience, APS values what kids show over high scores -- achievement over aptitude. so, for example, if your kid's test score is high but he doesn't like writing/isn't writing complex stories independently, they likely won't place in in GT for language arts. |
Anonymous
| You can fill out a parent referral form and your child will be evaluated. If they are identified, the school has to offer from GT service in that area. Are you asking for ES? Unless it varies by school, you missed the cutoff of April 1. |
Anonymous
| got a letter from school and a form to fill and turn in if participating. there wasn't any subject matter specified though. |
Anonymous
| How does it work for K? We attended a school info session and the principal said they do testing in 2nd and 4th grade. In K and 1st does that just mean they scaffold curriculum based on demonstrated ability? DD is entering K, and while probably on point or slightly ahead in math, she is very advanced in reading including comprehension and vocabulary. I know she's not the only one or a precious snowflake, but she is ahead of the curve and hopefully won't be practicing basic phonics but instead given an opportunity to stretch. |
Anonymous
Look again at the letter. We just got ours for DD and there is a place to mark if the referral is for math and/or language arts. When we got it for DS he was referred for math only while DD is both math and language arts. |
Anonymous
Don't expect much in the beginning of K. The teacher needs to spend time evaluating the children and getting them acclimated to the new school, rules, expectations, etc. At some point, teacher will divide them into different reading/lit. center groups. It is extremely likely that your child will have reading peers in her class. Literact in K is much more than just reading. Even though some of that testing doesn't start until 2nd grade, a number of children were doing pull-outs in 1st grade. I heard the same story from my friends at other Arlington elementary schools. |
Anonymous
Yes, they put kids in different groups based on the level they are working at. At our APS school, DS was being pulled out by the gifted teacher for math starting in K or 1st (can't remember) without any formal identification, just based on teacher recommendation. However, that was possible because at the time we had a full-time gifted teacher. At least one year during ES our gifted teacher was reduced to part-time so she didn't have the time to do that. |
Anonymous
Our school tests for math, language arts and science all at the same time. They decided they would rather test for all than have the same kids referred year after year. Music and Art GT is separate, however. |
Anonymous
| our school is push in meaning it comes into the classroom depends on the school |
Anonymous
Agree with all of this--we have had two kids in APS elementary and both had both tracked groups and pull-out/push-in starting in K, regardless of formal "identification." The teachers want to get the materials at the right level for every kid and have a variety of supports (e.g., gifted resource teachers) to help get that. |
Anonymous
i looked, there's no such mark. perhaps his school was just lazy... |
Anonymous
My son was just referred in 4th based on his cogAT scores even though he has been working with the gifted teacher informally since last school year. At his school, they refer holistically for language arts, math and maybe science and social studies and then based on testing, teacher evaluations, etc, they narrow down the subjects for the services. He was also referred for Art and that was separate. |
Anonymous
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Do you have a loud mouth? That's how it works at our school. Pretty amusing to watch and definitely not the brightest bunch in the grade. Just the most annoying and obnoxious parents.
Many with the highest scores are not in it. They filled it in K/1st with the loud mouth's kids that were doing Kumon since 1. Now they don't have space for any new kids even if they are brighter. |
Anonymous
+1. Even if you win a spot, don't expect actual services to track your kid's abilities. |