Fairfax County GT/AAP Appeals.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the input about how GBRS is done. What tells me is that all of the people involved have been wrong not only his teacher. Therefore a "committee" of varying skill set has ruined it for him then!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child scored >99.9% very superior with FSIQ of 152 in WISC IV. His GBRS is low at 10. what are chances on appeal?

Overall, he gets bored in the regular class and gets annoyed by repeating subjects. I want him to excel and get out of the boredom mode, I am afraid his teacher has ruined it for him though with the low GBRS ratings!

His one teacher didn't ruin it for him. The GBRS is developed through a committee including the AART, the teacher, an administrator and possibly another teacher all looking at work samples, asking a lot of questions and sharing observations. I've sat on several of these committees. They're pretty intense, and I can assure you that it's not the teacher just sitting there spitting out a number.

Does the GBRS committee look at the parent-submitted materials or only those from the school?

[Anonymous]

Yes, the committee looks at what the parent submitted.

[Anonymous]

Thanks! I'm happy to hear they look at it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child scored >99.9% very superior with FSIQ of 152 in WISC IV. His GBRS is low at 10. what are chances on appeal?

Overall, he gets bored in the regular class and gets annoyed by repeating subjects. I want him to excel and get out of the boredom mode, I am afraid his teacher has ruined it for him though with the low GBRS ratings!

His one teacher didn't ruin it for him. The GBRS is developed through a committee including the AART, the teacher, an administrator and possibly another teacher all looking at work samples, asking a lot of questions and sharing observations. I've sat on several of these committees. They're pretty intense, and I can assure you that it's not the teacher just sitting there spitting out a number.

I am fascinated that we have a person with real knowlegdge of the GBRS process on our thread. Are you at liberty to share anything else about how the subnumbers as assigned? What kinds of questions do they ask? What kinds of observations are they making? Anything at all that you are able to share would be greatly appreciated by all. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

This is the GBRS form that is used and available on the FCPS website. Nothing secretive or special that the committee does with it other than spend time talking through each of the 4 sections in depth and asking each other questions. We go through all the indicators and present possible examples that illustrate frequency of that behavior. In all the committees I have sat on in several schools, the child is always presented in the strongest possible light, and we really try to give as many examples as possible to support the frequency rating.

The bottom line is that school staff are rating the frequency of what they see in the academic setting. As a parent I know that what I see at home is different than what my kid presents at school. Parents don't sit in the classroom 7 hours a day and observe their child. I can see why parents might be frustrated or not understand why the committee gave a GBRS rating lower than what their perception is. Also, parents need to know that there are 4 areas that are rated. Your child may consistently show behaviors in one area, and it's obvious to everyone both at home and at school. But in the other 3 areas, your child may not be as consistent. That one area of strength does not trump everything else. For example, the scores could be 4, 1, 2, 2 which comes out to a 9.

http://www.fcps.edu/is/aap/packet/Fillable_AAPGBRSwithCommentary.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, the committee looks at what the parent submitted.

I have to assume someone from the AAP program is reading these threads and answering these questions in such an authoritative manner.
Otherwise it's just a parent-gadfly whose assertions are entitled to zero credibilty.

[Anonymous]

Liked it! True!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child scored >99.9% very superior with FSIQ of 152 in WISC IV. His GBRS is low at 10. what are chances on appeal?

Overall, he gets bored in the regular class and gets annoyed by repeating subjects. I want him to excel and get out of the boredom mode, I am afraid his teacher has ruined it for him though with the low GBRS ratings!

His one teacher didn't ruin it for him. The GBRS is developed through a committee including the AART, the teacher, an administrator and possibly another teacher all looking at work samples, asking a lot of questions and sharing observations. I've sat on several of these committees. They're pretty intense, and I can assure you that it's not the teacher just sitting there spitting out a number.

So how do you explain then such low GBRS numbers for kids who get exceptionally high test scores? I cannot imagine that a child who gets a score of 99.99% in WISC doesn't show anything of his/her obviously exceptional mind in the classroom! And even if that's the case (highly doubtful), it's clearly a failure of the teacher (and the committee) and the school that they were not able to pull out of these kids the exceptional skills that they obviously possess. Who's to blame for these kids not making it to AAP where they clearly belong? The 7-year old kid who may be bored or distracted in the classroom or the several teachers who are trained to bring out the best in their students and their mission is to cultivate their minds and abilities?

And to answer in advance comments like "the teacher/committee in most cases doesn't know the WISC scores until after the AAP selection process is completed", please remember that most of these kids also have great NNAT and/or FxAT scores. So, how many kids in a classroom make it into the pool to begin with based on scores? 3, 4, 5 out of 25? Let's start from there, and see how come and these kids don't show anything special in the classroom, before we reach the point of assigning them an 8 or a 9 (or even worse) in GBRS.

I thought that GBRSs were included as an additional safety check so that deserving kids who for whatever reason did not do well in the tests do not fall through the cracks. Not the other way around (i.e. to be used for the elimination of kids who were clearly identified as exceptional by the appropriate tests but failed to impress their teachers).

[Anonymous]

>>to be used for the elimination of kids who were clearly identified as exceptional by the appropriate tests but failed to impress their teachers

The central screening committee is not looking to keep kids out of AAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:>>to be used for the elimination of kids who were clearly identified as exceptional by the appropriate tests but failed to impress their teachers

The central screening committee is not looking to keep kids out of AAP.

if you've seen an AAP classroom this is obviously true.

[Anonymous]

So how do you explain then such low GBRS numbers for kids who get exceptionally high test scores?

Here's the answer to your question, from an above post:

Anonymous wrote:This is the GBRS form that is used and available on the FCPS website. Nothing secretive or special that the committee does with it other than spend time talking through each of the 4 sections in depth and asking each other questions. We go through all the indicators and present possible examples that illustrate frequency of that behavior. In all the committees I have sat on in several schools, the child is always presented in the strongest possible light, and we really try to give as many examples as possible to support the frequency rating.

The bottom line is that school staff are rating the frequency of what they see in the academic setting. As a parent I know that what I see at home is different than what my kid presents at school. Parents don't sit in the classroom 7 hours a day and observe their child. I can see why parents might be frustrated or not understand why the committee gave a GBRS rating lower than what their perception is. Also, parents need to know that there are 4 areas that are rated. Your child may consistently show behaviors in one area, and it's obvious to everyone both at home and at school. But in the other 3 areas, your child may not be as consistent. That one area of strength does not trump everything else. For example, the scores could be 4, 1, 2, 2 which comes out to a 9.

http://www.fcps.edu/is/aap/packet/Fillable_AAPGBRSwithCommentary.pdf

To be fair, a child who is extensively prepped (i.e., classes after school, weekends, summers, or working with "sample" tests at home) could produce high test scores but not exhibit gifted behaviors at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, the committee looks at what the parent submitted.

I have to assume someone from the AAP program is reading these threads and answering these questions in such an authoritative manner.
Otherwise it's just a parent-gadfly whose assertions are entitled to zero credibilty.

The question that I asked, and that the poster responded to, was about the GBRS committee at the school. It was not about the central selection committee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, the committee looks at what the parent submitted.

I have to assume someone from the AAP program is reading these threads and answering these questions in such an authoritative manner.
Otherwise it's just a parent-gadfly whose assertions are entitled to zero credibilty.

The question that I asked, and that the poster responded to, was about the GBRS committee at the school. It was not about the central selection committee.

the point remains. Who answered the question? Someone who knows what he/she is talking about?

[Anonymous]

From what I have seen, the group assembling the GBRS does what they do with the information they have. If the child does not show creativity or giftedness in the class room, then it will not show up on the GBRS.

Alternatively, consider that some kids are prepped for the exam, score 30 pts higher than they would otherwise score. So when the GBRS is out of whack with the test scores, there may be an assumption of extreme prep, rather than giftendness.

Fortunately,the wisc on appeal will fix the problem.

This is the downside of test prep. How it hurts kids. Particularly introverted smart kids