Great - so no gate keeping. That’s not exactly in line with the earlier NFL comment, but ok. You shouldn’t base your entire opinion on that one book club for one class - that’s not representative of everything that is happening. There are extra book clubs, math groups, and projects. The difference now is that they are open to all kids who want to join, not just those who are tagged. And there is a lot more differentiation in middle school. |
I'm not basing my opinion on one book club. That's just one example. I'm basing my opinion on the fact my kids did a lot less sitting around waiting before APS decided that every activity had to be offered to every student. They used to get other things to do when they finished their work. Now the options are to read silently, do Lexia or do Dreambox. That's it and it stinks. |
Guess who isn’t dumbing down their curriculum so no one gets their feelings hurt?
Our foreign adversaries. |
Should we allow students to move on to 5th grade when they haven’t mastered 4th grade level content?
Seems like it, otherwise we are gatekeeeeeeping |
Again, you are drawing conclusions based on limited information. APS still offers differentiation. |
It’s highly dependent on your individual teacher and your AAC coach |
Yeah, via Lexia and Dreambox. That doesn’t count. |
I'm sharing my experience in APS with more than one student at more than one school. APS has greatly reduced what they offer to advanced/gifted students with the new AAC model. It's not a change for the better. |
Ok. But PP’s experiences aren’t universal. There are still book clubs, projects, etc. They are just more open about who joins them. |
Greatly reduced? It was never all that much in ES. If you want that for ES you go to FCPS. At the MS level, APS has been adding differentiation - intensified is new. |
They're just part of the normal curriculum now. They've been adjusted to be grade level work with grade level expectations. After you finish you have to read silently while you wait for others to finish. They are no longer something extra that helps to fill time when you finish grade level work early and they are no longer more challenging (e.g., harder books). |
Again, not universal. |
Name schools. |
ASFS |
Unsurprising. But its stupid to argue that APS's gifted model is fine because a handful of elementary schools that aren't doing what APS is telling them to do and have gone rogue, either based on parent pressure or a particular AAC/principal. I've heard at least one school is still doing gifted pull outs, which is absolutely not what APS is telling AACs to do. I know several parents who have gone around and around with our school's administration and AAC and they are completely dug in that they are doing exactly what APS has told them to offer, which is nothing that can't be offered to all students. |