Fairfax County Begins to Dumb Down Gifted (GT) Program to Support Diversity

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Of course there are no guarantees! But, their success in life will primarily be a result of parenting. What school they go is highly unlikely to make any difference - especially when there are sufficient educational opportunities at every single school in FCPS. Do you REALLY think that if your child doesn't get into the school of YOUR choice the child doomed to mediocrity? Do you really think the school makes that much of a difference? It doesn't.

Sorry, success in life is function of many variables - the family they born in (wealth and gene), parenting, education, luck, etc...

[Anonymous]

The concern is that the test is being "gamed." Practicing test questions over and over enables someone to do well on a test, but someone who does well on the test because of reading widely and being curious about many subjects is probably a better student. It is possible for a student without real aptitude to to learn how to take the test by taking practice tests over and over. They can get used to the questions and how they are asked and do well even if they haven't really learned the subject matter.

This is an important point with respect to minority applicants. Anecdotally we know a large numbers of Asian students whose parents were aware of advantages to tutoring prior to the testing and could afford it. The children do well and are admitted at a higher rate than their demographic representation.

Conversely, and I think this is the point that FCPS is trying to resolve, it is logical to assume that a representative portion of Hispanic and Black students, which are underrepresented in the AAP program, are equally bright and qualified, do not have parents who know how to get them the extra edge. I am not saying the Asian students are not smart, just that the extra prep work can make the difference on the edges thus creating a disproportionate Asian bulge that is seen currently in the classes. (Hence the large number of ads touting AAP test tutoring for 2nd graders in the local Asian/Korean papers)

[Anonymous]

15:17 -- The thing is that, to some degree, there is a correlation between intelligence and income. In addition, there is a genetic component to intelligence. Therefore, there should be a relationship between intelligence of the kids and income of the parents.

I suspect if we look at AAP, you would see a very strong correlation between AAP and family income.

Whether it is from prep, smarter kids, more emphasis on education is not known.

With that said, I believe we have a moral imperative to identify the smart/gifted children in economically disadvantaged situations.

[Anonymous]

Or maybe Asian students have higher average IQ.

The sources say Korea as a country has the highest average IQ.
There are high Korean population in the Fairfax area.

China is very high, too, and many Chinese population here.

Also, many Indians came from India to this area are relatiely upper class in India.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ_and_Global_Inequality

http://sq.4mg.com/NationIQ.htm

[Anonymous]

There is no reason to believe children who score lower on entrance tests will do equally in the classroom. If, as prior posters noted, certain children score higher because of involved parents and respect for the educational process, wouldn't this also translate into better performance in the classroom due to parents expecting and nurturing academic excellence. The changes have to first occur in the homes of the underrepresented students. Coming to the end of the process and admitting students who have not earned their place does a disservice to everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no reason to believe children who score lower on entrance tests will do equally in the classroom. If, as prior posters noted, certain children score higher because of involved parents and respect for the educational process, wouldn't this also translate into better performance in the classroom due to parents expecting and nurturing academic excellence. The changes have to first occur in the homes of the underrepresented students. Coming to the end of the process and admitting students who have not earned their place does a disservice to everyone.

Right on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:15:17 -- The thing is that, to some degree, there is a correlation between intelligence and income. In addition, there is a genetic component to intelligence. Therefore, there should be a relationship between intelligence of the kids and income of the parents.

I suspect if we look at AAP, you would see a very strong correlation between AAP and family income.

Whether it is from prep, smarter kids, more emphasis on education is not known.

With that said, I believe we have a moral imperative to identify the smart/gifted children in economically disadvantaged situations.

We have no such moral imperative. It is up to the parents, the teachers, the standardized tests (which have been made quite neutral), and the selection process. Fairfax County schools spend more per child than 95% of school districts and class sizes in low income areas are already lower than well to do areas to provide extra help to those students. Those who are qualified should be admitted, and those who are not should not. Teachers who recognize those children who are "diamonds in the rough" can push for them through high GBRS scores with grades and test scores saying the rest. As the thread topic says, the program is being dumbed down enough already.

[Anonymous]

So... High IQ + High Interest in education.

No wonder so many Asians in AAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Or maybe Asian students have higher average IQ.

The sources say Korea as a country has the highest average IQ.
There are high Korean population in the Fairfax area.

China is very high, too, and many Chinese population here.

Also, many Indians came from India to this area are relatiely upper class in India.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ_and_Global_Inequality

http://sq.4mg.com/NationIQ.htm

i bet they prep the IQ tests there too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or maybe Asian students have higher average IQ.

The sources say Korea as a country has the highest average IQ.
There are high Korean population in the Fairfax area.

China is very high, too, and many Chinese population here.

Also, many Indians came from India to this area are relatiely upper class in India.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ_and_Global_Inequality

http://sq.4mg.com/NationIQ.htm

i bet they prep the IQ tests there too!

It's funny... Koreans do all kinds of stuff, but prepping for IQ tests is one thing they never do in Korea.
Because result of IQ test is never used anywhere in Korea, and so that they don't waste time for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So... High IQ + High Interest in education.

No wonder so many Asians in AAP.

Keep it up. You may move Occupy TJHSST ahead of schedule a few months.

[Anonymous]

There are many minority kids in our children's AAP classes and they all seem to be doing fine academically. I have no idea what their scores were but they are bright and eager and doing well.