Please stop asking me if my child got into AAP...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: Really, just one high score (VCI at 99%)? All the other Wisc scores were high avg/avg but overall l was very superior (mid 90s percentile and GAI 132, but psychologist would not report it on the results). So a much lower FSIQ than I see people posting here. And GBRS was really bad.

I appreciate all the input here. The issue is both (1) my own disappointment given the strange discrepancy with scores/performance and (2) the other parents being so nosy.

Yes, just one very high score can be enough. Having the verbal high is great. From reading these boards, I think that verbal is the score most strongly considered. There seems to be research to back this up. See for example the link below. GAI of 132 is great. It doesn't matter that the psychologist (possibly Dr. Dahlgren?) would not report the GAI on the results. The selection committee is experienced with WISC scores and will know how to interpret the subscores. They may even take the lower working memory and processing speed into account as playing into the lower CogAT and NNAT (though not so low from what you said) and the less than stellar GBRS.

http://www.gifteddevelopment.com/About_GDC/whoaregiftd.htm

I have read other information on gifted identification that also supports identification based on only one subscore, but I can't seem to quickly find a link at the moment -- sorry. I think the general philosophy is to err on the side of inclusiveness and to nurture potential. Even with CogAT scores, most years kids have been in pool if they had one subscore that met the threshhold.

One caution based on experience that if your child is not a good test taker for whatever mysterious reason, that can carry over to the AAP experience. Getting into the program is just the beginning. I have a DC who is not a good test taker, and I've seen that as you get to third grade and beyond, test scores (SOL and others) are a huge focus. Do others agree? It can be discouraging to always have the issue of test scores hanging over you. The creative projects, writing, and the like don't seem to matter as much as the scores.

Who, exactly, comprises "the selection committee"? I never hear any names and it's all very mysterious.

You'll never get names, that's not how bureaucracies work. If they came out of the dark, then there could be accountability, can't have that.

You can't even get simple math. (i.e. acceptance rate, as simple as # files reviewed / # accepted.)

You can get volumes of process and policy documents that don't say anything though if that helps.....

Saw this on another thread so copying it here -- numbers of students screened and found eligible.

http://www.fcps.edu/schlbd/docs/sb%20follow%20up%20responses/fy%202014/SBfollow-up14-2-3-4.pdf

[Anonymous]

Actually surprised to see that TJ is AP so what's the reason for IB?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually surprised to see that TJ is AP so what's the reason for IB?

Not everyone wants a STEM or STEAM track.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually surprised to see that TJ is AP so what's the reason for IB?

It was trendy in the 90s, so FCPS stuck it in mostly lower-performing schools thinking higher-income families might be more likely to stay if they thought the IB program was a "school within a school."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually surprised to see that TJ is AP so what's the reason for IB?

It was trendy in the 90s, so FCPS stuck it in mostly lower-performing schools thinking higher-income families might be more likely to stay if they thought the IB program was a "school within a school."

Isn't that wonderful. For god's sake! They need to get rid of that stupid program and bring back AP across the board.

[Anonymous]

TJ is all Honors, AP, and post-AP for all academic classes, including humanities classes. It's much more than just a STEM school.

[Anonymous]

Advanced Placement (AP) is not STEM specific.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually surprised to see that TJ is AP so what's the reason for IB?

It was trendy in the 90s, so FCPS stuck it in mostly lower-performing schools thinking higher-income families might be more likely to stay if they thought the IB program was a "school within a school."

Isn't that wonderful. For god's sake! They need to get rid of that stupid program and bring back AP across the board.

IB was introduced at schools in FCPS between 1994 and 2001: Mount Vernon (1994), Stuart (1994), Marshall (1997), Edison (1998), Robinson (1998), South Lakes (1999), Annandale (2001), Lee (2001). The enthusiasm for new IB schools then began to wane. There hasn't been a new IB school in FCPS for over a decade, and the high schools built since the mid-90s (Westfield and South County) are both AP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually surprised to see that TJ is AP so what's the reason for IB?

It was trendy in the 90s, so FCPS stuck it in mostly lower-performing schools thinking higher-income families might be more likely to stay if they thought the IB program was a "school within a school."

Isn't that wonderful. For god's sake! They need to get rid of that stupid program and bring back AP across the board.

+1000, especially since if your base school is IB and you pupil place to AP no transportation is provided. That can mean some kids really don't for all practical purposes have access to AP.

[Anonymous]

IB is better than AP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IB is better than AP.

None of the top high schools in FCPS has or wants IB. The turning point was when FCPS tried to replace AP with IB at Woodson High and parents objected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IB is better than AP.

None of the top high schools in FCPS has or wants IB. The turning point was when FCPS tried to replace AP with IB at Woodson High and parents objected.

My niece did IB (not in FCPS) and on her college visits, she got a very positive reception for it. The colleges acknowledged that it is harder than AP and required more of a commitment. They seemed to have a lot of respect for the students who complete the whole diploma program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IB is better than AP.

None of the top high schools in FCPS has or wants IB. The turning point was when FCPS tried to replace AP with IB at Woodson High and parents objected.

My niece did IB (not in FCPS) and on her college visits, she got a very positive reception for it. The colleges acknowledged that it is harder than AP and required more of a commitment. They seemed to have a lot of respect for the students who complete the whole diploma program.[/quote]

My son had the same experience with colleges impressed by the rigor and the amount of critical thinking and writing the students have done. Not to mention his transition to college work was a breeze. People should take care before they dismiss a program they don't understand. I know students who have gotten top scores on AP tests for courses they haven't taken and simply studied a prep-book for. That could never happen in IB. Much more to it than passing a multiple choice test.

[Anonymous]

Some school districts that adopt IB didn't have AP previously, so it may be an improvement over their prior course offerings. If IB is the most challenging program available at a school, that's what admissions officers will want to see students take.

If IB gave students a leg up over AP, however, you'd see more affluent parents demanding it in their schools. But it doesn't, and they don't. In FCPS, the top schools - TJ, Langley, McLean, Madison, Woodson and Oakton - are all IB. Highly-ranked Lake Braddock and West Springfield are also IB. When FCPS redistricted parents from Madison and Oakton, AP schools, to South Lakes, an IB school, a few years ago, the parents were furious and quite a few sold their homes and moved to avoid IB. But when FCPS redistricted students from Annandale, an IB school, to Lake Braddock and Woodson, both AP schools, most parents were pleased, and any opposition was muted. In MCPS, the top schools - Whitman, Churchill, Wootton, Walter Johnson and Poolesville - are all AP as well.

Those are more telling statistics than an anecdote or two from an individual parent, as it reflects the collective preferences of the region's most affluent, best-educated parents. Those parents generally pay the most attention to their children's education and college admissions. When parents at TJ, Langley and Whitman start to demand IB, that might demonstrate that IB is an equally good or better option. That simply has not happened. For now, AP remains the preferred option, because of its greater flexibility and more substantive content, compared to IB's one-size-fits-all, essay-heavy approach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Some school districts that adopt IB didn't have AP previously, so it may be an improvement over their prior course offerings. If IB is the most challenging program available at a school, that's what admissions officers will want to see students take.

If IB gave students a leg up over AP, however, you'd see more affluent parents demanding it in their schools. But it doesn't, and they don't. In FCPS, the top schools - TJ, Langley, McLean, Madison, Woodson and Oakton - are all IB. Highly-ranked Lake Braddock and West Springfield are also IB. When FCPS redistricted parents from Madison and Oakton, AP schools, to South Lakes, an IB school, a few years ago, the parents were furious and quite a few sold their homes and moved to avoid IB. But when FCPS redistricted students from Annandale, an IB school, to Lake Braddock and Woodson, both AP schools, most parents were pleased, and any opposition was muted. In MCPS, the top schools - Whitman, Churchill, Wootton, Walter Johnson and Poolesville - are all AP as well.

Those are more telling statistics than an anecdote or two from an individual parent, as it reflects the collective preferences of the region's most affluent, best-educated parents. Those parents generally pay the most attention to their children's education and college admissions. When parents at TJ, Langley and Whitman start to demand IB, that might demonstrate that IB is an equally good or better option. That simply has not happened. For now, AP remains the preferred option, because of its greater flexibility and more substantive content, compared to IB's one-size-fits-all, essay-heavy approach.

Top schools in FCPS are all AP.