School Torpedoed GBRS

[Anonymous]

DD had good, but not great NNAT and CogAT Scores. 127 on both. Spoke to teacher and AART prior to referring and both were completely non-committal. They didn’t specifically encourage us to refer, but stated that DD certainly was capable of doing well in Level IV. Then bang. Out of the blue, I go and pick up a copy of the packet and see that they gave DD a GBRS of 11. I feel like this was done on purpose to have less smart kids leave the school and go to a center. Thoughts on whether this low GBRS will keep DD out? Thinking about having her sit for the WISC V.

[Anonymous]

I've seen WAY lower scores than that, including ones that got the kid into AAP. If they didn't enthusiastically encourage you to refer your dc, then perhaps they weren't enthusiastic about her, thus the disappointing rating.

I don't buy for a minute that they would falsely lower their rating of a child to keep smart kids who belong in AAP at their school.

[Anonymous]

Or maybe your kid isn't *that* amazing???

I don't know. My kid got an 11, but had higher scores on the tests... does that mean that they didn't like him b/c he *obviously* is smarter than an "11" would indicate?

BTW, he was in on the first round.

BTW#2 ... we didn't fill out the parent input form or submit anything, but if I had, I would have given him around a 7 (at most). So, I was actually surprised with the "11."

[Anonymous]

DS admitted with a 10, and his friend got in with a 6. Yes a 6. The friend had ADHD so had some issues, but was very smart. You can go ahead and get the WISC now. I submitted that with my original file for my 10 GBRS child. IQ above 140, teachers just didn't get him. Stay calm it's not as bad as you think.

[Anonymous]

11 is not low.

My son's second grade teacher brought up AAP to us and recommended that he be pulled out by the AART. She gave him a 6 GBRS. He was found eligible during the first round. I would not worry about it.

[Anonymous]

OP, have you ever actually read the gbrs form?

The gbrs addresses very specific traits and behaviors. 2-3 for each section would be a decent marking for a bright kid.

11 sounds like a very good number for a brighter than average kid, which is what your daughter sounds like based of your original post.

Nothing you wrote indicates that the teachers torpedoed your kid's scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD had good, but not great NNAT and CogAT Scores. 127 on both. Spoke to teacher and AART prior to referring and both were completely non-committal. They didn’t specifically encourage us to refer, but stated that DD certainly was capable of doing well in Level IV. Then bang. Out of the blue, I go and pick up a copy of the packet and see that they gave DD a GBRS of 11. I feel like this was done on purpose to have less smart kids leave the school and go to a center. Thoughts on whether this low GBRS will keep DD out? Thinking about having her sit for the WISC V.

This statement makes no sense whatsoever.

Are you implying that your kid scored higher than most of the kids with qualifying scores?

[Anonymous]

Schools use ratings to manage their enrollment numbers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Schools use ratings to manage their enrollment numbers.

No They do not.

If that were the case, then they would have used gbrs to decrease the number of kids who quakified for level IV in the giant, bloated current seventh grade class.

That year some schools sent over classes of students to AAP. Our school usually sent about 8-12 kids and that year sent over 30 kids.

If ever there was an opportunity to use gbrs to manage enrollment numbers, the current 7th grade is the one.

[Anonymous]

I don't think 11 is a bad GBRS.

[Anonymous]

We still can not have a copy of the aap package, AART said we only have copy after decision was made by committees.

[Anonymous]

A few years back, FCPS stated the average GBRS of center-eligible students was a 12.

An 11 is not low.

[Anonymous]

Response for original poster: Thank you all for the comments. This was actually helpful feedback. We don't think our DD is exceptional. Really, we would be fine having her not be in the AAP. We viewed all her scores as having her being on the border and weren't sure if a referral was a good or bad idea. We called the teachers to ask for advice, but feel like they really were not helpful. We had hoped that could provide a bit more guidance given that they certainly know the program, education system, etc. much better than us parents. Just trying to figure out what is best for her. As parents, we often second guess ourselves--it isn't easy. The school is making a very strong push to have all the kids who qualify stay at the school for local Level IV services rather than go to the center. That was my only point about why I think they might be artificially keeping ALL kids GBRS scores lower. Appreciate the sanity check though. Sometimes we see things that aren't really there when we have our parent goggles on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Response for original poster: Thank you all for the comments. This was actually helpful feedback. We don't think our DD is exceptional. Really, we would be fine having her not be in the AAP. We viewed all her scores as having her being on the border and weren't sure if a referral was a good or bad idea. We called the teachers to ask for advice, but feel like they really were not helpful. We had hoped that could provide a bit more guidance given that they certainly know the program, education system, etc. much better than us parents. Just trying to figure out what is best for her. As parents, we often second guess ourselves--it isn't easy. The school is making a very strong push to have all the kids who qualify stay at the school for local Level IV services rather than go to the center. That was my only point about why I think they might be artificially keeping ALL kids GBRS scores lower. Appreciate the sanity check though. Sometimes we see things that aren't really there when we have our parent goggles on.

You seem to be backpeddling a little bit now. Saying, "I feel like this was done on purpose to have less smart kids leave the school and go to a center" doesn't match with what you just said in bold. You seem to be thinking that kids who are less smart than your kid will get higher GBRS without deserving it, only so the school can ensure its best and brightest (aka: your kid) remains at the local level. The scores were borderline. The GBRS is actually pretty high considering the scores. I think you have less than a 50% chance but a chance, still.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Response for original poster: Thank you all for the comments. This was actually helpful feedback. We don't think our DD is exceptional. Really, we would be fine having her not be in the AAP. We viewed all her scores as having her being on the border and weren't sure if a referral was a good or bad idea. We called the teachers to ask for advice, but feel like they really were not helpful. We had hoped that could provide a bit more guidance given that they certainly know the program, education system, etc. much better than us parents. Just trying to figure out what is best for her. As parents, we often second guess ourselves--it isn't easy. The school is making a very strong push to have all the kids who qualify stay at the school for local Level IV services rather than go to the center. That was my only point about why I think they might be artificially keeping ALL kids GBRS scores lower. Appreciate the sanity check though. Sometimes we see things that aren't really there when we have our parent goggles on.

You seem to be backpeddling a little bit now. Saying, "I feel like this was done on purpose to have less smart kids leave the school and go to a center" doesn't match with what you just said in bold. You seem to be thinking that kids who are less smart than your kid will get higher GBRS without deserving it, only so the school can ensure its best and brightest (aka: your kid) remains at the local level. The scores were borderline. The GBRS is actually pretty high considering the scores. I think you have less than a 50% chance but a chance, still.

I think the OP meant that the school wanted *fewer* smart kids to leave the school for the center, not that the school wants to send kids to the center who are not as smart.

American English might not be the OP's first language since s/he refers to having the child "sit" for the WISC, a phrase not commonly used in the US.