Why do parents get so worked up about prepping their kid to get into AAP?

[Anonymous]

Just worry about your own kid. Do what’s best. Complaining will not stop the next person from prepping.

[Anonymous]

Agree

[Anonymous]

Because everyone else is disadvantaged if some prep and others do the tests as intended (not prepped).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because everyone else is disadvantaged if some prep and others do the tests as intended (not prepped).

How is anyone disadvantaged. There is not a limited number of seats in AAP.

Also, how is it different from prepping for the SAT/ACT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because everyone else is disadvantaged if some prep and others do the tests as intended (not prepped).

Then why don't those parents who feel disadvantaged prep their child?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because everyone else is disadvantaged if some prep and others do the tests as intended (not prepped).

How is anyone disadvantaged. There is not a limited number of seats in AAP.

Also, how is it different from prepping for the SAT/ACT.

Agree that there is no limit on numbers of students in AAP, but the nature of the program necessarily changes when it doesn't consist entirely of kids who learn very quickly and easily. So the kids whose needs are truly not met in the regular classroom don't get what they need.

Also, the SAT/ACT and the AAP tests have different purposes and goals.

[Anonymous]

I agree that complaining will not stop people from prepping, and at this point, if you think your kid belongs in AAP, you might as well seize every advantage that you can.

But, having so many kids prep their way into AAP can at least somewhat hurt the kids who don't prep as well as the school system as a whole. Here are a few ways:

-Kids who legitimately earn a 96th or 97th percentile score now look much worse in comparison to their peers who would have earned lower scores but prepped their way into higher scores. So, they are more likely to be rejected, even though they technically are smarter and better candidates than the preppers who got in.

-If disproportionately many 90-98th percentile kids prep their way to higher scores and get in, then the few 90-98th percentile kids who don't get in end up becoming outliers and having little peer group in gen ed.

-The truly gifted kids end up with an overly inclusive program that has been watered down by such a glut of non gifted kids. So, AAP no longer serves the population it was designed to serve.

At this point, though, it's a systematic problem. If FCPS has a problem with the prepping, then it's something they and the AAP committee will need to solve. It's ludicrous to expect that parents won't try to do whatever they can to get their children into better academic programs. If they do nothing at all to solve the prepping, then parents should take that as tacit permission to prep.

[Anonymous]

I really wish they would also use academic scores to see who qualifies because the program is called Advanced ACADEMIC Program. It isn't the prepped kids who slow down the program it is the kids who are academically at or even below grade level! My kid gets so annoyed when the teacher has to explain again or slow down the lesson so some kids can understand. I don't care what a kid's IQ is if they aren't at least 2 years above grade level in reading and math. If a kid isn't they can easily fit into a regular class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really wish they would also use academic scores to see who qualifies because the program is called Advanced ACADEMIC Program. It isn't the prepped kids who slow down the program it is the kids who are academically at or even below grade level! My kid gets so annoyed when the teacher has to explain again or slow down the lesson so some kids can understand. I don't care what a kid's IQ is if they aren't at least 2 years above grade level in reading and math. If a kid isn't they can easily fit into a regular class.

Many academically gifted children learn in a different way than neuro typical children, so grade level doesn't give a full picture of what a child's needs are.

The gifted kid will usually grasp and understand new concepts quickly and easily. It is more likely the child who might be on the border for the program who might need repetition of explanations and a slower pace in general. That child would probably find the regular classroom a better fit for his/her learning style.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that complaining will not stop people from prepping, and at this point, if you think your kid belongs in AAP, you might as well seize every advantage that you can.

But, having so many kids prep their way into AAP can at least somewhat hurt the kids who don't prep as well as the school system as a whole. Here are a few ways:

-Kids who legitimately earn a 96th or 97th percentile score now look much worse in comparison to their peers who would have earned lower scores but prepped their way into higher scores. So, they are more likely to be rejected, even though they technically are smarter and better candidates than the preppers who got in.

-If disproportionately many 90-98th percentile kids prep their way to higher scores and get in, then the few 90-98th percentile kids who don't get in end up becoming outliers and having little peer group in gen ed.

-The truly gifted kids end up with an overly inclusive program that has been watered down by such a glut of non gifted kids. So, AAP no longer serves the population it was designed to serve.

At this point, though, it's a systematic problem. If FCPS has a problem with the prepping, then it's something they and the AAP committee will need to solve. It's ludicrous to expect that parents won't try to do whatever they can to get their children into better academic programs. If they do nothing at all to solve the prepping, then parents should take that as tacit permission to prep.

+1

[Anonymous]

Because none of us respect you or your kid if the playing field isn't level.

[Anonymous]

Everybody would have something to gain if FCPS has a system where no one can prep into AAP so that you can preserve the quality of the program and accept only those kids who really need the services as originally designed. This prepping issue will never go away unless FCPS addresses this. Obviously looking at everything else besides test scores such as GBRS work examples is helping to solve the problem.

[Anonymous]

Why can't they just use SOL scores?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everybody would have something to gain if FCPS has a system where no one can prep into AAP so that you can preserve the quality of the program and accept only those kids who really need the services as originally designed. This prepping issue will never go away unless FCPS addresses this. Obviously looking at everything else besides test scores such as GBRS work examples is helping to solve the problem.

Maybe FCPS needs to develop a test that they keep completely under wraps, like MCPS. It would be much harder to prep if people didn't know what kinds of questions to expect. I disagree with your last point. Emphasizing GBRS just leads to a lot of affluent, overly-hothoused, high achievers with scores around 120 getting into AAP.

Math seems to be the area that is really shortchanged with the current AAP model. So many people on dcum complain that the AAP math is really fast, but for a child who is actually gifted in math, it's agonizingly slow. It would help to have a math curriculum designed for kids who are gifted, rather than one designed for the run of the mill, bright, slightly advanced kids in AAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why can't they just use SOL scores?

On this forum, a lot of people view SOL scores as completely meaningless. At least when they came out last summer, people went through some elaborate mental gymnastics to explain why gen ed kids with nearly perfect scores on both SOLs still don't deserve advanced programming, but their kids with mid 400 scores still need AAP and clearly belong there.