Minorities almost never file the appeals that can help secure their admission to AAP

[Anonymous]

School system’s appeals process leaves some minorities out: Fairfax County's system exacerbates a problem plaguing gifted-and-talented programs across the nation: Black and Hispanic students almost never file the appeals that can secure their admission to advanced schools.


https://wtop.com/fairfax-county/2018/02/school-systems-appeals-process-leaves-some-minorities-out/slide/4/

[Anonymous]

^ I wonder whether there's a racial difference in the rate of parent referrals for kids who are close to the pool cutoff. What percent of white or asian parents complete a parent referral for these kids vs. the percent of black or hispanic parents who do so.

[Anonymous]

man, that article and photo caption are poorly-written

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ I wonder whether there's a racial difference in the rate of parent referrals for kids who are close to the pool cutoff. What percent of white or asian parents complete a parent referral for these kids vs. the percent of black or hispanic parents who do so.

I think for Hispanics there probably is a difference. Some have language barriers that make is hard for them to complete the packet. DC's best friend is Hispanic and her mom asked the AART multiple times for help and the AART basically told her that she can only help so much, and never really made time to help. I ended up helping with the packet. The other issue is level II service were offered automatically, so she assumed if her DC continued to do well, the teacher would recommend for level IV too. My experience is that many of these parents just don't fully understand the process. The scores coming out so close to the deadline doesn't help either because it leaves little time for them to ask around about what the scores mean. There's also a disparity with respect to some people prepping and others not prepping. These families are less likely to be in the know about test prep materials. I'm not saying prepping is bad or good. I'm just saying that there will be an increase in the disparity of those admitted if some groups prep and others don't.

[Anonymous]

Same article, a little better written - https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/why-are-black-and-hispanic-students-underrepresented-in-this-northern-virginia-gifted-program/2018/02/03/1c8cd98a-090f-11e8-b48c-b07fea957bd5_story.html?hpid=hp_local-news_fairfaxschools-645pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.c314ce92d520

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ I wonder whether there's a racial difference in the rate of parent referrals for kids who are close to the pool cutoff. What percent of white or asian parents complete a parent referral for these kids vs. the percent of black or hispanic parents who do so.

I think for Hispanics there probably is a difference. Some have language barriers that make is hard for them to complete the packet. DC's best friend is Hispanic and her mom asked the AART multiple times for help and the AART basically told her that she can only help so much, and never really made time to help. I ended up helping with the packet. The other issue is level II service were offered automatically, so she assumed if her DC continued to do well, the teacher would recommend for level IV too. My experience is that many of these parents just don't fully understand the process. The scores coming out so close to the deadline doesn't help either because it leaves little time for them to ask around about what the scores mean. There's also a disparity with respect to some people prepping and others not prepping. These families are less likely to be in the know about test prep materials. I'm not saying prepping is bad or good. I'm just saying that there will be an increase in the disparity of those admitted if some groups prep and others don't.

There may be a few AARTs who give assistance but many seem to have a policy not to.

[Anonymous]

Just raise the standards and tighten the appeals process to weed out the students who get prepped to death. Over 1700 successful appeals for 2nd graders who didn't make the first cut and are by definition borderline. That explains why the AAP centers are overwhelmed by bright, above-average children, who don't really need to be tracked, separated and stimulated at truly gifted levels. For the non-borderline students, it means they get stuck having to be educated like the masses of grinds rather than whole-child, socially, and developmentally appropriate enrichment that is typical of the best schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ I wonder whether there's a racial difference in the rate of parent referrals for kids who are close to the pool cutoff. What percent of white or asian parents complete a parent referral for these kids vs. the percent of black or hispanic parents who do so.

I think for Hispanics there probably is a difference. Some have language barriers that make is hard for them to complete the packet. DC's best friend is Hispanic and her mom asked the AART multiple times for help and the AART basically told her that she can only help so much, and never really made time to help. I ended up helping with the packet. The other issue is level II service were offered automatically, so she assumed if her DC continued to do well, the teacher would recommend for level IV too. My experience is that many of these parents just don't fully understand the process. The scores coming out so close to the deadline doesn't help either because it leaves little time for them to ask around about what the scores mean. There's also a disparity with respect to some people prepping and others not prepping. These families are less likely to be in the know about test prep materials. I'm not saying prepping is bad or good. I'm just saying that there will be an increase in the disparity of those admitted if some groups prep and others don't.

But is the packet really all that difficult to fill out? It's simply asking for a parent to write down some thoughts on their child.

As far as the cost of a WISC test, isn't the cost greatly reduced for low income families?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ I wonder whether there's a racial difference in the rate of parent referrals for kids who are close to the pool cutoff. What percent of white or asian parents complete a parent referral for these kids vs. the percent of black or hispanic parents who do so.

I think for Hispanics there probably is a difference. Some have language barriers that make is hard for them to complete the packet. DC's best friend is Hispanic and her mom asked the AART multiple times for help and the AART basically told her that she can only help so much, and never really made time to help. I ended up helping with the packet. The other issue is level II service were offered automatically, so she assumed if her DC continued to do well, the teacher would recommend for level IV too. My experience is that many of these parents just don't fully understand the process. The scores coming out so close to the deadline doesn't help either because it leaves little time for them to ask around about what the scores mean. There's also a disparity with respect to some people prepping and others not prepping. These families are less likely to be in the know about test prep materials. I'm not saying prepping is bad or good. I'm just saying that there will be an increase in the disparity of those admitted if some groups prep and others don't.

But is the packet really all that difficult to fill out? It's simply asking for a parent to write down some thoughts on their child.

As far as the cost of a WISC test, isn't the cost greatly reduced for low income families?

Do you think these families are not appealing because they are lazy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ I wonder whether there's a racial difference in the rate of parent referrals for kids who are close to the pool cutoff. What percent of white or asian parents complete a parent referral for these kids vs. the percent of black or hispanic parents who do so.

I think for Hispanics there probably is a difference. Some have language barriers that make is hard for them to complete the packet. DC's best friend is Hispanic and her mom asked the AART multiple times for help and the AART basically told her that she can only help so much, and never really made time to help. I ended up helping with the packet. The other issue is level II service were offered automatically, so she assumed if her DC continued to do well, the teacher would recommend for level IV too. My experience is that many of these parents just don't fully understand the process. The scores coming out so close to the deadline doesn't help either because it leaves little time for them to ask around about what the scores mean. There's also a disparity with respect to some people prepping and others not prepping. These families are less likely to be in the know about test prep materials. I'm not saying prepping is bad or good. I'm just saying that there will be an increase in the disparity of those admitted if some groups prep and others don't.

But is the packet really all that difficult to fill out? It's simply asking for a parent to write down some thoughts on their child.

As far as the cost of a WISC test, isn't the cost greatly reduced for low income families?

Do you think these families are not appealing because they are lazy?

No, not lazy, but maybe discouraged? Some thoughts: maybe the whole Center system could be a barrier. Sending a child to a non local neighborhood school could be an increased burden on lower resource families. Also, maybe having to drive a child to GMU for a WISC test is a burden. At some point these thoughts may lead to a parent to just decided to give up or to let it go.

I think thoughtful consideration of the real reasons is needed to alleviate any systematic discrimination.

[Anonymous]

The iq rest is free at GMU for low income families who qualify for free or reduced price lunch. Have you seen low income ppl w/o smart phones? I haven't. The biggest issue in low income schools is lack of parent involvement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ I wonder whether there's a racial difference in the rate of parent referrals for kids who are close to the pool cutoff. What percent of white or asian parents complete a parent referral for these kids vs. the percent of black or hispanic parents who do so.

I think for Hispanics there probably is a difference. Some have language barriers that make is hard for them to complete the packet. DC's best friend is Hispanic and her mom asked the AART multiple times for help and the AART basically told her that she can only help so much, and never really made time to help. I ended up helping with the packet. The other issue is level II service were offered automatically, so she assumed if her DC continued to do well, the teacher would recommend for level IV too. My experience is that many of these parents just don't fully understand the process. The scores coming out so close to the deadline doesn't help either because it leaves little time for them to ask around about what the scores mean. There's also a disparity with respect to some people prepping and others not prepping. These families are less likely to be in the know about test prep materials. I'm not saying prepping is bad or good. I'm just saying that there will be an increase in the disparity of those admitted if some groups prep and others don't.

But is the packet really all that difficult to fill out? It's simply asking for a parent to write down some thoughts on their child.

As far as the cost of a WISC test, isn't the cost greatly reduced for low income families?

Do you think these families are not appealing because they are lazy?

No, not lazy, but maybe discouraged? Some thoughts: maybe the whole Center system could be a barrier. Sending a child to a non local neighborhood school could be an increased burden on lower resource families. Also, maybe having to drive a child to GMU for a WISC test is a burden. At some point these thoughts may lead to a parent to just decided to give up or to let it go.

I think thoughtful consideration of the real reasons is needed to alleviate any systematic discrimination.

One more thought: there need to be more low-represented minority AAP teachers and AARTs. That's a glaring issue. When parents and kids see teachers of color teaching AAP classes, it makes it more of a real and tangible consideration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The iq rest is free at GMU for low income families who qualify for free or reduced price lunch. Have you seen low income ppl w/o smart phones? I haven't. The biggest issue in low income schools is lack of parent involvement.

What do smart phones have to do with this?

Also, the stats are about minority appeals. Not low income appeals. You seem to have conflated the two in your mind.

[Anonymous]

Did the 'elitist' poster come up with this topic?

This person has issues! Move to a school at 7 corners, and make it fair for everyone!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ I wonder whether there's a racial difference in the rate of parent referrals for kids who are close to the pool cutoff. What percent of white or asian parents complete a parent referral for these kids vs. the percent of black or hispanic parents who do so.

I think for Hispanics there probably is a difference. Some have language barriers that make is hard for them to complete the packet. DC's best friend is Hispanic and her mom asked the AART multiple times for help and the AART basically told her that she can only help so much, and never really made time to help. I ended up helping with the packet. The other issue is level II service were offered automatically, so she assumed if her DC continued to do well, the teacher would recommend for level IV too. My experience is that many of these parents just don't fully understand the process. The scores coming out so close to the deadline doesn't help either because it leaves little time for them to ask around about what the scores mean. There's also a disparity with respect to some people prepping and others not prepping. These families are less likely to be in the know about test prep materials. I'm not saying prepping is bad or good. I'm just saying that there will be an increase in the disparity of those admitted if some groups prep and others don't.

But is the packet really all that difficult to fill out? It's simply asking for a parent to write down some thoughts on their child.

As far as the cost of a WISC test, isn't the cost greatly reduced for low income families?

NP. Agree with the first poster here. It's hard to fill out if the forms are only in English (and up until very recently, they were). The website itself translated into multiple languages, but the forms themselves didn't. If the AART isn't being helpful and won't coordinate with the parent liaison or someone else to help the parents translate, it's going to be difficult to get the packet completed. Also, I'm guessing there's a wait time to get an appointment with GMU and probably some extra hoops to jump through if you do indeed qualify for the free or reduced-fee testing, and a lot of people are probably trying to get appointments at the same time.