APS Gifted Referral Form

[Anonymous]

It seems like a few recent posters are very satisfied with their schools, and that is great. We see this school as incredibly weak. We cannot see how kids are building any foundational skills for middle and high school. I have older kids and they’re out of district schools prepared them well, but I am looking at DC wondering how this will work.

I’m glad the PPs are so confident though. What schools are you at?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like a few recent posters are very satisfied with their schools, and that is great. We see this school as incredibly weak. We cannot see how kids are building any foundational skills for middle and high school. I have older kids and they’re out of district schools prepared them well, but I am looking at DC wondering how this will work.

I’m glad the PPs are so confident though. What schools are you at?

Ugh, *their out of district schools. Autocorrect is the worst.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like a few recent posters are very satisfied with their schools, and that is great. We see this school as incredibly weak. We cannot see how kids are building any foundational skills for middle and high school. I have older kids and they’re out of district schools prepared them well, but I am looking at DC wondering how this will work.

I’m glad the PPs are so confident though. What schools are you at?

I didn't say I was highly satisfied. I just think you're ridiculous for claiming that your student has learned nothing in 4th grade. You can think it should be more challenging and still accept that your student is learning new material.

What exactly do you think they should be teaching in 4th grade that isn't being taught?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like a few recent posters are very satisfied with their schools, and that is great. We see this school as incredibly weak. We cannot see how kids are building any foundational skills for middle and high school. I have older kids and they’re out of district schools prepared them well, but I am looking at DC wondering how this will work.

I’m glad the PPs are so confident though. What schools are you at?

I didn't say I was highly satisfied. I just think you're ridiculous for claiming that your student has learned nothing in 4th grade. You can think it should be more challenging and still accept that your student is learning new material.

What exactly do you think they should be teaching in 4th grade that isn't being taught?

Well, to start,’if they demonstrate they know the 4th grade standards…not those again. Move forward, accelerate, go to the 5th or 6th grade standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like a few recent posters are very satisfied with their schools, and that is great. We see this school as incredibly weak. We cannot see how kids are building any foundational skills for middle and high school. I have older kids and they’re out of district schools prepared them well, but I am looking at DC wondering how this will work.

I’m glad the PPs are so confident though. What schools are you at?

I didn't say I was highly satisfied. I just think you're ridiculous for claiming that your student has learned nothing in 4th grade. You can think it should be more challenging and still accept that your student is learning new material.

What exactly do you think they should be teaching in 4th grade that isn't being taught?

Well, to start,’if they demonstrate they know the 4th grade standards…not those again. Move forward, accelerate, go to the 5th or 6th grade standards.

But realistically how do you do that? Folks have to accept that public school is not and can not be individualized education. The teacher is going to teach to the entire class. They do not have time in the day to create five separate lesson plans for each day for all the different levels each kid is at. So they teach and overall lesson and then they sadly (in math) have to rely on apps for kids that are more advanced. My kid is in 5th and doing 7th grade math problems on the app so he is learning.

Furthermore even if a kid knows basic 4th grade math it doesn't mean they have a really strong foundation for it. There is nothing wrong with practicing things that you know repeatedly until it becomes second nature.

Anyway all that to say public education has its limits. Accept them and provide your kid with outside enrichment or continue to be unhappy and b*txh on a message board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It really doesn’t matter. The “gifted services” at APS are lip service. At Williamsburg, my kid’s teacher didn’t even know they were identified as gifted at parent teacher conferences when I asked about differentiation. It’s just in place to make striver Arlington parents feel better. I believe APS is mostly able meet the needs of children who are gifted in Math, but English is a joke.

At least in elementary, math isn’t differentiated in any meaningful way, either. It’s a complete farce. The English curriculum actually looks like it could differentiate if someone attempted to do it.

I had no idea how terrible APS was for gifted education and I am so sad at our experience.

+1 It is bad. Early on, we were told to sit tight and wait for 3rd grade. We never saw any differentiation at all in elementary. They need to stop pretending there’s a “program.”

They don’t. It’s gifted services

Okay, fine. Poor usage of program on my part. If someone could point me toward these gifted services?

I realize each school varies in approach, but it’s ridiculous to pretend that any real service is being provided by the quarterly whole class visits by the RTG. And that was the extent of gifted services at our APS elementary.

My kid gets pulled in a group by the RTG once or twice a week.

Which school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like a few recent posters are very satisfied with their schools, and that is great. We see this school as incredibly weak. We cannot see how kids are building any foundational skills for middle and high school. I have older kids and they’re out of district schools prepared them well, but I am looking at DC wondering how this will work.

I’m glad the PPs are so confident though. What schools are you at?

I didn't say I was highly satisfied. I just think you're ridiculous for claiming that your student has learned nothing in 4th grade. You can think it should be more challenging and still accept that your student is learning new material.

What exactly do you think they should be teaching in 4th grade that isn't being taught?

Well, to start,’if they demonstrate they know the 4th grade standards…not those again. Move forward, accelerate, go to the 5th or 6th grade standards.

But realistically how do you do that? Folks have to accept that public school is not and can not be individualized education. The teacher is going to teach to the entire class. They do not have time in the day to create five separate lesson plans for each day for all the different levels each kid is at. So they teach and overall lesson and then they sadly (in math) have to rely on apps for kids that are more advanced. My kid is in 5th and doing 7th grade math problems on the app so he is learning.

Furthermore even if a kid knows basic 4th grade math it doesn't mean they have a really strong foundation for it. There is nothing wrong with practicing things that you know repeatedly until it becomes second nature.

Anyway all that to say public education has its limits. Accept them and provide your kid with outside enrichment or continue to be unhappy and b*txh on a message board.

I’m pretty sure I’m not the one who is being nasty. Differentiation means group - accelerate one, remediate one. This isn’t rocket science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like a few recent posters are very satisfied with their schools, and that is great. We see this school as incredibly weak. We cannot see how kids are building any foundational skills for middle and high school. I have older kids and they’re out of district schools prepared them well, but I am looking at DC wondering how this will work.

I’m glad the PPs are so confident though. What schools are you at?

I didn't say I was highly satisfied. I just think you're ridiculous for claiming that your student has learned nothing in 4th grade. You can think it should be more challenging and still accept that your student is learning new material.

What exactly do you think they should be teaching in 4th grade that isn't being taught?

Well, to start,’if they demonstrate they know the 4th grade standards…not those again. Move forward, accelerate, go to the 5th or 6th grade standards.

But realistically how do you do that? Folks have to accept that public school is not and can not be individualized education. The teacher is going to teach to the entire class. They do not have time in the day to create five separate lesson plans for each day for all the different levels each kid is at. So they teach and overall lesson and then they sadly (in math) have to rely on apps for kids that are more advanced. My kid is in 5th and doing 7th grade math problems on the app so he is learning.

Furthermore even if a kid knows basic 4th grade math it doesn't mean they have a really strong foundation for it. There is nothing wrong with practicing things that you know repeatedly until it becomes second nature.

Anyway all that to say public education has its limits. Accept them and provide your kid with outside enrichment or continue to be unhappy and b*txh on a message board.

I’m pretty sure I’m not the one who is being nasty. Differentiation means group - accelerate one, remediate one. This isn’t rocket science.

Actually tracking works quite well. Split the kids into classes based on level and then you don’t have as many levels to teach. Apparently that’s not allowed anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like a few recent posters are very satisfied with their schools, and that is great. We see this school as incredibly weak. We cannot see how kids are building any foundational skills for middle and high school. I have older kids and they’re out of district schools prepared them well, but I am looking at DC wondering how this will work.

I’m glad the PPs are so confident though. What schools are you at?

I didn't say I was highly satisfied. I just think you're ridiculous for claiming that your student has learned nothing in 4th grade. You can think it should be more challenging and still accept that your student is learning new material.

What exactly do you think they should be teaching in 4th grade that isn't being taught?

Well, to start,’if they demonstrate they know the 4th grade standards…not those again. Move forward, accelerate, go to the 5th or 6th grade standards.

FCPS has advanced 4th grade math that covers 5th grade content as well. FCPS begins math acceleration earlier which makes sense. It offers younger kids challenge and avoids the sharp ramp-up that occurs when acceleration is delayed until middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like a few recent posters are very satisfied with their schools, and that is great. We see this school as incredibly weak. We cannot see how kids are building any foundational skills for middle and high school. I have older kids and they’re out of district schools prepared them well, but I am looking at DC wondering how this will work.

I’m glad the PPs are so confident though. What schools are you at?

I didn't say I was highly satisfied. I just think you're ridiculous for claiming that your student has learned nothing in 4th grade. You can think it should be more challenging and still accept that your student is learning new material.

What exactly do you think they should be teaching in 4th grade that isn't being taught?

Well, to start,’if they demonstrate they know the 4th grade standards…not those again. Move forward, accelerate, go to the 5th or 6th grade standards.

FCPS has advanced 4th grade math that covers 5th grade content as well. FCPS begins math acceleration earlier which makes sense. It offers younger kids challenge and avoids the sharp ramp-up that occurs when acceleration is delayed until middle school.

FCPS moves kids to different schools for that. APS doesn't have the budget to bus kids elsewhere. There's a neighborhood school model. Our 4th grade has 3 classes--you expect 1/3 of the grade to be working a grade level ahead? I can tell you that's not happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like a few recent posters are very satisfied with their schools, and that is great. We see this school as incredibly weak. We cannot see how kids are building any foundational skills for middle and high school. I have older kids and they’re out of district schools prepared them well, but I am looking at DC wondering how this will work.

I’m glad the PPs are so confident though. What schools are you at?

I didn't say I was highly satisfied. I just think you're ridiculous for claiming that your student has learned nothing in 4th grade. You can think it should be more challenging and still accept that your student is learning new material.

What exactly do you think they should be teaching in 4th grade that isn't being taught?

Well, to start,’if they demonstrate they know the 4th grade standards…not those again. Move forward, accelerate, go to the 5th or 6th grade standards.

A fourth grade teacher is expected to teach 4th grade standards, however they are also expected to differentiate for advanced learners. Differentiation does NOT always mean move faster to the next grade level. It means they can modify what kids are creating, or what they are doing with the content. If you have a 4th grader who is ready for middle school material, can you really expect an elementary teacher to teach content they aren’t even certified in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like a few recent posters are very satisfied with their schools, and that is great. We see this school as incredibly weak. We cannot see how kids are building any foundational skills for middle and high school. I have older kids and they’re out of district schools prepared them well, but I am looking at DC wondering how this will work.

I’m glad the PPs are so confident though. What schools are you at?

I didn't say I was highly satisfied. I just think you're ridiculous for claiming that your student has learned nothing in 4th grade. You can think it should be more challenging and still accept that your student is learning new material.

What exactly do you think they should be teaching in 4th grade that isn't being taught?

Well, to start,’if they demonstrate they know the 4th grade standards…not those again. Move forward, accelerate, go to the 5th or 6th grade standards.

FCPS has advanced 4th grade math that covers 5th grade content as well. FCPS begins math acceleration earlier which makes sense. It offers younger kids challenge and avoids the sharp ramp-up that occurs when acceleration is delayed until middle school.

FCPS moves kids to different schools for that. APS doesn't have the budget to bus kids elsewhere. There's a neighborhood school model. Our 4th grade has 3 classes--you expect 1/3 of the grade to be working a grade level ahead? I can tell you that's not happening.

FCPS also offers advanced math at neighborhood schools too as part of Level II, III, and IV services. Students don't have to be in AAP to take advanced math. FCPS neighborhood schools make it work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like a few recent posters are very satisfied with their schools, and that is great. We see this school as incredibly weak. We cannot see how kids are building any foundational skills for middle and high school. I have older kids and they’re out of district schools prepared them well, but I am looking at DC wondering how this will work.

I’m glad the PPs are so confident though. What schools are you at?

I didn't say I was highly satisfied. I just think you're ridiculous for claiming that your student has learned nothing in 4th grade. You can think it should be more challenging and still accept that your student is learning new material.

What exactly do you think they should be teaching in 4th grade that isn't being taught?

Well, to start,’if they demonstrate they know the 4th grade standards…not those again. Move forward, accelerate, go to the 5th or 6th grade standards.

A fourth grade teacher is expected to teach 4th grade standards, however they are also expected to differentiate for advanced learners. Differentiation does NOT always mean move faster to the next grade level. It means they can modify what kids are creating, or what they are doing with the content. If you have a 4th grader who is ready for middle school material, can you really expect an elementary teacher to teach content they aren’t even certified in?

Differentiation can go faster or deeper into material. While the latter sounds good, it often falls short in practice. We're talking about a year ahead content here -- so a fourth grade teacher covering some 5th grade material. That should not be an insurmountable challenge. At one point, APS did ask ES teachers to begin incorporating grade-ahead material in its upper elementary classes for students that were ready. That seems to have gone by the wayside now, however.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It really doesn’t matter. The “gifted services” at APS are lip service. At Williamsburg, my kid’s teacher didn’t even know they were identified as gifted at parent teacher conferences when I asked about differentiation. It’s just in place to make striver Arlington parents feel better. I believe APS is mostly able meet the needs of children who are gifted in Math, but English is a joke.

At least in elementary, math isn’t differentiated in any meaningful way, either. It’s a complete farce. The English curriculum actually looks like it could differentiate if someone attempted to do it.

I had no idea how terrible APS was for gifted education and I am so sad at our experience.

+1 It is bad. Early on, we were told to sit tight and wait for 3rd grade. We never saw any differentiation at all in elementary. They need to stop pretending there’s a “program.”

They don’t. It’s gifted services

Okay, fine. Poor usage of program on my part. If someone could point me toward these gifted services?

I realize each school varies in approach, but it’s ridiculous to pretend that any real service is being provided by the quarterly whole class visits by the RTG. And that was the extent of gifted services at our APS elementary.

I'm sure it depends on your school. As an example of services, my upper elementary student takes a math pretest for each unit. If she gets the problems correct, she can skip the classroom work and do an extension math project with a small group, which typically ends up being the gifted cluster in her classroom. These projects don't introduce new material to move a student ahead, but are structured to make students think more deeply. Occasionally the GTR works with with group directly, but often they just use materials that she provides.

APS allows non-tagged kids to join this small group if they pass the pretest, but as a practical matter it usually ends up mostly being the kids already tagged and in the cluster.

Are these projects that make students think more deeply actually beneficial? Do you feel they are advancing your child's knowledge and understanding? Or are they just using concepts they know in a different way with unclear additional benefit?

I don't know, but my student enjoys these activities more than relearning things she already knows. Some projects are more fun and interesting than others. Others are more busy work. It varies.

In our experience (4th grade) it is pure busy work. My kid has not learned a single thing since starting at her north Arlington school. The math curriculum and “extension” activities are a joke. I am one of the PPs who asked which school lets the kids skip over the required basic content if they know it because that’s not happening at our school.

If your kid is truly learning NOTHING then there is a problem with your child's teacher, not the gifted program. Schedule a meeting with your child's teacher, and if you are not satisfied that they are learning, talk to the principal. Which school is this, PP? Other may be able to offer tips if you tell us which school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like a few recent posters are very satisfied with their schools, and that is great. We see this school as incredibly weak. We cannot see how kids are building any foundational skills for middle and high school. I have older kids and they’re out of district schools prepared them well, but I am looking at DC wondering how this will work.

I’m glad the PPs are so confident though. What schools are you at?

I didn't say I was highly satisfied. I just think you're ridiculous for claiming that your student has learned nothing in 4th grade. You can think it should be more challenging and still accept that your student is learning new material.

What exactly do you think they should be teaching in 4th grade that isn't being taught?

Well, to start,’if they demonstrate they know the 4th grade standards…not those again. Move forward, accelerate, go to the 5th or 6th grade standards.

A fourth grade teacher is expected to teach 4th grade standards, however they are also expected to differentiate for advanced learners. Differentiation does NOT always mean move faster to the next grade level. It means they can modify what kids are creating, or what they are doing with the content. If you have a 4th grader who is ready for middle school material, can you really expect an elementary teacher to teach content they aren’t even certified in?

Differentiation can go faster or deeper into material. While the latter sounds good, it often falls short in practice. We're talking about a year ahead content here -- so a fourth grade teacher covering some 5th grade material. That should not be an insurmountable challenge. At one point, APS did ask ES teachers to begin incorporating grade-ahead material in its upper elementary classes for students that were ready. That seems to have gone by the wayside now, however.

APS relies on Dreambox for acceleration. Many students are light years ahead of the class only because they have access to Dreambox.