Why does FCPS for giving highest weightage to GBRS and discard all other standardized tests?

[Anonymous]

My child got into AAP on appeal with a relatively low GBRS (2F 2O) but high test scores (including the WISC which they took for the appeal) We were surprised by the GBRS, but the AART said our child was slow to warm up and didnt speak up much that first quarter, and that is what they went on, not the fact that the child was above grade level, which is ridiculous but oh well. We spent the entire time on the appeal focusing on why the GBRS was inaccurate, and giving specific examples in the areas that they received the Os on. We explained their personality and why the gen Ed classroom was not the right fit for them.

If you have to appeal next year, do not quote the GBRS. That is not helpful, and doesn’t give any new information. Focus on why their GBRS should have been higher, and let the test scores speak for themselves. From what I heard from our AART, they don’t want to hear “but they are smart, just look at their scores”, they want specific anecdotes about why the kid needs the AAP class because gen Ed is not appropriate.

And those reasons need to be valid. Otherwise, maybe the gen Ed class is appropriate for the child. And that is okay too.

[Anonymous]

My child got into AAP on appeal with a relatively low GBRS (2F 2O) but high test scores (including the WISC which they took for the appeal) We were surprised by the GBRS, but the AART said our child was slow to warm up and didnt speak up much that first quarter, and that is what they went on, not the fact that the child was above grade level, which is ridiculous but oh well. We spent the entire time on the appeal focusing on why the GBRS was inaccurate, and giving specific examples in the areas that they received the Os on. We explained their personality and why the gen Ed classroom was not the right fit for them.

If you have to appeal next year, do not quote the GBRS. That is not helpful, and doesn’t give any new information. Focus on why their GBRS should have been higher, and let the test scores speak for themselves. From what I heard from our AART, they don’t want to hear “but they are smart, just look at their scores”, they want specific anecdotes about why the kid needs the AAP class because gen Ed is not appropriate.

And those reasons need to be valid. Otherwise, maybe the gen Ed class is appropriate for the child. And that is okay too.

Thanks this was helpful

[Anonymous]

On the appeal letter we focused on the emotional and social aspects of kid's wellbeing. He scored >99.9% on WISC, and GBRS and grades did indicate lack of motivations and don't like to conform. I quoted heavily from Davidson Institute articles on how to better raise profoundly gifted kids not just from the academic side but from emotional and social side knowing that they will never fit completely well with the normal society, but school systems have a responsibility to expose them to the right peers to facilitate the emotional growth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On the appeal letter we focused on the emotional and social aspects of kid's wellbeing. He scored >99.9% on WISC, and GBRS and grades did indicate lack of motivations and don't like to conform. I quoted heavily from Davidson Institute articles on how to better raise profoundly gifted kids not just from the academic side but from emotional and social side knowing that they will never fit completely well with the normal society, but school systems have a responsibility to expose them to the right peers to facilitate the emotional growth.

PP still, if you need to appeal again, provide information to debunk the GBRS or provide information on why they acted certain way resulted in the GBRS, and why you think if they move to a different peer group and learning environment that they will be different and can be benefited from. There are extremely gifted kids that can be destroyed in the general ed classrooms if they remain undiscovered, it starts from the emotional and social side, then gets to underperforming in academic.

[Anonymous]

Our Parent letter focused on the child's competitive nature and needing peers in which to look up to. Absent that, becoming a distraction to the rest of the class and not engaged. I found this approach seemed more acceptable than saying my child is "bored", which everyone here is warned about stating.