Arlington's gifted identification rate

[Anonymous]

The percent of children identified as gifted in NA APS schools is about 30%.

Identification rate for SA ES is roughly between 30% and 10%.

https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/FY-2019-School-Boards-Adopted-Budget.pdf

School breakdowns start at about pg. 250.

[Anonymous]

Lake Wobegon.

[Anonymous]

I think the screening tests are bogus. My kids both scored very high and were automatically flagged for gifted services. They are certainly bright, but not "gifted". I never would have referred them.

I have only known a dozen or so "gifted" people in my life (1 in APS right now), even as a bright student myself (top 10 undergrad/grad).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the screening tests are bogus. My kids both scored very high and were automatically flagged for gifted services. They are certainly bright, but not "gifted". I never would have referred them.

I have only known a dozen or so "gifted" people in my life (1 in APS right now), even as a bright student myself (top 10 undergrad/grad).

I was in a gifted program in grade school and took all honors/all AP classes in high school. I consider all of those classmates gifted. Why shouldn't they be?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I was in a gifted program in grade school and took all honors/all AP classes in high school. I consider all of those classmates gifted. Why shouldn't they be?

I would consider the overwhelming majority of those kids bright, but not gifted. Gifted is generally defined as top 2%. Most kids in all honors/AP classes are not in the top 2%. In Fairfax and Arlington, it seems like every above average child is considered gifted these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I was in a gifted program in grade school and took all honors/all AP classes in high school. I consider all of those classmates gifted. Why shouldn't they be?

I would consider the overwhelming majority of those kids bright, but not gifted. Gifted is generally defined as top 2%. Most kids in all honors/AP classes are not in the top 2%. In Fairfax and Arlington, it seems like every above average child is considered gifted these days.

+1

Gifted means exceptionally bright, not just the top 10-20% of a class. And a gifted learner potentially requires a different learning strategy than what's offered in a typical or even honors/AP classroom.

I know many schools define it more broadly, but I'd call that more high-achieving than gifted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I was in a gifted program in grade school and took all honors/all AP classes in high school. I consider all of those classmates gifted. Why shouldn't they be?

I would consider the overwhelming majority of those kids bright, but not gifted. Gifted is generally defined as top 2%. Most kids in all honors/AP classes are not in the top 2%. In Fairfax and Arlington, it seems like every above average child is considered gifted these days.

This was years ago. The district used IQ tests. So you apparently don't believe that gifted has anything to do with IQ. I'm not sure why not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I was in a gifted program in grade school and took all honors/all AP classes in high school. I consider all of those classmates gifted. Why shouldn't they be?

I would consider the overwhelming majority of those kids bright, but not gifted. Gifted is generally defined as top 2%. Most kids in all honors/AP classes are not in the top 2%. In Fairfax and Arlington, it seems like every above average child is considered gifted these days.

This was years ago. The district used IQ tests. So you apparently don't believe that gifted has anything to do with IQ. I'm not sure why not.

I posted earlier that I think the screening tests are bogus. They pick up the high-achieving honors/AP kids (AKA my kids) too, not just "gifted".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I was in a gifted program in grade school and took all honors/all AP classes in high school. I consider all of those classmates gifted. Why shouldn't they be?

I would consider the overwhelming majority of those kids bright, but not gifted. Gifted is generally defined as top 2%. Most kids in all honors/AP classes are not in the top 2%. In Fairfax and Arlington, it seems like every above average child is considered gifted these days.

This was years ago. The district used IQ tests. So you apparently don't believe that gifted has anything to do with IQ. I'm not sure why not.

Your district only allowed kids in the top 2% on an IQ year to take honors and AP classes? That’s atypical. In my high school, all of the bright kids took and succeeded in AP courses. No giftedness was required.

[Anonymous]

In my school, only the top 2% had gifted services/identification and there was a school wide cap of 12 or 14. I was tested at about 135 and didn't make it. The kids I knew who were in had 140+.

I was surprised that a simple ipad game was used for identification in APS and now I see what that gets us.

As a trained statistician, it's too high. On the other hand, this area has a strong selection bias towards the very bright.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my school, only the top 2% had gifted services/identification and there was a school wide cap of 12 or 14. I was tested at about 135 and didn't make it. The kids I knew who were in had 140+.

I was surprised that a simple ipad game was used for identification in APS and now I see what that gets us.

As a trained statistician, it's too high. On the other hand, this area has a strong selection bias towards the very bright.

What iPad game?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my school, only the top 2% had gifted services/identification and there was a school wide cap of 12 or 14. I was tested at about 135 and didn't make it. The kids I knew who were in had 140+.

I was surprised that a simple ipad game was used for identification in APS and now I see what that gets us.

As a trained statistician, it's too high. On the other hand, this area has a strong selection bias towards the very bright.

What iPad game?

DP. I think the NNAT can be taken on the iPad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
As a trained statistician, it's too high. On the other hand, this area has a strong selection bias towards the very bright.

As another trained statistician, I think at best an area as diverse and with as high of a FARMs population as NoVa would have twice as many gifted kids as in the general population. So, there would be maybe 5% in the national top 2.5% A rate of 20%+ is ridiculous. This area does have a high rate of college graduates, but that is more suggestive that we have a large population of bright, motivated, high-achievers. Most college graduates, lawyers, etc. would fall in the bright, but not gifted category, and it's likely that their children would as well.

[Anonymous]

There is an IQ scale for gifted and genius, idiots

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is an IQ scale for gifted and genius, idiots

Neither APS nor FCPS use IQ tests for admission to their gifted programs.