GT/AAP Appeals

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The AAP program is meant for children whose needs cannot be met in the regular classroom, thus making it the perfect environment for bright students with learning disabilities. My child's classroom contained many 2e students, particularly the boys.
In fact, I was told by the teacher that the program was set up for exactly that student profile, since they were the ones to have the most trouble in the regular classroom. The well behaved, organized bright student doesn't really need a specialized classroom to be successful, but the 2e child truly needs the teacher who has the training to work with gifted students. This child will get lost in a regular classroom, but will learn and grow in a place that "gets" that extremely bright students may need to learn in different ways.

Can't be done with 30 kids. As far as "gifted" classroom, have you been in one? It's AAP lite these days.

[Anonymous]

But the alternative is the GE classroom which is generally even worse for 2E kids.

And not all centers have 30 kids per classroom.

[Anonymous]

30 kids per class room is the max in FCPS...actually, 31. At 32, they add another class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:30 kids per class room is the max in FCPS...actually, 31. At 32, they add another class.

just like that huh? Find another classroom, hire another teacher? The center where DC attends is too full already.

[Anonymous]

Just FYI about "thriving" in GT. My kid got much lower scores than people are reporting here and yet got all O's last report card, so I just don't buy it that the program is all that specialized for gifted learners. I think people read into it what they want it to be, like religion.

[Anonymous]

I think people read into it what they want it to be, like religion.

Very apt comment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just FYI about "thriving" in GT. My kid got much lower scores than people are reporting here and yet got all O's last report card, so I just don't buy it that the program is all that specialized for gifted learners. I think people read into it what they want it to be, like religion.

Appealed? What was the total package like?
Scores, GBRS, Report card

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:30 kids per class room is the max in FCPS...actually, 31. At 32, they add another class.

just like that huh? Find another classroom, hire another teacher? The center where DC attends is too full already.

At the beginning of the academic year, each school looks at how many students are enrolled, and may add a class at the last second. They have to find the space....At Louise Archer, they made a classroom out of other space at the last second. They hired a teacher at the last minute. Generally, the new hires occur only after they get the final balancing, in the weeks before school starts.

I know at Louise Archer, the size of AAP increased from about 90 3rd graders to about 100, so they added a new class., and hired a teacher. Why the increase? Probably fewer families sending to private...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know several parents who had to refer their children to get them into the AAP pool, and a few more who had to appeal. NOT ONE CHILD is doing poorly in the program. In fact the one who had to be referred made the all A honor roll yet again. I also know parents whose child was denied admittance to the program and are not appealing. They know their child best (better than the troll I would think) and knew that they would be better served by the GE classes. I also know of a few parents whose kids WERE accepted into AAP and chose not to pursue it for their child...again, they know their children better than any troll does.

IGNORE the trolls. I know it's hard to talk over them, but replying to anything they say just keeps them going. So don't reply to anything they say. Good Luck to all!

I wish people would stop saying this! There is no one who does poorly in the program. It has somewhat accelerated (differentiated) math; a few more in-depth projects, and maybe more group dicussions, but it is not a quantum leap beyond Gen, Ed. Once snowflake is in, he/she is in there for the duration regardless if where they stand relative to their peers. They don't throw anyone out.

What I meant to say is that no one I know who got into AAP via parent referral or by appealing the initial decision is struggling to do the work. The trolls like to say that we're pushing our kids into a program that they can't handle because we can't handle rejections. From what I've seen of the kids, that's baloney. All are handling the work just fine and belong where they are. So anyone who says that our kids don't belong in aap because they weren't accepted from the get go are full of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just FYI about "thriving" in GT. My kid got much lower scores than people are reporting here and yet got all O's last report card, so I just don't buy it that the program is all that specialized for gifted learners. I think people read into it what they want it to be, like religion.

Appealed? What was the total package like?
Scores, GBRS, Report card

didn't have to appeal. CogAt was under 130. Never asked the GBRS because we didn't have to.

[Anonymous]

Another way to look at the advantage of AAP: rather than accelerated learning, by eliminating the lower 75% of the class (or 85%), the teacher is able to manage the individual learning paces. When the teacher is focused on on ensuring the bottom 20%, they do not have the time for the top 20%.

In AAP, the focus is more on projects, which means the kids to more of the work themselves. With any child in the top 30%, that will work. They get it.

Some might take it further...there is nothing slowing them down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another way to look at the advantage of AAP: rather than accelerated learning, by eliminating the lower 75% of the class (or 85%), the teacher is able to manage the individual learning paces. When the teacher is focused on on ensuring the bottom 20%, they do not have the time for the top 20%.

In AAP, the focus is more on projects, which means the kids to more of the work themselves. With any child in the top 30%, that will work. They get it.

Some might take it further...there is nothing slowing them down.

theoretically this is true if the parents don't do the work for them which is an endemic problem. So fricken obvious when you see some of the projects and writing samples.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

theoretically this is true if the parents don't do the work for them which is an endemic problem. So fricken obvious when you see some of the projects and writing samples.

I heard this. A question... The grade is somewhat important in the 2nd grade, because it's used in a way for admission to the AAP program.
However once the kid is in AAP, what's the need for parents doing school work for their kids for good grade?
To me, the education, learning, independence, etc itself become more important than getting good grades.
Are the grades from elementary school used for like admission to Thomas Jefferson later or something?

[Anonymous]

14:03 continued...

Or maybe the kids really don't belong in AAP, but the parents trying to help the kids keeping up with the AAP classes, and often overdoing it?

[Anonymous]

Thank you 8:19 for the kind and sensitive thoughts regarding 2e kids. It still hurts when an ignorant poster implies that "learning disability" goes hand-in-hand with intellectual dimness, and it's nice to hear someone express that maybe AAP is an option even for a child like mine (very high IQ, struggling due to learning differences). Thank you for making my day a bit brighter.