cutoff scores for Fairfax County GT centers for this year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, 23:02, I think you need to chill out a bit. You sound a little intense. Maybe your dc's teacher is cold to you because she sees you as a pushy tiger mom, but is perfectly lovely to the children she teachers.

amen to that. Mom or a ring leader?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My dd got 126 in Nnat. she is in first grade. I am reading all the posts and it feels that her scores are on lower side as the cutoffs are ~130. How can I prepare her for other tests? Thanks for the reply.

I think the AA or GT program is nice and my kids do well BUT you really should not have to prepare a child for this. Never even occurred to me at that age. If they needed to be prepped, I think the schools would be doing it - much like the sol's. They drill that style of test and make them practice every day. Please relax if you can. You have many years ahead to worry about school. A good friend's child just got accepted to an excellent school, took all IB in HS and never stepped foot in a GT center. Things have a way of working out. I know easier said than done but I have kids in reg and GT and it is all good. Hope this helps.

It has been covered in many threads that parents do help to prep their children for the standard tests. In my personal experience (not scientific) having prepped two children for NNAT and the CoGAT, being prepared leads to better time management, more confidence in taking the test, and better strategy in eliminating answers to arrive at the best answer. With evolving study, I could see them getting better with each successive practice test. I know many condemn those who prep their children, but I feel that being prepared is worthwhile and clearly helps the child achieve a better outcome. To each his own.

I would not minimize the value of the AAP program, it is certainly a much faster paced and more enriching experience for the child. While I am sure there are examples of children who succeed and ultimately get into great schools who have not participated in AAP, I think we can all agree that that pro-rata number is much less than those who participated in the AAP program. What my kids have learned in AAP is to not accept mediocrity and to work hard to achieve success in a challenging, fast paced program. Much of the success is result of merely keeping pace with the group. I cannot imagine that the slower paced, less challenging curriculum with less advanced students will yield the same percentage of achievers at the end of the day. I certainly believe that many borderline children who are otherwise good students, but were not admitted, would likely succeed in AAP. This is unfortunate as they miss out because many will not be challenged in the regular program.

[Anonymous]

PP: here is the problem on prepping for the test: of course prepping will improve the scores. The problem is the metric they are measuring assumes no prep. They are not trying to measure how well DC can prep.

[Anonymous]

Lots of fights here on preping or not preping seems very interest. It is actually very simple:

1. If you think your kids are genius, leave them alone.

2. If you think your kids are smart but not genius and you do care about the test score, help them to prepare for the test.

3. If you don't care about test result, leave your kids alone.

4. If you don't like the system and think test is unfair, send your voice to FCPS since no one here can help you.

One last word, the current selection process is measuring the end test result and either you preping or not is not counted as a factor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My dd got 126 in Nnat. she is in first grade. I am reading all the posts and it feels that her scores are on lower side as the cutoffs are ~130. How can I prepare her for other tests? Thanks for the reply.

I think the AA or GT program is nice and my kids do well BUT you really should not have to prepare a child for this. Never even occurred to me at that age. If they needed to be prepped, I think the schools would be doing it - much like the sol's. They drill that style of test and make them practice every day. Please relax if you can. You have many years ahead to worry about school. A good friend's child just got accepted to an excellent school, took all IB in HS and never stepped foot in a GT center. Things have a way of working out. I know easier said than done but I have kids in reg and GT and it is all good. Hope this helps.

It has been covered in many threads that parents do help to prep their children for the standard tests. In my personal experience (not scientific) having prepped two children for NNAT and the CoGAT, being prepared leads to better time management, more confidence in taking the test, and better strategy in eliminating answers to arrive at the best answer. With evolving study, I could see them getting better with each successive practice test. I know many condemn those who prep their children, but I feel that being prepared is worthwhile and clearly helps the child achieve a better outcome. To each his own.


Did you prep at home with practice tests or did you use a course? I must not be using the right search engine terms, because I am not finding a multitude of local test prep courses. Please, those of you itching to start typing away about how my DC is obviously a dimwit if I need to prep, save yourself the energy - I think both sides of the "prep or not to prep" have been exhaustively presented on this and other similar threads. Just looking for advice from those who have prepped.

I would not minimize the value of the AAP program, it is certainly a much faster paced and more enriching experience for the child. While I am sure there are examples of children who succeed and ultimately get into great schools who have not participated in AAP, I think we can all agree that that pro-rata number is much less than those who participated in the AAP program. What my kids have learned in AAP is to not accept mediocrity and to work hard to achieve success in a challenging, fast paced program. Much of the success is result of merely keeping pace with the group. I cannot imagine that the slower paced, less challenging curriculum with less advanced students will yield the same percentage of achievers at the end of the day. I certainly believe that many borderline children who are otherwise good students, but were not admitted, would likely succeed in AAP. This is unfortunate as they miss out because many will not be challenged in the regular program.

[Anonymous]

Did you prep at home with practice tests or did you use a course? I must not be using the right search engine terms, because I am not finding a multitude of local test prep courses. Please, those of you itching to start typing away about how my DC is obviously a dimwit if I need to prep, save yourself the energy - I think both sides of the "prep or not to prep" have been exhaustively presented on this and other similar threads. Just looking for advice from those who have prepped.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP: here is the problem on prepping for the test: of course prepping will improve the scores. The problem is the metric they are measuring assumes no prep. They are not trying to measure how well DC can prep.

So what you are saying, I think, is that those who prep have a distinct advantage over those who do not as the metric assumes no prep. All the more reason to prep. I couldn't care less about the metric or the purity of the test resulsts, I am trying to maximize my DC's chances to get into a very worthwhile program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP: here is the problem on prepping for the test: of course prepping will improve the scores. The problem is the metric they are measuring assumes no prep. They are not trying to measure how well DC can prep.

So what you are saying, I think, is that those who prep have a distinct advantage over those who do not as the metric assumes no prep. All the more reason to prep. I couldn't care less about the metric or the purity of the test resulsts, I am trying to maximize my DC's chances to get into a very worthwhile program.

If your DC's teachers give a mediocre GBRS, all the prepping in the world won't get your child in--you do realize that, right?

Do you also realize that if your DC does get in, he or she is expected to keep pace with the AAP program?

Ah, forget it...you're obviously fixated on buying your way into AAP, whether or not it's the right fit for your child. Shame on you for helping make the system a bigger sham than it is already.

[Anonymous]

The thing is the GBRS has historically been weighted higher than tests. GBRS of 15 or 16 kid is in regardless of score. GBRS of 9 and 140 CogAT seems to be rejected. Now, the WISC will trump all. A WISC of 130 and the kid seems to be in regardless of GBRS....

Maybe the committee views good test scores without the GBRS as a sign of coaching?

[Anonymous]

It could be viewed as a sign of poor teacher relations.

[Anonymous]

I feel like all the people talking don't really seem to have any real knowledge here. Last year our principal was on the selection committee and she spoke to the in-pool parents about the gbrs. our school scores children very low, some kids were given 2's and 4's - these were kids in the pool. she said that they were trained to look at the GBRS and then see if the comments and test scores, report cards actually support it. She mentioned she would see 14's that she could tell were just favorite students bc the report card and test scores didn't support the number. so please don't tell everyone that a 15 or 16 and you're in and 9 your out unless you have real experience with this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like all the people talking don't really seem to have any real knowledge here. Last year our principal was on the selection committee and she spoke to the in-pool parents about the gbrs. our school scores children very low, some kids were given 2's and 4's - these were kids in the pool. she said that they were trained to look at the GBRS and then see if the comments and test scores, report cards actually support it. She mentioned she would see 14's that she could tell were just favorite students bc the report card and test scores didn't support the number. so please don't tell everyone that a 15 or 16 and you're in and 9 your out unless you have real experience with this.

One single incident cannot be generalized either way. Maybe the GBRS is not objective, Maybe it is. I guess everyone should speak for their own children from their own experiences. My son got in last year. The previous year, my neighbor's kid who is equally smart, got good Composite, all "O"s in report card did not get in because of her poor GBRS. But eventually she was recommended for a local level 3 AAP. How can you the teacher say, that she is not good for level 4 but advanced enough for level 3.
I was also told (by ex fairfax county teacher) that they retain some of the above average kids in their base school to boost up their SOL scores and to raise their school rating.
I believe that is exactly happened in my friend's kid.

That kid is extraordinarily smart. I am still not convinced how her teacher gave all straight Os in progress cards but happened to give 2 out of 4 in GBRS.

Just because, my son got in, I can believe the system works. But my neighbor doesn't have to.

[Anonymous]

As our teacher says, an "o" means a kid is off the charts, g is above grade level so I really don't understand how kids who get all o's can not get a high gbrs, if an o truly means that a kid is off the charts. How is this all going to translate next year when they switch grading?

[Anonymous]

DDgets O's and is not off any chart. Just gets a good grade if she tries hard and/or does good work.

[Anonymous]

Lots of "O"s doesn't indicate giftedness. It only means the kid knows the material for that grade level. The public school standards are low so a lot of kids will pass to the next grade level.