I'm assuming PP meant the top 2% looking at FCPS students students only, which would be quite different than the top 2% of CogAT scorers per the national norms currently reported. Who knows what the top 2% of scores would look like within the FCPS population alone--probably 140+. |
PP here. I meant the top 2% nationally, but not on a low ceiling, vulnerable-to-prep, poor instrument like the CogAT. Realistically speaking, FCPS has at most twice as many legitimately gifted kids as would be expected. So at most, 4% of the kids have an IQ of 130+, and if you're an equity warrior with consistent viewpoints, then clearly FCPS only has the expected 2%. The only reason another 6-8% test at 98th percentile + on CogAT is due to prepping and the use of an instrument with very low ceilings. A FCAG report showed that 19% of the 3rd-6th grade population had a LIV designation, and another 8% were principal placed. That's a ton of kids with IQs in the 115-129 range being placed in self contained gifted classrooms who should be well served in gen ed. It's hardly a surprise that the gifted kids are finding the program too watered down for their needs to be met. The simplest solution would be Advanced math for the kids who operate best at 1-2 years above grade level. Advanced language arts could serve the kids who are 1-2 years above grade level in language arts. An AAP system would then be able to serve the kids who are 2+ years above grade level and additionally need more depth than is otherwise provided. |
I have two kids, one 140+ on the WISC test and one 120, both in AAP. The program is set up to include kids in the 98-99 percentile and some kids below that to fill out the cohort. It's expanded recently, maybe too much, but it's always been a large program, by design. |
AAP has increased from 6% of grade eligible kids in 2001 to 20% now. It has not always been intended to be a large program. Also, since only 2-4% of the FCPS student body has an IQ above 130, then the overwhelming majority of kids in AAP have an IQ less than 130. The bright but not gifted kids aren’t “filling out the cohort.” They’re 80-90% of the cohort. |
Historically, the GT program had about 5% of students and since the early 2000s has had above 10%. It's always been larger than the top 2%.
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PP here, and I don't at all disagree. Fairfax County is much more educated than most places. It's totally plausible that close to 4% of the kids are technically top 2% gifted using national norms. Add another 1-2% of kids who are not technically gifted, but are instead especially advanced, motivated, and out of the norm, and you have a good, solid cohort. 5-6% of kids in AAP makes sense. 20% or more is absurd. Over half of the kids in my middle of the road SES neighborhood got into AAP. Most of them had test scores around 120, were at most 1 year ahead in reading and math, only got pass advanced on maybe half of their SOLs, didn't qualify for Algebra in 7th grade, and so on. There is zero reason to place kids like this in AAP and have them water the curriculum down for the gifted kids. Any AAP teacher who is being honest will tell you that over half of the kids in their class do not belong in a gifted program and would be very well served in gen ed. Of course, all of the parents of these kids thought their kids were quite gifted, but just "bad test takers." |
I’m sorry, but how on earth could you know this about half the kids in the grade level? 1 or 2 that you’re close friends with, maybe. But the rest is purely speculation. |
There is no school in FCPS where more than 50% of a grade is admitted by the central committee to AAP. So this is untrue and based on nothing but your impressions. You would have no way of knowing anything about their test scores or abilities either. Please stop spreading false information to bolster your theory. |
Wow. 2 different people misread “neighborhood” as “school”. That’s truly bizarre. |
Even more chance then that these assumptions are false. Who knows test scores and reading levels of half the kids in the neighborhood? Move on. |
You're crazy. Or you're so antisocial that you don't talk to neighbors of similarly aged kids at the bus stop or at other gatherings or when your kids are playing together. Most likely, you're just trying to cover for your truly terrible reading comprehension by deflecting. Anyway, they're not assumptions. One parent was quite open that she parent referred her kid, the kid got into AAP, and then washed out in 3rd grade because the math was too hard. Another parent flat out said that her kid got a 119 CogAT composite and didn't get pass advanced on any of the 3rd grade SOLs. One parent consistently asked me for help with her kid's 2nd grade math word problems, because neither she nor her DD could understand how to do them, and my kid was getting them correct. Her kid had a <100 NNAT and a 122 CogAT, which she acknowledged freely. Her kid prepped for the CogAT score, which she also acknowledged. After her kid got accepted into AAP, she wouldn't shut up about how the committee saw something special in her kid, and her kid is truly gifted, despite the bad test scores. Yet another parent said they parent referred their kid. Even after prepping like crazy for the IAAT, the kid told other kids that he only got a 68th percentile. One parent was worried about parent referring for AAP because her kid was completely average in math on all metrics. The kid still got into AAP and then slowed it down for everyone else. All of these kids were the types standing around the bus stop reading Magic Treehouse or the like in 2nd, so we're not talking about very advanced readers. These are the types of kids getting accepted into AAP, and it's not unexpected. In the old system, under which all of these kids were accepted, 10% of FCPS kids earn scores in the top 2%, many due to prepping. Only 2/3 of those kids get accepted into AAP, meaning 6.7% of the FCPS kids are both in-pool and in AAP. AAP includes 20% of the kids per eligible grade level. The remaining 13.3% of the kids in AAP had scores in the 120s or even lower. The AART at my kids' school flat out said in the parent presentations that parents should refer any kid with over 120 on any subsection of CogAT. If the kid is above average, the school will support their application packet, and most of those will get admitted by the central committee. The AAP equity report pretty deliberately hid the CogAT composite data of admitted kids, but the subscore data they released was honestly quite low. It should be quite apparent to everyone that the majority of kids in AAP are merely somewhat above average. |
Agree that the AAP report was surprising and I found the test scores to be surprisingly far below the "old" cutoffs. Clustering makes sense, in that light, when coupled with center schools for kids nearer to or above the cutoffs. |
Wow, you are way too fixated on AAP if you get into such level of detail with your neighborhood clique. Did you journal all this or what? Seems insane. Time to get a life. |
DP. When your kids are in grade school, that's their life, and as a parent, you're interested too. It's not wrong or fixated. |
NP, I've never discussed scores with my kids' friends parents and would probably not give specifics if asked |