APS Advanced Academics Parent Referral

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The system is much better now. Back when it was pullout the GT teachers gatekeeped to keep their caseloads small, and they left out a lot of kids who should have been identified.

My kid was overlooked. When I parent referred, they tested so high even the principal was wondering how they were missed.

This doesn't make sense. Every kid is test twice, once for NNaT and once for CogAT. You don't get tested based on a parent referral unless the kid is new. But a new kid wasn't overlooked, because they weren't there to be overlooked.

You don't know what you don't know. Kids are screened twice now, but that wasn't always the case. They were just given the NNaT; that's not a great test and it missed too many kids.

The addition of the CogAT was one of the improvements in addition to the push in model so kids are not left out anymore.

Why are you talking about ancient history? We're not talking about dropping the CogAT or the push in model, both of which were decided years ago. We're talking about the move to the new AAC model with an "all students" focus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The system is much better now. Back when it was pullout the GT teachers gatekeeped to keep their caseloads small, and they left out a lot of kids who should have been identified.

My kid was overlooked. When I parent referred, they tested so high even the principal was wondering how they were missed.

It’s not better now, just bad in a different way. The reality is we need 3 options for students especially in middle school and up-remedial, regular, intensified/honors. No one wants their kid in the struggling section so that should be placement based on test scores, work samples and teacher feedback. Honors should be similar.

That is literally what we have now in middle school.

1. Not all subjects have a remedial option
2. Anyone can enroll in intensified, no scores needed

There are special education classes for kids who need them in every subject as well as remedial classes in some subjects. And why do you care about keeping other kids out of intensified? Your kid can sign up, what's the problem?

The problem exists only when teachers are *not* allowed to screen kids back OUT after they try it.

[Anonymous]

My oldest is a freshman in college and did nnat and cogat back in ES.

Cogat is not new. Maybe COVID disrupted the testing for a few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The system is much better now. Back when it was pullout the GT teachers gatekeeped to keep their caseloads small, and they left out a lot of kids who should have been identified.

My kid was overlooked. When I parent referred, they tested so high even the principal was wondering how they were missed.

This doesn't make sense. Every kid is test twice, once for NNaT and once for CogAT. You don't get tested based on a parent referral unless the kid is new. But a new kid wasn't overlooked, because they weren't there to be overlooked.

You don't know what you don't know. Kids are screened twice now, but that wasn't always the case. They were just given the NNaT; that's not a great test and it missed too many kids.

The addition of the CogAT was one of the improvements in addition to the push in model so kids are not left out anymore.

My 20 yo took both NNaT AND CogAT in APS, and the push in model was also adopted when he was in elementary. That was a long time ago.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The system is much better now. Back when it was pullout the GT teachers gatekeeped to keep their caseloads small, and they left out a lot of kids who should have been identified.

My kid was overlooked. When I parent referred, they tested so high even the principal was wondering how they were missed.

It’s not better now, just bad in a different way. The reality is we need 3 options for students especially in middle school and up-remedial, regular, intensified/honors. No one wants their kid in the struggling section so that should be placement based on test scores, work samples and teacher feedback. Honors should be similar.

That is literally what we have now in middle school.

+1

Yes, this is maybe the 3rd year of intensified classes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Opening varsity practices to all ends up lowering the intensity of the endeavor. You get that, right?

You don’t seem to understand how this works. If a non identified kid is excited about and doing well in a fractions unit, it isn’t “lowering the intensity of the endeavor” to allow him to do the extension work that the identified kids are required to do.

The thing is that they're not offering it as a separate extension where kids choose to participate or not. They offer these activities to all students so it needs to be accessible to all students. The activities are being offered as whole class activities and have been made easier so all students can do them successfully.

This is leaving the students who used to get extensions with nothing to do when they finish grade level work.

That’s not universal. Some schools take a subset of kids who are interested in a particular topic and they get an extra project/reading.

Others have an endless supply of extensions, some for depth and some goes beyond current course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The system is much better now. Back when it was pullout the GT teachers gatekeeped to keep their caseloads small, and they left out a lot of kids who should have been identified.

My kid was overlooked. When I parent referred, they tested so high even the principal was wondering how they were missed.

It’s not better now, just bad in a different way. The reality is we need 3 options for students especially in middle school and up-remedial, regular, intensified/honors. No one wants their kid in the struggling section so that should be placement based on test scores, work samples and teacher feedback. Honors should be similar.

That is literally what we have now in middle school.

+1

Yes, this is maybe the 3rd year of intensified classes?

This is the first year with full roll out, including to 6th grade. It's not entirely clear that the intensified classes are any different or more challenging, but it's good APS is at least trying to differentiate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Opening varsity practices to all ends up lowering the intensity of the endeavor. You get that, right?

You don’t seem to understand how this works. If a non identified kid is excited about and doing well in a fractions unit, it isn’t “lowering the intensity of the endeavor” to allow him to do the extension work that the identified kids are required to do.

The thing is that they're not offering it as a separate extension where kids choose to participate or not. They offer these activities to all students so it needs to be accessible to all students. The activities are being offered as whole class activities and have been made easier so all students can do them successfully.

This is leaving the students who used to get extensions with nothing to do when they finish grade level work.

That’s not universal. Some schools take a subset of kids who are interested in a particular topic and they get an extra project/reading.

Others have an endless supply of extensions, some for depth and some goes beyond current course.

That's not the model being put forward by APS central administration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The system is much better now. Back when it was pullout the GT teachers gatekeeped to keep their caseloads small, and they left out a lot of kids who should have been identified.

My kid was overlooked. When I parent referred, they tested so high even the principal was wondering how they were missed.

It’s not better now, just bad in a different way. The reality is we need 3 options for students especially in middle school and up-remedial, regular, intensified/honors. No one wants their kid in the struggling section so that should be placement based on test scores, work samples and teacher feedback. Honors should be similar.

That is literally what we have now in middle school.

1. Not all subjects have a remedial option
2. Anyone can enroll in intensified, no scores needed

The core subjects have remedial options. Plus there are additional supports built-in to support struggling kids in grade-level classes.

Kids self select into intensified. And the enrollment is fluid - I know kids who have moved up and down during the school year.

How old are your kids? Which school(s)? Seems like you have young kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Opening varsity practices to all ends up lowering the intensity of the endeavor. You get that, right?

You don’t seem to understand how this works. If a non identified kid is excited about and doing well in a fractions unit, it isn’t “lowering the intensity of the endeavor” to allow him to do the extension work that the identified kids are required to do.

The thing is that they're not offering it as a separate extension where kids choose to participate or not. They offer these activities to all students so it needs to be accessible to all students. The activities are being offered as whole class activities and have been made easier so all students can do them successfully.

This is leaving the students who used to get extensions with nothing to do when they finish grade level work.

That’s not universal. Some schools take a subset of kids who are interested in a particular topic and they get an extra project/reading.

Others have an endless supply of extensions, some for depth and some goes beyond current course.

That's not the model being put forward by APS central administration.

They are available to all kids who show interest, not just those tagged as gifted. This is in addition to a healthy supply of extension activities.

When your kids are older you’ll find that there is a lot more differentiation in MS+. ES has never had a ton. Which is fine for most parents in APS. Parents who want that tend to head to FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The system is much better now. Back when it was pullout the GT teachers gatekeeped to keep their caseloads small, and they left out a lot of kids who should have been identified.

My kid was overlooked. When I parent referred, they tested so high even the principal was wondering how they were missed.

It’s not better now, just bad in a different way. The reality is we need 3 options for students especially in middle school and up-remedial, regular, intensified/honors. No one wants their kid in the struggling section so that should be placement based on test scores, work samples and teacher feedback. Honors should be similar.

That is literally what we have now in middle school.

+1

Yes, this is maybe the 3rd year of intensified classes?

This is the first year with full roll out, including to 6th grade. It's not entirely clear that the intensified classes are any different or more challenging, but it's good APS is at least trying to differentiate.

How old are your kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The system is much better now. Back when it was pullout the GT teachers gatekeeped to keep their caseloads small, and they left out a lot of kids who should have been identified.

My kid was overlooked. When I parent referred, they tested so high even the principal was wondering how they were missed.

It’s not better now, just bad in a different way. The reality is we need 3 options for students especially in middle school and up-remedial, regular, intensified/honors. No one wants their kid in the struggling section so that should be placement based on test scores, work samples and teacher feedback. Honors should be similar.

That is literally what we have now in middle school.

+1

Yes, this is maybe the 3rd year of intensified classes?

This is the first year with full roll out, including to 6th grade. It's not entirely clear that the intensified classes are any different or more challenging, but it's good APS is at least trying to differentiate.

I don’t think that the teachers across APS middle schools would conspire to pretend that some classes are different or more challenging when they are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Opening varsity practices to all ends up lowering the intensity of the endeavor. You get that, right?

You don’t seem to understand how this works. If a non identified kid is excited about and doing well in a fractions unit, it isn’t “lowering the intensity of the endeavor” to allow him to do the extension work that the identified kids are required to do.

The teacher just has to slow things down for the kids whose parents insist that they can cut it. Nbd

[Anonymous]

No wonder we rank so high in education. Great practices like these.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Opening varsity practices to all ends up lowering the intensity of the endeavor. You get that, right?

You don’t seem to understand how this works. If a non identified kid is excited about and doing well in a fractions unit, it isn’t “lowering the intensity of the endeavor” to allow him to do the extension work that the identified kids are required to do.

The teacher just has to slow things down for the kids whose parents insist that they can cut it. Nbd

That appears to be a figment of your imagination.