It's official: CogAT scores are not age-adjusted this year!!!

[Anonymous]

The interesting thing would be to see what happens next year. Are they going to do the same or decide to age- adjust, in which case all hell will break loose from this year's parents , especially the ones with younger kids who did well but not wll enough to make it to the AAP?

[Anonymous]

FCPS can do whatever the hell they want. I think some of you would be surprised by what school districts are doing across the country. It is their program. They could write their own test. They could keep the parents unaware of what test they are using.

The difference here is the parents are CRAZY.

FCPS has it in their best interests to select the kids they believe will do well in the AAP. If they want to no longer adjust for age, that is their prerogative. (And this makes sense. The program itself will not adjust for age. A 95% on a spelling test is a 95% for all third graders regardless of birthday.) IT IS NOT A GIFTED PROGRAM. It is a tracking program for high achieving kids. It is about achievement.

sour grapes.

[Anonymous]

It is shocking how much stupidity circulates among people interested in having their kids in the AAP... No people, FCPS cannot do what they want. We are not North Korea here... They cannot alter decades-long testing practices on a whim and produce distorted results just because "they can do whatever they want". Unless someone tells me that CogAT this year included spelling and addition with regrouping (to follow 16:57's dumb argument about spelling), age is a factor. It has always been like that, and I bet you the people who designed it knew one thing or two about how it should be done right. Simple as that.

[Anonymous]

Remember though that Fcps can do exActly what they want . Gifted services are not mandated-- only a local plan is. If you look at the neighboring school districts, you'll see that Fcps can construct these services however they choose to and if that is changing the screening method, so be it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is shocking how much stupidity circulates among people interested in having their kids in the AAP... No people, FCPS cannot do what they want.

Sure they can. The impetus of the AAP Expansion task force in 2012 was due to the desire by some FCPS staff to eliminate AAP Centers altogether.

[Anonymous]

No objection. They can change the testing method and pick anything they want but they cannot change the test itself when it is a nationally established one with a bunch of science behind it and hasn't been developed by them. They can use any number they want but they cannot say that 1+1=3.

[Anonymous]

FCPS can't do whatever they want, but they can do what they think it's reasonable (or best practices). And the best practices changes with time. If they follow the same rule when the GT (AAP) started, only 1% kids get into the program, so all your (my summer birthday DC got 85%, and should be age-adjusted into the pool) DC will be out of luck for a long mile.
The county is fine-tuning what they think the best way to service the kids, under the watch of the schoolboard/administration. If you don't like it, call/email the schoolboard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is shocking how much stupidity circulates among people interested in having their kids in the AAP... No people, FCPS cannot do what they want. We are not North Korea here... They cannot alter decades-long testing practices on a whim and produce distorted results just because "they can do whatever they want". Unless someone tells me that CogAT this year included spelling and addition with regrouping (to follow 16:57's dumb argument about spelling), age is a factor. It has always been like that, and I bet you the people who designed it knew one thing or two about how it should be done right. Simple as that.

yes they can.
who says they can't?
simple as that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remember though that Fcps can do exActly what they want . Gifted services are not mandated-- only a local plan is. If you look at the neighboring school districts, you'll see that Fcps can construct these services however they choose to and if that is changing the screening method, so be it.

bingo. No one has a property right to AAP admission. They used the same method for all the test takers. perfectly legal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember though that Fcps can do exActly what they want . Gifted services are not mandated-- only a local plan is. If you look at the neighboring school districts, you'll see that Fcps can construct these services however they choose to and if that is changing the screening method, so be it.

bingo. No one has a property right to AAP admission. They used the same method for all the test takers. perfectly legal.

No, they didn't , if the questions are not standardized for age. That's what we've been saying all along.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember though that Fcps can do exActly what they want . Gifted services are not mandated-- only a local plan is. If you look at the neighboring school districts, you'll see that Fcps can construct these services however they choose to and if that is changing the screening method, so be it.

bingo. No one has a property right to AAP admission. They used the same method for all the test takers. perfectly legal.

No, they didn't , if the questions are not standardized for age. That's what we've been saying all along.

there is absolutely jno federal state or local law that says tests for admission to public school AAP programs have to be age normed.
Everybody eligible to take the test was treated exactly the same regardless of age. No law against that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember though that Fcps can do exActly what they want . Gifted services are not mandated-- only a local plan is. If you look at the neighboring school districts, you'll see that Fcps can construct these services however they choose to and if that is changing the screening method, so be it.

bingo. No one has a property right to AAP admission. They used the same method for all the test takers. perfectly legal.

No, they didn't , if the questions are not standardized for age. That's what we've been saying all along.

Yes, they did. The same questions were given to all the children in the grade. They were all scored using the same answer key.

Now I'm waiting for the post where parents of summer birthday kids are going to complain that their GBRS scores should be weighted because redshirted kids in the class had an extra year to develop their gifted behaviors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember though that Fcps can do exActly what they want . Gifted services are not mandated-- only a local plan is. If you look at the neighboring school districts, you'll see that Fcps can construct these services however they choose to and if that is changing the screening method, so be it.

bingo. No one has a property right to AAP admission. They used the same method for all the test takers. perfectly legal.

No, they didn't , if the questions are not standardized for age. That's what we've been saying all along.

there is absolutely jno federal state or local law that says tests for admission to public school AAP programs have to be age normed.
Everybody eligible to take the test was treated exactly the same regardless of age. No law against that.

Maybe they should base admission on who can hold their breath the longest? Or who can do the most jump rope reps? Complete BS. If they have a method, then explain it, make it transparent and supportable. Make it equitable and consistent with national and established norms developed by clinical child psychologists and testing companies that have extensive experience in standardized testing practices. Yes, they can do what they want, but when it is questionable it should be met with swift and hard push back from the constituents that are being served. These people are nothing more than public servants that work for the taxpayers. Any responsible board member whose constituent is wronged by the process should investigate the methods and rationale for the process and assure it is fair. That is their job and what keeps this from becoming North Korea.

[Anonymous]

Grade norm should suffice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember though that Fcps can do exActly what they want . Gifted services are not mandated-- only a local plan is. If you look at the neighboring school districts, you'll see that Fcps can construct these services however they choose to and if that is changing the screening method, so be it.

bingo. No one has a property right to AAP admission. They used the same method for all the test takers. perfectly legal.

No, they didn't , if the questions are not standardized for age. That's what we've been saying all along.

Yes, they did. The same questions were given to all the children in the grade. They were all scored using the same answer key.

Now I'm waiting for the post where parents of summer birthday kids are going to complain that their GBRS scores should be weighted because redshirted kids in the class had an extra year to develop their gifted behaviors.

Simple questions: Why are WISC IQ tests and national CogAT scores and the NNAT age normalized by month?