ACPS very confusing TAG policy for 4th grade subjects and confusing results. Anyone else?

[Anonymous]

My son is in GIA, reads at a 7th grade reading level, is very actively engaged in class, has glowing report cards, stellar teacher conferences, got a 130 when he took the WPPSI, and we were told by his guidance counselor and homeroom teacher that he would be in subject specific TAG next year. He was not recommended for either TAG program. We have found out through requests for information that a portfolio was not submitted for him and that he was not administered the CoGat at school. We specifically asked his teacher if the parents needed to do anything to get him into TAG in the Fall of ‘20 and she told us that we didn’t need to do anything and that he would be fine. We were told by the guidance counselor and TAG teacher in the Fall that the process for TAG admittance this year was “very confusing” but that the teachers would submit a “portfolio” for every student and that parents did not need to do anything. How am I supposed To know if he was truly not qualified for TAG or know if there was a clerical error, miscommunication, or if it was my mistake? I am So confused and upset. Every single day indicator on paper shows that he performs above grade level.

I know That the TAG system is flawed. I honestly Wish they would do away with the whole thing. I am a very engaged parent and can’t even imagine how this goes for kids whose parents don’t have the time to fight this. However, at our school there are three classrooms in 4th grade and one of them is exclusively TAG students. All of my son’s friends will be in that classroom and they always get the much preferred teacher. My child prides himself on his success in the classroom. He is not an athlete, but he excels in the classroom. I’m not sure how to break the news to him. I’m considering homeschooling him and trying to move to an independent school. I have Stayed loyal to our public school through so many disappointing circumstances this year, but if my son was omitted from TAG because of a mix-up or miscommunication, It is very upsetting.

[Anonymous]

Can you appeal? My daughter was in 4th last year and had been in GIA but did not make it into subject specific TAG. I didn't push it because I thought it was the right call in her situation, but I definitely saw some kids who weren't originally part of the TAG classes get moved into at least one subject specific class. (TAG at our school is still via pullout. There is a specific TAG teacher, but the kids are pulled from all the "normal" homerooms for the appropriate classes. It's kind of chaos actually.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is in GIA, reads at a 7th grade reading level, is very actively engaged in class, has glowing report cards, stellar teacher conferences, got a 130 when he took the WPPSI, and we were told by his guidance counselor and homeroom teacher that he would be in subject specific TAG next year. He was not recommended for either TAG program. We have found out through requests for information that a portfolio was not submitted for him and that he was not administered the CoGat at school. We specifically asked his teacher if the parents needed to do anything to get him into TAG in the Fall of ‘20 and she told us that we didn’t need to do anything and that he would be fine. We were told by the guidance counselor and TAG teacher in the Fall that the process for TAG admittance this year was “very confusing” but that the teachers would submit a “portfolio” for every student and that parents did not need to do anything. How am I supposed To know if he was truly not qualified for TAG or know if there was a clerical error, miscommunication, or if it was my mistake? I am So confused and upset. Every single day indicator on paper shows that he performs above grade level.

I know That the TAG system is flawed. I honestly Wish they would do away with the whole thing. I am a very engaged parent and can’t even imagine how this goes for kids whose parents don’t have the time to fight this. However, at our school there are three classrooms in 4th grade and one of them is exclusively TAG students. All of my son’s friends will be in that classroom and they always get the much preferred teacher. My child prides himself on his success in the classroom. He is not an athlete, but he excels in the classroom. I’m not sure how to break the news to him. I’m considering homeschooling him and trying to move to an independent school. I have Stayed loyal to our public school through so many disappointing circumstances this year, but if my son was omitted from TAG because of a mix-up or miscommunication, It is very upsetting.

If a portfolio submission was the process, and they didn't submit one, that was indeed an oversight or a mix-up, wasn't it?

We pulled out of ACPS mid year last year bc I was tired of these kinds of mysteries and the level of confusion that seemed to plague so many different areas.

[Anonymous]

Call the principal and start there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Call the principal and start there.

Yep start with this and just keep insisting. they will put your DS in the class you want.

[Anonymous]

Same here. This is a much bigger problem that this one post. It is district wide and it smells like another ACPS scandal. In typical ACPS fashion the TAG coordinator position was not filled for 9 months. Every third grade parent was promised that a portfolio would be created for their child. Some schools created portfolios and conducted cogAT tests and some did not. Some teachers within a school submitted portfolios and some did not. The new TAG coordinator for ACPS who started in April decided to accept portfolios and then offer a random assortment of criteria for the rest of the students- some of the criteria have been proven to be bad stats and haven't been used to select TAG placement for years. ACPS TAG has created an email address for inquiries with an automatic reply that says email in that inbox will not be checked until September 7th leaving parents reeling and confused. This is much bigger than just your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Same here. This is a much bigger problem that this one post. It is district wide and it smells like another ACPS scandal. In typical ACPS fashion the TAG coordinator position was not filled for 9 months. Every third grade parent was promised that a portfolio would be created for their child. Some schools created portfolios and conducted cogAT tests and some did not. Some teachers within a school submitted portfolios and some did not. The new TAG coordinator for ACPS who started in April decided to accept portfolios and then offer a random assortment of criteria for the rest of the students- some of the criteria have been proven to be bad stats and haven't been used to select TAG placement for years. ACPS TAG has created an email address for inquiries with an automatic reply that says email in that inbox will not be checked until September 7th leaving parents reeling and confused. This is much bigger than just your child.

This is identical to what happened at our school. It sounds like the new TAG director (who is an ACPS parent) is super disorganized or just there to oversee the end of the program so isn't even bothering to be consistent.

[Anonymous]

I haven't followed what is going on with the TAG program. Why does ACPS want to dismantle it? Is it part of the Equity initiative? If the program is jettisoned, has anything been proposed to provide for differentiation at the elementary school level?

[Anonymous]

Another parent of a rising 4th grader here and I agree that the TAG referral and identification process was a total disaster this year. I have some sympathy since they weren't able to administer the tests as usual and had to come up with another system on the fly, but they did not rise the challenge. I just hope the actual TAG classes are okay.

[Anonymous]

We are new to ACPS - when do you usually hear about class placements? We were hoping for a TAG placement, but I don't even know how far in advance you'd know about any class assignment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are new to ACPS - when do you usually hear about class placements? We were hoping for a TAG placement, but I don't even know how far in advance you'd know about any class assignment.

For ES, you get a letter a week or so before school starts. But if you have a powerschool account, something is usually posted there a bit before that. Out of curiosity, what did they have you do for TAG placement as someone who is coming into the system?

[Anonymous]

I’m dealing with the same issue. LO in TAG, high wppsi, high grades, high performer in the classroom. Seems like only possibility is that naglieri was weighed heavily. Naglieri was self administered on the computer in beginning of first grade. Should not have determined subject-specific TAG placement. Anyone know of any research that naglieri is not a good test. I know the fact that it has expired and it was in the computer point to it being a bad indicator, but any research out there that the test is bad? Trying to arm myself for an appeal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are new to ACPS - when do you usually hear about class placements? We were hoping for a TAG placement, but I don't even know how far in advance you'd know about any class assignment.

For ES, you get a letter a week or so before school starts. But if you have a powerschool account, something is usually posted there a bit before that. Out of curiosity, what did they have you do for TAG placement as someone who is coming into the system?

We submitted test scores and counselor said they would reach out to our prior school. I wasn't really concerned about the placement until reading this thread.

[Anonymous]

You are probably in a much better position than existing ACPS parents. The process for a new student is separate from the “portfolio” debacle of this year. You should be fine... as long as the counselor is responsive. They might be bombarded with this mess!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are probably in a much better position than existing ACPS parents. The process for a new student is separate from the “portfolio” debacle of this year. You should be fine... as long as the counselor is responsive. They might be bombarded with this mess!

But soon enough you'll be an ACPS parent and be treated like an annoyance (at best) too!