Reply to Come on, tell the truth...AAP related

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What's the point of the question? With all the digs at AAP on this site, I tend to suspect that this is an attempt to stir the pot and set up yet another "let's bash AAP and those pushy parents" discussion.

Why would it really matter whether a child learns differently or is just ahead of the general education classroom? Wouldn't a child who learned differently possibly be ahead of the general ed curriculum? Wouldn't a child who was ahead also be likely to be one who learns differently? Why try to make the distinction you're setting up here? If a kid qualifies for AAP according to the rules in place, why get into the distinctions you're bringing up?[/quote]

Because, AAP is  supposed to be targeted to kids who can't be taught in the regular classroom.  There are plenty of kids who are just ahead of a general education classroom in general ed right now.  Why does a similarly advanced kid need to go to an AAP center to find peers?[/quote]

"AAP is supposed to be targeted at kids who CAN'T be taught in the regular classroom"? Not even sure what you mean. Of course they CAN be taught there. But they won't work at their full potential. Many kids whom you describe (dismissively) as "just" ahead of their general ed peers also are not served well by general ed.

In general education, teachers just cannot often differentiate effectively enough that kids who are advanced AND kids who need help are all served well. I know from experience that we're told that teachers will differentiate and therefore can challenge the kids who are up for challenges so every child is met at his or her own level. But the truth is that much of the time, with anywhere from 25 to 32 kids in classrooms in schools around us, teachers tend to give the advanced kids more work and harder work and then....leave them to it. The teacher's own attention goes to the kids who need more help, and the teacher is expected by the school to do that because the school wants to see its overall testing scores improve. There's nothing wrong with expecting more independence from the advanced kids and nothing wrong with giving more help where it's needed, of course. But differentiation can't fully provide much real challenge to kids who are advanced (or AAP material or whatever you want to call it.)

You ask "why does a similarly advanced kid need to go to an AAP center to find peers?" Because in a center, the level of all the teaching for every child is different and overall the kids tend to be motivated and interested in what they're doing (sure, some are not, but I've observed that most kids in our center like school and want to be there and engage in the work well).

And again -- how do you know whether a kid "learns differently" or is "just advanced"? I don't. Why treat the kids who are "just" ahead of the general classroom as if they should merely accept whatever challenges the general ed classroom can provide them --which isn't much?

Do you know a child whom you suspect is "just ahead" who ended up in AAP, and you think he or she shouldn't be in AAP? [/quote]

You are the one who quoted "rules in place"  and the centers were originially set up to serve gifted kids who learned so differently that they could not get an appropriate education otherwise.  I would have preferred to see FCPS stick to the original mission as opposed to watering down AAP entry to pull too many kids out of their neighborhood schools who could be served there just as well and  maybe learn a few things about life from their less intellectual peers.  I also think, as a previous poster has noted, that it creates a parallell public school system that rightly or wrongly many people perceive as offering a better education.  So you have parents prepping, and pushing and appealing and acting like their kids lives are over at 8 if they don't get into an  center, which is ridiculous and unhealthy.   There are also issues of equity involved -- wouldn't we all appreciate an education tailored to our specific needs, but with a tight budget you have to make choices. At the margin there are plenty of kids who could benefit from AAP who aren't at centers, why not create a critical mass at base schools and serve them there without pulling communities apart?

I'm no expert on gifted, but daughter went to an AAP center and often wondered why some of her classmates were there since they often struggled to understand certain concepts that most of the class got quickly.  Maybe there were just going through a mean girl phase.  I also know a couple of other AAP kids personally and even their parents say, bright kids, but probably would have done just as well outside of AAP.

I'm not naive enough to think centers will go away anytime soon, but I just wonder if the benefits to the few outweigh the drawbacks.

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