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[quote=Anonymous]1.) What percentage of your students do you think truly belong at the AAP center? - Depends how we want to define the role of the center.  I think students identified as AAP benefit from being with a group of intellectually similar peers, but I don't believe that meeting this need requires the current Center model in all parts of the county.  I'm going to interpret this question as "what percentage of students identified for AAP are truly gifted" and say about 75%.

Are some only gifted in one subject area? Absolutely, or one "area" such as humanities (would cover LA and history) or STEM.  I also see students who are quite weak in one subject compared to their abilities in other subjects. FCPS' current model that requires students be in all AAP classes does these students a disservice.

Do you have many students who are probably there due to parents being pushy? Yes.  I would be interested to know which students made it in through the pool and which had private testing done -- and how many times.  While I don't think it is the majority, I'm sure it does exist.

2.) Do you see any advantages to making all schools level IV instead?  In certain parts of the county, yes. It eliminates the "AAP kids have options others don't and that's not fair" issue and saves money on transportation.  Some argue that there is cost involved, particularly offering PD for teachers to earn certification to teach AAP, but these classes have been offered for years.  Because these classes already exist through the county, you wouldn't be increasing cost, just shifting who is signing up for them.  If anything, it becomes something else required of teachers, but we're used to that. :)  Principals who plan well for this type of programmatic change (see models at Cooper and Franklin, for example) would seek out people who are already interested in teaching these classes, so those teachers would likely enjoy the training and might already be on their way to certification.

3.) What are the disadvantages of making all schools Level IV? Some areas of the county do not have the critical mass numbers needed to provide a peer group for advanced learners.  I wholly support keeping the center model where this is the case.  Also, some centers who currently pull students from their base schools would lose a number of high-achieving students, so test scores would likely decrease. While I do not believe this is a valid reason for not making schools Level IV, these principals would feel the heat and might argue against de-centering for this reason.

4.) Do you see anything in the AAP program that should be included in budget cuts? Transportation in areas of the county where critical mass can be achieved without pulling from other schools.

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