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Advanced Academic Programs (AAP)
Reply to "AAP: Gifted determinations at 2nd Grade - Too Young"
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[quote=Anonymous]Hm... mixing the "advanced" and the "gifted' again. AAP is an Advanced ed program -- and access to it is indeed muddled by tests that mix in aptitude and knowledge, as well as teacher recommendations. Even so-called pure IQ tests are in fact heavily biased by knowledge, so it really is hard to get a true measure of a child's potential intellect. The classroom teacher recommendation is just as problematic as using the IQ tests at this age. K and 1st grade pretty much start from scratch, as they cannot assume kids had any formal education before. Some kids are fine with that, others balk. By 2nd grade, some of the more gifted children are spending their time *maybe* un-learning poor habits they created for themselves, trying to manage the boredom of the earlier grades. Their classroom referrals are poor, since they have not shown a "compelling ability to learn', and their IQ scores are affected by the diminishing "general knowledge" --- a side efffect of 2-3 years of 7 hours a week of slow work. They fail to get into AAP,and continue to struggle in their GE class. The way things work now, we actually select into the AAP exactly those kids for whom status quo in a GE classroom would work well, and leaving out quite a few of the truly gifted who cannot manage GE. This is an Advanced Academics program, not a Gifted one. So to me, the AAP track is just a way for the school to manage differentiated learning for advanced kids. We moved away from having special ed classes at the low end, but now have special ed classes at the top end of the achievement scale. Frankly, I am of the opinion that many children would benefit from an advanced track, and that access to that should be quite liberal. In fact, kids should be able to "try out" and decide if it works for them, rather than qualify on a "tenure track" like they do now. The kid who made a jump in 2nd grade may well be the kid who needs to slow down in 5th. I also believe that it is really important to allow the AAP track to reach into Kindergarten -- as many children come in with advanced skills after 3 or more years of private preschool. Those kids really need differentiated learning as they are actually at risk of learning to hate school. I could even see this becoming the standard GE, where kids who did not have any preschool / kindergarten exposure would benefit from additional services to bring them up to the same level. AAP is just where school should be for most kids... On the other hand, the truly gifted do need a program -- though I'm pretty sure the current AAP is not it. They need truly individualized learning, rather than just an advancement of grade, which is AAP right now. Of course, you need to be really selective for such an individualized program, as it does come at a much higher cost. But even those kids would benefit from a mixed classroom in which they establish friendships across all abilities, even though they will be pulled out for 1:few work on special topics. So my dream recipe: - Allow younger kids to progress at a much faster pace early on -- essentially putting them on the AAP track from the beginning - Provide additional support for children who were not in school before K and 1st grade -- or those without literacy skills. - On a need basis, provide individualized instruction to the truly gifted, in their area of strength. Have a math teacher give them challenging work and spending some 1:1 time supporting their advancement. Have a literacy teacher join in a creative writing program or book club. and so on... - most importantly, keep the kids integrated. If we start grooming the future leaders in 3rd grade, based on some pretty random criteria, how will they relate to the rest of the population once they reach their position of power?[/quote]
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