Reply to AAP should be eliminated as it’s not the path to equity

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Reply to "AAP should be eliminated as it’s not the path to equity"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So many of you on here patting yourselves on the back.  Sure, only irresponsible parents don’t game the system (if you’re not cheating you’re not trying, right?).  Only irresponsible parents expect the schools to actually educate their children.  And any students who for whatever reason didn’t make the cut for AAP when they’re 7-8 years old are definitely going to get a fabulous education in those schools that the AAP kids are too good to even have to set foot in again.  Right.

No one would have a problem with AAP if it was truly a program for the gifted.  Lots of people have a problem with it because [b]it’s a program for the upper middle class/wealthy.[/b][/quote]

That's the point.  It's not.

But carry on with your "I'm not bitter."[/quote]

When did I say I’m not bitter?  I’m extremely bitter.  My family is solidly middle class (actual middle class not DCUM middle class), we pay our taxes, and my children who are bright and motivated are not being educated.

YOUR point may be that AAP is not a program for the upper middle class/wealthy, but just stating “it’s not” doesn’t mean that it’s not.  Because it clearly is.  (In other words, you are wrong.)[/quote]

There are several posts immediately before yours showing how it's not a program for wealthy people.  You don't believe it - that doesn't mean your belief is correct.  [/quote]
DP.  I don't view it as a program for the UMC so much as it is a program for the parents who understand the best way to present their child in the application.  The people who assume that since their kid has high test scores and is above grade level in all subjects, the kid will obviously get in, but then don't present their kid in the "right" way on the parent questionnaire (or the GBRS/work samples don't present the kid in the "right" way) are the ones who end up with kids who get unexpectedly rejected.  People who understand the system are the ones who get their somewhat above average kids in.

If a parent is a teacher, lawyer, or bureaucrat, they're more likely to understand the right buzzwords to get their child into the program.  If the school refers the child, the school knows what the committee is looking for and can get the child accepted.  Prep centers know what the committee wants to see.  The solidly middle class PP with kids who got rejected from AAP most likely was at a huge disadvantage, since the kids aren't poor enough for the school to help, the family isn't wealthy enough to outsource, and the parents most likely didn't understand how to frame the application in the right way to get their kids accepted.

I'll admit it.  My kid got rejected with just below in-pool test scores, high GBRS, and above grade level in all subjects.  I foolishly thought the application could stand on its own, since my kid was high enough in all of the main areas.  When I wrote the appeal letter, I very cynically filled it with edu-gobbledygook pulled from the GBRS form bullet points and Portrait of a Graduate traits, explaining how my kid was demonstrating these traits and why my kid couldn't have their needs met in a regular classroom.  All of the appeals work samples were parent encouraged crap that we knew the committee would lap up.  My kid was admitted on appeal with just these work samples and the letter.  They're not looking for gifted or advanced kids.  They're looking for kids who check the correct edu-bureaucracy boxes.  People who don't get that are at a huge disadvantage in the process, which is why there's such a huge overlap between the bottom 2/3 of AAP kids and an equal number of kids left behind at the top of gen ed.  [/quote]
The problem is that the bottom 2/3 of AAP are given challenging and fulfilling education while the ones left behind are left with the "math and homework is racist" curriculum.[/quote]
Absolutely.  That's why people with knowledge of the system or the means for outside support go to such lengths to get their somewhat above average kids into AAP.  [b]Advanced kids left behind in gen ed are the ones who only get 15 minutes every second week with the teacher out of a 2 hr daily language arts block (1.25% of the teacher's instructional time)!  [/b]They're also the ones who may not even get access to advanced math until 5th or 6th grade.  [/quote]

I don’t doubt this. How does eliminating AAP fix that though?

I doubt it does because while that is a real concern in gen ed, it is not one created by the existence of AAP. I do think the gen ed issue deserves attention though.[/quote]
It somewhat is created by AAP.  If the school has 25 kids who are above grade level in reading, they'll be forced to come up with some solution, like having the kids switch classrooms.  They also will at least have 5 kids per classroom at that level.  If most of the above grade level kids leave for AAP, then it's easier to ignore the few left behind in gen ed.  They're also more likely to scatter them among several classrooms, meaning your kid might not have a reading group at all.  The same is true for math.  If too many kids leave for AAP, the bright ones left behind might not have enough critical mass for advanced math in 3rd or 4th.  When they receive advanced math in 5th or 6th, it might be a classroom that is half advanced math and half regular math, where the kids aren't getting a full advanced math program.

If, for example, there are 5 classrooms per grade level, a system where the top 20% switches to one classroom for reading, the next 20% to another and so on would make much more sense and meet everyone's needs better than the AAP/gen ed system.  
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