Reply to APS - Percentage of 2nd/4th Graders w/ Very High (95%+) NNAT/CogAT Scores?

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Reply to "APS - Percentage of 2nd/4th Graders w/ Very High (95%+) NNAT/CogAT Scores?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My kid scored 99th percentile on the tests at an APS elementary school. Straight A student and looks for new work. Wasn't offered a spot in GT. We asked for an explanation, but all they said is that he didn't seem interested in school work. SMH. I think we didn't donate enough to the PTA. It's a popularity contest at my kid's school. That's all it is. We're totally disillusioned. We thought about appealing to the county, I'm sure we'd "win" based on the numbers alone. But what really would we win? More time with people who don't know what GT is. Score![/quote]

Being smart and a high-achiever does not equal gifted. Arlington is FILLED with smart, high-achieving kids. Gifted behavior is something else entirely. [/quote]

Exactly, it is something other than high achieving and smart. For our son, he had 2 ability (not achievement) tests at the school come back with scores of 99%, 150+. What made us disillusioned is that kids who scored in the 120s on those tests were let in the program. An independent WISC exam came back with an IQ in the low 150s, with very high quantitative skills. This is not a close call. 120s, 130s, may be a close call, or may just be "smart and high achieving." There were other kids at this school who were denied with similar scores. When the explanation of why he wasn't qualified was "he doesn't seem interested in school work", that shows a misunderstanding by the school GT counselor of what GT is. It is not smart, it is not high achieving, it is a measurable difference in ability. This piece of data anyway reflects poorly on APS GT services because it suggests decisions are made because of something other than ability. [/quote]

It's not really even about "ability" so much as it is about learning differently. When you talk about "measurable difference in ability" you imply superiority. True "gifted" programs are actually filled with kids who are also "special needs." I.e., kids we might have called "idiot savants" in past times. Gifted isn't about "extraordinary ability" it's about thinking differently and learning differently.[/quote]

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