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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I totally get that a few children need a more rigorous academic curriculum. The issue here is not the "giving" of what a child needs but the "giving" of "advanced academics" to a select few because they can not function in the general classroom. The label of "advanced academics" and the "giving" of a better education, in a "full immersion" program is absolutely wrong if the same is not given to the "good", "advanced academic student". Why should they get total immersion when a strait A, good student, could benefit as well?[/quote]

[quote=Anonymous]Gifted Teacher: what do you say to the straight A student every year, is in the same building as the Center, but is not in the AAP program. The child asks, "what more do I have to do?".

[b]Straight As don't necessarily mean that a child needs the AAP classroom.[/b] I might ask the teacher if she sees my child exhibiting behaviors that indicate the need for the AAP. If she does not, I would reinforce with my child that different children need different types of classrooms and that she is where she needs to be to get the most out of her classes each day. 
[/quote]
No one is advocating "giving" a better education to one child over another. The idea is for children to be taught in the way that is most effective for them. Not every child needs the AAP classroom in order to learn. I would say if a child is getting straight As in the regular classroom, than that class is a good match for that child's learning style.

You are right, no one is "advocating giving a better education to one child over the other" FCPS is just doing it!  FCPS is labeling so many students who are "in need of" an alternative learning environment as "advanced" and "giving" them a better education by, a great AAP teacher once said, "going more in depth, focusing on higher level thinking skills, and using strategies/programs such as Habits of Mind, Socratic Seminar, DBQ (document based questioning) expanding on the curriculum".

How could any logical person really believe that a "straight A", all around "good student" in a "regular" classroom is not capable of, or would not benefit from, this type of curriculum? 
Why is it that students who "cannot function" in the standard classroom are being given this better education while truly "smart" kids are not?

So a student who cannot function in the "standard" classroom is capable of "going more in depth, focusing on higher level thinking skills, and using strategies/programs such as Habits of Mind, Socratic Seminar, DBQ (document based questioning) expanding on the curriculum"?  Rrrr...ight.

This is what gets parents so outraged.[/quote]

Again, AAP is not meant to be a program specifically for children with learning disabilities, although they may be included in AAP. Did you see the post linked below from another thread (first post on page, posted at 12:31)? Not a single "behavior problem" child in the group. If there is ADHD in the group, it may be of an inattentive type (child being unfocused and disorganized), so the parent who posted may not be aware of it. Of course if children were of equal abilities, except the ones with behavior problems as their only difference got better opportunities for higher level learning, no one would think that was okay. I do not see anything at all to indicate that this is the case. If anything the selection process favors the well behaved child.

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/30/357428.page

It sounds like you already appealed for your child. Did you submit a WISC? I wonder if you may have conveyed frustration with the AAP selection process like in your posts here? I mean this in a helpful way. If you included a lot of verbiage with the appeal that was negative and critical about the AAP selection process, that may not have helped your child's chances. You should be able to do a parent referral this year. I saw on another thread that the deadline seems to have been extended to February 7. Best wishes to you and your child.[/quote]

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