Reply to What really IS the point of AAP?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Science nerd mom here. Tax bracket is over 250k.

Yes my kids play sports. Healthy bodies are important to us.

Yes my kids are in AAP. Healthy minds are important to us.

AAP is the only reason why we are in FCPS or living in Fairfax county. We would otherwise live in CA.

AAP exists in part to keep the tax bracket average here high. Without it, a good portion of Fairfax county would just move. It’s very expensive to live here, and honestly without kids we could live in a more affordable area. The tracking works for us.

Creating this kind of competitive educational system also does one more thing:  instead of teaching 1-4 different levels of kids in one class at a school, it’s down to about 1-2 for gen Ed and and AAP. It is a little easier for teachers. And I think helpful is raising kids up without lowering kids down.

Do I think it’s fair?  The reality is that it is done in other counties/states but not so blatantly and not so much on such a large scale. The other reality is that a lot of parents assume their kids will get in and get mad when their kids don’t get in.  So the OPs question gets posted much more often because people become aware of the difference.  This is leads to my next observation:

I have one kid who is extremely intelligent (in aap) and another who is not as gifted in math (not in aap). But both do well because they know there is another group of kids who are in the smart class. The awareness that intelligence is awarded is important to them at this age and having local level IV is good.

In that aspect, it’s nice to have AAP. I think if there was a longitudinal study to see the effects of having this separation on overall graduation levels and advanced education in fcps that would most likely be the reason to keep aap vs eliminate it. But my observation is that it is good for our kids overall- even if they don’t get into aap. [/quote]

But it IS lowering kids down. AAP kids frequently act entitled and like they are better than he general Ed kids and are frequently treated that way, too. Our school has a “fusion lab” with really cool stem stuff. My AAP kid is in there frequently and says it’s super fun, but my non-AAP kid has never been in there. The AAP class this year got an extra field trip that the gen ed kids didn’t get. How do you think that makes the gen ed kids feel? Like they’re not good enough. [/quote]

Oh well. Life's not fair.[b] Those AAP kids will also be getting higher salaries and live in nicer neighborhoods[/b]. Or do you think all of society should convert to socialism?[/quote]

Hahahahaa, this is absolutely not the case. I know two former AAP/TJ kids - both are government employees. One lives in Burke, the other lives in Reston.[/quote]

Wow, you know a whole two students? Have you contacted the american sociological association to publish your study? I was talking ON AVERAGE, genius. Clearly somebody never went to AAP lol[/quote]

lol, AAP is a fairfax county thing, didn't exist where I grew up. My point is that AAP and even TJ do not have the long-lasting impact that you seem to think it does. Also, outside of this small community, nobody cares what high school you or your kid went to. Do you think tech bros out west are asking Brendan and Ella what high school they went to when they're interviewing for jobs? Nope nope nope.

- Ivy league undergrad, turned down an ivy league grad school for a better more rigorous curriculum, worked in tech for 20 years, now retired at 45. Tell me your quals, sweetie pie.[/quote]

I don't think AAP has any effect at all. I just think the kids in AAP are intellectually superior to those that are not. Fellow ivy leaguer here, but only for my PhD[/quote]

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