Anonymous wrote:If the child has been at the same school since K, there are a number of people who have been seeing the child regularly enough to have good observations to add. Even if the child has only been at the school for second grade, he or she has come into contact with the classroom teacher, the specials teachers, the AART, the school counselor, even the principal. Kids in an elementary school are not anonymous; the staff really get to know a lot of the kids and have appropriate observations to include in the GBRS.

Good points. In addition, GBRS starts in K.

If the child has been at the same school since K, there are a number of people who have been seeing the child regularly enough to have good observations to add. Even if the child has only been at the school for second grade, he or she has come into contact with the classroom teacher, the specials teachers, the AART, the school counselor, even the principal. Kids in an elementary school are not anonymous; the staff really get to know a lot of the kids and have appropriate observations to include in the GBRS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FFX second grade teacher. The Gbrs are subjective and can be arbitrary. The old saw that they are the product of a committee is rubbish.

Interesting. I guess it is not a committee decision at your school. It certainly is at our school.

While 2nd grade teacher's commentary should have the most weight, the partyline has been "it's a committee decision, I'm just one of 7 folks on the committee, etc" and they assume parents are naive to believe the teacher's commentary/scoring are diluted or overruled by administrators and overlay staff. Some seasoned teachers share "golly, i kind of forget this process" which happans every year. Our AART who works at our school didn't even know our DC but purportedly pushed down his GBRS score - DC got in on appeal and is thriving academically. Again, GBRS is an imperfect process - it's starts w. thoughtful commentary, etc

Anonymous wrote:FFX second grade teacher. The Gbrs are subjective and can be arbitrary. The old saw that they are the product of a committee is rubbish.

Interesting. I guess it is not a committee decision at your school. It certainly is at our school.

At my child's school, the child's K, first, and second grade teachers all contributed to the GBRS, as well as the AART and the school counselor. The AART and counselor had done regular programs in the classrooms with the kids throughout K, first, and second grades, so they did know the kids fairly well and had worthwhile input.

I am a General Music/Chorus teacher in FCPS. At my school, The AART sends all the Specialists, even those not on the committee, a list of names, and requests our contribution. If we've seen behaviors in our classes that causes a child to stand out, we're able to add to the commentary of others.

FFX second grade teacher. The Gbrs are subjective and can be arbitrary. The old saw that they are the product of a committee is rubbish. The second grade teacher either gives the numbers and prepares the commentary or prepares the commentary and then with the help of the committee arrives at numbers based on the commentary. It depends on the school and the experience of the teacher which way it will be done. These are second graders so to give a four in any category should really be extremely rare. In ten years I had three kids who truly should have had fours but I gave many kids fours if I thought they could handle AAP. It is a terrible process.

I think the GBRS is completely arbitrary IMO.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GbRS is completed by a committee at the school; not just one teacher.

You know, I don't understand how this works. I've seen the GBRS commentary for all three of my kids who are in AAP. The only one on the "committee" who knows anything about my kids' academic abilities is their current teacher. Well, maybe the AA Resource Teacher, too, I suppose. But the principal? Other grade level AAP teachers who haven't yet had them? They would have absolutely nothing to contribute.

I agree. Maybe the principal was there to inject comments about kids who got in trouble frequently? (Guilty!) But his current teacher, the AART, and the reading specialist made sense. Was surprised that his "highest level" math pull out teacher was not included though.

Given your situation and if my kid doesn't get in, then I would appeal if I can afford the WISC. Based on your comments, it seems like you would anyway and are looking for a confirmation. So I definitely would.

Anonymous wrote:GbRS is completed by a committee at the school; not just one teacher.

You know, I don't understand how this works. I've seen the GBRS commentary for all three of my kids who are in AAP. The only one on the "committee" who knows anything about my kids' academic abilities is their current teacher. Well, maybe the AA Resource Teacher, too, I suppose. But the principal? Other grade level AAP teachers who haven't yet had them? They would have absolutely nothing to contribute.

My oldest is in 7th. In 2nd, he had a 9 GBRS, with a 137 CogAt, 129 Naglieri (do not remember scores, but nonverbal on CogAt was 148). He did not get in, even on appeal. The only new material we submitted were work samples and letters as we could not afford testing. I was quite upset they chose not to put him in LLIV either. About a month into 3rd his teacher asked if I considered referring him again. She thought I should. We parent referred in 3rd with no new scores, he was admitted first round with an 11 GBRS.

If you can afford WISC, go for it. The result will help you to make better decision whether you should appeal of not. The CoAgt and NNTA scores sometimes conflict with GBRS, thats why you will need additional factor such as WISC score.

GbRS is completed by a committee at the school; not just one teacher.

Apparently, our school sends a copy of the GBRS scores home unsolicited. I am confused about it.

DC received a 9, which doesn't seem supported by the glowing commentary of her teacher (who we love) or by her report cards (and what I'm seeing at home and on her quiz scores). And, one of the ratings I flat out disagree with. DC is not a genius but I do think should have been rated a point or 2 higher. I'm just wondering if there is uniformity in these ratings or is it pretty much in the sole discretion of the teacher? I'm not angry, just trying to understand.

And, a more general question: DC just made the pool cutoff. With the GBRS received, I'm thinking there is no chance of acceptance for Level IV (based on the anecdotes I've read on this board). DC is across the board a strong student and above grade level in math. Is it worth appealing?