Anonymous wrote:Yet another reason the process needs a revamp, requiring much higher cutoff scores and no subjective input from others. You're in or you're not, based on your scores.

3. The identification process used by each school division must ensure that no single criterion is used to determine a student's eligibility. The identification process shall include at least three measures from the following categories:
a. Assessment of appropriate student products, performance, or portfolio;
b. Record of observation of in-classroom behavior;
c. Appropriate rating scales, checklists, or questionnaires;
d. Individual interview;
e. Individually administered or group-administered, nationally norm-referenced aptitude or achievement tests;
f. Record of previous accomplishments (such as awards, honors, grades, etc.); or
g. Additional valid and reliable measures or procedures.

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Anonymous wrote:How about when the teacher does not like your child and she screws up the GBRS score for your child ? How do you defend that your child who is absolutely deserving AAp is denied the opportunity because partially this falls on how the AART , the other teachers , local committee provide feedback, sample work etc.

Yet another reason the process needs a revamp, requiring much higher cutoff scores and no subjective input from others. You're in or you're not, based on your scores. Right now, far too many parents are going to of course regard their kids as gifted and refer them. This process needs to stop, and FCPS needs to take a good hard look at test scores to determine who is actually in need of a 'specialized' education. AAP could easily be cut in half by raising the cutoff scores, and then we wouldn't need centers or hear about overcrowding, none of which is the fault of the Gen Ed kids. FCPS has created this monster and now they need to rein it in.

Anonymous wrote:How about when the teacher does not like your child and she screws up the GBRS score for your child ? How do you defend that your child who is absolutely deserving AAp is denied the opportunity because partially this falls on how the AART , the other teachers , local committee provide feedback, sample work etc.

Anonymous wrote:This thread was started for an explanation for the difference between tracking and the AAP program. In reading through the post it seems to me the consenses is that indeed the AAP program is absolutely tracking. So why then do FCPS teachers, at least several I have raised this question to, think that it is not tracking and treat tracking like it is a dirty word. Perhaps the fact that AAP is tracking is why FCPS is filling it with a larger percentage of above average students. I think they need justification for keeping the program. Personally I think they have crated a "monster" by lowering the standards for center admittance. To get rid of the tracking aspect they need to raise the bar for center admittance to accomodate only the truly exceptional academic students. All others should have their needs met in their assigned schools. It is absolutly wrong to give some above average learners advanced class work and not others (not to mention the check box on their school records). The admittance process is terribly flawed for an advanced academic program. Many of the students in the program are not advanced academically and many students who are advanced are not "selected" because of the favoritism and horrible subjectivity which is used in the selection process for all levels of the current AAP program.

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Anonymous wrote:Why aren't all children getting an equal opportunity for advanced elementary education?
Has this been forgotten; "Equal opportunity education for all students"!!
It still isn't equal in 2014!

Some kids are stupider.

Yes, but even the stupidest kids (your phrasing, not mine!) deserve and receive an equal opportunity for advanced elementary education. So FCPS is complying with its requirements! As has already been said on this thread, "equal opportunity" does not mean "equal, period."

They deserve and should receive whatever level of education they're capable of. Not everybody is capable of being advanced. All kids are tested; they have an equal opportunity to get into AAP. Some kids simply aren't bright enough to handle a program like AAP.

There are kids who are too advanced for gen ed, as it is now, and are deemed not eligible for AAP. Those kids aren't being properly served. Something needs to be done to fix this, otherwise you'll have even more crazed parents doing everything possible to get into AAP and even more angry parents of these kids who fall into that gap arguing how unfair and unequal AAP is. I think the whole tracking is bad mentality is what created this divide. Not sure how you get around that.