Anonymous wrote:There is so much hate for gifted kids in this form.

This clearly reflects the sentiment you all have in real life.

Gifted kids need an appropriate education, and unfortunately they’re not receiving it from public schools in the Dc area. Every aspect of education is being watered down, and aap is no exception.

So many of you share the sentiment that if you didn’t like it, go to private. That’s just plain hate and jealousy.

Gifted kids are the ones who turn the wheel forward. Stop trying to hold them back.

Let's put "gifted" in quotes because the id rates in Fairfax and Arlington are so beyond statistically possible, they cannot be real. I have two id-ed kids and yes, they are bright and yes, they do well in AAP, but when I think gifted, I think really gifted, not my kids or most of the kids.

How are we defining “gifted” here? Are we using an IQ cutoff? If so, what is it?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don’t know who’s going to turn the wheel forward, OP. Maybe it’s someone has been identified as academically gifted, and maybe it isn’t.

I have a “genius” IQ and while I am living a perfectly nice life, I haven’t changed the world. I certainly know people with much less intellectual horsepower who have had a much bigger impact.

Gifted kids deserve a good education, but that’s because all kids do, not because they’re more important than other kids.

You want to play semantics. All the people who have had a meaningful impact on society have been geniuses in their respective areas. Not all geniuses will do something impactful, but you can’t if you don’t have the genius in you.

I never said that gifted kids are more important. On the contrary, I said that they deserve their fair chance and should not be sacrificed. If two more kids should receive services do one gifted one can, than so be it. Don’t sacrifice the gifted because you’re not exactly sure who the gifted are.

Sacrificed?

Maybe parents of profoundly-gifted kids should focus on EQ...

Why??!! So your kids can get their free and appropriate education? Maybe you should focus on your own EQ so you can better understand all the people.

The leaders of the world tend to be people who are smart, maybe gifted but who knows, and have good to great social skills.

The gifted people I know all have sucky people skills and struggle to hold jobs because of that. If they had better EQ and social skills, they would do far better in the work place. Instead they have spent their lives grumbling about how they are smarter then their bosses, who are idiots, and wonder why they cannot hold a job. They have insanely impressive resumes, based on their education and knowledge in their fields, but they cannot work with other people. Mine is a small sample of the population but it is not exactly an unusual story.

I also know gifted people who are very much in the middle of the pack at work. They get along fine with people but they are not motivated to move up their profession. They are happy where they are and are not interested in advancement. I know gifted people who do not understand why you have to jump through hoops to achieve certain goals. Half the people in my PhD program dropped out, not unusual, because they are not interested in doing the small things that you have to do to earn the degree. It had nothing to do with intelligence but a lack of perseverance and persistence.

Gifted people have different personalities and different strengths and weaknesses like everyone.

PP here.

All children are bright (at least the vast majority) but not in the same way - one might be in math, other might be in art, another might be in sport, another in writing, etc. Truly never met a child who is not really good at something.

If you are

1. A parent of a pretty sharp child (dont like to call them gifted) you want AAP.

2. A parent of a parent of a bright child but are not sure if your child would get into AAP you want to abolish AAP. But once they get in, you are all for AAP.

3. A parent of a bright child and you hoped would get into AAP but did not, you are bitter and want to abolish AAP.

A parent of 3 kids who had been in all three situations. Enjoy.

No need to discuss this with rationales. Just say, I am #1 or #2 or #3.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don’t know who’s going to turn the wheel forward, OP. Maybe it’s someone has been identified as academically gifted, and maybe it isn’t.

I have a “genius” IQ and while I am living a perfectly nice life, I haven’t changed the world. I certainly know people with much less intellectual horsepower who have had a much bigger impact.

Gifted kids deserve a good education, but that’s because all kids do, not because they’re more important than other kids.

You want to play semantics. All the people who have had a meaningful impact on society have been geniuses in their respective areas. Not all geniuses will do something impactful, but you can’t if you don’t have the genius in you.

I never said that gifted kids are more important. On the contrary, I said that they deserve their fair chance and should not be sacrificed. If two more kids should receive services do one gifted one can, than so be it. Don’t sacrifice the gifted because you’re not exactly sure who the gifted are.

Sacrificed?

Maybe parents of profoundly-gifted kids should focus on EQ...

Why??!! So your kids can get their free and appropriate education? Maybe you should focus on your own EQ so you can better understand all the people.

Anonymous wrote:I actually see very little hate for actual gifted kids.

What you see a lot of is parents questioning the value of a program that doesn't actually serve gifted kids but rather, serves "advanced" kids, many of whom were prepped in first and second grade.

What I see a ton of on this forum is a distain for the kids who aren't in AAP and parents desperate to separate the wheat (i.e., their kid) from the chaff (i.e., the kids in Gen Ed).

FCPS would be better served by abolishing the current AAP, leaving kids at the base school, and using the cost savings to reduce class size (which would greatly aid in differentiation) and implement a phonics program in grades K-2, so kids in the county could read and spell.

x1 million

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don’t know who’s going to turn the wheel forward, OP. Maybe it’s someone has been identified as academically gifted, and maybe it isn’t.

I have a “genius” IQ and while I am living a perfectly nice life, I haven’t changed the world. I certainly know people with much less intellectual horsepower who have had a much bigger impact.

Gifted kids deserve a good education, but that’s because all kids do, not because they’re more important than other kids.

You want to play semantics. All the people who have had a meaningful impact on society have been geniuses in their respective areas. Not all geniuses will do something impactful, but you can’t if you don’t have the genius in you.

I never said that gifted kids are more important. On the contrary, I said that they deserve their fair chance and should not be sacrificed. If two more kids should receive services do one gifted one can, than so be it. Don’t sacrifice the gifted because you’re not exactly sure who the gifted are.

Sacrificed?

Maybe parents of profoundly-gifted kids should focus on EQ...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don’t know who’s going to turn the wheel forward, OP. Maybe it’s someone has been identified as academically gifted, and maybe it isn’t.

I have a “genius” IQ and while I am living a perfectly nice life, I haven’t changed the world. I certainly know people with much less intellectual horsepower who have had a much bigger impact.

Gifted kids deserve a good education, but that’s because all kids do, not because they’re more important than other kids.

You want to play semantics. All the people who have had a meaningful impact on society have been geniuses in their respective areas. Not all geniuses will do something impactful, but you can’t if you don’t have the genius in you.

I never said that gifted kids are more important. On the contrary, I said that they deserve their fair chance and should not be sacrificed. If two more kids should receive services do one gifted one can, than so be it. Don’t sacrifice the gifted because you’re not exactly sure who the gifted are.

With all due respect, it’s a little silly to say gifted kids move the world forward and the rest are followers. I have several advanced degrees and work in one of the very highly learned professions. I worked with many so called gifted kids (adults.) Their boss wasn’t gifted. My point is, it takes much more to succeed than being gifted on paper. You need to communicate well and confidently, have social skills, etc. You don’t need to be “gifted.” You can be extremely smart and a hard worker with awesome communication skills and a great personality. I took many AP classes and I’m not gifted. But I soared much ahead of the gifted folks because I am much better in the softer skills. There is MUCH more to success than being one of the MANY gifted kids in FCPS. 🙄

You’re off topic!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don’t know who’s going to turn the wheel forward, OP. Maybe it’s someone has been identified as academically gifted, and maybe it isn’t.

I have a “genius” IQ and while I am living a perfectly nice life, I haven’t changed the world. I certainly know people with much less intellectual horsepower who have had a much bigger impact.

Gifted kids deserve a good education, but that’s because all kids do, not because they’re more important than other kids.

You want to play semantics. All the people who have had a meaningful impact on society have been geniuses in their respective areas. Not all geniuses will do something impactful, but you can’t if you don’t have the genius in you.

I never said that gifted kids are more important. On the contrary, I said that they deserve their fair chance and should not be sacrificed. If two more kids should receive services do one gifted one can, than so be it. Don’t sacrifice the gifted because you’re not exactly sure who the gifted are.

With all due respect, it’s a little silly to say gifted kids move the world forward and the rest are followers. I have several advanced degrees and work in one of the very highly learned professions. I worked with many so called gifted kids (adults.) Their boss wasn’t gifted. My point is, it takes much more to succeed than being gifted on paper. You need to communicate well and confidently, have social skills, etc. You don’t need to be “gifted.” You can be extremely smart and a hard worker with awesome communication skills and a great personality. I took many AP classes and I’m not gifted. But I soared much ahead of the gifted folks because I am much better in the softer skills. There is MUCH more to success than being one of the MANY gifted kids in FCPS. 🙄

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gifted is top 2% IQ of a population. Not the top 20% most prepped, enriched, or just plain rich of a population.

And public education’s purpose is to educate the broad masses. You are entitled to a free education. Being more “culturally” obsessed with education does not entitle you to a better free education.

No I agree with her actually . My friends child is nonverbal and wheelchair bound, and she is entitled to a free and appropriate education. They don’t just put her in a room with regularly developing kids and let her sit there. She basically has a 1:1 aide and a personalized education plan. Why can’t the same be done for the truly gifted kids, who are in fact just sitting in a room with regularly developing kids not learning anything?

I don’t have a gifted kid by those standards but I see the argument.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is so much hate for gifted kids in this form.

This clearly reflects the sentiment you all have in real life.

Gifted kids need an appropriate education, and unfortunately they’re not receiving it from public schools in the Dc area. Every aspect of education is being watered down, and aap is no exception.

So many of you share the sentiment that if you didn’t like it, go to private. That’s just plain hate and jealousy.

Gifted kids are the ones who turn the wheel forward. Stop trying to hold them back.

Use your intellect to find a better school for your child if you don't like yours. It's not hate, it's taking reasonable action to solve a problem.

As the saying goes - Don't stay in the problem, be in the solution.

The solution is not to get up and go, but to improve the environment we’re in. You want to bully the gifted out of public school??

Anonymous wrote:You don’t know who’s going to turn the wheel forward, OP. Maybe it’s someone has been identified as academically gifted, and maybe it isn’t.

I have a “genius” IQ and while I am living a perfectly nice life, I haven’t changed the world. I certainly know people with much less intellectual horsepower who have had a much bigger impact.

Gifted kids deserve a good education, but that’s because all kids do, not because they’re more important than other kids.

You want to play semantics. All the people who have had a meaningful impact on society have been geniuses in their respective areas. Not all geniuses will do something impactful, but you can’t if you don’t have the genius in you.

I never said that gifted kids are more important. On the contrary, I said that they deserve their fair chance and should not be sacrificed. If two more kids should receive services do one gifted one can, than so be it. Don’t sacrifice the gifted because you’re not exactly sure who the gifted are.

You don’t know who’s going to turn the wheel forward, OP. Maybe it’s someone has been identified as academically gifted, and maybe it isn’t.

I have a “genius” IQ and while I am living a perfectly nice life, I haven’t changed the world. I certainly know people with much less intellectual horsepower who have had a much bigger impact.

Gifted kids deserve a good education, but that’s because all kids do, not because they’re more important than other kids.

“ Could it possibly be that blacks and hispanics are/were being overlooked by teachers identifying G&T students more so than white and asian students?”

I haven’t seen anything that indicates the is is the problem because nothing about their lower identification levels seems to control for income. That is the main difference. Control for income levels and I’d be quite surprised if black and Hispanic kids are identified at levels different than whites. (Many Asians do indeed have a more intensive cultural focus on studying and prepping so are not really comparable as a “norm” in the same way whites are.)