Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you said "old level ii" and "old level iii" - has something changed?

I don't think FCPS differentiates levels - as of this year, it's just part time vs. full time. They also updated the FCPS website this year to only show part vs. full time services.

Given the budget cuts to reduce AARTs to part time, this all seems like an intentional decrease in AAP services across the board. My experience is that Level II was useless this past year, and this indicates that FCPS knows it and isn't interesting in improving the situation. Instead, they're shifting full-time services to be more inclusive regardless of academic ability, and they are neutering all other enrichment services.

That's a real problem for those whose kids miss the cutoff for full-time services. It's even more problematic if they keep misusing the HOPE scale to eliminate highly intelligent kids who need more rigor and are not challenged in the regular classroom.

I would love for them to do a better job of providing part-time services, but all signs point to the program gradually fading into obscurity.

Don't love that.

Full time services aren't much to write home about these days. Everyone gets the same Benchmark and math is extensions instead of acceleration.

This was briefly reported on but never generated a lot of buzz. People kept arguing that it was acceleration still. Do you have a current 3rd grader to verify?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Full time services aren't much to write home about these days. Everyone gets the same Benchmark and math is extensions instead of acceleration.

This was briefly reported on but never generated a lot of buzz. People kept arguing that it was acceleration still. Do you have a current 3rd grader to verify?

I'll confirm this for you anecdotally. My 3rd grader was supposed to get advanced math this year as a Level II, but she didn't even get pullouts to the Level IV classroom, just extra worksheets. When I asked why this was, her teachers told me that the Level IV classroom was not accelerating math this year, and that my kid would get differentiated instruction in her classroom for advanced math (ie, extra worksheets and literally nothing else, total waste of time).

She got in to Level IV for next year and when I asked the AART if she would be behind in math given that she was not granted access to the accelerated math curriculum, the AART reiterated that the Level IV classroom did not accelerate for math this year. She claimed that they would accelerate starting next year, and that my kid would be totally on track coming in next fall. When I asked if moving to the center school would get her onto the regular accelerated math program, the AART told me that the center is on the same pace as the local Level IV classroom for math.

Now, our AART has been very unhelpful and uninformative to me, so I would love some kind of verification that she's giving me the full picture. But I think the reality is that I'm being paranoid and dumb, and that they really didn't accelerate math in our Level IV classroom this year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What you wrote would track with the change in standards on the website and with what a (it is an anonymous online forum, so purported) 7th grade AAP teacher said on here. Everyone was saying it was E3 rolling out county-wide and that E3 still does accelerate later so kids are on track to take the grade 7 SOL in 6th.

But man it seems tough for those kids who were ready to finally not be bored in math!

This was such a helpful comment, thank you! I had not heard of E3 before, but after doing some research after reading your comment I think this answers my question. Looks like in 3rd and 4th grade they are no longer accelerating math for AAP (at any level, including full-time) and instead are meant to be "going deeper" (which honestly just looks like more worksheets, in our experience this year). In 5th grade they will presumably begin to accelerate with the goal of being ready for the 7th grade SOL by the end of 6th grade.

I assume this means that rather than doing 1.5 years of math each year from 3-6, as my eldest did for advanced math, my youngest will be doing 2 years of math in grades 5 and 6. At least, that's how it would presumably work to get them to the 7th grade SOL by the end of 6th.

Which I guess is fine, she will certainly be able handle a faster pace in a couple of years. I'm disappointed that she'll remain unchallenged in class for another year, though. We'll do what we can at home to supplement.

I'm wondering if this will have implications for getting into advanced math in 5th grade, even for level IV kids. I would assume that they would be monitoring progress and would hesitate to put a kid in an accelerated math pathway if said kid isn't thriving in math by then, even if they are level iv. Wonder if this will mean that level iv and advanced math become even more distinct in a year or so?

Anonymous wrote:

What you wrote would track with the change in standards on the website and with what a (it is an anonymous online forum, so purported) 7th grade AAP teacher said on here. Everyone was saying it was E3 rolling out county-wide and that E3 still does accelerate later so kids are on track to take the grade 7 SOL in 6th.

But man it seems tough for those kids who were ready to finally not be bored in math!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

There was a difference between Advanced Math and Level II services. I knew kids receiving level II services in third grade and above and those were worksheets. The kids were seen as being a head but not ready for Advanced Math. Advanced Math, we did not have LLIV when my kid was there, it started as we were leaving, was its own class and kids were not pulled into Advanced Math.

Advanced Math is kind of the equivalent to Level III except that FCPS consistently says that the math curriculum is technically outside of the AAP levels. That is why there is no AAP math in the MS. Kids in Math 7 H are not divided by AAP or non-AAP, same for Algebra 1 H.

This is not correct, at least in our school.

My older daughter has been in Level IV (local classroom) since 3rd grade (she's in 5th now) and her two best friends were in Level II for math (not level III, I am friends with their moms and we have discussed this, I am certain they were in level II) and both of them were pulled into the Level IV classroom for accelerated math daily, beginning in 3rd grade. That continued in 4th grade as well. In 5th, one of them was placed into Level IV and the other is still a Level II math kiddo. They are all still taking the same math class together, daily, in the Level IV classroom. The pullouts for advanced math were for level II kids, starting in 3rd.

However, there were NO advanced math pullouts for any 3rd grader at all in my kids' school this year, per the 3rd grade teachers and the AART. Level III kids did have a pullout, but it was once a week on Fridays and was NOT a math pullout. It was like a discussion group.

Anonymous wrote:

There was a difference between Advanced Math and Level II services. I knew kids receiving level II services in third grade and above and those were worksheets. The kids were seen as being a head but not ready for Advanced Math. Advanced Math, we did not have LLIV when my kid was there, it started as we were leaving, was its own class and kids were not pulled into Advanced Math.

Advanced Math is kind of the equivalent to Level III except that FCPS consistently says that the math curriculum is technically outside of the AAP levels. That is why there is no AAP math in the MS. Kids in Math 7 H are not divided by AAP or non-AAP, same for Algebra 1 H.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Full time services aren't much to write home about these days. Everyone gets the same Benchmark and math is extensions instead of acceleration.

This was briefly reported on but never generated a lot of buzz. People kept arguing that it was acceleration still. Do you have a current 3rd grader to verify?

I'll confirm this for you anecdotally. My 3rd grader was supposed to get advanced math this year as a Level II, but she didn't even get pullouts to the Level IV classroom, just extra worksheets. When I asked why this was, her teachers told me that the Level IV classroom was not accelerating math this year, and that my kid would get differentiated instruction in her classroom for advanced math (ie, extra worksheets and literally nothing else, total waste of time).

She got in to Level IV for next year and when I asked the AART if she would be behind in math given that she was not granted access to the accelerated math curriculum, the AART reiterated that the Level IV classroom did not accelerate for math this year. She claimed that they would accelerate starting next year, and that my kid would be totally on track coming in next fall. When I asked if moving to the center school would get her onto the regular accelerated math program, the AART told me that the center is on the same pace as the local Level IV classroom for math.

Now, our AART has been very unhelpful and uninformative to me, so I would love some kind of verification that she's giving me the full picture. But I think the reality is that I'm being paranoid and dumb, and that they really didn't accelerate math in our Level IV classroom this year.

There was a difference between Advanced Math and Level II services. I knew kids receiving level II services in third grade and above and those were worksheets. The kids were seen as being a head but not ready for Advanced Math. Advanced Math, we did not have LLIV when my kid was there, it started as we were leaving, was its own class and kids were not pulled into Advanced Math.

Advanced Math is kind of the equivalent to Level III except that FCPS consistently says that the math curriculum is technically outside of the AAP levels. That is why there is no AAP math in the MS. Kids in Math 7 H are not divided by AAP or non-AAP, same for Algebra 1 H.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Full time services aren't much to write home about these days. Everyone gets the same Benchmark and math is extensions instead of acceleration.

This was briefly reported on but never generated a lot of buzz. People kept arguing that it was acceleration still. Do you have a current 3rd grader to verify?

I'll confirm this for you anecdotally. My 3rd grader was supposed to get advanced math this year as a Level II, but she didn't even get pullouts to the Level IV classroom, just extra worksheets. When I asked why this was, her teachers told me that the Level IV classroom was not accelerating math this year, and that my kid would get differentiated instruction in her classroom for advanced math (ie, extra worksheets and literally nothing else, total waste of time).

She got in to Level IV for next year and when I asked the AART if she would be behind in math given that she was not granted access to the accelerated math curriculum, the AART reiterated that the Level IV classroom did not accelerate for math this year. She claimed that they would accelerate starting next year, and that my kid would be totally on track coming in next fall. When I asked if moving to the center school would get her onto the regular accelerated math program, the AART told me that the center is on the same pace as the local Level IV classroom for math.

Now, our AART has been very unhelpful and uninformative to me, so I would love some kind of verification that she's giving me the full picture. But I think the reality is that I'm being paranoid and dumb, and that they really didn't accelerate math in our Level IV classroom this year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Full time services aren't much to write home about these days. Everyone gets the same Benchmark and math is extensions instead of acceleration.

This was briefly reported on but never generated a lot of buzz. People kept arguing that it was acceleration still. Do you have a current 3rd grader to verify?

I'll confirm this for you anecdotally. My 3rd grader was supposed to get advanced math this year as a Level II, but she didn't even get pullouts to the Level IV classroom, just extra worksheets. When I asked why this was, her teachers told me that the Level IV classroom was not accelerating math this year, and that my kid would get differentiated instruction in her classroom for advanced math (ie, extra worksheets and literally nothing else, total waste of time).

She got in to Level IV for next year and when I asked the AART if she would be behind in math given that she was not granted access to the accelerated math curriculum, the AART reiterated that the Level IV classroom did not accelerate for math this year. She claimed that they would accelerate starting next year, and that my kid would be totally on track coming in next fall. When I asked if moving to the center school would get her onto the regular accelerated math program, the AART told me that the center is on the same pace as the local Level IV classroom for math.

Now, our AART has been very unhelpful and uninformative to me, so I would love some kind of verification that she's giving me the full picture. But I think the reality is that I'm being paranoid and dumb, and that they really didn't accelerate math in our Level IV classroom this year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Full time services aren't much to write home about these days. Everyone gets the same Benchmark and math is extensions instead of acceleration.

This was briefly reported on but never generated a lot of buzz. People kept arguing that it was acceleration still. Do you have a current 3rd grader to verify?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you said "old level ii" and "old level iii" - has something changed?

I don't think FCPS differentiates levels - as of this year, it's just part time vs. full time. They also updated the FCPS website this year to only show part vs. full time services.

Given the budget cuts to reduce AARTs to part time, this all seems like an intentional decrease in AAP services across the board. My experience is that Level II was useless this past year, and this indicates that FCPS knows it and isn't interesting in improving the situation. Instead, they're shifting full-time services to be more inclusive regardless of academic ability, and they are neutering all other enrichment services.

That's a real problem for those whose kids miss the cutoff for full-time services. It's even more problematic if they keep misusing the HOPE scale to eliminate highly intelligent kids who need more rigor and are not challenged in the regular classroom.

I would love for them to do a better job of providing part-time services, but all signs point to the program gradually fading into obscurity.

Don't love that.

Full time services aren't much to write home about these days. Everyone gets the same Benchmark and math is extensions instead of acceleration.