I wouldn't change AAP. I don't see that as the problem. I would change Gen Ed. The lack of differentiation required by teachers in Gen Ed leads to alot of the discontent with that program. AAP is the resource for the advanced. Spec Ed is the resource for those learners. The county teaches the in between 70% as if they are 1 homogeneous group. Differentiation is what makes AAP a good program and that should be required for Gen Ed too.

Anonymous wrote:I would allow anyone in: open admissions. But I would make it true gifted, where the smartest and best excel. And, while it is open to anyone, there are metrics. If the metrics are not met, back to general ed.

sounds like more testing for the teachers and an emotional roller coaster for children moving back and forth. There is open admissions in MS - it's open honors. Some kids find it too hard but parents make them enroll in it anyway. I think the system works now, except that the test preppers skew the results.

I think dyslexia and other learning disabilities are much more likely to be recognized today. Much research has been done over the past 20 years or so and teachers are much more familiar with the symptoms today.

Even parents without a background in education have much more knowledge about learning disabilities because the topic comes up more in the media. Remember a few of the Bill Cosby shows were about how the family discovered that the son had dyslexia and what a difference that knowledge made in his life?

For the folks suggesting the old way works you are wrong. I was classified slow leaner in 2nd under the old system. Thank god my parents pulled me out of public. Turns out I'm out I'm twice exceptional with dyslexia that was hidden in 2nd grade because of exceptional memory.

The old system classifies kids as slow and then teachers write those kids off for the rest of their school years - unexceptable!

I'm not however suggesting what we have works either, but be careful what you are asking!

IDEA will not be going away, so I wouldn't waste time debating its merits.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).It "protects" kids with actual learning disabilities. It is why we mainstream ALL types of kids in public schools. It has good points and not so good points.

what is IDEA?

This post is For all the parents who keep suggesting that the bottom kids go "remedial" or whatever it is they are suggesting. Well, as long as IDEA is around it is not going to happen and the discussion is not helpful. The laws have changed since we all have been through school and IDEA is not going away.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go back to 1980s tracking: smart kids in one class, the next smartest, and the slowest all together. Made so much more sense.

I agree with this approach.. of course, parents would go ballistic on which class their kid gets placed in.. should be a combo of grades and test results (NNAT, COGAT)..

I like this model. It is cheaper for the county and works just as good as AAP.

Anonymous wrote:Go back to 1980s tracking: smart kids in one class, the next smartest, and the slowest all together. Made so much more sense.

I agree with this approach.. of course, parents would go ballistic on which class their kid gets placed in.. should be a combo of grades and test results (NNAT, COGAT)..

Anonymous wrote:^ That's dumb. WISC doesn't prove anything. It's an advanced academic program for kids who've demonstrated they are advanced academically. That's what matters.

Not true. The NNAT and Cogat measure ability not academics. If you have all 4s, but low scores, the committee doesn't give a hoot.

Go back to 1980s tracking: smart kids in one class, the next smartest, and the slowest all together. Made so much more sense.

Would the top 5% of students really want to travel that far to get services though? It seems TJ is too far for many. I'm just guessing that it would increase the burden for the highest level students to get the services they need.

I would just drop it completely.
What was at one time a fantastic program for kids who really needed it has become something entirely different due to a loss of focus on the purpose of the program.

Ditto part of 11:16's reply.
Would make AAP the norm for all students, and I would pull out remedial students to offer extra support
Idk..maybe ZAP instead of AAP...
I really think except for the bottom 10-20%, every other child deserves a chance to get exposed to the more challenging curriculum....that's life...scrape through if you have to..but keep your aim high!!!
Its not fair for the average kids to wait for the bottom 10% to catch up...just not fair!!!!