Anonymous wrote:AAP should be for gifted kids, not just high achievers.

This. It should be for those outliers who struggle to get their needs met in the gen ed classroom. They’re so far ahead that they have no peers who can understand the content they are working on. There should be a cut-off in the 140s or higher.

AAP should be for gifted kids, not just high achievers.

The AAP program that feeds into our lower but not lowest performing high school is full of minorities and seems to reflect the demographics of the area. I feel like there’s not a lot of promotion of appeals though.

They supposedly do a sweep at the end of the first round to make sure decisions are consistent. Perhaps they could pay special attention to URM apps then.
Then, if it's not done already, the AARTs could be instructed to counsel URM parents more on the appeals process.

Like anything, it's not a perfect system, but the pool functions so that no parent action is needed in the first instance and teachers can submit referrals as well so I feel the system tries to catch people whose parents don't know about it, and that they also try to look at other things aside from just standardized test scores like work samples and GBRS.

Anonymous wrote:Changing parent appeals wouldn't matter. Involved parents would just prep their kids more, spend more time planning the submission packet and work samples, get better recommendations, or get WISCs done in advance to make it more likely that their kids get accepted first round. If they're worried about the racial gap, it would be better to eliminate parent referrals altogether, and just screen those kids who are in pool.

I'd love to see a system more like MoCo, where the nature of the test is kept a bit more secret and people couldn't prep as easily.

Pretty sure eliminating parent referrals would do nothing to the racial gap.

Anonymous wrote:She is right - the appeals process is DESIGNED to give a leg up to kids whose parents are strong advocates for them. There are a million reasons why parents who get a letter that says "your kid was not accepted" wouldn't question that result. It is a particularly entitled perspective to think that the appeal is a rational part of the process.

I think we should really be questioning the entire premise of the parent appeal. It seems much easier to eliminate what is clearly a biased part of the process than to try to convince black and brown parents that they should try to appeal on behalf of their kids.

Only in dictatorships you don't have the right to an appeal!

Changing parent appeals wouldn't matter. Involved parents would just prep their kids more, spend more time planning the submission packet and work samples, get better recommendations, or get WISCs done in advance to make it more likely that their kids get accepted first round. If they're worried about the racial gap, it would be better to eliminate parent referrals altogether, and just screen those kids who are in pool.

I'd love to see a system more like MoCo, where the nature of the test is kept a bit more secret and people couldn't prep as easily.

She is right - the appeals process is DESIGNED to give a leg up to kids whose parents are strong advocates for them. There are a million reasons why parents who get a letter that says "your kid was not accepted" wouldn't question that result. It is a particularly entitled perspective to think that the appeal is a rational part of the process.

I think we should really be questioning the entire premise of the parent appeal. It seems much easier to eliminate what is clearly a biased part of the process than to try to convince black and brown parents that they should try to appeal on behalf of their kids.

Anonymous wrote:Keep patting yourselves in the back!

Your lovely article ends with the following

"There are just a few dozen black students at Thomas Jefferson, where sophomore Alina Ampeh is surrounded by whites and Asians — a situation she’s lived with since elementary school. She’s grateful that all those years of advanced classes prepared her for TJ’s rigorous academics, but says that doesn’t necessarily make her special: She thinks many of her classmates simply have parents who worked the system. “If you want to get in, you just complain about it,” she said."

The young woman is wise beyond her years.
Exhibit A: This very forum.

Keep patting yourselves in the back!

Your lovely article ends with the following

"There are just a few dozen black students at Thomas Jefferson, where sophomore Alina Ampeh is surrounded by whites and Asians — a situation she’s lived with since elementary school. She’s grateful that all those years of advanced classes prepared her for TJ’s rigorous academics, but says that doesn’t necessarily make her special: She thinks many of her classmates simply have parents who worked the system. “If you want to get in, you just complain about it,” she said."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The iq rest is free at GMU for low income families who qualify for free or reduced price lunch. Have you seen low income ppl w/o smart phones? I haven't. The biggest issue in low income schools is lack of parent involvement.

What do smart phones have to do with this?

Also, the stats are about minority appeals. Not low income appeals. You seem to have conflated the two in your mind.

They have the information at their fingertips. I have personally learned so much online about this process, and anyone can too.

Unfortunately most Hispanics and Blacks are also low income. That's the connection.

Asians are also minorities, but I don't think the OP was concerned with their acceptance/appeal acceptance rates.

To blame parents that do their due dilligence because other parents maybe discouraged to do so is preposterous.

No one blamed other parents.

Yep. We can support diversity and equal opportunity without assuming incorrectly that its an attack on non minorities.

+1, although apparently a lot of the posters in the comments section of the Post article don't seem to understand this.

^, ^^

Look on the 1st page, and a few other you have suggested that white parents do more appeals, and take down their appeals to lower borderline prepped kids. So you are blaming other parents.

Making it fair for all us great, but not by punishing people. If you want to help, go and actively help in schools where you think this is an issue, don't badmouth other parents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The iq rest is free at GMU for low income families who qualify for free or reduced price lunch. Have you seen low income ppl w/o smart phones? I haven't. The biggest issue in low income schools is lack of parent involvement.

What do smart phones have to do with this?

Also, the stats are about minority appeals. Not low income appeals. You seem to have conflated the two in your mind.

They have the information at their fingertips. I have personally learned so much online about this process, and anyone can too.

Unfortunately most Hispanics and Blacks are also low income. That's the connection.

Asians are also minorities, but I don't think the OP was concerned with their acceptance/appeal acceptance rates.

To blame parents that do their due dilligence because other parents maybe discouraged to do so is preposterous.

No one blamed other parents.

Yep. We can support diversity and equal opportunity without assuming incorrectly that its an attack on non minorities.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The iq rest is free at GMU for low income families who qualify for free or reduced price lunch. Have you seen low income ppl w/o smart phones? I haven't. The biggest issue in low income schools is lack of parent involvement.

What do smart phones have to do with this?

Also, the stats are about minority appeals. Not low income appeals. You seem to have conflated the two in your mind.

They have the information at their fingertips. I have personally learned so much online about this process, and anyone can too.

Unfortunately most Hispanics and Blacks are also low income. That's the connection.

Asians are also minorities, but I don't think the OP was concerned with their acceptance/appeal acceptance rates.

To blame parents that do their due dilligence because other parents maybe discouraged to do so is preposterous.

No one blamed other parents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The iq rest is free at GMU for low income families who qualify for free or reduced price lunch. Have you seen low income ppl w/o smart phones? I haven't. The biggest issue in low income schools is lack of parent involvement.

What do smart phones have to do with this?

Also, the stats are about minority appeals. Not low income appeals. You seem to have conflated the two in your mind.

They have the information at their fingertips. I have personally learned so much online about this process, and anyone can too.

Unfortunately most Hispanics and Blacks are also low income. That's the connection.

Asians are also minorities, but I don't think the OP was concerned with their acceptance/appeal acceptance rates.

To blame parents that do their due dilligence because other parents maybe discouraged to do so is preposterous.