Anonymous wrote:What’s a good score for 2nd grade?

98th percentile.

What’s a good score for 2nd grade?

My kid’s are released.

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Anonymous wrote:Gifted services are non-existent for identified kids so I wouldn’t stress about it. In Fairfax it would matter.

While I agree that gifted services are limited (in APS if that is where you are referring to), being in a clustered classroom does matter. More importantly, when such a cluster model exists, not being included in one could have a significant impact.

My kids at at oakridge and for some reason they don’t cluster. Are the other schools doing this?

I believe it's required by law. They may just not tell you.

They get around it by having a "gifted cluster" in every classroom of the grade. People hear "cluster" and think that APS has brought those kids together, but in fact it's the opposite. They make sure there's similar-sized group of them in every classroom. If pressed they'll say they do this for equity reasons.

Yes, this is exactly what they are doing in my son's grade at Oakridge! There are a few gifted kids in each classroom. How did you know this? Why don't they cluster them in one class?

I believe the Virginia guidelines say that the cluster has to be at least 10 or 12 kids to be appropriate. The requirements used to be for a smaller size cluster but that changed a few years ago.

If you could find a citation for that I would be so grateful, because there’s no way they’re doing clusters that big at my kid’s school, and they’re pretty open about it.

Page 24 of the official 2022-2027 APS Gifted Plan states:

Services in Elementary School
Daily differentiation in the general education classroom through collaborative cluster grouping is the model used in Arlington Public Schools to serve gifted students. The collaborative cluster grouping model is a research-based approach of intentionally grouping (minimum 10) students according to their identification, strengths and/or needs with a teacher who has the background and understanding of gifted learners and who can successfully plan comprehensive, targeted instruction using strategies and/or resources written for gifted students.

https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/sites/57/2023/05/2022-2027-APS-Gifted-Services-Local-Plan-Final-.pdf

The local gifted plan is required by the State and is a binding document, to my understanding.

Yes, this means one or two classrooms at most per grade for most schools, if not all.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gifted services are non-existent for identified kids so I wouldn’t stress about it. In Fairfax it would matter.

While I agree that gifted services are limited (in APS if that is where you are referring to), being in a clustered classroom does matter. More importantly, when such a cluster model exists, not being included in one could have a significant impact.

My kids at at oakridge and for some reason they don’t cluster. Are the other schools doing this?

I believe it's required by law. They may just not tell you.

They get around it by having a "gifted cluster" in every classroom of the grade. People hear "cluster" and think that APS has brought those kids together, but in fact it's the opposite. They make sure there's similar-sized group of them in every classroom. If pressed they'll say they do this for equity reasons.

Yes, this is exactly what they are doing in my son's grade at Oakridge! There are a few gifted kids in each classroom. How did you know this? Why don't they cluster them in one class?

I believe the Virginia guidelines say that the cluster has to be at least 10 or 12 kids to be appropriate. The requirements used to be for a smaller size cluster but that changed a few years ago.

If you could find a citation for that I would be so grateful, because there’s no way they’re doing clusters that big at my kid’s school, and they’re pretty open about it.

Page 24 of the official 2022-2027 APS Gifted Plan states:

Services in Elementary School
Daily differentiation in the general education classroom through collaborative cluster grouping is the model used in Arlington Public Schools to serve gifted students. The collaborative cluster grouping model is a research-based approach of intentionally grouping (minimum 10) students according to their identification, strengths and/or needs with a teacher who has the background and understanding of gifted learners and who can successfully plan comprehensive, targeted instruction using strategies and/or resources written for gifted students.

https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/sites/57/2023/05/2022-2027-APS-Gifted-Services-Local-Plan-Final-.pdf

The local gifted plan is required by the State and is a binding document, to my understanding.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gifted services are non-existent for identified kids so I wouldn’t stress about it. In Fairfax it would matter.

While I agree that gifted services are limited (in APS if that is where you are referring to), being in a clustered classroom does matter. More importantly, when such a cluster model exists, not being included in one could have a significant impact.

My kids at at oakridge and for some reason they don’t cluster. Are the other schools doing this?

I believe it's required by law. They may just not tell you.

They get around it by having a "gifted cluster" in every classroom of the grade. People hear "cluster" and think that APS has brought those kids together, but in fact it's the opposite. They make sure there's similar-sized group of them in every classroom. If pressed they'll say they do this for equity reasons.

Yes, this is exactly what they are doing in my son's grade at Oakridge! There are a few gifted kids in each classroom. How did you know this? Why don't they cluster them in one class?

I believe the Virginia guidelines say that the cluster has to be at least 10 or 12 kids to be appropriate. The requirements used to be for a smaller size cluster but that changed a few years ago.

If you could find a citation for that I would be so grateful, because there’s no way they’re doing clusters that big at my kid’s school, and they’re pretty open about it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gifted services are non-existent for identified kids so I wouldn’t stress about it. In Fairfax it would matter.

While I agree that gifted services are limited (in APS if that is where you are referring to), being in a clustered classroom does matter. More importantly, when such a cluster model exists, not being included in one could have a significant impact.

My kids at at oakridge and for some reason they don’t cluster. Are the other schools doing this?

I believe it's required by law. They may just not tell you.

They get around it by having a "gifted cluster" in every classroom of the grade. People hear "cluster" and think that APS has brought those kids together, but in fact it's the opposite. They make sure there's similar-sized group of them in every classroom. If pressed they'll say they do this for equity reasons.

Yes, this is exactly what they are doing in my son's grade at Oakridge! There are a few gifted kids in each classroom. How did you know this? Why don't they cluster them in one class?

I believe the Virginia guidelines say that the cluster has to be at least 10 or 12 kids to be appropriate. The requirements used to be for a smaller size cluster but that changed a few years ago.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gifted services are non-existent for identified kids so I wouldn’t stress about it. In Fairfax it would matter.

While I agree that gifted services are limited (in APS if that is where you are referring to), being in a clustered classroom does matter. More importantly, when such a cluster model exists, not being included in one could have a significant impact.

My kids at at oakridge and for some reason they don’t cluster. Are the other schools doing this?

I believe it's required by law. They may just not tell you.

They get around it by having a "gifted cluster" in every classroom of the grade. People hear "cluster" and think that APS has brought those kids together, but in fact it's the opposite. They make sure there's similar-sized group of them in every classroom. If pressed they'll say they do this for equity reasons.

Yes, this is exactly what they are doing in my son's grade at Oakridge! There are a few gifted kids in each classroom. How did you know this? Why don't they cluster them in one class?

Because if they put them all in one class then it would highlight the disparities. The whole point of the gifted program is a moonwalk. It’s there to keep smart kids in the system, but not to actually teach them. Because if they taught the gifted kids then their test scores would go up, and then the “achievement gap” would seem to grow wider, because the demographics of gifted and non-gifted kids differ.

For APS the achievement gap is the foremost metric they are concerned with right now. Nothing that widens it will be allowed, and that includes giving gifted kids anything more than the minimum they can get away with.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gifted services are non-existent for identified kids so I wouldn’t stress about it. In Fairfax it would matter.

While I agree that gifted services are limited (in APS if that is where you are referring to), being in a clustered classroom does matter. More importantly, when such a cluster model exists, not being included in one could have a significant impact.

My kids at at oakridge and for some reason they don’t cluster. Are the other schools doing this?

I believe it's required by law. They may just not tell you.

They get around it by having a "gifted cluster" in every classroom of the grade. People hear "cluster" and think that APS has brought those kids together, but in fact it's the opposite. They make sure there's similar-sized group of them in every classroom. If pressed they'll say they do this for equity reasons.

Yes, this is exactly what they are doing in my son's grade at Oakridge! There are a few gifted kids in each classroom. How did you know this? Why don't they cluster them in one class?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gifted services are non-existent for identified kids so I wouldn’t stress about it. In Fairfax it would matter.

While I agree that gifted services are limited (in APS if that is where you are referring to), being in a clustered classroom does matter. More importantly, when such a cluster model exists, not being included in one could have a significant impact.

My kids at at oakridge and for some reason they don’t cluster. Are the other schools doing this?

I believe it's required by law. They may just not tell you.

They get around it by having a "gifted cluster" in every classroom of the grade. People hear "cluster" and think that APS has brought those kids together, but in fact it's the opposite. They make sure there's similar-sized group of them in every classroom. If pressed they'll say they do this for equity reasons.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gifted services are non-existent for identified kids so I wouldn’t stress about it. In Fairfax it would matter.

While I agree that gifted services are limited (in APS if that is where you are referring to), being in a clustered classroom does matter. More importantly, when such a cluster model exists, not being included in one could have a significant impact.

My kids at at oakridge and for some reason they don’t cluster. Are the other schools doing this?

I believe it's required by law. They may just not tell you.