Anonymous wrote:Anonymous





Anonymous wrote:I have 2 kids in AAP. One, DD, is highly social, loves reading and science, and would probably do just as well in Gen Ed-- she was fine in K to 2nd grade.

My other child had a miserable k-2 experience He was reading chaper books in preschool, way ahead in math, etc. He also dislikes sports and video games and is very introverted, so he had trouble making friends, and began to have problEm with self confidence. He also had sensory development issues, which are apparrently common in gifted boys, but it is hard for him to watch movies. He was bored in school, and began reading during class time. When his book was taken away, he would other ways to entertain himself, like drawing on his desk, and that also got him in trouble. When he moved to AAP, it was like he became almost a new child-- interested, engaged, happy and confident. The program was just whaT he needed.

I believe that some kids, like my son, need AAP every bit as much as other kids need special Ed-- they won't succeed in school without a teacher who understands gifted learneers and their particular social/emotional issues, as well as intellectual needs. That said, we are talking abuot a small % of kids (probably 5% or less) who really needs AAP to succeed in school. The rest of the kids seem more like DD-- often capable of doing the work in AAP, but they would also be fine in Gen Ed. Smart

I'm not saying that DD is less smart than DS- she is creative, loves to read, has an amazing talent for science, And an off the charts EQ. It's just that, IMHO, not every smart child in Fiarfax Co needs AAP

[list][list]The 5% rule should apply to "center based" learning for children who really need a more advanced curriculum. Have you, or many others in your situation, ever stopped to think that your child is not so much smarter than the rest but simply needs a different method of being taught the same materials?

IMO, the Fairfax County AAP program has lost sight of its purpose. It began as an immersion program for the "truly gifted” in order to offer them the advanced curriculum these children need. Through this process, there have been so many exceptions to the rule with inclusion for this, and inclusion for that, our “gifted” population is up to a whopping 20-25%! Really? No. It is children like yours who just need a different way of learning the same materials but instead are being given an “advanced academic” education that are fueling the complaints.

For example on another thread, a previous school board member is leading an "awareness" campaign for minority groups who feel they are under represented in the AAP center and Thomas Jefferson. A lawsuit has been filed. It is not just the minorities here. The bottom line is the AAP program is providing “advanced academics” to children who do need to be provided a “different way of teaching”, but, do not need “advanced academics”. Fairfax County Public Schools are discriminating by providing your child “advanced academics” just because he needs a “different way of learning” and not giving the “smart” child, who flourishes in the standard classroom environment, “advanced academics”. These AAP children have many more doors open to them. They automatically are placed in advanced middle school classes and given the “AAP stamp” on their school records which follows them all the way through their education. Not to mention a “better”, “advanced”, education. This is discrimination and I believe quite possibly “tracking” depending on the way in which the student gained acceptance into the AAP center.

A solution here might be to offer an “alternative learning” school where the curriculum is the same but taught differently and keep the AAP center for the truly “advanced top 5% learners” who would be accepted solely on their scholastic achievement and high IQ’s. I don’t know. But FCPS does need to correct this sooner than later. The program and process as it is today is discrimination – but not just for minorities.

Anonymous





Anonymous wrote:I have 2 kids in AAP. One, DD, is highly social, loves reading and science, and would probably do just as well in Gen Ed-- she was fine in K to 2nd grade.

My other child had a miserable k-2 experience He was reading chaper books in preschool, way ahead in math, etc. He also dislikes sports and video games and is very introverted, so he had trouble making friends, and began to have problEm with self confidence. He also had sensory development issues, which are apparrently common in gifted boys, but it is hard for him to watch movies. He was bored in school, and began reading during class time. When his book was taken away, he would other ways to entertain himself, like drawing on his desk, and that also got him in trouble. When he moved to AAP, it was like he became almost a new child-- interested, engaged, happy and confident. The program was just whaT he needed.

I believe that some kids, like my son, need AAP every bit as much as other kids need special Ed-- they won't succeed in school without a teacher who understands gifted learneers and their particular social/emotional issues, as well as intellectual needs. That said, we are talking abuot a small % of kids (probably 5% or less) who really needs AAP to succeed in school. The rest of the kids seem more like DD-- often capable of doing the work in AAP, but they would also be fine in Gen Ed. Smart

I'm not saying that DD is less smart than DS- she is creative, loves to read, has an amazing talent for science, And an off the charts EQ. It's just that, IMHO, not every smart child in Fiarfax Co needs AAP

Anonymous wrote:Here's what I think is also behind more and more kids getting designated as AAP. Please don't think I'm being insensitive or racist. One of the reasons we chose our neighborhood is the diversity in our school. More kids seem to stand out as advanced now, when they wouldn't have before, because they are being compared to the large number of kids in their class who are still learning English. I know many parents in my neighborhood who brag about how far ahead their children are based solely on the fact that their child seems bored. The reason the child seems bored is because teachers are teaching to the SOL tests and must go slowly and repeat themselves to help the English learners.

Moms tell me their child is in the top of the class and think that means their kid should go to a center but really that child seems like the top of the class because at our school 70% of kids are ESL students. (Obviously this isn't the case at every school but more and more schools have this profile.) I'm NOT saying the English learners aren't smart and talented too, of course they are, they just aren't comfortable with English yet. Two of my friends have rising 2nd graders and are already super intense kabout getting their kids into the center. Neither of these kids is above grade level in any area and they would NEVER stand out at a school like Mantua or at a school in McLean.

Interesting. We opted out of our neighborhood school for our oldest through NCLB. Our reasons at the time were that we felt that he would not get enough challenge (as well as their year-round schedule at that time, I was teaching on a traditional schedule). The school he ended up at was a "higher performing" school, with a very good reputation at least so far as people judge based on test scores. He is now in LLIV at that school. Before LLIV though, we were sorely disappointed at the teaching to the middle, and the lack of differentiation. The AART teacher was only there 2 days a week for the whole school, so in her defense, she was spread so thin. Most classes were pushing 30. We decided to send our 2nd to our neighborhood school, as he really needed smaller class sizes. He received a ton more differentiation than older ds ever did at our Title I neighborhood school. He got pull outs in K. The AART was there full-time. He was able to attend a special Science camp at his school this summer. Quite a few of my neighbors whose children are found Center Eligible have chosen to stay.

He is still little, but not sure what we would do if he were found Center eligible like big brother.

So why are teachers asking for the AAP program to be dismantled when they can't even handle differentiated instruction in the earlier grade classrooms before AAP starts? As for the math, have any teachers actually told FCPS adminstration that their advanced math program is too difficult to implement if in fact it is? I would have thought the program would have been discussed with actual teachers before deciding that it could be done. I made a decision to send our DC to public partly because of the advanced math program only to find out our well regarded public school is practically ignoring the advanced math pacing standards.