Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Explain need. There are other mechanisms to achieve the same end Would they not have progressed if AAP didnt exist at all? Many other jurisdictions dont have similar programs at the elementary stage. Anyway, Im not against AAP. I just dont get the life or death importance seemingly placed on it.

That's because there is no life or death struggle. The fact that you would even phrase it that way suggests you are not as neutral as you believe. AAP is a worthwhile program that offers educational value to the kids placed in it. I'm for it and don't mind saying so. But people on these boards would not be forced to defend their choices and concerns at all -- and make AAP seem like a bigger deal than it is in the process -- if they were not so incessantly baited, scorned and challenged by haters.

Perhaps a poor choice of words on my part. And maybe you are right perhaps my views have been skewed by reading this forum as there appears to be lots of vitriol on display here. I am all for expanding opportunities for our children. Didnt intend to add myself to the hater list Good luck to all

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to school in Fairfax County in the 80's and one or two kids in my class were in AAP. They left the school to attend a Center. This makes sense to me compared to what AAP has morphed in to these days. More than half of my DC's class is in Level IV. I sort of see why people want to slash the program and take it back to what it used to be. If your child is at a school like mine, and they do not get in, be prepared for years of them questioning their intelligence and comments from classmates. That's why I mention "fit" in my previous posts. Stress to them that Johnny needs this environment (AAP) to learn best and you need something different. After all, that's what it should be about but kids just don't get it when parents treat it differently.

I agree with a lot of this. There are 75 kids currently in my son's grade -- 3 classes, of which one is Level IV. 6 kids from the grade went to AAP center in 3rd grade. 8 kids were put in the Level IV class to fill seats because there weren't enough Level IV kids to make a full class. So of the 80 or so kids that started in that grade in that school, at least a third of them are considered "gifted" enough for Level IV services. Not that many kids are gifted and in need of special services to succeed. AAP mostly just makes the parents feel good about themselves. (And yes, I have a kid in AAP who is doing well. I still think many of the AAP parents are ridiculous, and classifying a third of a class as "advanced" or "gifted" or whatever is short-sighted.)

From post after post over the years it seems the real problem with AAP is the principal placed local level IV classes and not the independent panel place center programs.

Perhaps fcps should just do away with local level IV.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to school in Fairfax County in the 80's and one or two kids in my class were in AAP. They left the school to attend a Center. This makes sense to me compared to what AAP has morphed in to these days. More than half of my DC's class is in Level IV. I sort of see why people want to slash the program and take it back to what it used to be. If your child is at a school like mine, and they do not get in, be prepared for years of them questioning their intelligence and comments from classmates. That's why I mention "fit" in my previous posts. Stress to them that Johnny needs this environment (AAP) to learn best and you need something different. After all, that's what it should be about but kids just don't get it when parents treat it differently.

I agree with a lot of this. There are 75 kids currently in my son's grade -- 3 classes, of which one is Level IV. 6 kids from the grade went to AAP center in 3rd grade. 8 kids were put in the Level IV class to fill seats because there weren't enough Level IV kids to make a full class. So of the 80 or so kids that started in that grade in that school, at least a third of them are considered "gifted" enough for Level IV services. Not that many kids are gifted and in need of special services to succeed. AAP mostly just makes the parents feel good about themselves. (And yes, I have a kid in AAP who is doing well. I still think many of the AAP parents are ridiculous, and classifying a third of a class as "advanced" or "gifted" or whatever is short-sighted.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Explain need. There are other mechanisms to achieve the same end Would they not have progressed if AAP didnt exist at all? Many other jurisdictions dont have similar programs at the elementary stage. Anyway, Im not against AAP. I just dont get the life or death importance seemingly placed on it.

That's because there is no life or death struggle. The fact that you would even phrase it that way suggests you are not as neutral as you believe. AAP is a worthwhile program that offers educational value to the kids placed in it. I'm for it and don't mind saying so. But people on these boards would not be forced to defend their choices and concerns at all -- and make AAP seem like a bigger deal than it is in the process -- if they were not so incessantly baited, scorned and challenged by haters.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In some cases there ARE limited spots. Lots of schools do lotteries for Level III kids to fill empty seats in their in-house Level IV classes. It's hard to explain to your kid who earned 600s on all SOLs and all 4s on their report card in the 3rd and 4th grade Level IV classes that she was lotteried into that she can't be in the 5th grade Level IV class with all her friends who earned lower grades and SOL scores because she lost out in the lottery and didn't have the standardized test scores to qualify for Level IV.

what "lottery" ??? those spots are filled by the Principal...at his/her discretion.

You people are nuts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In some cases there ARE limited spots. Lots of schools do lotteries for Level III kids to fill empty seats in their in-house Level IV classes. It's hard to explain to your kid who earned 600s on all SOLs and all 4s on their report card in the 3rd and 4th grade Level IV classes that she was lotteried into that she can't be in the 5th grade Level IV class with all her friends who earned lower grades and SOL scores because she lost out in the lottery and didn't have the standardized test scores to qualify for Level IV.

what "lottery" ??? those spots are filled by the Principal...at his/her discretion.

You people are nuts.