2. KWL chart
In the column marked K please jot down some of what you KNOW about the FCPS Advanced Academic Programs.
In the column marked W please write WHAT you would like to learn about these programs.
During the presentation please feel free to fill in the L section of your chart.

3. KWL charts
Are a strategy to use with students to tap into their prior knowledge about the subject (K)
Brainstorm their own learning goals in the W section
Students are able to draw meaning from what they are learning by comparing it to what they already know
Keeps track of their learning
Could be used to document what students learned after the L column is complete.

4. One size does not fit all.
What is best for your child?
As a school system we have embraced a child-centered approach to education – an approach that is designed to meet the needs of each child by asking “What is best for this child?”. We work to that end by offering differentiated instruction to all children that includes high expectations with the appropriate level of challenge.

5. Intelligence is not how much you know or how fast you learn,
but how you behave when you don’t know the answer.
Someone once said that intelligence is not how much you know or how fast you learn but what you do when you don’t know the answer --
Our job…as parents and educators … is to help students learn the skills that they will need to be successful in a world that is faced with many complex challenges
Parents know their children best –they know their interests and their abilities.
We, as educators, know strategies and practices that help us tap into interests and develop each child’s strengths.
Working together, we can create an environment where your child will have opportunities to develop the knowledge, skills, and understandings that they need to be successful as they pursue their interests and maximize their abilities.

6. In the FCPS Advanced Academic brochure you will find a description of the continuum of services that the Advanced Academic Programs in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) offer students.
We have adopted this model in order to emphasize the importance of labeling services, not children, so that all children have the opportunity to work at a level of challenge that best meets their needs.
We will now show a short video that captures these levels of service in our elementary schools.

7. Philosophy of FCPS Advanced Academic Programs
Children who have been identified for advanced academic services have the potential to achieve high levels of accomplishment, and this potential needs to be recognized and addressed.
In order to meet their needs and develop their abilities, these high ability learners require a differentiated curriculum that provides advanced learning opportunities.
In identifying students for advanced academics, one tool that we use is available on the AAP website – the Gifted Behaviors Rating Scale – It gives many examples of characteristics of advanced students in the categories of:
-exceptional ability to learn
-exceptional application of knowledge
-exceptional creative/productive thinking
-exceptional motivation to succeed

8. Twice Exceptional Learners (2e): Who Are They?
A student in grades K through 12 who demonstrate high performance ability or academic potential and who have a cognitive, physical, behavioral, or emotional disability that requires accommodations in order for their potential to be realized.
We also have some students who simultaneously have a need for advanced academics and special education needs. Some have IEPs/504’s and some do not because their strengths mask their disabilities. We need to provide interventions for both exceptionalities and teach them as they go up through the grade levels to self-advocate.
There are additional resources for parents on the AAP website for you to access and there are parent resources available to parents who would like more information about this issue.
Why is it important that parents are aware of the twice exceptional student?
·A “disability may deflate both achievement and standardized test performance so that the student is not recognized as gifted or qualified for gifted programming.
·“Many seemingly average students are … students whose gifts and disabilities mask one another. As they experience discrepancies between their strengths and weaknesses in school, they may become frustrated leading to social, emotional, and behavioral problems.”
·“Twice-exceptional individuals are found within every socioeconomic, cultural, racial, and ethnic population”
·No federal agency or organization collects data on these students, so teachers must be the vigilantes on this issue.
·Twice exceptional students are “a potential national resource whose future contributions to society are largely contingent upon offering them appropriate educational experiences.”
·Service may not be provided to the twice-exceptional student, a “practice [that] is in direct opposition to the demonstrated needs of students with dual exceptionalities.”
The Twice-Exceptional Dilemma. National Education Association, 2006.

9. Advanced Academic Services are labeled Levels 1-4.

10. Critical and Creative Thinking Strategies
Grades K-6
Level I Services
All children learn to think, reason, and problem-solve through nine strategies that challenge students to use and apply knowledge in new and different ways.
Lessons that develop critical and creative thinking skills are used by teachers with all students in K-6 classrooms.
Critical and Creative Thinking Lessons are for all students K-6.
The Advanced Academic Resource Teacher (AART) and the classroom teacher work together to teach these lessons that ask students to think critically and creatively about topics in the grade level POS and SOL.

11. Critical and Creative Thinking Strategies
There are lessons tied to every subject area in each grade level. For each of the 9 strategies, there is an introductory lesson that the student then applies to specific content.
These 9 thinking strategies are posted on the Advanced Academic Programs web page at and are great for parents to reinforce at home in discussions.

12. Differentiated Lessons in Areas of Academic Strength Grades K-6 Level II
Differentiated instruction is provided through more challenging content, assignments, resources, and flexible groupings in one or more areas of academic strength. Advanced Academic Resource Teachers plan, collaborate, and share ideas and resources with classroom teachers and other specialists.
An example of level 2 here at Herndon Elementary would be Advanced Math classes in grades 3-6 in both French and in English. Level 2 services are typically delivered by the classroom teacher.

13. Part-Time Advanced Academic Program Grades 3-6 Level III
Students work directly with the Advanced Academic Resource Teacher to receive enrichment and extensions to curriculum and instruction. The Advanced Academic Resource Teacher plans and collaborates with the classroom teachers and other teachers who work with the students e.g., ESOL and special education.
Direct services may take the form of the AART co-teaching with the classroom teacher, flexible instructional groups within the classroom or pull-out groups.

14. Young Scholars – A Model for Success
All Levels K-12
Young Scholars is a Model with 4 major components. There is a video available on the AAP website explaining in more detail.
The purpose is to identify students early – in the primary grades – from populations of students who have historically been underrepresented in advanced academics, and provide to them the supports and interventions that will help them access and be successful in rigorous coursework as they progress through the grades.

15. Local Advanced Academic Programs Screening for School-Based Services (Levels II-III)
All students are evaluated for Advanced Academic Programs school-based services using multiple sources of information.
Local school Advanced Academic Programs screening committee determines eligibility for school-based services (Level II – K-6; Level III - Grades 3-6)
Parents/guardians may initiate a referral

16. Full-Time Advanced Academic Program Grades 3-6 Level IV
The full-time advanced academic program is differentiated in depth, breadth, and pace of instruction. It provides an appropriate level of challenge for highly gifted learners with a strong emphasis on critical and creative thinking, and problem-solving. The mathematics curriculum is accelerated by one grade level and readings and resources that are used in other subject areas are also presented at advanced levels. Students have opportunities for ongoing opportunities for reflection and self-assessment.
This program is offered at Clearview Elementary for those eligible students who live within the Herndon Elementary boundaries.

17. Information Considered in Placement Decisions for Part-Time and Full-Time Advanced Academic Programs
Ability test scores
- Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT) (Nov, 12-16, 2012)
-FCPS Cognitive Ability Test (CogAT) Custom Form, Grade 2
Achievement Test Scores (Oct , 2012)
- Standards of Learning (SOL) scores
Gifted Behavior Rating Scale (GBRS)
Progress Reports
Additional Information
- record of previous Advanced Academic services received
- work samples, certificates, and/or awards (8 ½ x 11)
- Parent Questionnaire (for level IV referrals)

18. Gifted Behavior Rating Scale
In identifying students for advanced academics, one tool that we use is available on the AAP website – the Gifted Behaviors Rating Scale – It gives many examples of characteristics of advanced students in the categories of:
-exceptional ability to learn
-exceptional application of knowledge
-exceptional creative/productive thinking
-exceptional motivation to succeed

19. Local School Screening for Full-Time Advanced Academic Placement
Grade 2
Screening pool is established using the Naglieri Nonverbal Abilities Test (NNAT) from 1st grade and the FCPS Cognitive Ability Test (CogAT) Custom Form, Grade 2.
Parents of students in the second grade screening pool receive a letter notifying them that their child will be screened for the full-time advanced academic program. Parents may decline screening.
Grades 2– 6
Parents may submit full-time advanced academic program referrals for 2nd grade students not in the pool, and students in grades 3-7.
Screening file is prepared by the local school Advanced Academic Programs screening committee and submitted to central selection committee.
Eligibility decisions made by the central selection committee, and reviewed by an oversight committee.
Parent/guardian(s) are notified by mail regarding eligibility.
Screening pool benchmark score is published on the Advanced Academic Programs website early January. Schools notify parents in writing if their child has the benchmark score or above and will be screened for level IV services. A parent can opt out of this screening.
There is no advantage to being in the screening pool – it merely gives a starting point for screening files and guarantees that students whose parents may not be aware of the referral process are not missed for consideration.
If a child does not have the benchmark score on any of the FCPS CogAT Custom Form Grade 2, CogAT (grades 3-6) subtests or the NNAT, parents can submit a referral to the local school by February 8. All parents can submit optional information (parent/guardian questionnaire, work samples and certificates, letter according to guidelines) to the local school by February 8. All schools are required to submit 1 work sample and 1 response to a critical and creative thinking lesson produced in school. If you are submitting work sample pages, please work with the AART to submit the additional 4 (6 total-2 from school).
School completes the GBRS with commentary and pulls together all other information (test data sheet, progress reports) and submits the completed file to the AAP office. A central selection committee-consisting of AARTs, Level IV Center teachers, administrators, special ed, ESOL, psychologists, counselors, and social workers reviews each file followed by an oversight committee. All decisions are mailed at the end of April. Appeals can be filed, details in the ineligible letter.

20. Testing Timeline
All 1st/2nd grade students, and students in grades 3-7 who
are missing ability test scores, are tested during the fall testing cycle. *First graders will take the NNAT. *Second graders will take the FCPS Cognitive Ability Test, Custom Form, Grade 2
Scores from the 1st grade NNAT and FCPS Cognitive Ability Test, Custom Form, Grade 2 are considered for the 2nd grade pool. All other Level IV screening files are generated by referral.
There is no advantage to having a file initiated by pool vs. referral.
Fall Testing Windows:
FCPS Cognitive Ability Test, Custom Form, Grade 2 and CogAT (grades 3-7 by request) October 15-26, 2012
Naglieri Nonverbal Abilities Test (NNAT) November 12-16, 2012
Spring testing is only for FCPS students enrolled after the fall testing cycle and referred for advanced academic services.
A parent/guardian may seek private testing through a licensed psychologist or through GMU. Call
The NNAT is a nonverbal measure that does not require verbal or mathematical skills, it is well suited for first grade students. The results will continue to be used for the second grade pool and for screening and selection for advanced academic services.
If a student takes the NNAT in 2nd grade, even if their score is above the benchmark, they will not automatically be included in the pool – a referral will need to be made.
Only students who took the grade 1 NNAT and the FCPS Cognitive Ability Test Custom Form Grade 2, are considered for the pool. All other screening files will be initiated through referral. There is no advantage to being in the pool over being screened through referral.

21. www.fcps.edu/IS/aap esgibson@fcps.edu
Thank you. I will now take questions from the audience.