Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources EPGY Open Enrollment- new program and changes

just tried getting on and it still said "coming soon"

Questions for those with experience of EPGY...

Unless I have misunderstood things the open enrollment Maths only goes up to 7th grade. Did I misinterpret something?

Also, looking at the instructor led classes, I see that English Grammar is delayed until 7th grade.

Is this stuff actually aimed at gifted students? If so, how rigid are they about the grade versus the ability level?

TIA

Yes, the Independent Study math which replaces Open Enrollment only goes up to 7th grade. Algebra is now only tutor supported. I can't say how the new program will approach grade level in light of ability level. In the former program, students in OE could take a placement test and take math according to their ability regardless of what actual grade they were in. They could also move through grade levels as quickly as their ability levels allowed. I can't speak to the new program. I can tell you some of the parents who joined my EPGY OE group switched from instructor supported because it was much easier to get changes in curriculum pace and other settings through me than through versions in their school or through tutor supported. However, as I said, I can't speak to how accommodating the new Independent Study or Tutor Supported courses will be.

The site was down most of the day, but when it came back up, my DD was able to log in and complete a session. Speed was good compared to this morning when I was trying to explore the new site. It looks different logging in, but looks and works the same once the session started, so DD had no trouble with logging in or completing the session. Since this is algebra and it won't be offered for independent study, I can't say whether the K-7 sessions look and work the same as in EPGY. Perhaps someone else can post on that.

I couldn't find where or how to set up the parent account, but the calendar, progress summary, and concepts summary are there in the student account, and those are what I typically monitor.

Looking at the FAQ, I noticed that parents of independent study students (formerly open enrollment) cannot change their child's grade level (half a grade level at a time) as they could in the past, but they say they're adding that capability soon. In the meantime, you can contact them to change the grade level. I couldn't see anywhere if there are still two curriculums (reinforcement and gifted) as there were in EPGY. I don't know about other settings I could adjust as an SSA either (such as the number of review exercises, setting session time limits, etc.).

Tutor supported courses will start the student at their current grade level to avoid gaps. Grade level acceleration seems possible but not recommended based on the tone of how the information was presented. This doesn't seem new since I had some people join my group so the parents could have more control over the speed of their children's learning versus school groups and the instructor guided courses. I'm not sure if they still offer a placement test. If they do, requesting one may help convince them to change the grade level (in open enrollment, the grade level was automatically changed after a student took a placement test).

The initial pages at login look different, but the lessons are identical. I think whatever setting were made in the SSA account remain active, since I had set my DS an assignment to start on a particular lesson (unrelated to grade placement), and thay's where the lessons start.

The lessons themselves look unchanged.

"I couldn't find where or how to set up the parent account." Me neither. I found this.
http://support.giftedandtalented.com/hc/en-us/articles/202758840-How-To-Adjust-Grade-Placement-
I don't know if/when there will be "parent accounts" or what their capabilities are compared to SSA accounts. Losing the ability to customize my kids' courses is a big problem for me.

It looks like language arts now goes up to 7 instead of 6, but algebra will go (for new subscribers to independent study).

It looks like instead of $135/10months=$13.50/month (for math K-7 language arts 2-6 and algebra), the new prices for independent study are
$60/quarter=$20/month for math K-7
$60/quarter=$20/month for language arts 2-7
$90/quarter=$30/month for both math K-7 language arts 2-7.

Current subscribers keep their current subscription and courses until the 10 months expires, so we can still use the algebra. But I've actually decided to get the AoPS book and do algebra with that instead, since AoPS is what we'll be using for all the higher courses.

Off topic but in response to comments above : my DD went from EPGY into AoPS Prealgebra because Richard Rusczyk was teaching her class (she was in the first group to go through), he was just wonderful. She continued on with AoPS Algebra I without a problem. She loves the online classes.

I don't think that anything has changed in regards to content. My understanding was that the change in scope wasn't going into effect until the fall. I am trying to withhold judgement until that time because after doing this for so many years, right now I'm not impressed.

Anyone have any luck trying to create a parent account?

Can you log in? If so, what's in the account?

I haven't been able to, but I haven't tried for awhile.

I sent you a PM with some contact information that may help you find out.

Thanks. I'd already contacted support, but I haven't found out if it's just me having a problem, or if parent accounts don't exist yet. (Support weren't sure either.) That's why I was wondering if anyone here had managed to get a parent account up and running, and looked inside.

We have been able to log in to the new program using my son's old username and password. It seems like the lesson is moving quite a bit more slowly (perhaps we've been moved from the gifted setting) -- do we still have a group, or are we now considered individual students? It's not clear to me now who can change the setting for us.

I am quite disappointed right now, hope this will change.