TJ Falls to 14th in the Nation Per US News

[Anonymous]

It's interesting because TJ seems to lose out most on "State Assessment Performance Rank," which US News describes as "How aggregated scores on state assessments compare with U.S. News' expectations given the proportions of students who are Black, Hispanic and from low-income households." TJ is 100% proficient on math and reading, but 99% proficient in science (which is ridiculous given science is in the name). Is that 1% really costing so much?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The principal in one of the recent emails expressed concerns with significant number of admitted "9th grade students scoring below proficient on the initial Math Inventory", and needing to put them on ALEKS remedial math starting in the third month itself. If admissions was merit based, remedial math should not be needed at the school start.

With a lower caliber student body being admitted using equity instead of merit as the criteria, TJ's ranking continues to decline from 1st in the nation to now 14th nationally.

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/VAEDUFCPS/bulletins/38d509c

Even students that completed Geometry in middle school are finding out they lack the necessary proficiency but after getting admitted. After getting enrolled in Algebra 2 ( TJ Math 3), many of them are being recommended to step back to the remedial TJ Math 2.5, which revisits middle school Algebra 1 and Geometry. This is unprecedented, as the previous merit-based entrance test would have filtered out applicants lacking proficiency in middle school math. Instead of teaching Math to a well-qualified admitted class, teacher are stuck in circles having to reteach middle school math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Admissions probably didn’t help. Worth noting though that there’s been a lot of teacher turnover which I think is a bigger deal than the admissions process since it affects the quality of the education itself.

Teachers are being forced to teach rigorous TJ curriculum to a class that lacks prerequisite middle school math and science knowledge. If they voice their concerns with the lack of merit based admission criteria, they are branded as anti-equity. Frustrated with not being able to fulfill their duties, many opt to resign.

The last school board was - if nothing else - honest about their priorities:

- academics were NOT their number one priority.

They repeatedly stated “equity is the number one priority,” and they were the board who radically altered TJ’s admissions policies.

Equity is practice means dumbing-down public education in the United States.

How much more evidence do people need before we put an end to this destructive and ultimately racist cult of equity?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The principal in one of the recent emails expressed concerns with significant number of admitted "9th grade students scoring below proficient on the initial Math Inventory", and needing to put them on ALEKS remedial math starting in the third month itself. If admissions was merit based, remedial math should not be needed at the school start.

With a lower caliber student body being admitted using equity instead of merit as the criteria, TJ's ranking continues to decline from 1st in the nation to now 14th nationally.

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/VAEDUFCPS/bulletins/38d509c

Even students that completed Geometry in middle school are finding out they lack the necessary proficiency but after getting admitted. After getting enrolled in Algebra 2 ( TJ Math 3), many of them are being recommended to step back to the remedial TJ Math 2.5, which revisits middle school Algebra 1 and Geometry. This is unprecedented, as the previous merit-based entrance test would have filtered out applicants lacking proficiency in middle school math. Instead of teaching Math to a well-qualified admitted class, teacher are stuck in circles having to reteach middle school math.

OK but the link above is not a source for that. Is there public data to back up that claim?

Back in 2012 we had the same freak out, after all: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-new-thomas-jefferson-it-includes-remedial-math/2012/05/25/gJQAlZRYqU_story.html

I'm not at all a proponent of the new admissions criteria, but people throw around a lot of claims about TJ kids having to take remedial math. These concerns have been around for a long time now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Admissions probably didn’t help. Worth noting though that there’s been a lot of teacher turnover which I think is a bigger deal than the admissions process since it affects the quality of the education itself.

Teachers are being forced to teach rigorous TJ curriculum to a class that lacks prerequisite middle school math and science knowledge. If they voice their concerns with the lack of merit based admission criteria, they are branded as anti-equity. Frustrated with not being able to fulfill their duties, many opt to resign.

The last school board was - if nothing else - honest about their priorities:

- academics were NOT their number one priority.

They repeatedly stated “equity is the number one priority,” and they were the board who radically altered TJ’s admissions policies.

Equity is practice means dumbing-down public education in the United States.

How much more evidence do people need before we put an end to this destructive and ultimately racist cult of equity?

They also fixed the cheating problem (inside the school as well as during admissions) and the cutthroat competitive atmosphere.

Academics are important - so are other parts of a school culture. The school board did good wtih the change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The principal in one of the recent emails expressed concerns with significant number of admitted "9th grade students scoring below proficient on the initial Math Inventory", and needing to put them on ALEKS remedial math starting in the third month itself. If admissions was merit based, remedial math should not be needed at the school start.

With a lower caliber student body being admitted using equity instead of merit as the criteria, TJ's ranking continues to decline from 1st in the nation to now 14th nationally.

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/VAEDUFCPS/bulletins/38d509c

Can you find me where it says there's a "significant number"? All I see is that the School Improvement Plan progress report shows:

By the end of the 2023-2024 school year, 100% of 9th grade students scoring below proficient on the initial Math Inventory will demonstrate proficiency on the end of year Math Inventory assessment.

Progress Report: We are on track to achieve our measurable outcome. Teachers are providing all 9th graders with algebra mastery assignments through ALEKS, a digital resource that provides personalized learning. With the implementation of practice opportunities, freshmen will continue to build on and reinforce their algebra skills.

If they had 2 kids who scored below proficient, wouldn't that be an easy win for the principal to put in the school improvement plan? I don't see anywhere that said there were tons of 9th graders who needed help.

Yeah, there’s no mention of it being a significant number of students, though there’s an argument to be made that no student at TJ should be remedial in Algebra 1 to begin with.

DC is there and did Aleks for a bit. they took Algebra 1 honors in 7th over the pandemic year and it seemed like there were things the teacher glossed over. they have had no trouble keeping up - but their 7th grade didn’t cover everything it was supposed to. At least for class of 2026 that would explain some uses of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m shocked! Did not see this coming.

You forgot the add the “ /s “ for sarcasm.

[Anonymous]

Anyone know the ranking’s methodology and know if it changed at all the last few years? It could be it hasn’t. But given how much the USNWR rankings of colleges shifted based on the changes to what is evaluated I’m curious if that is playing a role here too at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know the ranking’s methodology and know if it changed at all the last few years? It could be it hasn’t. But given how much the USNWR rankings of colleges shifted based on the changes to what is evaluated I’m curious if that is playing a role here too at all.

OP here and I was wondering that as well. Objectively on some measures TJ seemed to score higher than schools ranked above it.

[Anonymous]

“Having access to a strong high school program is paramount for students as they face an ever-changing world,” Liana Loewus, the managing editor of education at U.S. News & World Report, said in a press release. “Making data on our high schools available helps parents ensure their child is in the educational environment that best sets them up to thrive.”

The slide in the rankings for Thomas Jefferson High School comes after it changed its admissions process.

In 2020, Fairfax County’s school board voted to overhaul the admissions process to eliminate some testing requirements and implement an essay lottery system in a bid to increase the number of black and Hispanic students attending the school.

But the changes resulted in a substantially lower level of Asian students being admitted to the school.

[Anonymous]

sad, race to the bottom; however, this area always votes for this equity crap, so no surprise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“Having access to a strong high school program is paramount for students as they face an ever-changing world,” Liana Loewus, the managing editor of education at U.S. News & World Report, said in a press release. “Making data on our high schools available helps parents ensure their child is in the educational environment that best sets them up to thrive.”

The slide in the rankings for Thomas Jefferson High School comes after it changed its admissions process.

In 2020, Fairfax County’s school board voted to overhaul the admissions process to eliminate some testing requirements and implement an essay lottery system in a bid to increase the number of black and Hispanic students attending the school.

But the changes resulted in a substantially lower level of Asian students being admitted to the school.

The same level of Asian students being admitted to the school, not a lower level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“Having access to a strong high school program is paramount for students as they face an ever-changing world,” Liana Loewus, the managing editor of education at U.S. News & World Report, said in a press release. “Making data on our high schools available helps parents ensure their child is in the educational environment that best sets them up to thrive.”

The slide in the rankings for Thomas Jefferson High School comes after it changed its admissions process.

In 2020, Fairfax County’s school board voted to overhaul the admissions process to eliminate some testing requirements and implement an essay lottery system in a bid to increase the number of black and Hispanic students attending the school.

But the changes resulted in a substantially lower level of Asian students being admitted to the school.

Combined with the decrease in Asian student strength, TJ admissions has no way of determining the caliber of Asian students admitted, having eliminated the merit-based assessment tests. If the academic caliber of the incoming class is being gambled with, it shouldn't surprise anyone when the ranking falls from 1st to 14th and beyond.

[Anonymous]

My kid is a freshman in McLean. There are many kids in his grade who got rejected who really should be at TJ. If admissions was based on merit, these kids should be at TJ. I’m sure equity hurt them being an Asian kid from McLean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a freshman in McLean. There are many kids in his grade who got rejected who really should be at TJ. If admissions was based on merit, these kids should be at TJ. I’m sure equity hurt them being an Asian kid from McLean.

Sorry to hear this, PP.

The prior school board’s progressive-driven revision to admissions was completely racist and openly targeted the Asian/Indian population at TJ.

They engaged in blatant racism. There is no way around that fact.