How to appeal CES decision

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was pre covid, so take it with a grain of salt, but I filed an appeal and wrote a letter explaining my child’s traits that made the CES a good fit for them, and I included a writing sample my child had written for fun. It really showcased DC’s creativity, vocabulary and passion for writing. The appeal was successful and DC was then placed in the waitpool. IMO, the writing sample probably had more sway than my letter, but I guess I’ll never know for sure. DC’s number was later randomly chosen and DC was admitted to the CES and did well there. Good luck.

Had a similar experience where dc should have been in the pool but was not. His test scores were all well within the range. I believe he was blackballed by administration. Wrote a letter of appeal. He was moved to wait list and accepted. It made an enormous difference in his subsequent academic career.

How on earth do you know this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you looking at the correct MAP score? They use the fall one, not the most recent.

I’m sure if you contact them they will explain that you are wrong and tell you why your kid actually didn’t meet the criteria.

Fall MAP (and the prior Spring Math MAP, for some) is used for the criteria-based MS magnets. CES, though relying on a similar paradigm, uses Winter MAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was pre covid, so take it with a grain of salt, but I filed an appeal and wrote a letter explaining my child’s traits that made the CES a good fit for them, and I included a writing sample my child had written for fun. It really showcased DC’s creativity, vocabulary and passion for writing. The appeal was successful and DC was then placed in the waitpool. IMO, the writing sample probably had more sway than my letter, but I guess I’ll never know for sure. DC’s number was later randomly chosen and DC was admitted to the CES and did well there. Good luck.

Had a similar experience where dc should have been in the pool but was not. His test scores were all well within the range. I believe he was blackballed by administration. Wrote a letter of appeal. He was moved to wait list and accepted. It made an enormous difference in his subsequent academic career.

How on earth do you know this?

I don't believe administration can blacklist anyone. That would be the subject of a lwasuit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was pre covid, so take it with a grain of salt, but I filed an appeal and wrote a letter explaining my child’s traits that made the CES a good fit for them, and I included a writing sample my child had written for fun. It really showcased DC’s creativity, vocabulary and passion for writing. The appeal was successful and DC was then placed in the waitpool. IMO, the writing sample probably had more sway than my letter, but I guess I’ll never know for sure. DC’s number was later randomly chosen and DC was admitted to the CES and did well there. Good luck.

Had a similar experience where dc should have been in the pool but was not. His test scores were all well within the range. I believe he was blackballed by administration. Wrote a letter of appeal. He was moved to wait list and accepted. It made an enormous difference in his subsequent academic career.

How on earth do you know this?

I don't believe administration can blacklist anyone. That would be the subject of a lwasuit.

I was referencing the bolded

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was pre covid, so take it with a grain of salt, but I filed an appeal and wrote a letter explaining my child’s traits that made the CES a good fit for them, and I included a writing sample my child had written for fun. It really showcased DC’s creativity, vocabulary and passion for writing. The appeal was successful and DC was then placed in the waitpool. IMO, the writing sample probably had more sway than my letter, but I guess I’ll never know for sure. DC’s number was later randomly chosen and DC was admitted to the CES and did well there. Good luck.

Had a similar experience where dc should have been in the pool but was not. His test scores were all well within the range. I believe he was blackballed by administration. Wrote a letter of appeal. He was moved to wait list and accepted. It made an enormous difference in his subsequent academic career.

Because blackballing makes life so much easier for admin? WTF sort of life do you live?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you looking at the correct MAP score? They use the fall one, not the most recent.

I’m sure if you contact them they will explain that you are wrong and tell you why your kid actually didn’t meet the criteria.

Fall MAP (and the prior Spring Math MAP, for some) is used for the criteria-based MS magnets. CES, though relying on a similar paradigm, uses Winter MAP.

So, they use WINTER MAP only to determine for 3rd grader going into 4th grade CES lottery pool placement? 99% or 95% minimum?

How about for language & literacy? What is the minimum score? I have a will be 3rd grader in the fall. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

My 3rd grade met the central criteria but did not get a lottery spot. So is still in the pool.
When I called our home school to find out about the ELC in 4th and 5th grade there, I was told that all 4th and 5th graders receive ELC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 3rd grade met the central criteria but did not get a lottery spot. So is still in the pool.
When I called our home school to find out about the ELC in 4th and 5th grade there, I was told that all 4th and 5th graders receive ELC.

Please search. Has been discussed in the following threads:

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1200181.page#27323613

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1199097.page

[Anonymous]

Has been discussed recently:

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1200181.page#27323613

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1199097.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you looking at the correct MAP score? They use the fall one, not the most recent.

I’m sure if you contact them they will explain that you are wrong and tell you why your kid actually didn’t meet the criteria.

Fall MAP (and the prior Spring Math MAP, for some) is used for the criteria-based MS magnets. CES, though relying on a similar paradigm, uses Winter MAP.

So, they use WINTER MAP only to determine for 3rd grader going into 4th grade CES lottery pool placement? 99% or 95% minimum?

How about for language & literacy? What is the minimum score? I have a will be 3rd grader in the fall. Thanks.

Agree about seeking recent topics, as this gets discussed a lot, but want to answer the question posed (at least as far as I understand).

The centrally reviewed CES lottery pool criteria include grades, reading level and MAP-R score. (Those meeting the criteria but not selected by lottery are supposed to be guaranteed local literacy enrichment/ELC, but schools may make that available to others as they might independently identify need outside of the central review.) The MAP RIT score percentile that you see on the report is the national percentile, and the lottery pool cutoff is based on two factors:

1) MCPS assigns elementary schools to five FARMS-rate tranches. Effectively, the top 15% of scores within each tranche qualify, which, it is hoped, reflects higher levels of learning given similar challenge (the assumption being that it is more challenging to absorb material in an environment where teaching effort might differentially be allocated towards those needing a base curriculum or remedial focus; they're trying to include highly able students who didn't get high level exposure). In the low-FARMS tranche, generally with large cohorts of high-scoring students, that may be 97th %ile nationally while it may be much lower in the high-FARMS tranche. MCPS provided this information only once in response to a public info request, and it was a few years back; those "85th percentile local norms" can change each year, depending on that year's scores among the students.

2) If an individual student is "receiving services" -- an IEP, a 504 accommodation, is designated as EML and/or receives FARMS -- a lower (presumably 70th) percentile local norm (by FARMS tranche, as above) is the cutoff. Again, the assumption is that those receiving services face greater difficulty, and they want to allow for highly able students whose score may not reflect that ability as it might for others who do not require the services.

Not all who make the MAP cutoff meet the grade & reading level criteria and vice-versa. The criteria might also change -- there have been minor adjustments over the past 3 years, and MCPS is reviewing certain aspects this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you looking at the correct MAP score? They use the fall one, not the most recent.

I’m sure if you contact them they will explain that you are wrong and tell you why your kid actually didn’t meet the criteria.

Fall MAP (and the prior Spring Math MAP, for some) is used for the criteria-based MS magnets. CES, though relying on a similar paradigm, uses Winter MAP.

So, they use WINTER MAP only to determine for 3rd grader going into 4th grade CES lottery pool placement? 99% or 95% minimum?

How about for language & literacy? What is the minimum score? I have a will be 3rd grader in the fall. Thanks.

Depends on your child’s peers. If there are lots of high map R scores your child needs an exceedingly high map. If your school as lots of 99s and low farms your child has to have a very high map.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 3rd grade met the central criteria but did not get a lottery spot. So is still in the pool.
When I called our home school to find out about the ELC in 4th and 5th grade there, I was told that all 4th and 5th graders receive ELC.

Yes, just like “honors for all” in high school, MCPS is moving to “elc for all” in elementary school. It’s part of their effort to lower the bar for everyone so that results looks better. Consistent with lowering standards for CES admission - everything is watered down now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 3rd grade met the central criteria but did not get a lottery spot. So is still in the pool.
When I called our home school to find out about the ELC in 4th and 5th grade there, I was told that all 4th and 5th graders receive ELC.

Yes, just like “honors for all” in high school, MCPS is moving to “elc for all” in elementary school. It’s part of their effort to lower the bar for everyone so that results looks better. Consistent with lowering standards for CES admission - everything is watered down now.

Some schools do that, but most still separate out their ELC class.

[Anonymous]

My kid has IEP , and our school is not title 1 or focus school and low FARM rate. Our school is one the school that has local CES. She has high score on both math (99%) & reading (above reading level, does not know how to interpret) at 2nd grade. Since our school has local CES, how does it work? No one at IEP meeting mentions anything about the CES, but they know she is doing academically well with high IQ (tested privately due to medical reason).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was pre covid, so take it with a grain of salt, but I filed an appeal and wrote a letter explaining my child’s traits that made the CES a good fit for them, and I included a writing sample my child had written for fun. It really showcased DC’s creativity, vocabulary and passion for writing. The appeal was successful and DC was then placed in the waitpool. IMO, the writing sample probably had more sway than my letter, but I guess I’ll never know for sure. DC’s number was later randomly chosen and DC was admitted to the CES and did well there. Good luck.

There was no lottery pre-covid for CES so this doesn’t make any sense. This year’s 7th graders were selected for CES in Spring 2020 not by lottery. This year’s 6th graders were the first kids to be selected by lottery into CES in 2021, which was not pre covid.