MCCPTA Gifted Education Committee's Complaint about Systemic Failures by MCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also appreciate the MCCPTA GEC advocacy. I agree with those who would like to take all of the eggs out of the magnet basket and upgrade home school curriculum. The state of Middle School curriculum is troubling for advanced learners. The two enriched classes (AIM HIGH) are better than nothing, but the level of instruction for English and Science should be upgraded. Too much filling in work sheets and busy work.

High School has lots of opportunities for kids to challenge themselves.

High school is not as rigorous as it used to be. No exams. Very little homework. For English, your child is lucky if more than two books are read in a semester (and this includes AP Literature). No penalty if a child turns in assignments late. At least half of my child’s teachers do not take attendance. When he is sick, he is still marked present.

I worry about what MCPS thinks they are preparing students for beyond high school.

Which school does you student attend?!?!?!?!?!?!? We have exams. We have homework. We have late penalties. We get notices if the kid is 3 minutes late to a class.

Is your student telling you this stuff?

We've never had any of that stuff. You are at MCPS? We don't have any accelerated classes in MS either, including HIGH. My child has read two books this year in English.

My kid read two over the weekend. Brought them home from the school library.

That's good. We are talking about assigned reading, not ES kids bring home two books a week to read. Our school doesn't have a school library.

Which MCPS school doesn't have a library?

Virtual kids have no access to library beyond public or online.

But isn't that the point of virtual schooling is you don't go into a physical building?

In any case I think Montgomery county is hiring a librarian for virtual academy next year I am not sure if their responsibility will be to help students access on my resources or if they will be some sort of physical library that is dedicated to virtual students

You should try the e-library! It blows away any school library. They have everything!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also appreciate the MCCPTA GEC advocacy. I agree with those who would like to take all of the eggs out of the magnet basket and upgrade home school curriculum. The state of Middle School curriculum is troubling for advanced learners. The two enriched classes (AIM HIGH) are better than nothing, but the level of instruction for English and Science should be upgraded. Too much filling in work sheets and busy work.

High School has lots of opportunities for kids to challenge themselves.

High school is not as rigorous as it used to be. No exams. Very little homework. For English, your child is lucky if more than two books are read in a semester (and this includes AP Literature). No penalty if a child turns in assignments late. At least half of my child’s teachers do not take attendance. When he is sick, he is still marked present.

I worry about what MCPS thinks they are preparing students for beyond high school.

Which school does you student attend?!?!?!?!?!?!? We have exams. We have homework. We have late penalties. We get notices if the kid is 3 minutes late to a class.

Is your student telling you this stuff?

We've never had any of that stuff. You are at MCPS? We don't have any accelerated classes in MS either, including HIGH. My child has read two books this year in English.

My kid read two over the weekend. Brought them home from the school library.

That's good. We are talking about assigned reading, not ES kids bring home two books a week to read. Our school doesn't have a school library.

Which MCPS school doesn't have a library?

Virtual kids have no access to library beyond public or online.

But isn't that the point of virtual schooling is you don't go into a physical building?

In any case I think Montgomery county is hiring a librarian for virtual academy next year I am not sure if their responsibility will be to help students access on my resources or if they will be some sort of physical library that is dedicated to virtual students

You should try the e-library! It blows away any school library. They have everything!

My kids prefer paper. We just buy them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lets be honest folks. The gifted programs at all levels probably decrease diversity. The BoE has prioritized increasing diversity for any school or program. As an example MCPS knows it would look bad if Asians are getting in at a very low acceptance rate I’m order to increase the acceptance rate of other groups.

What needs to be done is increase the number of programs and put them in more schools. Take the top 20% like Fairfax Co does any give them enrichment.

Yeah, why can’t each school have enrichment. Bus the kids who are gifted at their schools without enough students to form a gifted class.

Our ES had a classroom that was dedicated to all the IEP kids (which should be illegal). So, why can't they also have a classroom for the smarter kids. One SN, one regular and one more advanced classroom. Simple enough.

Well, for starters, there are some kids who are gifted/advanced learners and also receive supports and accommodations!

The class was the slow class. The supports were a joke. They did not follow the iep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also appreciate the MCCPTA GEC advocacy. I agree with those who would like to take all of the eggs out of the magnet basket and upgrade home school curriculum. The state of Middle School curriculum is troubling for advanced learners. The two enriched classes (AIM HIGH) are better than nothing, but the level of instruction for English and Science should be upgraded. Too much filling in work sheets and busy work.

High School has lots of opportunities for kids to challenge themselves.

High school is not as rigorous as it used to be. No exams. Very little homework. For English, your child is lucky if more than two books are read in a semester (and this includes AP Literature). No penalty if a child turns in assignments late. At least half of my child’s teachers do not take attendance. When he is sick, he is still marked present.

I worry about what MCPS thinks they are preparing students for beyond high school.

Which school does you student attend?!?!?!?!?!?!? We have exams. We have homework. We have late penalties. We get notices if the kid is 3 minutes late to a class.

Is your student telling you this stuff?

I'm guessing it's just fiction because we are at a DCC high school and none of what they're saying is true.

My child attends Churchill.

Parentvue tells me my child was recorded as present for most periods when my child was home sick. Parentvue also reflects full credit for assignments turned in late. Two books assigned for AP English each semester this year, about the same as previous years in the cluster. The rigor has been non-existent for current students at the school.

Perhaps the problem in MCPS is that some schools offer more opportunities than others. Just because a school labels a class as an AP class doesn’t mean necessarily that it’s a rigorous course and that students have to meet high standards.

You have no idea how advanced and rigorous the programs are at Churchill. Do not post wrong information please.

That is just one school out of how many? That's great Churchill is special but generally all the W schools get more with that kind of stuff as they have wealthier parents. That's not true at other schools so you just proved part of the concern.

It’s a false stereotype that all of Churchill families are wealthy. We have families who qualify for section 8 housing as well as government workers who make under six figures. There are also MCPS teachers that live in the immediate neighborhood around Churchill.

MCPS also funds schools like Churchill less than other high schools in the county. The assumption is that parents will donate to the school or pay for private services the school is lacking. As the truly wealthy are leaving public schools for private, schools like Churchill will see less as far as donations. The requirement that parents have to pay for private services is a denial of a Free Appropriate Public Education all students are entitled to receive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lets be honest folks. The gifted programs at all levels probably decrease diversity. The BoE has prioritized increasing diversity for any school or program. As an example MCPS knows it would look bad if Asians are getting in at a very low acceptance rate I’m order to increase the acceptance rate of other groups.

What needs to be done is increase the number of programs and put them in more schools. Take the top 20% like Fairfax Co does any give them enrichment.

Yeah, why can’t each school have enrichment. Bus the kids who are gifted at their schools without enough students to form a gifted class.

I noticed all the kids at TPMS who took Algebra in 6th apparently had access to AIM in 5th and came from the wealthier schools. DD who scored incredibly high at a young age would've easily qualified for Algebra at Frost but at our DCC school that isn't even an option. It does seem like there are too many haves and have-nots...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lets be honest folks. The gifted programs at all levels probably decrease diversity. The BoE has prioritized increasing diversity for any school or program. As an example MCPS knows it would look bad if Asians are getting in at a very low acceptance rate I’m order to increase the acceptance rate of other groups.

What needs to be done is increase the number of programs and put them in more schools. Take the top 20% like Fairfax Co does any give them enrichment.

Yeah, why can’t each school have enrichment. Bus the kids who are gifted at their schools without enough students to form a gifted class.

Our ES had a classroom that was dedicated to all the IEP kids (which should be illegal). So, why can't they also have a classroom for the smarter kids. One SN, one regular and one more advanced classroom. Simple enough.

Our Principal made that decision for 4th Grade one year. Yes, probably illegal. Also, skewed the numbers in the classes so that one class had 20 kids, but the rest had 30-31.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lets be honest folks. The gifted programs at all levels probably decrease diversity. The BoE has prioritized increasing diversity for any school or program. As an example MCPS knows it would look bad if Asians are getting in at a very low acceptance rate I’m order to increase the acceptance rate of other groups.

What needs to be done is increase the number of programs and put them in more schools. Take the top 20% like Fairfax Co does any give them enrichment.

Yeah, why can’t each school have enrichment. Bus the kids who are gifted at their schools without enough students to form a gifted class.

I noticed all the kids at TPMS who took Algebra in 6th apparently had access to AIM in 5th and came from the wealthier schools. DD who scored incredibly high at a young age would've easily qualified for Algebra at Frost but at our DCC school that isn't even an option. It does seem like there are too many haves and have-nots...

Our DCC school as the option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also appreciate the MCCPTA GEC advocacy. I agree with those who would like to take all of the eggs out of the magnet basket and upgrade home school curriculum. The state of Middle School curriculum is troubling for advanced learners. The two enriched classes (AIM HIGH) are better than nothing, but the level of instruction for English and Science should be upgraded. Too much filling in work sheets and busy work.

High School has lots of opportunities for kids to challenge themselves.

High school is not as rigorous as it used to be. No exams. Very little homework. For English, your child is lucky if more than two books are read in a semester (and this includes AP Literature). No penalty if a child turns in assignments late. At least half of my child’s teachers do not take attendance. When he is sick, he is still marked present.

I worry about what MCPS thinks they are preparing students for beyond high school.

Which school does you student attend?!?!?!?!?!?!? We have exams. We have homework. We have late penalties. We get notices if the kid is 3 minutes late to a class.

Is your student telling you this stuff?

I'm guessing it's just fiction because we are at a DCC high school and none of what they're saying is true.

My child attends Churchill.

Parentvue tells me my child was recorded as present for most periods when my child was home sick. Parentvue also reflects full credit for assignments turned in late. Two books assigned for AP English each semester this year, about the same as previous years in the cluster. The rigor has been non-existent for current students at the school.

Perhaps the problem in MCPS is that some schools offer more opportunities than others. Just because a school labels a class as an AP class doesn’t mean necessarily that it’s a rigorous course and that students have to meet high standards.

You have no idea how advanced and rigorous the programs are at Churchill. Do not post wrong information please.

That is just one school out of how many? That's great Churchill is special but generally all the W schools get more with that kind of stuff as they have wealthier parents. That's not true at other schools so you just proved part of the concern.

It’s a false stereotype that all of Churchill families are wealthy. We have families who qualify for section 8 housing as well as government workers who make under six figures. There are also MCPS teachers that live in the immediate neighborhood around Churchill.

MCPS also funds schools like Churchill less than other high schools in the county. The assumption is that parents will donate to the school or pay for private services the school is lacking. As the truly wealthy are leaving public schools for private, schools like Churchill will see less as far as donations. The requirement that parents have to pay for private services is a denial of a Free Appropriate Public Education all students are entitled to receive.

There is a very limited number of low income but most are rich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also appreciate the MCCPTA GEC advocacy. I agree with those who would like to take all of the eggs out of the magnet basket and upgrade home school curriculum. The state of Middle School curriculum is troubling for advanced learners. The two enriched classes (AIM HIGH) are better than nothing, but the level of instruction for English and Science should be upgraded. Too much filling in work sheets and busy work.

High School has lots of opportunities for kids to challenge themselves.

High school is not as rigorous as it used to be. No exams. Very little homework. For English, your child is lucky if more than two books are read in a semester (and this includes AP Literature). No penalty if a child turns in assignments late. At least half of my child’s teachers do not take attendance. When he is sick, he is still marked present.

I worry about what MCPS thinks they are preparing students for beyond high school.

Which school does you student attend?!?!?!?!?!?!? We have exams. We have homework. We have late penalties. We get notices if the kid is 3 minutes late to a class.

Is your student telling you this stuff?

I'm guessing it's just fiction because we are at a DCC high school and none of what they're saying is true.

My child attends Churchill.

Parentvue tells me my child was recorded as present for most periods when my child was home sick. Parentvue also reflects full credit for assignments turned in late. Two books assigned for AP English each semester this year, about the same as previous years in the cluster. The rigor has been non-existent for current students at the school.

Perhaps the problem in MCPS is that some schools offer more opportunities than others. Just because a school labels a class as an AP class doesn’t mean necessarily that it’s a rigorous course and that students have to meet high standards.

You have no idea how advanced and rigorous the programs are at Churchill. Do not post wrong information please.

That is just one school out of how many? That's great Churchill is special but generally all the W schools get more with that kind of stuff as they have wealthier parents. That's not true at other schools so you just proved part of the concern.

It’s a false stereotype that all of Churchill families are wealthy. We have families who qualify for section 8 housing as well as government workers who make under six figures. There are also MCPS teachers that live in the immediate neighborhood around Churchill.

MCPS also funds schools like Churchill less than other high schools in the county. The assumption is that parents will donate to the school or pay for private services the school is lacking. As the truly wealthy are leaving public schools for private, schools like Churchill will see less as far as donations. The requirement that parents have to pay for private services is a denial of a Free Appropriate Public Education all students are entitled to receive.

There is a very limited number of low income but most are rich.

<5% FARMS which is code for none while the county average is over 35%

[Anonymous]

Not to throw another layer into this mix, but didn't the previous process also account for age while administering the CoGAT?

Wouldn't it be fair to say that a student in KG who may already be 6 due to a late birthday may have had an extra year of pre-school that automatically makes them ahead of a kid who turned 5 right before KG starts?

There should be a difference between a kid who is truly ahead (maybe on the younger end (May - Sep birthdays) vs. kids born the year prior and nearly 9 months older than the others.

This doesn't appear to be a consideration at all for MCPS in the current lottery system.

[Anonymous]

PP here. To clarify, a 99% kid born towards the end of cutoff vs a 99% kid who's nearly 9 months older and likely more mature and had more exposure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lets be honest folks. The gifted programs at all levels probably decrease diversity. The BoE has prioritized increasing diversity for any school or program. As an example MCPS knows it would look bad if Asians are getting in at a very low acceptance rate I’m order to increase the acceptance rate of other groups.

What needs to be done is increase the number of programs and put them in more schools. Take the top 20% like Fairfax Co does any give them enrichment.

Yeah, why can’t each school have enrichment. Bus the kids who are gifted at their schools without enough students to form a gifted class.

I noticed all the kids at TPMS who took Algebra in 6th apparently had access to AIM in 5th and came from the wealthier schools. DD who scored incredibly high at a young age would've easily qualified for Algebra at Frost but at our DCC school that isn't even an option. It does seem like there are too many haves and have-nots...

Our DCC school as the option.

School name, please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here. To clarify, a 99% kid born towards the end of cutoff vs a 99% kid who's nearly 9 months older and likely more mature and had more exposure.

I agree. This should be a consideration but doesn't appear to be under the current model.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lets be honest folks. The gifted programs at all levels probably decrease diversity. The BoE has prioritized increasing diversity for any school or program. As an example MCPS knows it would look bad if Asians are getting in at a very low acceptance rate I’m order to increase the acceptance rate of other groups.

What needs to be done is increase the number of programs and put them in more schools. Take the top 20% like Fairfax Co does any give them enrichment.

Yeah, why can’t each school have enrichment. Bus the kids who are gifted at their schools without enough students to form a gifted class.

I noticed all the kids at TPMS who took Algebra in 6th apparently had access to AIM in 5th and came from the wealthier schools. DD who scored incredibly high at a young age would've easily qualified for Algebra at Frost but at our DCC school that isn't even an option. It does seem like there are too many haves and have-nots...

Our DCC school as the option.

School name, please.

Fictional Elementary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here. To clarify, a 99% kid born towards the end of cutoff vs a 99% kid who's nearly 9 months older and likely more mature and had more exposure.

My understanding is the CogAT is age normed meaning kids are compared with other kids their same birth month to determine their percentile not kids from other random months.