Blair Magnet Program

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do they decide who goes to Functions? How DC is currently in H Geometry but their MAP was 315+

If your child is in TPMS the teacher will make the recommendation. Otherwise they will evaluate during factoring camp at the beginning of the summer. Even if your child is not recommended they can ask to be put in Functions or if they are put in Functions they can ask to not be in it.

There is some flexibility the first few weeks. One of DC's friends asked not to be in Functions on the first day even though they were recommended for it and later a high number of other classmates dropped out during the trial period. If you don't hit a certain grade on the assessments by a certain time you are automatically dropped. You don't have a choice at that point.

Thank you. They are not in TPMS and we need to travel abroad in mid June. Is summer camp crucial?

This is out of date. The summer camp hasn’t happened for the past two years. Instead the kids get a take home test to submit IF they are interested. They have to be honest in taking it in timed conditions. TPMS teachers do NOT make recommendations. Many kids that get in to functions drop out. If they don’t have a certain grade at a certain point they are required to switch back to precalc.

Since when?
Used to be if you’re coming from TPMS and recommended by the teachers for functions, you don’t go the the summer camp.
The summer camp was mostly for students coming from other schools to tryout and test for placements.

I don’t know “since when” but the class of 2027 certainly didn’t get recommendations from TPMS teachers. There was no summer camp for that class (current sophomores).

Why would you make broad generalizations based on two year old info?

Because it’s correct, as others have backed up.

[Anonymous]

You said the camp was cancelled permanently. Others said that was wrong. It was held in 2024.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do they decide who goes to Functions? How DC is currently in H Geometry but their MAP was 315+

If your child is in TPMS the teacher will make the recommendation. Otherwise they will evaluate during factoring camp at the beginning of the summer. Even if your child is not recommended they can ask to be put in Functions or if they are put in Functions they can ask to not be in it.

There is some flexibility the first few weeks. One of DC's friends asked not to be in Functions on the first day even though they were recommended for it and later a high number of other classmates dropped out during the trial period. If you don't hit a certain grade on the assessments by a certain time you are automatically dropped. You don't have a choice at that point.

Thank you. They are not in TPMS and we need to travel abroad in mid June. Is summer camp crucial?

This is out of date. The summer camp hasn’t happened for the past two years. Instead the kids get a take home test to submit IF they are interested. They have to be honest in taking it in timed conditions. TPMS teachers do NOT make recommendations. Many kids that get in to functions drop out. If they don’t have a certain grade at a certain point they are required to switch back to precalc.

Since when?
Used to be if you’re coming from TPMS and recommended by the teachers for functions, you don’t go the the summer camp.
The summer camp was mostly for students coming from other schools to tryout and test for placements.

I don’t know “since when” but the class of 2027 certainly didn’t get recommendations from TPMS teachers. There was no summer camp for that class (current sophomores).

Why would you make broad generalizations based on two year old info?

Because it’s correct, as others have backed up.

How others have backed it up when others said it was held in June 2024?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I understand this hyper-focus on Map-M scores bc the application is extremely skimpy so every little bit seems like it has to matter a lot, but the Blair Magnet coordinator said at the open house that their MEDIAN score is 270, which means half the kids have below 270. Map M is not the only factor.

My kid just got into Blair. Map M 279.

Big deal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bit of advice. Stop talking about MAP scores. You'll sound silly. They are irrelevant in the magnet. Many kids have MAP above 300 and there's no correlation between MAP and the classes they take and how they do or whether they are a star on the math team or would never touch math team with a 10 foot pole.

Interesting. I have 3 kids and have followed their map scores for years. If found them to be pretty reflective of their math skills.

MAP score "rank" roughly matches math skill "rank", but can be a poor match for students who focus a lot only on higher-level school math or only on highly enriched grade-level subjects. Many students do both, so aren't affected by this.

It is reflective of knowledge up to about 290 (Algebra 2 + basic stats), but for highly above grade level / enrolled course scores doesn't distinguish exposure to the recipes via Khan/IXL vs solving previously unseen problems via personal innovation, and it doesn't test depth at the level of Magnet math. So it's a noisy signal for ability to handle enriched content.

(See all the posts about math homework, and only math homework, taking hours per night. This is not intended by the teachers; these are students who hyper-accelerated without sufficient depth of understanding, because they weren't challenged to stretch beyond the basic school curriculum.)

No it’s not, it’s because the math teachers assign copious amounts of homework.

+1 Yes they assign a lot on purpose and it seems to work. The kids end up with a really good foundation in math.

They don't start with a really good foundation in math? Even at the middle school magnet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand this hyper-focus on Map-M scores bc the application is extremely skimpy so every little bit seems like it has to matter a lot, but the Blair Magnet coordinator said at the open house that their MEDIAN score is 270, which means half the kids have below 270. Map M is not the only factor.

My kid just got into Blair. Map M 279.

Big deal

Let's please refrain from making negative comments, if this was a negative comment. It could not have been, but who knows?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bit of advice. Stop talking about MAP scores. You'll sound silly. They are irrelevant in the magnet. Many kids have MAP above 300 and there's no correlation between MAP and the classes they take and how they do or whether they are a star on the math team or would never touch math team with a 10 foot pole.

Interesting. I have 3 kids and have followed their map scores for years. If found them to be pretty reflective of their math skills.

MAP score "rank" roughly matches math skill "rank", but can be a poor match for students who focus a lot only on higher-level school math or only on highly enriched grade-level subjects. Many students do both, so aren't affected by this.

It is reflective of knowledge up to about 290 (Algebra 2 + basic stats), but for highly above grade level / enrolled course scores doesn't distinguish exposure to the recipes via Khan/IXL vs solving previously unseen problems via personal innovation, and it doesn't test depth at the level of Magnet math. So it's a noisy signal for ability to handle enriched content.

(See all the posts about math homework, and only math homework, taking hours per night. This is not intended by the teachers; these are students who hyper-accelerated without sufficient depth of understanding, because they weren't challenged to stretch beyond the basic school curriculum.)

No it’s not, it’s because the math teachers assign copious amounts of homework.

+1 Yes they assign a lot on purpose and it seems to work. The kids end up with a really good foundation in math.

They don't start with a really good foundation in math? Even at the middle school magnet?

Foundational math concepts go up through Calc for most stem careers. Even the kids from TPMS find the math challenging, usually in a good way but stressful too.

[Anonymous]

DC didn’t get selected and no wait pool. Trying to decide whether it’s worth asking program why or submitting an appeal

MAP-M 275
Currently in geometry
Straight As through middle and elementary
currently in math/science at TPMS
CES at Oakview

All of his friends got in. Some have higher MAP scores but most had same or slightly lower.

Worth looking into?

[Anonymous]

No. It won't make a difference. There are probably hundreds of kids with similar scores. Never heard of an appeal working.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I understand this hyper-focus on Map-M scores bc the application is extremely skimpy so every little bit seems like it has to matter a lot, but the Blair Magnet coordinator said at the open house that their MEDIAN score is 270, which means half the kids have below 270. Map M is not the only factor.

My kid just got into Blair. Map M 279.

There are lots of 280s didn’t get in. Maybe they have different criteria for different middle schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC didn’t get selected and no wait pool. Trying to decide whether it’s worth asking program why or submitting an appeal

MAP-M 275
Currently in geometry
Straight As through middle and elementary
currently in math/science at TPMS
CES at Oakview

All of his friends got in. Some have higher MAP scores but most had same or slightly lower.

Worth looking into?

Did he fill out achievements/hobbies and write an essay showing passion for STEM as well as a good work ethic?

[Anonymous]

Yeah, he did. He talked his love for math, thriving in challenging environments, time in the math rubix cube club, etc…

[Anonymous]

Yeah, covered love of math, problem solving, thriving on challenge, math rubix club, computer science, etc…


quote=Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC didn’t get selected and no wait pool. Trying to decide whether it’s worth asking program why or submitting an appeal

MAP-M 275
Currently in geometry
Straight As through middle and elementary
currently in math/science at TPMS
CES at Oakview

All of his friends got in. Some have higher MAP scores but most had same or slightly lower.

Worth looking into?

Did he fill out achievements/hobbies and write an essay showing passion for STEM as well as a good work ethic?

[Anonymous]

You can call the program but I don't think you'll get an answer to your satisfaction. They will tell you the same thing that there are many kids with similar profiles who were also not admitted. I saw a few BOE appeals and for the SMCS programs some kids were at 290+ and did not get in. I think at some point it's a bit random and I'm pretty sure they do try to balance for sending MS/geography. FARMS/Ever ESOL kids also get a bit of a boost, as they should.

[Anonymous]

Adding another affirmation that factoring camp was offered summer of 2024. There was a fee associated with it (so that may cover the “no funding” part). My kid did not take it (he wasn’t sure he even wanted to go to the magnet), not TPMS, and was fine in precalc (but I don’t think we would have pushed for functions regardless). They do a good job of explaining the magnet math pathways and where everyone ends up (basically the same place) by the end of 10th grade at the admit open house.