Prep for HGC and MS magnet tests

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid isn’t “gifted” but is a high performer so I’m prepping her so that she doesn’t have to go to our zoned low performing school that focuses way too much on low performing students. I just want my kid to have a decent and challenging curriculum. Magnet admission for us isn’t about giftedness. It’s about escaping our crappy middle school.

I would then caution you to not let down your guard. Magnet MS, ES and all GT education in MCPS have deteriorated significantly because of MCPS attempts to water down curriculum throughout as well as pushing out excellent teachers. At this point, if you do not supplement outside the school and depend on your kid to learn everything from the magnet program (even if it is better than your crappy school) then you will face another kind of achievement gap. My suggestion would be to look online for curriculum.

The opposite seems to be true. In fact, since the advent of universal screening the applicant pool is 5X larger and the most qualified cohort in the county history is now selected. Sure, the uber-preppers whose parents used to game system have a harder time gaining admission, but that's because their kids just aren't that smart.

Agree the new system is doing a better job identifying student potential. The cohort rules were a stroke of genius. This made the system much fairer. So many parents with the most have gamed the system for decades. Their kids attend schools that are so much better that people pay hundreds of thousands more to ensure their children attend them. This confers a huge advantage to those who aren't fortunate to attend one of these elite schools. The cohort rules help identify student potential rather than rewarding students who have had every possible advantage. The county is finally making smart moves to better serve its residents.

Yes, MCPS asked the magnet teachers to adjust their teaching and expectation when the first cohort-admitted classes entered Eastern and TPMS. To me, it seems that MCPS admitted a lot of less smart kids since the new policy. Students with potential? After three years, the students admitted by lower standard will be math star or fantastic writer!

I teach in one of those programs. Must have missed that memo! Can you share your copy?

I acknowledge some adjustments made. However, they were mainly made to accommodate a much greater percentage of white students with IEPs and 504 plans.

The earlier poster's self-serving narrative about how their little genius was cheated out of their rightful seat in the magnet by an undeserving minority is getting tiresome. Their claims amount to flimsy anecdotes. The county has made some laudable changes. I hope they keep it up.

A cleaning lady who works in our neighborhood is an illegal Hispanic immigrant. She is a single mom who gave birth here, so her kid is a citizen. She was given a place in TPMS MSCS program (kid is above average but not great) but later decided to go to one of the consortium school. Went from a A student to a B and C student. The kid is out of depth and becoming depressed because she is unable to keep up. It is beyond tragic. And this kid has been going to a lot of tutoring etc funded by her schools throughout her life, because mom needed childcare and thought these places to be an educational opportunity as well as a place where her kid would be safe. She also goes to Saturday School etc., so the mom knows how to get her help. At this point though, what MCPS taught her throughout her schooling has proved to be inadequate to do well in a fairly easy magnet lottery program, let alone TPMS. I am watching this kid go from a bright and happy child who was doing well in her regular school, to a dead-eyed zombie who thinks that she is stupid. Well done, MCPS! Keep up with your misguided racially motivated political agenda and make MoCo into PG county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS cannot compensate for home environment, parental involvement, level of education and prioritization of education for high achieving communities. Can you switch out the parents and home environment?

Some evidence that a knowledge based curriculum rather than a skills based curriculum actually can

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/08/the-radical-case-for-teaching-kids-stuff/592765/?utm_term=2019-07-09T12%3A00%3A05&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=edit-promo&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR25CI-znCKbJrhT8MCrqwVRbGzzmT7m8KcpG31Lq9FPzY2SQxe1alIKUOE

And that will surely happen with MCPS? For closing achievement gap? In a classroom where disruptive behavior is tolerated in name of restorative discipline? With poorly trained administrators?

Some truths are self-evident - like climate change and achievement gap. No amount of whitewashing the truth, no smoke and mirrors policies and reporting is gonna change that.

Disruptive behavior isn't tolerated. If you want to just make up stories to suit your narrative fine, but keep that nonsense to yourself.

My kid shared a classroom with a chair throwing, window breaking, f-bomb dropping, bolting out of the classroom child. They were accommodated. Even when the child wrote racist things in my kids writing journal (f-you pink face) the school did nothing.



Are you MCPS central office or the parent of a disruptive student? Ask the teachers and students who want to learn - they have to deal with this kind of bottom feeder students all the time and they are frustrated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid isn’t “gifted” but is a high performer so I’m prepping her so that she doesn’t have to go to our zoned low performing school that focuses way too much on low performing students. I just want my kid to have a decent and challenging curriculum. Magnet admission for us isn’t about giftedness. It’s about escaping our crappy middle school.

I would then caution you to not let down your guard. Magnet MS, ES and all GT education in MCPS have deteriorated significantly because of MCPS attempts to water down curriculum throughout as well as pushing out excellent teachers. At this point, if you do not supplement outside the school and depend on your kid to learn everything from the magnet program (even if it is better than your crappy school) then you will face another kind of achievement gap. My suggestion would be to look online for curriculum.

The opposite seems to be true. In fact, since the advent of universal screening the applicant pool is 5X larger and the most qualified cohort in the county history is now selected. Sure, the uber-preppers whose parents used to game system have a harder time gaining admission, but that's because their kids just aren't that smart.

Agree the new system is doing a better job identifying student potential. The cohort rules were a stroke of genius. This made the system much fairer. So many parents with the most have gamed the system for decades. Their kids attend schools that are so much better that people pay hundreds of thousands more to ensure their children attend them. This confers a huge advantage to those who aren't fortunate to attend one of these elite schools. The cohort rules help identify student potential rather than rewarding students who have had every possible advantage. The county is finally making smart moves to better serve its residents.

Yes, MCPS asked the magnet teachers to adjust their teaching and expectation when the first cohort-admitted classes entered Eastern and TPMS. To me, it seems that MCPS admitted a lot of less smart kids since the new policy. Students with potential? After three years, the students admitted by lower standard will be math star or fantastic writer!

I teach in one of those programs. Must have missed that memo! Can you share your copy?

I acknowledge some adjustments made. However, they were mainly made to accommodate a much greater percentage of white students with IEPs and 504 plans.

The earlier poster's self-serving narrative about how their little genius was cheated out of their rightful seat in the magnet by an undeserving minority is getting tiresome. Their claims amount to flimsy anecdotes. The county has made some laudable changes. I hope they keep it up.

A cleaning lady who works in our neighborhood is an illegal Hispanic immigrant. She is a single mom who gave birth here, so her kid is a citizen. She was given a place in TPMS MSCS program (kid is above average but not great) but later decided to go to one of the consortium school. Went from a A student to a B and C student. The kid is out of depth and becoming depressed because she is unable to keep up. It is beyond tragic. And this kid has been going to a lot of tutoring etc funded by her schools throughout her life, because mom needed childcare and thought these places to be an educational opportunity as well as a place where her kid would be safe. She also goes to Saturday School etc., so the mom knows how to get her help. At this point though, what MCPS taught her throughout her schooling has proved to be inadequate to do well in a fairly easy magnet lottery program, let alone TPMS. I am watching this kid go from a bright and happy child who was doing well in her regular school, to a dead-eyed zombie who thinks that she is stupid. Well done, MCPS! Keep up with your misguided racially motivated political agenda and make MoCo into PG county.

Another self-serving anecdote which means nothing, but FWIW I know a parent with a kid like that who got into that program and they're getting straight A's because the kid deserved to be in the program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS cannot compensate for home environment, parental involvement, level of education and prioritization of education for high achieving communities. Can you switch out the parents and home environment?

Some evidence that a knowledge based curriculum rather than a skills based curriculum actually can

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/08/the-radical-case-for-teaching-kids-stuff/592765/?utm_term=2019-07-09T12%3A00%3A05&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=edit-promo&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR25CI-znCKbJrhT8MCrqwVRbGzzmT7m8KcpG31Lq9FPzY2SQxe1alIKUOE

And that will surely happen with MCPS? For closing achievement gap? In a classroom where disruptive behavior is tolerated in name of restorative discipline? With poorly trained administrators?

Some truths are self-evident - like climate change and achievement gap. No amount of whitewashing the truth, no smoke and mirrors policies and reporting is gonna change that.

Disruptive behavior isn't tolerated. If you want to just make up stories to suit your narrative fine, but keep that nonsense to yourself.

Are you MCPS central office or the parent of a disruptive student? Ask the teachers and students who want to learn - they have to deal with this kind of bottom feeder students all the time and they are frustrated.

I'm just a parent of 2 MCPS kids at a school that has behavior problems but these problems get addressed. I know it isn't popular to not complain or exaggerate but at least someone needs to talk about actual experience instead of the aalternate reality MCPS that exists on this board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved here from Massachusetts, and have had the same experience. The magnet programs in the elementary and middle school are pretty much the same as the standard programs in our Massachusetts town.

Same here (from Illinois)

Curious about the typical reading list for an advanced 6th grade student in MA or IL.

PP from IL here. I can’t remember what they read in 6th, and DC is at overnight camp. I can report back in a couple of weeks. I’m pretty sure DC had already read many of the books before they read them in class, but the assignments were deeper. Overall, in reading/writing, our IL schools focused more on anysis (reading) and content (writing), while our MCPS schools seem to focus more on content (reading) and mechanics (writing). So the work here feels more superficial.

DC is back from camp and reports doing novel studies on The Giver and Animal Farm in 6th grade in IL. DC has been told they will do those books in 8th grade in MCPS, although I don’t know if that’s correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved here from Massachusetts, and have had the same experience. The magnet programs in the elementary and middle school are pretty much the same as the standard programs in our Massachusetts town.

Same here (from Illinois)

Curious about the typical reading list for an advanced 6th grade student in MA or IL.

PP from IL here. I can’t remember what they read in 6th, and DC is at overnight camp. I can report back in a couple of weeks. I’m pretty sure DC had already read many of the books before they read them in class, but the assignments were deeper. Overall, in reading/writing, our IL schools focused more on anysis (reading) and content (writing), while our MCPS schools seem to focus more on content (reading) and mechanics (writing). So the work here feels more superficial.

DC is back from camp and reports doing novel studies on The Giver and Animal Farm in 6th grade in IL. DC has been told they will do those books in 8th grade in MCPS, although I don’t know if that’s correct.

I remember my DC read the Animal Farm in high school a few year ago. Need to ask DS when he read the book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid isn’t “gifted” but is a high performer so I’m prepping her so that she doesn’t have to go to our zoned low performing school that focuses way too much on low performing students. I just want my kid to have a decent and challenging curriculum. Magnet admission for us isn’t about giftedness. It’s about escaping our crappy middle school.

I would then caution you to not let down your guard. Magnet MS, ES and all GT education in MCPS have deteriorated significantly because of MCPS attempts to water down curriculum throughout as well as pushing out excellent teachers. At this point, if you do not supplement outside the school and depend on your kid to learn everything from the magnet program (even if it is better than your crappy school) then you will face another kind of achievement gap. My suggestion would be to look online for curriculum.

The opposite seems to be true. In fact, since the advent of universal screening the applicant pool is 5X larger and the most qualified cohort in the county history is now selected. Sure, the uber-preppers whose parents used to game system have a harder time gaining admission, but that's because their kids just aren't that smart.

Agree the new system is doing a better job identifying student potential. The cohort rules were a stroke of genius. This made the system much fairer. So many parents with the most have gamed the system for decades. Their kids attend schools that are so much better that people pay hundreds of thousands more to ensure their children attend them. This confers a huge advantage to those who aren't fortunate to attend one of these elite schools. The cohort rules help identify student potential rather than rewarding students who have had every possible advantage. The county is finally making smart moves to better serve its residents.

Yes, MCPS asked the magnet teachers to adjust their teaching and expectation when the first cohort-admitted classes entered Eastern and TPMS. To me, it seems that MCPS admitted a lot of less smart kids since the new policy. Students with potential? After three years, the students admitted by lower standard will be math star or fantastic writer!

I teach in one of those programs. Must have missed that memo! Can you share your copy?

I acknowledge some adjustments made. However, they were mainly made to accommodate a much greater percentage of white students with IEPs and 504 plans.

The earlier poster's self-serving narrative about how their little genius was cheated out of their rightful seat in the magnet by an undeserving minority is getting tiresome. Their claims amount to flimsy anecdotes. The county has made some laudable changes. I hope they keep it up.

A cleaning lady who works in our neighborhood is an illegal Hispanic immigrant. She is a single mom who gave birth here, so her kid is a citizen. She was given a place in TPMS MSCS program (kid is above average but not great) but later decided to go to one of the consortium school. Went from a A student to a B and C student. The kid is out of depth and becoming depressed because she is unable to keep up. It is beyond tragic. And this kid has been going to a lot of tutoring etc funded by her schools throughout her life, because mom needed childcare and thought these places to be an educational opportunity as well as a place where her kid would be safe. She also goes to Saturday School etc., so the mom knows how to get her help. At this point though, what MCPS taught her throughout her schooling has proved to be inadequate to do well in a fairly easy magnet lottery program, let alone TPMS. I am watching this kid go from a bright and happy child who was doing well in her regular school, to a dead-eyed zombie who thinks that she is stupid. Well done, MCPS! Keep up with your misguided racially motivated political agenda and make MoCo into PG county.

Another self-serving anecdote which means nothing, but FWIW I know a parent with a kid like that who got into that program and they're getting straight A's because the kid deserved to be in the program.

You example is actually a good example that proves nothing.

You show a kid that "deserved to be in the program" getting straight A's. Fine, what does that tell people? Kids deserve to be in the program should be in the program? No one is opposing that.

The PP's example shows a kid (they think) not deserved to be in the program but got in because of the "misguided racially motivated political agenda" and was doing even worse. That example shows why the current agenda is not working.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved here from Massachusetts, and have had the same experience. The magnet programs in the elementary and middle school are pretty much the same as the standard programs in our Massachusetts town.

Same here (from Illinois)

Curious about the typical reading list for an advanced 6th grade student in MA or IL.

PP from IL here. I can’t remember what they read in 6th, and DC is at overnight camp. I can report back in a couple of weeks. I’m pretty sure DC had already read many of the books before they read them in class, but the assignments were deeper. Overall, in reading/writing, our IL schools focused more on anysis (reading) and content (writing), while our MCPS schools seem to focus more on content (reading) and mechanics (writing). So the work here feels more superficial.

DC is back from camp and reports doing novel studies on The Giver and Animal Farm in 6th grade in IL. DC has been told they will do those books in 8th grade in MCPS, although I don’t know if that’s correct.

public students in IL read Animal Farm and the Giver in 6th grade? Wow!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved here from Massachusetts, and have had the same experience. The magnet programs in the elementary and middle school are pretty much the same as the standard programs in our Massachusetts town.

Same here (from Illinois)

Curious about the typical reading list for an advanced 6th grade student in MA or IL.

PP from IL here. I can’t remember what they read in 6th, and DC is at overnight camp. I can report back in a couple of weeks. I’m pretty sure DC had already read many of the books before they read them in class, but the assignments were deeper. Overall, in reading/writing, our IL schools focused more on anysis (reading) and content (writing), while our MCPS schools seem to focus more on content (reading) and mechanics (writing). So the work here feels more superficial.

DC is back from camp and reports doing novel studies on The Giver and Animal Farm in 6th grade in IL. DC has been told they will do those books in 8th grade in MCPS, although I don’t know if that’s correct.

public students in IL read Animal Farm and the Giver in 6th grade? Wow!

DP. My DD read The Giver in 5th grade in Catholic School here in the DMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid isn’t “gifted” but is a high performer so I’m prepping her so that she doesn’t have to go to our zoned low performing school that focuses way too much on low performing students. I just want my kid to have a decent and challenging curriculum. Magnet admission for us isn’t about giftedness. It’s about escaping our crappy middle school.

I would then caution you to not let down your guard. Magnet MS, ES and all GT education in MCPS have deteriorated significantly because of MCPS attempts to water down curriculum throughout as well as pushing out excellent teachers. At this point, if you do not supplement outside the school and depend on your kid to learn everything from the magnet program (even if it is better than your crappy school) then you will face another kind of achievement gap. My suggestion would be to look online for curriculum.

The opposite seems to be true. In fact, since the advent of universal screening the applicant pool is 5X larger and the most qualified cohort in the county history is now selected. Sure, the uber-preppers whose parents used to game system have a harder time gaining admission, but that's because their kids just aren't that smart.

Agree the new system is doing a better job identifying student potential. The cohort rules were a stroke of genius. This made the system much fairer. So many parents with the most have gamed the system for decades. Their kids attend schools that are so much better that people pay hundreds of thousands more to ensure their children attend them. This confers a huge advantage to those who aren't fortunate to attend one of these elite schools. The cohort rules help identify student potential rather than rewarding students who have had every possible advantage. The county is finally making smart moves to better serve its residents.

Yes, MCPS asked the magnet teachers to adjust their teaching and expectation when the first cohort-admitted classes entered Eastern and TPMS. To me, it seems that MCPS admitted a lot of less smart kids since the new policy. Students with potential? After three years, the students admitted by lower standard will be math star or fantastic writer!

I teach in one of those programs. Must have missed that memo! Can you share your copy?

I acknowledge some adjustments made. However, they were mainly made to accommodate a much greater percentage of white students with IEPs and 504 plans.

The earlier poster's self-serving narrative about how their little genius was cheated out of their rightful seat in the magnet by an undeserving minority is getting tiresome. Their claims amount to flimsy anecdotes. The county has made some laudable changes. I hope they keep it up.

A cleaning lady who works in our neighborhood is an illegal Hispanic immigrant. She is a single mom who gave birth here, so her kid is a citizen. She was given a place in TPMS MSCS program (kid is above average but not great) but later decided to go to one of the consortium school. Went from a A student to a B and C student. The kid is out of depth and becoming depressed because she is unable to keep up. It is beyond tragic. And this kid has been going to a lot of tutoring etc funded by her schools throughout her life, because mom needed childcare and thought these places to be an educational opportunity as well as a place where her kid would be safe. She also goes to Saturday School etc., so the mom knows how to get her help. At this point though, what MCPS taught her throughout her schooling has proved to be inadequate to do well in a fairly easy magnet lottery program, let alone TPMS. I am watching this kid go from a bright and happy child who was doing well in her regular school, to a dead-eyed zombie who thinks that she is stupid. Well done, MCPS! Keep up with your misguided racially motivated political agenda and make MoCo into PG county.

Sounds like a poorly written propaganda piece. When exactly did this child turn down her slot?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid isn’t “gifted” but is a high performer so I’m prepping her so that she doesn’t have to go to our zoned low performing school that focuses way too much on low performing students. I just want my kid to have a decent and challenging curriculum. Magnet admission for us isn’t about giftedness. It’s about escaping our crappy middle school.

I would then caution you to not let down your guard. Magnet MS, ES and all GT education in MCPS have deteriorated significantly because of MCPS attempts to water down curriculum throughout as well as pushing out excellent teachers. At this point, if you do not supplement outside the school and depend on your kid to learn everything from the magnet program (even if it is better than your crappy school) then you will face another kind of achievement gap. My suggestion would be to look online for curriculum.

The opposite seems to be true. In fact, since the advent of universal screening the applicant pool is 5X larger and the most qualified cohort in the county history is now selected. Sure, the uber-preppers whose parents used to game system have a harder time gaining admission, but that's because their kids just aren't that smart.

Agree the new system is doing a better job identifying student potential. The cohort rules were a stroke of genius. This made the system much fairer. So many parents with the most have gamed the system for decades. Their kids attend schools that are so much better that people pay hundreds of thousands more to ensure their children attend them. This confers a huge advantage to those who aren't fortunate to attend one of these elite schools. The cohort rules help identify student potential rather than rewarding students who have had every possible advantage. The county is finally making smart moves to better serve its residents.

Yes, MCPS asked the magnet teachers to adjust their teaching and expectation when the first cohort-admitted classes entered Eastern and TPMS. To me, it seems that MCPS admitted a lot of less smart kids since the new policy. Students with potential? After three years, the students admitted by lower standard will be math star or fantastic writer!

I teach in one of those programs. Must have missed that memo! Can you share your copy?

I acknowledge some adjustments made. However, they were mainly made to accommodate a much greater percentage of white students with IEPs and 504 plans.

The earlier poster's self-serving narrative about how their little genius was cheated out of their rightful seat in the magnet by an undeserving minority is getting tiresome. Their claims amount to flimsy anecdotes. The county has made some laudable changes. I hope they keep it up.

A cleaning lady who works in our neighborhood is an illegal Hispanic immigrant. She is a single mom who gave birth here, so her kid is a citizen. She was given a place in TPMS MSCS program (kid is above average but not great) but later decided to go to one of the consortium school. Went from a A student to a B and C student. The kid is out of depth and becoming depressed because she is unable to keep up. It is beyond tragic. And this kid has been going to a lot of tutoring etc funded by her schools throughout her life, because mom needed childcare and thought these places to be an educational opportunity as well as a place where her kid would be safe. She also goes to Saturday School etc., so the mom knows how to get her help. At this point though, what MCPS taught her throughout her schooling has proved to be inadequate to do well in a fairly easy magnet lottery program, let alone TPMS. I am watching this kid go from a bright and happy child who was doing well in her regular school, to a dead-eyed zombie who thinks that she is stupid. Well done, MCPS! Keep up with your misguided racially motivated political agenda and make MoCo into PG county.

Sounds like a poorly written propaganda piece. When exactly did this child turn down her slot?

When her school counselor suggested it to her. The selling point was that the consortium school was seen as a "whole school magnet". FWIW, I think the counselor did this child a service. This was the year magnet selection criteria in TPMS and Eastern was changed. So this kid should now be going to 7th grade?

[Anonymous]

I think that it you can put in an hour of reading and some math practice every day, you will be in a good place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid isn’t “gifted” but is a high performer so I’m prepping her so that she doesn’t have to go to our zoned low performing school that focuses way too much on low performing students. I just want my kid to have a decent and challenging curriculum. Magnet admission for us isn’t about giftedness. It’s about escaping our crappy middle school.

I would then caution you to not let down your guard. Magnet MS, ES and all GT education in MCPS have deteriorated significantly because of MCPS attempts to water down curriculum throughout as well as pushing out excellent teachers. At this point, if you do not supplement outside the school and depend on your kid to learn everything from the magnet program (even if it is better than your crappy school) then you will face another kind of achievement gap. My suggestion would be to look online for curriculum.

The opposite seems to be true. In fact, since the advent of universal screening the applicant pool is 5X larger and the most qualified cohort in the county history is now selected. Sure, the uber-preppers whose parents used to game system have a harder time gaining admission, but that's because their kids just aren't that smart.

Agree the new system is doing a better job identifying student potential. The cohort rules were a stroke of genius. This made the system much fairer. So many parents with the most have gamed the system for decades. Their kids attend schools that are so much better that people pay hundreds of thousands more to ensure their children attend them. This confers a huge advantage to those who aren't fortunate to attend one of these elite schools. The cohort rules help identify student potential rather than rewarding students who have had every possible advantage. The county is finally making smart moves to better serve its residents.

Yes, MCPS asked the magnet teachers to adjust their teaching and expectation when the first cohort-admitted classes entered Eastern and TPMS. To me, it seems that MCPS admitted a lot of less smart kids since the new policy. Students with potential? After three years, the students admitted by lower standard will be math star or fantastic writer!

I teach in one of those programs. Must have missed that memo! Can you share your copy?

I acknowledge some adjustments made. However, they were mainly made to accommodate a much greater percentage of white students with IEPs and 504 plans.

The earlier poster's self-serving narrative about how their little genius was cheated out of their rightful seat in the magnet by an undeserving minority is getting tiresome. Their claims amount to flimsy anecdotes. The county has made some laudable changes. I hope they keep it up.

A cleaning lady who works in our neighborhood is an illegal Hispanic immigrant. She is a single mom who gave birth here, so her kid is a citizen. She was given a place in TPMS MSCS program (kid is above average but not great) but later decided to go to one of the consortium school. Went from a A student to a B and C student. The kid is out of depth and becoming depressed because she is unable to keep up. It is beyond tragic. And this kid has been going to a lot of tutoring etc funded by her schools throughout her life, because mom needed childcare and thought these places to be an educational opportunity as well as a place where her kid would be safe. She also goes to Saturday School etc., so the mom knows how to get her help. At this point though, what MCPS taught her throughout her schooling has proved to be inadequate to do well in a fairly easy magnet lottery program, let alone TPMS. I am watching this kid go from a bright and happy child who was doing well in her regular school, to a dead-eyed zombie who thinks that she is stupid. Well done, MCPS! Keep up with your misguided racially motivated political agenda and make MoCo into PG county.

Sounds like a poorly written propaganda piece. When exactly did this child turn down her slot?

When her school counselor suggested it to her. The selling point was that the consortium school was seen as a "whole school magnet". FWIW, I think the counselor did this child a service. This was the year magnet selection criteria in TPMS and Eastern was changed. So this kid should now be going to 7th grade?

Thanks for all the identifying info. TBH, this story doesn’t match the records I’ve accessed about who declined and where they went instead.

[Anonymous]

Study hard, take some courses. It works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved here from Massachusetts, and have had the same experience. The magnet programs in the elementary and middle school are pretty much the same as the standard programs in our Massachusetts town.

Same here (from Illinois)

Curious about the typical reading list for an advanced 6th grade student in MA or IL.

PP from IL here. I can’t remember what they read in 6th, and DC is at overnight camp. I can report back in a couple of weeks. I’m pretty sure DC had already read many of the books before they read them in class, but the assignments were deeper. Overall, in reading/writing, our IL schools focused more on anysis (reading) and content (writing), while our MCPS schools seem to focus more on content (reading) and mechanics (writing). So the work here feels more superficial.

DC is back from camp and reports doing novel studies on The Giver and Animal Farm in 6th grade in IL. DC has been told they will do those books in 8th grade in MCPS, although I don’t know if that’s correct.

DC just finished MCPS 4th grade CES program. The giver and Animal Farm are classroom read-along books which they spent a couple of weeks reading and discussing on. I still think the background knowledge is beyond what they learnt in social science, but you can't say MCPS only recommends these books to 8th graders and above.