Robert Frost beats Takoma Park in Mathcounts

[Anonymous]

Based on your handle on statistics and data vs anecdote, how to prove an hypothesis and how think scientifically, it sure seems like a lot of you could have benefited from going to Takoma or Blair.

FFS. This proves nothing about nothing. It’s an excuse to grouse about selection processes few of you know anything about. And those complaining the most have, statistically, kids already born into the world’s 99th percentile. Get a life.

When I went to the Blair magnet in the early 90s, I won an award via a NASA competition. There were 5 local recipients. 2 others from the Blair magnet and... 2 from Watkins Mill. I was on the academic team and while we did very well— you know who had an amazing team? Rockville HS.

Why? Because it’s freaking Montgomery County, crawling with bright, educated families, and you’re splitting the finest of hairs. No one school can logically be expected to be so dominant that no other comes close in literally any competition. Between small teams, even! In fact, if a school was THAT dominant, it would be a severe problem! Just extreme segregation.

And because, more saliently, there are literally always going to be outliers in every group, random kids who form better teams, just outstanding coaches that can get A+ work out of what might otherwise be B+ students, etc.

It’s not rocket science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, this the predictable outcome of no longer admitting the best and brightest into the magnets. I don't think having OOB magnet students winning math competitions ever helped the low income and poor performing students at TPMS anyway so the loss of rank and prestige at TPMS in favor of a school in the western side of the county shouldn't matter to MCPS either.

What is ridiculous though is that MCPS offers a more rigorous STEM curriculum at TPMS then the other schools who now have higher performing students. They really should swap out the curriculums. Schools like Frost, Pyle and wherever the real highest performing cohort is now located at should have the more difficult curriculum and TPMS should have the enriched curriculum which would better serve its new cohort with a larger range of academic abilities.

Clueless

says you. MCPS's own stats show where the highest performers are.

FYI https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/schools/msmagnet/about/MS%20Magnet%20Field%20Test%20Data%20by%20Sending%20MS.pdf

And does this chart hide the fact that kids at high poverty schools are only compared to each other or is it a straight up comparison across the District? Sorry, can't tell.

Thanks PPs, I kept reading...

[Anonymous]

Just a note about Mathcounts... one or two very strong Mathletes can carry the team. Without being there, I'm not sure that we could say much about the groups overall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just a note about Mathcounts... one or two very strong Mathletes can carry the team. Without being there, I'm not sure that we could say much about the groups overall.

Hmmm. The top three individual winners at Mathcounts are all Frost kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I knew that the Blair /TPMS envy was a thing, but damn, it's worse than I thought.
Wow!!!!

Yup, it's a little insane. it's what 8 pp worth now? Good grief! Live and let live. Keep enriching your highly enriched kids and denigrating what you wanted but didn't get. It's a good look for you. Not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I knew that the Blair /TPMS envy was a thing, but damn, it's worse than I thought.
Wow!!!!

Yup, it's a little insane. it's what 8 pp worth now? Good grief! Live and let live. Keep enriching your highly enriched kids and denigrating what you wanted but didn't get. It's a good look for you. Not.

Do you know how many turn down TPMS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also not sure you can use Math Counts as a judge of these schools. Contest math is a studied skill and seems the kids that do well spend a lot of time doing outside enrichment to study for it.

Preach. Exactly what I was thinking.

Look, folks, they're both great schools. Be happy, Frost Folk, no need to take aim at TPMS. I find it odd that people on this listserv try to take down Blair SMACS and TPMS. It's clearly dominated by the western set (really? 6pp of this?) . I don't see my downcounty peeps doing that to other schools. Get over your bad selves, Frosties, and relax a little. Life's too short.

+1 I have a TPMS magnet kid and she is absolutely disinterested in MathCounts or any other competition math. I'm glad that her peers that do have that interest are able to access opportunities at TPMS, but I'm not mad that Frost kids have the same chances. Good for them!

There are apparently 11 kids coming into TPMS next year who have already completed AIM. I have no doubt that there are some really bright kids in that group, and that a handful of them will want to participate in MathCounts or another team. Nothing in this thread or in my actual experience suggests a dearth of smart capable kids at any of the schools in the county, including TPMS.

Apparently? Where did you get that info?
Don't have a dog in the Frost/TPMS fight, so just curious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also not sure you can use Math Counts as a judge of these schools. Contest math is a studied skill and seems the kids that do well spend a lot of time doing outside enrichment to study for it.

Preach. Exactly what I was thinking.

Look, folks, they're both great schools. Be happy, Frost Folk, no need to take aim at TPMS. I find it odd that people on this listserv try to take down Blair SMACS and TPMS. It's clearly dominated by the western set (really? 6pp of this?) . I don't see my downcounty peeps doing that to other schools. Get over your bad selves, Frosties, and relax a little. Life's too short.

+1 I have a TPMS magnet kid and she is absolutely disinterested in MathCounts or any other competition math. I'm glad that her peers that do have that interest are able to access opportunities at TPMS, but I'm not mad that Frost kids have the same chances. Good for them!

There are apparently 11 kids coming into TPMS next year who have already completed AIM. I have no doubt that there are some really bright kids in that group, and that a handful of them will want to participate in MathCounts or another team. Nothing in this thread or in my actual experience suggests a dearth of smart capable kids at any of the schools in the county, including TPMS.

Apparently? Where did you get that info?
Don't have a dog in the Frost/TPMS fight, so just curious.

That information was stated by the TPMS magnet coordinator at the open house during the Q&A session, in response to a question by a parent of one of these kids wondering what their kid would take in 8th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also not sure you can use Math Counts as a judge of these schools. Contest math is a studied skill and seems the kids that do well spend a lot of time doing outside enrichment to study for it.

Preach. Exactly what I was thinking.

Look, folks, they're both great schools. Be happy, Frost Folk, no need to take aim at TPMS. I find it odd that people on this listserv try to take down Blair SMACS and TPMS. It's clearly dominated by the western set (really? 6pp of this?) . I don't see my downcounty peeps doing that to other schools. Get over your bad selves, Frosties, and relax a little. Life's too short.

+1 I have a TPMS magnet kid and she is absolutely disinterested in MathCounts or any other competition math. I'm glad that her peers that do have that interest are able to access opportunities at TPMS, but I'm not mad that Frost kids have the same chances. Good for them!

There are apparently 11 kids coming into TPMS next year who have already completed AIM. I have no doubt that there are some really bright kids in that group, and that a handful of them will want to participate in MathCounts or another team. Nothing in this thread or in my actual experience suggests a dearth of smart capable kids at any of the schools in the county, including TPMS.

Apparently? Where did you get that info?
Don't have a dog in the Frost/TPMS fight, so just curious.

Not the PP, but there was a parent at TPMS the magnet acceptance night who asked about the math pathway for kids who had already completed AIM. I have one of those kids but did not ask the question, as anyone who has a child who did AIM has already been engaged in multiple discussions of the pathway.

At any rate, yes, that's what they announced. Eleven kids admitted to TPMS magnet who will take Algebra I next year. Will every single one of those kids accept? Maybe not. Are all of those eleven interested in competition math? Almost certainly not.

But it sort of goes to the question of whether kids who are highly advanced in math are still being admitted to TPMS. They clearly are. MathCounts is just one measure, and one that relies on pretty extensive external preparation. There will always be years with a great group at one school, or a really committed coach, or just amazing team dynamics. It doesn't mean anything other than that we are lucky to live in a county with enrichment options for so many kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Natural outcome of admitting Tacoma Park students based on "equity" instead of achievement.

Great job Robert Frost!!! Could not be more proud.

Parent of a graduate

diversity in abilities after the new process for MS Magnet Program!! Yes!!

Actually admissions aren't based on equity since that is illegal in the US.

It's not illegal and MCPS has said this explicity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

There are apparently 11 kids coming into TPMS next year who have already completed AIM. I have no doubt that there are some really bright kids in that group, and that a handful of them will want to participate in MathCounts or another team. Nothing in this thread or in my actual experience suggests a dearth of smart capable kids at any of the schools in the county, including TPMS.

I know two who have turned TPMS down to stay at home school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
At any rate, yes, that's what they announced. Eleven kids admitted to TPMS magnet who will take Algebra I next year. Will every single one of those kids accept? Maybe not.

Isn't that OP's point? The number admitted is irrelevant. In inferring from OP's post I think one of OP's arguments might be that many bright kids aren't accepting because it's not worth it anymore because while there may be 11 kids at that level maybe the bottom half is not the group they might have had is not as competitive as in the past. Not saying I agree but just that this is the implication.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

There are apparently 11 kids coming into TPMS next year who have already completed AIM. I have no doubt that there are some really bright kids in that group, and that a handful of them will want to participate in MathCounts or another team. Nothing in this thread or in my actual experience suggests a dearth of smart capable kids at any of the schools in the county, including TPMS.

I know two who have turned TPMS down to stay at home school.

I know one who has decided to go to Frost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, this the predictable outcome of no longer admitting the best and brightest into the magnets. I don't think having OOB magnet students winning math competitions ever helped the low income and poor performing students at TPMS anyway so the loss of rank and prestige at TPMS in favor of a school in the western side of the county shouldn't matter to MCPS either.

What is ridiculous though is that MCPS offers a more rigorous STEM curriculum at TPMS then the other schools who now have higher performing students. They really should swap out the curriculums. Schools like Frost, Pyle and wherever the real highest performing cohort is now located at should have the more difficult curriculum and TPMS should have the enriched curriculum which would better serve its new cohort with a larger range of academic abilities.

Clueless

says you. MCPS's own stats show where the highest performers are.

FYI https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/schools/msmagnet/about/MS%20Magnet%20Field%20Test%20Data%20by%20Sending%20MS.pdf

Every time someone posts this, I wonder anew what the heck is wrong with Westland. It makes no sense.

When my kids were at TPMS I got the sense that most of the high-performers were from Takoma and Silver Spring. I think that's why they put the magnets there, and these days parents who value their kid's education tend to live there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Natural outcome of admitting Tacoma Park students based on "equity" instead of achievement.

Great job Robert Frost!!! Could not be more proud.

Parent of a graduate

diversity in abilities after the new process for MS Magnet Program!! Yes!!

Actually admissions aren't based on equity since that is illegal in the US.

It's not illegal and MCPS has said this explicity.

Race is not a factor in admissions despite your fantasy justifying how your precious didn't make the cut despite the thousands you spent on prep @DrLi's.