looking for feedback on Project Lead The Way Engineering in MCPS High Schools
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Anonymous
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Does anyone have insight on this program? How is it run? Benefits? Staff commitment?
Looks interesting: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/career-readiness/plans/engineering/ |
Anonymous
| It’s a great series of classes. My DS took all 5 at Poolesville & loved them. I know Seneca Valley and Wheaton’s programs are strong too. |
Anonymous
| The state of maryland watered down the requirements. You can get away with just three specific course to get the full certification. Staff have required extra training. A lot of the coursework is online now and not as hands on. There are still projects to do. The main benefit is being in a room of likeminded thoughtful problem solvers. Class sizes might be small. |
Anonymous
| My student did the PLTW engineering magnet at Wheaton. It is a terrific program at Wheaton if your student wants engineering. Magnet seats are limited though. Students can also take the academy classes in engineering but the magnet classes provide deeper content. |
Anonymous
| MY DC has taken two classes so far and is looking forward to the third this year. They've been challenging and have pushed him in a good way. It's been great exposure to a subject he wouldn't otherwise have had. I'd recommend. |
Anonymous
Same experience w/ Wheaton magnet here. Great program! |
Anonymous
| My son will be in his final year at Sherwood. He has participated in this program since 8th grade and has loved every year of the course. Looks good on transcript if you are interested in engineering. |
Anonymous
| Curious how the program is running at BCC? Has anyone had experience with the teachers running it there? Debating it next year and wondering if most of it online for the teachers are prepared to go through the five classes. |
Anonymous
My kid took one of the classes a few years ago to satisfy his tech requirement. It seemed challenging and high level but it also convinced him he didn’t want to be an engineer. Ymmv |
Anonymous
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My son is in the engineering academy at Wheaton (waitlisted for the magnet but did not get in). At Wheaton he can take the same PLTW courses as the magnet kids, but I wish he was allowed to take the magnet courses, because the teachers seem to be better. Some teachers do teach both magnet and academy courses. He struggled this year gradewise, in part due to communication challenges with a teacher, but then did well (I think) on the End-of-course PLTW exams (high "accomplished" level).
As of the 2023-2024 school year, these exams count for 20% of the grade. In his case it comes as a relief because it will bring his grades up in two classes. However, I am disappointed in MCPS and marylandschools.org, in that the results are not sent home although they are the equivalent of the MCAP; there are no sample assessment scores provided as examples to aid in evaluating scores (between 100-600, corresponding to Novice, Practiced, Accomplished or Distinguished, but the scores at each level differ among courses), and no way to know either how the EOC score translates to a letter grade (for that 20%), or how your child compares to others in their school, their district, or the state. The district and state focus on reading and math scores, and more recently science and Government (neither test has been administered as yet to my rising Junior), but have not yet caught on to the need for achievement in STEM courses to be tracked in the same way. The curriculum has been contracted out to PLTW, but evaluation of assessment scores is not even available on the organization's website. Some other states offer achievement charts, but all that I found were at least 6 years old (pre-covid and potentially outdated). |
Anonymous
Identical situation at BCC. |
Anonymous
Curious what convinced these kids they didn’t want to be engineers. |
Anonymous
Too much critical thinking nee... TikTok squirrel! |
Anonymous
Our DD dropped after she realized it was almost entirely group projects which she did not enjoy. Some group projects are fine, but when it was almost all group projects the class became more about endlessly trying to manage the disruptive kid in her group that wasn’t interested in the content rather than engineering. |