If TJ has such smart kids, why so much cheating?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The situation at TJ has become untenable. Teachers are fed up and they will not be writing rec letters for students who cheat. Some students are finally starting to get cheating violations put on their official records. They are sunk.

I'd heard that things are much less toxic now than when my kids were there before the selection changes.

I heard things became toxic when TJ teachers stopped with the reasonable, "Don't worry if your child gets Bs at TJ. It's college for 14 year olds, we make it hard, and you can't expect your kid to get all As any more" and moved on to "It's perfectly normal for your kid to get straight As. Don't expect any less." This was in the mid-2010s. The tone was apparently coming from the teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The situation at TJ has become untenable. Teachers are fed up and they will not be writing rec letters for students who cheat. Some students are finally starting to get cheating violations put on their official records. They are sunk.

I'd heard that things are much less toxic now than when my kids were there before the selection changes.

Same. My child was there in the mid 2010s and cheating was a definitely a problem at that time. Sometimes there were repercussions for the kids who were caught, sometimes kids appeared to get off free and clear.

My kid knew that there were kids who would cheat when he was there and it does affect the atmosphere of the school in a very negative way for all the kids. He’s talks to some other alums frequently and they’ve all heard that it is better there now than when they were there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The situation at TJ has become untenable. Teachers are fed up and they will not be writing rec letters for students who cheat. Some students are finally starting to get cheating violations put on their official records. They are sunk.

I'd heard that things are much less toxic now than when my kids were there before the selection changes.

Same. My child was there in the mid 2010s and cheating was a definitely a problem at that time. Sometimes there were repercussions for the kids who were caught, sometimes kids appeared to get off free and clear.

My kid knew that there were kids who would cheat when he was there and it does affect the atmosphere of the school in a very negative way for all the kids. He’s talks to some other alums frequently and they’ve all heard that it is better there now than when they were there.

It was obviously bad then and it is bad now. Perhaps for different reasons. But we care about what is going on now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Title has the question?

If they cheat then wouldn’t they be flunking out of MIT or all these other schools? Why is college matriculation still so high if these kids sink and don’t swim?

Why is DCUM so obsessed with pulling down one of the only merit-based charter schools that produces equal or better college results than the big 3? Stay salty DCUM.

A combination of sour grapes and who merit based selection processes are selecting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The situation at TJ has become untenable. Teachers are fed up and they will not be writing rec letters for students who cheat. Some students are finally starting to get cheating violations put on their official records. They are sunk.

I'd heard that things are much less toxic now than when my kids were there before the selection changes.

It is one of the upsides to the racist changes in the admissions process.
A lot of gifted kids from further away don't bother applying anymore so there isn't as much competition at the top.
The talent curve is wider so the kids at the top have more confidence they will stay at the top and the kids at the bottom don't stress about competing with the kids at the top, instead they focus on other things like science projects or competitions where they can excel.
There has been grade inflation due to pressure from the administration not to give people bad grades (sure people still get bad grades but not like before, it used to be brutal).

This is mostly second hand info so YMMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Cheating has gone up, with increased enrollment of lower level Algebra 1 students being forced to take on TJ rigor.
What is the source of this graph?

I think those numbers are public and that graph looks about right.

Link?

https://fcag.org/documents/TJ_Class_of_2025_analysis.pdf

That document doesn’t hold much weight on its 38% figure I think because any kid that did APP in ES but did not go to a MS AAP center automatically is excluded. My kids did AAP and algebra in 7th but would be counted as “not AAP” because we decided to keep them at our base school for MS and that doesn’t offer AAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Cheating has gone up, with increased enrollment of lower level Algebra 1 students being forced to take on TJ rigor.
What is the source of this graph?

I think those numbers are public and that graph looks about right.

Link?

https://fcag.org/documents/TJ_Class_of_2025_analysis.pdf

That document doesn’t hold much weight on its 38% figure I think because any kid that did APP in ES but did not go to a MS AAP center automatically is excluded. My kids did AAP and algebra in 7th but would be counted as “not AAP” because we decided to keep them at our base school for MS and that doesn’t offer AAP.

I think it's just telling us that 38% of kids probably did not take algebra in 7th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Cheating has gone up, with increased enrollment of lower level Algebra 1 students being forced to take on TJ rigor.
What is the source of this graph?

I think those numbers are public and that graph looks about right.

Link?

https://fcag.org/documents/TJ_Class_of_2025_analysis.pdf

That document doesn’t hold much weight on its 38% figure I think because any kid that did APP in ES but did not go to a MS AAP center automatically is excluded. My kids did AAP and algebra in 7th but would be counted as “not AAP” because we decided to keep them at our base school for MS and that doesn’t offer AAP.

I think it's just telling us that 38% of kids probably did not take algebra in 7th grade.

Algebra in 8th is fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The situation at TJ has become untenable. Teachers are fed up and they will not be writing rec letters for students who cheat. Some students are finally starting to get cheating violations put on their official records. They are sunk.

I'd heard that things are much less toxic now than when my kids were there before the selection changes.

It is one of the upsides to the racist changes in the admissions process.
A lot of gifted kids from further away don't bother applying anymore so there isn't as much competition at the top.
The talent curve is wider so the kids at the top have more confidence they will stay at the top and the kids at the bottom don't stress about competing with the kids at the top, instead they focus on other things like science projects or competitions where they can excel.
There has been grade inflation due to pressure from the administration not to give people bad grades (sure people still get bad grades but not like before, it used to be brutal).

This is mostly second hand info so YMMV.

I know! The old process would only select kids from rich schools. It was discriminating against poors. It's so bad!!!!

[Anonymous]

Principal emailed about availability of algebra Remedial classses. That should help with cutting down the need to cheat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Principal emailed about availability of algebra Remedial classses. That should help with cutting down the need to cheat.

Hopefully your kid learns to do her own work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Principal emailed about availability of algebra Remedial classses. That should help with cutting down the need to cheat.

From what I was told, most of the cheating goes on with the cutthroat competitive kids who were prepped to their gills for years before TJ, so not as much of an issue with remedial learners but with the somewhat average kids who have falsely presented as gifted through extreme prep.

[Anonymous]

For most courses, TJ tests are much harder. Some freshmores joined from their base schools in the 10th grade and most of them are top of their base school in the 9th grade. However, most of them can't tolerate TJ tests at all.

Similarly, base school students have a lot of cheating too.

[Anonymous]

Low performing prepped and un-prepped students who cannot handle TJ rigor, and resorting to cheating out of desperation should not have been admitted. How did they make it in such large number? Is remedial not as indepth to bridge the gap?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Low performing prepped and un-prepped students who cannot handle TJ rigor, and resorting to cheating out of desperation should not have been admitted. How did they make it in such large number? Is remedial not as indepth to bridge the gap?

The unripped kids came from less affluent schools but were at the top of their classes. They usually picked things up quickly. The heavily prepped kids needed more help and often resorted to these less ethical means to continue the charade.