Because now more eligible kids overall have access to magnet programming. And that elevates the entire MCPS ship. No doubt, it is not perfect. But the cohort schools have a lot of talented kids studying together, which is something I would LOVE for my kids. If you have not lived without that, don’t dismiss how important it is, no matter what the curriculum. But keeping pressure on MCPS to give all eligible kids great programming and curriculum is perfectly understandable. Threats of lawsuits and accusations devious racism because they are trying to spread the wealth of this programming for more kids creates an us vs. them mentality that is simply destructive instead of making anything better. As is the ugly assumption that “other” kids cannot possibly be as generally qualified or successful. |
I wasn't aware there was a cutoff. |
Agree PP. |
They knew how to work the system and this made it clear it was broken. |
no one worked the system. have you met these kids? you should see what the teachers are recommending for next steps given their aptitude, talents and scores. many will not be showing up at mcps again. the system is losing top talent. |
There used to be. |
so every kid who made the cutoff got in?? I find that hard to believe with the limited number of seats. |
More access = fine. But, without MCPS releasing the median test scores of accepted kids (like they used to do), it's hard to believe that all of a sudden so many kids on the western side scored lower than those on the eastern side. |
have you met any kids from lower SES schools? some of them are just as talented. |
so is admission only based on one test score? |
so admissions was based solely on a test score? |
what's hard to believe? You have a pool of applicants with x number of seats in the center. For that center, the cutoff would be at the level of however many seats there were. The median test scores of Cold Spring is a lot higher than at Clear Spring. We've seen this in prior years on this forum. People would post the median test scores of each center. You could clearly see where your child was in the pecking order based on the median test scores in the three categories (this is for HGC). |
Acceptance to this program is based on a broader range of criteria not a single test. The new methodology seems far more comprehensive and inclusive. It will better identify qualified candidates. |
I find this unhelpful and divisive, too. Those kids also deserve enrichment, they deserve to learn to potential. But if they have so many peers and the program coming, at least in part, to them so that a lot of other kids without that large cohort can also thrive, it seems like a serious step toward improvement from before. |
so admissions was based on one test score? that's it? |