High school magnet test

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about students attending non-MCPS schools that don't conduct standardized testing? Those kids are injured - you can't provide one set of children an opportunity to excel (MAP, reading level) without a reasonable accommodation (private student submits SSAT, etc)?

What about parochial students attending ADW schools? Same injury. Will MCPS accept Scantron scoring/percentiles as part of review?

Guess you should've kept your kids in MCPS this year. Oops.

Nice try. DC has been in ADW schools since moving here early in elementary school.

Then, what are you complaining about? You choose that knowing the situation and there is no injury. Move your kids to MCPS.

Yes Pp knew their was a pandemic and the magnet test wouldn’t happen when she enrolled her kid in private middle school two and half years ago. Seriously!

It amazes me that MCPS allows kids from private schools to apply to the programs unless there is a drastic change of personal circumstances and the kid would go to a local public for HS anyway.

Why does it amaze you? The families pay the same realestate taxes as those who attend public school - therefore private school and homeschool students are eligible just like other students. They are at a disadvantage during the application process though because they do not have the same data points, and the data they do have is not considered.

That is true of course. But the point of the special, test-in programs is to give kids the opportunity to an education they may not normally find at their local HS. And kids at privates already have that.

[Anonymous]

For students that have been in MCPS since early elementary (2nd grade GT screening) they will have plenty of data to compare students against other students both within their home school cohort and against other applicants. But there are also plenty of kids who move into MCPS after 2nd grade or who didn't apply in 3rd or 5th grades for a magnet and don't have standards based scores. Those students will be harder to evaluate, and recent MAP and current grades will matter more.

I suspect that for all of the programs, there is going to be several different ways to examine the data and that outliers can be found each way. For ES and MS, they can be a little more generous in identifying good candidates and just let the lottery narrow the lists down. HS is going to be tough for the committees, I think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about students attending non-MCPS schools that don't conduct standardized testing? Those kids are injured - you can't provide one set of children an opportunity to excel (MAP, reading level) without a reasonable accommodation (private student submits SSAT, etc)?

What about parochial students attending ADW schools? Same injury. Will MCPS accept Scantron scoring/percentiles as part of review?

MCPS acknowledges this issue in the letter: "Students with incomplete data and private/home schooled students will be considered in the review."

But being considered doesn't remove the injury. The injury arises from utilizing disparate evaluation criteria across the admissions pool.

MCPS kids with high MAP scores are being given an opportunity to excel in admissions screening that is not afforded to non-MCPs kids with similarly high Scantron/SSAT scores.

Why is that really MCPS problem? Why would MCPS really cares about non-MCPS students? It's up to them to make sure they meet whatever criterias MCPS required, not for MCPS to bent over to accommodate them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about students attending non-MCPS schools that don't conduct standardized testing? Those kids are injured - you can't provide one set of children an opportunity to excel (MAP, reading level) without a reasonable accommodation (private student submits SSAT, etc)?

What about parochial students attending ADW schools? Same injury. Will MCPS accept Scantron scoring/percentiles as part of review?

Guess you should've kept your kids in MCPS this year. Oops.

Nice try. DC has been in ADW schools since moving here early in elementary school.

Then, what are you complaining about? You choose that knowing the situation and there is no injury. Move your kids to MCPS.

Yes Pp knew their was a pandemic and the magnet test wouldn’t happen when she enrolled her kid in private middle school two and half years ago. Seriously!

It amazes me that MCPS allows kids from private schools to apply to the programs unless there is a drastic change of personal circumstances and the kid would go to a local public for HS anyway.

Why does it amaze you? The families pay the same realestate taxes as those who attend public school - therefore private school and homeschool students are eligible just like other students. They are at a disadvantage during the application process though because they do not have the same data points, and the data they do have is not considered.

That is true of course. But the point of the special, test-in programs is to give kids the opportunity to an education they may not normally find at their local HS. And kids at privates already have that.

No, they don't

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about students attending non-MCPS schools that don't conduct standardized testing? Those kids are injured - you can't provide one set of children an opportunity to excel (MAP, reading level) without a reasonable accommodation (private student submits SSAT, etc)?

What about parochial students attending ADW schools? Same injury. Will MCPS accept Scantron scoring/percentiles as part of review?

Guess you should've kept your kids in MCPS this year. Oops.

Nice try. DC has been in ADW schools since moving here early in elementary school.

Then, what are you complaining about? You choose that knowing the situation and there is no injury. Move your kids to MCPS.

Yes Pp knew their was a pandemic and the magnet test wouldn’t happen when she enrolled her kid in private middle school two and half years ago. Seriously!

It amazes me that MCPS allows kids from private schools to apply to the programs unless there is a drastic change of personal circumstances and the kid would go to a local public for HS anyway.

Why does it amaze you? The families pay the same realestate taxes as those who attend public school - therefore private school and homeschool students are eligible just like other students. They are at a disadvantage during the application process though because they do not have the same data points, and the data they do have is not considered.

That is true of course. But the point of the special, test-in programs is to give kids the opportunity to an education they may not normally find at their local HS. And kids at privates already have that.

No, they don't

Thats their choice to go to private. They could have gone to public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Its a test that can easily be prepped for. MAP and PARCC make more sense.

Really? I thought the main reason MCPS switched to Cogat was precisely because it is not as easy to prep for as it is for MAP, PARCC, or any other achievement test.

You're right. That PP is nuts. It's super easy to increase MAP scores, at least in Math, just by learning more math. You can prep for the CogAT, but you shouldn't be able to increase your score as much as you can on MAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For students that have been in MCPS since early elementary (2nd grade GT screening) they will have plenty of data to compare students against other students both within their home school cohort and against other applicants. But there are also plenty of kids who move into MCPS after 2nd grade or who didn't apply in 3rd or 5th grades for a magnet and don't have standards based scores. Those students will be harder to evaluate, and recent MAP and current grades will matter more.

I suspect that for all of the programs, there is going to be several different ways to examine the data and that outliers can be found each way. For ES and MS, they can be a little more generous in identifying good candidates and just let the lottery narrow the lists down. HS is going to be tough for the committees, I think.

I believe that whatever data they have (previous MAP, Cogat, grades, etc), it is better to consider them holistically rather than any lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about students attending non-MCPS schools that don't conduct standardized testing? Those kids are injured - you can't provide one set of children an opportunity to excel (MAP, reading level) without a reasonable accommodation (private student submits SSAT, etc)?

What about parochial students attending ADW schools? Same injury. Will MCPS accept Scantron scoring/percentiles as part of review?

Guess you should've kept your kids in MCPS this year. Oops.

Nice try. DC has been in ADW schools since moving here early in elementary school.

Then, what are you complaining about? You choose that knowing the situation and there is no injury. Move your kids to MCPS.

Yes Pp knew their was a pandemic and the magnet test wouldn’t happen when she enrolled her kid in private middle school two and half years ago. Seriously!

It amazes me that MCPS allows kids from private schools to apply to the programs unless there is a drastic change of personal circumstances and the kid would go to a local public for HS anyway.

Why does it amaze you? The families pay the same realestate taxes as those who attend public school - therefore private school and homeschool students are eligible just like other students. They are at a disadvantage during the application process though because they do not have the same data points, and the data they do have is not considered.

That is true of course. But the point of the special, test-in programs is to give kids the opportunity to an education they may not normally find at their local HS. And kids at privates already have that.

No, they don't

Try looking at the differences between Sidwell and just one of the MS in Silver Spring and think again.

[Anonymous]

Where did you get this from?

Anonymous wrote:OP here , not at all trying to have fun here. We all should get an official email from MCPS by the day end today. MCPS Magnet (Criteria-based) Admission Process: Pandemic Plan Overview
Key Changes/Pandemic Plan: MCPS will maintain a multiple measures approach for identifying students for magnet (criteria-based) programs, and some changes are necessary as a result of conditions associated with the pandemic and virtual processes. These changes include:
External measures are included but will not utilize the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) as a criteria to select students for the 2021-2022 school year because of limits to in-person testing and concerns with remote testing;
Addition of a lottery approach along with an expert review panel for elementary and middle school programs; and
Removal of teacher recommendations as part of the high school process, given the conditions of virtual learning.
The Impact of covid-19
Our choice work has affirmed that we have highly-able students in all schools, zip codes and neighborhoods.
Serving our students is critically important and we do this in a variety of ways. Enriched programming to students is provided at their local school, through regional (magnet) programs and thematic based (interest-based) programs .
Although the pandemic has impacted school systems across the nation, it is important to continue identifying and providing access to students who need and/or are interested in enriched and accelerated programming.
Identifying students for enriched and accelerated programming begins with using multiple measures. In response to the pandemic, we are making adjustments to the admission process for elementary and secondary regional (magnet) programs this year.
Admission Process
This year, as in all years prior, using multiple measures is important to seeing a student’s academic profile. It will include student data collected pre-Covid and in 2020. This set of data will provide a holistic view of students and their academic needs.
Multiple measures have always been used in the admission process for MCPS’ magnet programs at the elementary and secondary levels. To ensure equitable access to programming, like many other large school systems, MCPS will not administer the CogAT, a reasoning ability assessment, this year.
The elementary and middle school admission process will begin with a universal review and program placement will use both an expert panel committee and a lottery. The lottery pool will be comprised of students who demonstrate a need for enriched and accelerated instruction.
All students who are in the lottery pool will either be placed in regional or local enriched programming. .
The high school programs will continue with professional review committees to evaluate the students’ academic profiles for each program they applied.
Key Dates:
High School Magnet (Criteria-based) Programs
Nov 30 Parent/Guardian Communication to only students who applied to one or more
programs
Jan 2021 Review committees evaluate student applicants
Feb 2021 Parent/guardian and school results, notification, acceptances, and appeals
Middle School Magnet (Criteria-based) Programs
Dec 4 Parent/Guardian Communication to Grade 5 parents about admission process and
parent/guardian information meeting
Dec 21 Downcounty presentation (virtual) English 6 p.m., Spanish 7 p.m.
Dec 22 Upcounty presentation (virtual) English 6 p.m., Spanish 7 p.m.
Feb 2021 Universal Review, Parent/guardian/school results, notification
March 2021 Parent/guardian/students acceptances and appeals
Centers for Enriched

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where did you get this from?

Anonymous wrote:OP here , not at all trying to have fun here. We all should get an official email from MCPS by the day end today. MCPS Magnet (Criteria-based) Admission Process: Pandemic Plan Overview
Key Changes/Pandemic Plan: MCPS will maintain a multiple measures approach for identifying students for magnet (criteria-based) programs, and some changes are necessary as a result of conditions associated with the pandemic and virtual processes. These changes include:
External measures are included but will not utilize the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) as a criteria to select students for the 2021-2022 school year because of limits to in-person testing and concerns with remote testing;
Addition of a lottery approach along with an expert review panel for elementary and middle school programs; and
Removal of teacher recommendations as part of the high school process, given the conditions of virtual learning.
The Impact of covid-19
Our choice work has affirmed that we have highly-able students in all schools, zip codes and neighborhoods.
Serving our students is critically important and we do this in a variety of ways. Enriched programming to students is provided at their local school, through regional (magnet) programs and thematic based (interest-based) programs .
Although the pandemic has impacted school systems across the nation, it is important to continue identifying and providing access to students who need and/or are interested in enriched and accelerated programming.
Identifying students for enriched and accelerated programming begins with using multiple measures. In response to the pandemic, we are making adjustments to the admission process for elementary and secondary regional (magnet) programs this year.
Admission Process
This year, as in all years prior, using multiple measures is important to seeing a student’s academic profile. It will include student data collected pre-Covid and in 2020. This set of data will provide a holistic view of students and their academic needs.
Multiple measures have always been used in the admission process for MCPS’ magnet programs at the elementary and secondary levels. To ensure equitable access to programming, like many other large school systems, MCPS will not administer the CogAT, a reasoning ability assessment, this year.
The elementary and middle school admission process will begin with a universal review and program placement will use both an expert panel committee and a lottery. The lottery pool will be comprised of students who demonstrate a need for enriched and accelerated instruction.
All students who are in the lottery pool will either be placed in regional or local enriched programming. .
The high school programs will continue with professional review committees to evaluate the students’ academic profiles for each program they applied.
Key Dates:
High School Magnet (Criteria-based) Programs
Nov 30 Parent/Guardian Communication to only students who applied to one or more
programs
Jan 2021 Review committees evaluate student applicants
Feb 2021 Parent/guardian and school results, notification, acceptances, and appeals
Middle School Magnet (Criteria-based) Programs
Dec 4 Parent/Guardian Communication to Grade 5 parents about admission process and
parent/guardian information meeting
Dec 21 Downcounty presentation (virtual) English 6 p.m., Spanish 7 p.m.
Dec 22 Upcounty presentation (virtual) English 6 p.m., Spanish 7 p.m.
Feb 2021 Universal Review, Parent/guardian/school results, notification
March 2021 Parent/guardian/students acceptances and appeals
Centers for Enriched

She said she got it from an email didn't she? Its a slightly garbled version of the HS magnet update email I got.

[Anonymous]

Why a lottery for elementary and middle but no lottery for high school? Why can't they do whatever they were planning on doing for high school to elementary and middle school?

I hate lotteries. I'd rather my kid be rejected on merit than rejected because he had the intellect but lost out on a game of chance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


Why a lottery for elementary and middle but no lottery for high school? Why can't they do whatever they were planning on doing for high school to elementary and middle school?

I hate lotteries. I'd rather my kid be rejected on merit than rejected because he had the intellect but lost out on a game of chance.

My understanding is that there are more seats in HS, and maybe somewhat less interest with the availability of APs in the home school. Too many qualified kids not enough seats in ES and MS, hence the lottery. I’d rather they just did a balance of school distribution and tippy top scores within each school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


Why a lottery for elementary and middle but no lottery for high school? Why can't they do whatever they were planning on doing for high school to elementary and middle school?

I hate lotteries. I'd rather my kid be rejected on merit than rejected because he had the intellect but lost out on a game of chance.

I don't know. There's lots of randomness in the merit process too. At least with the lottery they're just flat out admitting it instead of pretending there's a method to the madness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


Why a lottery for elementary and middle but no lottery for high school? Why can't they do whatever they were planning on doing for high school to elementary and middle school?

I hate lotteries. I'd rather my kid be rejected on merit than rejected because he had the intellect but lost out on a game of chance.

My understanding is that there are more seats in HS, and maybe somewhat less interest with the availability of APs in the home school. Too many qualified kids not enough seats in ES and MS, hence the lottery. I’d rather they just did a balance of school distribution and tippy top scores within each school.

I agree, with a bit more seats given to schools with CES, since otherwise they'll lose out on the school distribution side of things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


Why a lottery for elementary and middle but no lottery for high school? Why can't they do whatever they were planning on doing for high school to elementary and middle school?

I hate lotteries. I'd rather my kid be rejected on merit than rejected because he had the intellect but lost out on a game of chance.

This is exactly my feeling too. I think at least for MS magnets, there is enough data in students' academic history portfolio to make a holistic review. Furthermore as someone else already pointed out, lottery would probably reduce magnets' appeal, which would not be good considering that one of the reasons MCPS started those programs at those schools was to draw high performing students.