TJ Falls to 14th in the Nation Per US News
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Anonymous
It helps the people that want to be racists against asians |
Anonymous
Some people keep making these claims but sadly can't back them up with any facts. My child is thriving there and I've not heard anything like this personally. |
Anonymous
It wasn’t as much of a grind 15 years ago. It’d be interesting to see how many eligible kids were applying back then. When I get a chance I’ll see if fcag has any relevant data. |
Anonymous
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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]DP.
The concern that many people in the community had, including school board members, was that wealthy kids obtained an unfair advantage because their families could afford to get access to previous test questions, including the Quant-Q, which is an NDA-protected test. Copied from my “roundup thread”. 2. CONCERN ABOUT TJ PREP INDUSTRY [b]There was also public concern about the TJ test prep industry that led, in part, to changes in the admissions process.[/b] By reverse engineering the admissions criteria/process, prep companies offered kids an unfair advantage in admissions. In fact, back in 2017 the SB switched to quant-q, which intentionally didn’t share prep, in an effort to reduce this unfair advantage. https://www.washingtonian.com/2017/04/26/is-the-no-1-high-school-in-america-thomas-jefferson-fairfax-discrimination/ [i]“ “[u]Is it gonna once again advantage those kids whose parents can pay to sign them up for special prep camps [/u]to now be prepping for science testing as well?” Megan McLaughlin asked when presented with the new plan. [u]Admissions director Jeremy Shughart doesn’t think so[/u]. The firm that markets the math portion of the test, Quant-Q, doesn’t release materials to the public, a practice that should make them harder for test-prep schools to crack.”[/i] 3. QUANT-Q DOESN’T RELEASE MATERIALS [b]The company that offers Quant-Q intentionally does NOT release materials to the public - it’s very different than SAT, ACT, etc. They want to “measure your natural ability”. And test takers agreed to not share any parts of the test. [/b] https://www.washingtonian.com/2017/04/26/is-the-no-1-high-school-in-america-thomas-jefferson-fairfax-discrimination/ [i]“The firm that markets the math portion of the test, [u]Quant-Q, doesn’t release materials to the public, a practice that should make them harder for test-prep schools to crack.[/u]”[/i] Based on the NDAs, any test prep books or companies that obtain and share example quant-q test questions may have been unethically, or even potentially illegally, produced. https://insightassessment.com/policies/ [i]“Test Taker Interface User Agreement In this agreement, each person who accesses this interface is called a “user,” and whatever a user accesses is called an “instrument.” Copyright Protected: The user acknowledges that this online interface and everything in it are proprietary business property of the California Academic Press LLC and are protected by international copyrights. Except as permitted by purchased use licenses, [u]the user agrees not to reproduce, distribute, hack, harm, limit, alter, or edit this interface or any part of any instrument [/u]or results report, table or analysis stored in, generated by, or delivered through this interface. Non-Disclosure and Non-Compete Agreement: [u]The user agrees not to copy, disclose, describe, imitate, replicate, or mirror this interface or this instrument(s) in whole or in part for any purpose.[/u] The user agrees not to create, design, develop, publish, market, or distribute any comparable or competitive instrument or instruments for a period of up to four years from the date of the user’s most recent access. [i]"Remember that the goal of a critical thinking assessment is to measure your natural ability to think critically, so there’s no need for extensive preparation. Just be yourself and approach the assessment with a clear mind."[/i] 4. TJ STUDENTS ACKNOWLEDGED UNFAIR ADVANTAGE [b]TH students and others have acknowledged the unfair advantage that money can buy.[/b] https://www.tjtoday.org/29411/features/students-divided-on-proposed-changes-to-admissions-process/ [i]“ “Personally, TJ admissions was not a challenge to navigate. I had a sibling who attended before me. However, a lot of resources needed to navigate admissions cost money. That is an unfair advantage given to more economically advantaged students,” junior Vivi Rao said. ”[/i] 5. TJ STUDENTS ADMIT SHARING ADMISSIONS TEST QUESTIONS, INCLUDING QUANT-Q [b]TJ students admitted both on DCUM and on Facebook, anonymously and with real name, that they shared quant-q test questions with a test prep company or they saw nearly identical questions on the test. [/b] https://www.facebook.com/tjvents/posts/pfbid0jKy4hotXF8AxKwfHm2MAVi7e2yYoCqtrTTXPYsszAdQg6uMoTmReMidqyM1mpu9Bl https://www.tjtoday.org/23143/showcase/the-children-left-behind/ [i]“ Families with more money can afford to give children that extra edge by signing them up for whatever prep classes they can find. [u]They can pay money to tutoring organizations[/u] to teach their children test-taking skills, “skills learned outside of school,” and [u][b]to access a cache of previous and example prompts, as I witnessed when I took TJ prep[/b][/u]; even if prompts become outdated by test changes, even access to old prompts enables private tutoring pupils to gain an upper edge over others: pupils become accustomed to the format of the writing sections and gain an approximate idea of what to expect.”[/i] [/quote] This whole post can be boiled down to “someone on Facebook said it happened.”[/quote] Not even that. No one claims to have bought test answers.[/quote] Do you acknowledge that many people in the community, including school board members, were concerned that wealthy kids obtained an unfair advantage because their families could afford to get access to previous test questions? [/quote] White people are always concerned when their kids start to lose seats to asian kids. If wealth was the driver of who got into TJ, TJ would be predominantly white. There was no unfair advantage with the SHSAT because anyone with $20 and an amazon account could get a Barrons or Princeton review book. FCPS created the problem with their weird notion that ambush testing was somehow a good thing.[/quote] False. Wealthy white families recognize that TJ is a grind that diminishes their kids’ chances to get into a top college. Do you think the WISC and CoGAT are “ambush testing”? Do you think it’s ok for families to prep for those? [/quote] This is of course bullshit. White families didn't leave, they got crowded out. White families didn't pass on TJ any more than they passed on medical school, investment banking, ivy+, or anything else TJ used to be predominantly white and they didn't leave of their own accord This is what is known as sour grapes. White families with mediocre kids pretending that they aren't going to TJ or ivy+ because they CHOOSE not to go to TJ or ivy+ They never had the choice TJ and ivy+ isn't the goal of life but pretending that white families have gone from almost 100% of TJ and almost 100% of ivy+ to 20% of TJ before the admissions change looks like a coping mechanism[/quote] I know several white Arlington families this year that had kids get in and turn it down. There were numerous reasons why they ended up declining, but they did indeed decline.[/quote] In my circles of affluent white families (many with T10 undergrad/grad parents), parents explicitly said they didn’t want their kids to have a grueling HS experience. And that TJ would actually hurt their kids’ chances at top colleges. All that work for no benefit. The exceptions were a couple super nerdy STEM kids who thrived at TJ. Very few families seriously considered TJ. Many families did look at private schools though. That PP doesn’t have a clue about wealthy white families. [/quote] Who are these super nerdy STEM kids？ Do you really know them? Could you give us a clue on wealthy white families? What school is their dream school? |
Anonymous
| STEM companies are dominated by Asians now. Many white people in these tech firms tend to be sales or HR. so no their kids won't go to TJ. |
Anonymous
Recent data shows that although Asians only make up 6% of the US population they account for as much as 20% of the workforce at STEM companies. Whites on the other hand makeup 60% of the population and are only 55% these days. Although Asians are heavily represented, I wouldn't call that dominating. |
Anonymous
So, no news stories? Just a social media posts by one kid on facebook? Recycling the exact same test 2 years in a row seems like something that might be newsworthy. Is it possible that this high school sophomore didn't get it exactly right on their facebook post? It doesn't really seem like enough evidence to support the statement that wealthy kids were buying test answers before the test. And it certainly isn't enough to invalidate almost all the research on the subject about the validity of testing. |
Anonymous
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To take a principle from security, the most secure encryption algorithms are the ones that still work well even when everyone knows exactly how they work.
The idea that you can guarantee the integrity of a test by making it so super-secret that no one can know what's on it was IMO a silly one to begin with. A good test is one where you know exactly what's going to be on it, but it's still challenging enough that you're not going to do well on it unless you genuinely know what you're doing. |
Anonymous
. Interesting view point? |
Anonymous
Yes, give everyone the test questions and answers up front to level the playing field. Sure, it may not measure what it was intended but at least we know who cared enough to memorize the answers. |
Anonymous
Please learn to read. There were dozens of first-hand accounts in this thread even in addition to links to local news and students papers. Not just the many posts on a Facebook group. Anyway, the ship sailed almost 5 years ago, and they changed admissions for the better. It may be time to find a new hobby. |
Anonymous
Do you think kids should prep for CoGAT or WISC? |
Anonymous
DP. The local news and student paper had nothing whatsoever to do with "buying answers." It had already been pointed out in this thread and others that the local news articles were simply about how test prep in general was perhaps too advantageous in admissions. The TJ student paper article had nothing to do with Quant Q or any other test buying, since the author attended TJ prep well before the Quant Q was used. Her article is again an opinion that test prep is too advantageous, but it has nothing whatsoever to do with "buying answers." The only thing that's been posted specifically about Quant-Q/Curie/"buying test answers" was the facebook post. |
Anonymous
DP. I think admissions should use tests like PSAT, where prep materials are readily available, and prep is assumed, but where it has a somewhat limited effect. Even aside from the Curie controversy, it's absurd to imagine that kids wouldn't tell younger relatives or friends about the types of questions on the Quant Q. Other than the first year Quant Q was given, it was always going to be the case that some kids would have unfair knowledge of the types of problems on the test. |
Anonymous
The question was for CoGAT or WISC. |