MCPS MD - MAP R Score / G5

[Anonymous]

The system is LOTTERY-based and so is academically unfair by definition, OP, in that very able students are being missed by the criteria MCPS has set up. When you pick 85% and above scorers out of a hat, for a limited-seat magnet, and you know that you could fill most of those seats with scorers above 95%, you can't call it academically fair in any way.

However MCPS doesn't care, because it wins on all fronts: there are so few seats to go round relative to the number of highly-functional students, that the immense majority of selected students will all do well, and MCPS will be able to tinker around with its socio-economic criteria all it wants, to include lower-scorers from less-privileged school districts, who are still going to be functional enough to succeed. In other words, MCPS doesn't care about individual students, it cares about the overall well-being of the cohort.

The few high-scorers who really needed the magnets but were not lucky enough to be selected by lottery are SOL!

And sometimes it's quite a saga to get them into a semi-decent track when they end up back in their home school...

In the BCC cluster, unlike in some other clusters, skipping courses is frowned upon, even for highly able students who need advanced courses. DD needed the Algebra 1 class in 6th grade, and the Westland math administrator agreed to test her. He gave her an Algebra quiz, and when she got most of it correct, declined to accept her in Algebra. He did not give her a pre-algebra (AIM) test, mind you, to see if she was ready to go into Algebra - she'd have gotten such a test completely right. No, he expected her to get Algebra questions correct so she could *start* Algebra: meaning, there wouldn't have been much for her to learn that year. A similarly situated student at BCC high school, coming from a middle school STEM magnet, was simply refused a test. It's a complete farce.

We ended up not enrolling DD at Westland, so she wouldn't bang her head on the desk for the entire math lesson every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The system is LOTTERY-based and so is academically unfair by definition, OP, in that very able students are being missed by the criteria MCPS has set up. When you pick 85% and above scorers out of a hat, for a limited-seat magnet, and you know that you could fill most of those seats with scorers above 95%, you can't call it academically fair in any way.

However MCPS doesn't care, because it wins on all fronts: there are so few seats to go round relative to the number of highly-functional students, that the immense majority of selected students will all do well, and MCPS will be able to tinker around with its socio-economic criteria all it wants, to include lower-scorers from less-privileged school districts, who are still going to be functional enough to succeed. In other words, MCPS doesn't care about individual students, it cares about the overall well-being of the cohort.

The few high-scorers who really needed the magnets but were not lucky enough to be selected by lottery are SOL!

And sometimes it's quite a saga to get them into a semi-decent track when they end up back in their home school...

In the BCC cluster, unlike in some other clusters, skipping courses is frowned upon, even for highly able students who need advanced courses. DD needed the Algebra 1 class in 6th grade, and the Westland math administrator agreed to test her. He gave her an Algebra quiz, and when she got most of it correct, declined to accept her in Algebra. He did not give her a pre-algebra (AIM) test, mind you, to see if she was ready to go into Algebra - she'd have gotten such a test completely right. No, he expected her to get Algebra questions correct so she could *start* Algebra: meaning, there wouldn't have been much for her to learn that year. A similarly situated student at BCC high school, coming from a middle school STEM magnet, was simply refused a test. It's a complete farce.

We ended up not enrolling DD at Westland, so she wouldn't bang her head on the desk for the entire math lesson every day.

With a lottery, sure, you can throw up your hands and say "unfair" when a very qualified kid doesn't get in because the system is random. The real unfairness, however, lies in establishing the pool. I'm not even talking about different MAP cut-offs for different school segments. I'm talking about keeping someone out of the pool altogether because they did not receive an A in one of the quarters. Sometimes those quarter grades are 1 or 2 writing assignments/math quizzes. A B on one assignment can keep you out of pool - c'mon! Last year, they even kept kids out of pool for "no data" grades. Those grades are completely about how the school wants to report not covering material non the curriculum, not the student. They don't communicate decisions such as these to anyone, including principals and teachers, until well after the fact. It's all very maddening!

[Anonymous]

How is it not unfair when parents prepare their kids for cogat/magnet school testing? Not everyone is able to prepare their kids so that is also unfair

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is it not unfair when parents prepare their kids for cogat/magnet school testing? Not everyone is able to prepare their kids so that is also unfair

Exactly. How is it not unfair when some kids are in families where the parents prioritize education?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is it not unfair when parents prepare their kids for cogat/magnet school testing? Not everyone is able to prepare their kids so that is also unfair

Exactly. How is it not unfair when some kids are in families where the parents prioritize education?

Prioritize pay for a prep class over paying the electric bill? Yeah, that’s good parenting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child tested 251 on MAP R and is not in CES, it proves the system is messed up!

Sorry, but if it was done by lottery like MS magnet admissions, this isn't surprising. It wasn't about how high they scored. The top 15% were put in a pool and some were picked while others weren't.

My DC scored in the 280s on their MAP-M in 5th. They were in the pool but didn't get picked. Several kids from our school with 230 and 240 scores did. This is the nature of a lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child tested 251 on MAP R and is not in CES, it proves the system is messed up!

Is your kid alone at your ES like this or are there some others? Do they have the enriched literacy curriculum available there?

I have no idea what other children's MAP R scores are but I know my child scores a lot higher than some of the CES kids!

That’s true, and I’m sorry they didn’t make it into the program. But that doesn’t mean the system is messed up. If another kid doesn’t have access to similarly advanced classmates or an enriched curriculum at their home school, they might get priority. No idea if you have solid enrichment available, but many schools do not. Still, your child would probably have enjoyed the program and I sympathize.

Equity in action: letting in less qualified kids. This is a race to the bottom folks. If you keep electing these idiots, this is what you'll get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child tested 251 on MAP R and is not in CES, it proves the system is messed up!

Is your kid alone at your ES like this or are there some others? Do they have the enriched literacy curriculum available there?

I have no idea what other children's MAP R scores are but I know my child scores a lot higher than some of the CES kids!

That’s true, and I’m sorry they didn’t make it into the program. But that doesn’t mean the system is messed up. If another kid doesn’t have access to similarly advanced classmates or an enriched curriculum at their home school, they might get priority. No idea if you have solid enrichment available, but many schools do not. Still, your child would probably have enjoyed the program and I sympathize.

Equity in action: letting in less qualified kids. This is a race to the bottom folks. If you keep electing these idiots, this is what you'll get.

So did the politicians set the 85% threshold or was it someone at the CO?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is it not unfair when parents prepare their kids for cogat/magnet school testing? Not everyone is able to prepare their kids so that is also unfair

Exactly. How is it not unfair when some kids are in families where the parents prioritize education?

Prioritize pay for a prep class over paying the electric bill? Yeah, that’s good parenting.

There are many low income families that prioritize education too but don't have a spare $10k to spend @Dr Li's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is it not unfair when parents prepare their kids for cogat/magnet school testing? Not everyone is able to prepare their kids so that is also unfair

Exactly. How is it not unfair when some kids are in families where the parents prioritize education?

Prioritize pay for a prep class over paying the electric bill? Yeah, that’s good parenting.

There are many low income families that prioritize education too but don't have a spare $10k to spend @Dr Li's.

That’s my point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child tested 251 on MAP R and is not in CES, it proves the system is messed up!

Congrats on the high score that's the highest MAP-R I've heard of for a 4th grader.

Yes, the system this past year does not reward outliers but simply picks some random kids from the top 15%.

It really doesn't seem all that fair or ideal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child tested 251 on MAP R and is not in CES, it proves the system is messed up!

Congrats on the high score that's the highest MAP-R I've heard of for a 4th grader.

Yes, the system this past year does not reward outliers but simply picks some random kids from the top 15%.

It really doesn't seem all that fair or ideal.

It's a 5th grader. Read the subject line.

[Anonymous]

OP you're really gonna be mad when you find out my kid got in the 240s in 5th and 250s in 6th and got picked for both CES and a MS Magnet. Should I go to the office tomorrow and tell them we withdraw and they should call you for the spot?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP you're really gonna be mad when you find out my kid got in the 240s in 5th and 250s in 6th and got picked for both CES and a MS Magnet. Should I go to the office tomorrow and tell them we withdraw and they should call you for the spot?

OP here, not mad at all just think that the system is unfair and proud of my child that even though my child did not get into the CES program and still performs better than a lot of the children in the program that means we are doing an excellent job enriching my child at home!

[Anonymous]

And my kid (now graduated) got a 36 on the ACT but wasn't able to get into a magnet high school here. Still doing fine. Your kid will, too.