What happened to Whitman's Great Schools Rating?

[Anonymous]

Hi-

Not from the DMV but used to be from Wooton feeder zone a long time ago.

What is the PARCC that you are mentioning?

I'm curious because Great Schools has had bad data for my area for years.

When I first started looking at it, it placed my area in the adjacent school district. None of my zip code is in that school district even though it's very nearby (a few city blocks away across a big highway).

Then, when it actually placed my address in the correct elementary zone, I felt the ratings of the elementaries across the district did not match the word on the street at all.

Finally, I tried to use it to help my sister pick a town when she moved to my metro. Not very useful at all. Could have made similar decisions just based on city demographics or state standardized test scores without going to Great Schools.

So...I'm interested to know why this site is more useful for MCPS.

Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

It’s not as helpful if you only look at the final number, but the individual data points can provide helpful information on trends, areas of relative weakness and strength etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is blank.

Glad to see Pyle is a 10.

I know these numbers don't mean much but they help real estate prices.

Whitman is a ten whether they get one on GS or not. The Woodacres/Pyle/Whitman trio is the best in the country.

I know! The same thing happens at Kennedy, which is also a 10.

[Anonymous]

The high school itself has absolutely nothing to do with what colleges the seniors choose. They got there because of their wealthy parents, not necessarily because their high school is any better. Kids from all over the county go on to great colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The high school itself has absolutely nothing to do with what colleges the seniors choose. They got there because of their wealthy parents, not necessarily because their high school is any better. Kids from all over the county go on to great colleges.

Not “all” over the county. Hell not even all over the area

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi-

Not from the DMV but used to be from Wooton feeder zone a long time ago.

What is the PARCC that you are mentioning?

I'm curious because Great Schools has had bad data for my area for years.

When I first started looking at it, it placed my area in the adjacent school district. None of my zip code is in that school district even though it's very nearby (a few city blocks away across a big highway).

Then, when it actually placed my address in the correct elementary zone, I felt the ratings of the elementaries across the district did not match the word on the street at all.

Finally, I tried to use it to help my sister pick a town when she moved to my metro. Not very useful at all. Could have made similar decisions just based on city demographics or state standardized test scores without going to Great Schools.

So...I'm interested to know why this site is more useful for MCPS.

Thoughts?

PARCC was a national test that many states used to assess schools. A few years ago it was replaced with a test the state of Maryland just made up that had never been previously used. The new test is called MCAP, and they're still working out the bugs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi-

Not from the DMV but used to be from Wooton feeder zone a long time ago.

What is the PARCC that you are mentioning?

I'm curious because Great Schools has had bad data for my area for years.

When I first started looking at it, it placed my area in the adjacent school district. None of my zip code is in that school district even though it's very nearby (a few city blocks away across a big highway).

Then, when it actually placed my address in the correct elementary zone, I felt the ratings of the elementaries across the district did not match the word on the street at all.

Finally, I tried to use it to help my sister pick a town when she moved to my metro. Not very useful at all. Could have made similar decisions just based on city demographics or state standardized test scores without going to Great Schools.

So...I'm interested to know why this site is more useful for MCPS.

Thoughts?

Ratings like GS just measure the SES of a school's boundary. If this is what you want to know just get a heatmap of HHI. I would argue there's a lot more to this than something that simple, and looking a bit deeper may yield better value, especially for ES and MS. At the HS level, kids have more choices, so I feel many schools could provide a fine experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi-

Not from the DMV but used to be from Wooton feeder zone a long time ago.

What is the PARCC that you are mentioning?

I'm curious because Great Schools has had bad data for my area for years.

When I first started looking at it, it placed my area in the adjacent school district. None of my zip code is in that school district even though it's very nearby (a few city blocks away across a big highway).

Then, when it actually placed my address in the correct elementary zone, I felt the ratings of the elementaries across the district did not match the word on the street at all.

Finally, I tried to use it to help my sister pick a town when she moved to my metro. Not very useful at all. Could have made similar decisions just based on city demographics or state standardized test scores without going to Great Schools.

So...I'm interested to know why this site is more useful for MCPS.

Thoughts?

Ratings like GS just measure the SES of a school's boundary. If this is what you want to know just get a heatmap of HHI. I would argue there's a lot more to this than something that simple, and looking a bit deeper may yield better value, especially for ES and MS. At the HS level, kids have more choices, so I feel many schools could provide a fine experience.

No GS measure student performance and outcomes holistically. You’re confusing causation and correlation. Yes rich kids perform better than poorer kids most of the time but the point many miss is that also allows the schools to focus on performance instead of babysitting. Can poor kids do well or rich kids FU, Of course but where the school gets to devote their resources is the difference which all comes down to the percentages of lost causes. When there are too many lost causes it can become a culture problem for the school which will try to create schools within the school to shelter the kids that care, when they have a hard time filling these they will often take kids from out of area to set better examples or boost test score to salvage a school’s reputation.

Schools like Whitman are so highly regarded because instead of a school within a school it is a school within a mixed system for parents with the means. While many fight for special programs like magnet to get their kids sheltered and enriched, Whitman parents just opt for a place that has almost 100% kids with high expectations as the means to shelter their kids. Can kids blossom in other environments…. Of course. But I would guarantee those parents by and large are continuously monitoring and competing for sheltered enrichment opportunities be it better classes with better peer groups or set aside programs within their environments. Whitman is just that but there isn’t an application other than a large mortgage out of reach for most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi-

Not from the DMV but used to be from Wooton feeder zone a long time ago.

What is the PARCC that you are mentioning?

I'm curious because Great Schools has had bad data for my area for years.

When I first started looking at it, it placed my area in the adjacent school district. None of my zip code is in that school district even though it's very nearby (a few city blocks away across a big highway).

Then, when it actually placed my address in the correct elementary zone, I felt the ratings of the elementaries across the district did not match the word on the street at all.

Finally, I tried to use it to help my sister pick a town when she moved to my metro. Not very useful at all. Could have made similar decisions just based on city demographics or state standardized test scores without going to Great Schools.

So...I'm interested to know why this site is more useful for MCPS.

Thoughts?

Ratings like GS just measure the SES of a school's boundary. If this is what you want to know just get a heatmap of HHI. I would argue there's a lot more to this than something that simple, and looking a bit deeper may yield better value, especially for ES and MS. At the HS level, kids have more choices, so I feel many schools could provide a fine experience.

No GS measure student performance and outcomes holistically. You’re confusing causation and correlation. Yes rich kids perform better than poorer kids most of the time but the point many miss is that also allows the schools to focus on performance instead of babysitting. Can poor kids do well or rich kids FU, Of course but where the school gets to devote their resources is the difference which all comes down to the percentages of lost causes. When there are too many lost causes it can become a culture problem for the school which will try to create schools within the school to shelter the kids that care, when they have a hard time filling these they will often take kids from out of area to set better examples or boost test score to salvage a school’s reputation.

Schools like Whitman are so highly regarded because instead of a school within a school it is a school within a mixed system for parents with the means. While many fight for special programs like magnet to get their kids sheltered and enriched, Whitman parents just opt for a place that has almost 100% kids with high expectations as the means to shelter their kids. Can kids blossom in other environments…. Of course. But I would guarantee those parents by and large are continuously monitoring and competing for sheltered enrichment opportunities be it better classes with better peer groups or set aside programs within their environments. Whitman is just that but there isn’t an application other than a large mortgage out of reach for most.

This is 100% correct and it drives east county progressives nuts. This is why they want busing. They want Whitman and other W schools to take a share of problem kids from other areas of the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi-

Not from the DMV but used to be from Wooton feeder zone a long time ago.

What is the PARCC that you are mentioning?

I'm curious because Great Schools has had bad data for my area for years.

When I first started looking at it, it placed my area in the adjacent school district. None of my zip code is in that school district even though it's very nearby (a few city blocks away across a big highway).

Then, when it actually placed my address in the correct elementary zone, I felt the ratings of the elementaries across the district did not match the word on the street at all.

Finally, I tried to use it to help my sister pick a town when she moved to my metro. Not very useful at all. Could have made similar decisions just based on city demographics or state standardized test scores without going to Great Schools.

So...I'm interested to know why this site is more useful for MCPS.

Thoughts?

Ratings like GS just measure the SES of a school's boundary. If this is what you want to know just get a heatmap of HHI. I would argue there's a lot more to this than something that simple, and looking a bit deeper may yield better value, especially for ES and MS. At the HS level, kids have more choices, so I feel many schools could provide a fine experience.

No GS measure student performance and outcomes holistically. You’re confusing causation and correlation. Yes rich kids perform better than poorer kids most of the time but the point many miss is that also allows the schools to focus on performance instead of babysitting. Can poor kids do well or rich kids FU, Of course but where the school gets to devote their resources is the difference which all comes down to the percentages of lost causes. When there are too many lost causes it can become a culture problem for the school which will try to create schools within the school to shelter the kids that care, when they have a hard time filling these they will often take kids from out of area to set better examples or boost test score to salvage a school’s reputation.

Schools like Whitman are so highly regarded because instead of a school within a school it is a school within a mixed system for parents with the means. While many fight for special programs like magnet to get their kids sheltered and enriched, Whitman parents just opt for a place that has almost 100% kids with high expectations as the means to shelter their kids. Can kids blossom in other environments…. Of course. But I would guarantee those parents by and large are continuously monitoring and competing for sheltered enrichment opportunities be it better classes with better peer groups or set aside programs within their environments. Whitman is just that but there isn’t an application other than a large mortgage out of reach for most.

This! Whitman cluster is just entire schools filled with the kids that populate other schools HGC classes and the like. Academically they obviously aren’t all highly gifted but neither are the kids in the other programs. If other parents are honest they seek those classes out for the peer group as much if not more than the academics. On a transcript the academics are more a wink-wink that you are a set aside kid than an academic foundation that such a small percentage of kids actually need due to advanced studies. When you walk around and look at the classes, they are just concentrations of the upper middle class kids from the draw area. What ever the program is immersion, GT or Magnet they always trend a richer and more stable demographic. This is why parents screamed about “lowering the standards” when the county started to open up the selection process towards a lottery. Made it harder to play the game with advantages and watered down one of the main points. Also the fear of not making it in means you’re general pop. Whitman is just a school full of those kids instead of just a few classes. All that said it has its own problems that come from when everybody has, it becomes a measuring process about how much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi-

Not from the DMV but used to be from Wooton feeder zone a long time ago.

What is the PARCC that you are mentioning?

I'm curious because Great Schools has had bad data for my area for years.

When I first started looking at it, it placed my area in the adjacent school district. None of my zip code is in that school district even though it's very nearby (a few city blocks away across a big highway).

Then, when it actually placed my address in the correct elementary zone, I felt the ratings of the elementaries across the district did not match the word on the street at all.

Finally, I tried to use it to help my sister pick a town when she moved to my metro. Not very useful at all. Could have made similar decisions just based on city demographics or state standardized test scores without going to Great Schools.

So...I'm interested to know why this site is more useful for MCPS.

Thoughts?

Ratings like GS just measure the SES of a school's boundary. If this is what you want to know just get a heatmap of HHI. I would argue there's a lot more to this than something that simple, and looking a bit deeper may yield better value, especially for ES and MS. At the HS level, kids have more choices, so I feel many schools could provide a fine experience.

No GS measure student performance and outcomes holistically. You’re confusing causation and correlation. Yes rich kids perform better than poorer kids most of the time but the point many miss is that also allows the schools to focus on performance instead of babysitting. Can poor kids do well or rich kids FU, Of course but where the school gets to devote their resources is the difference which all comes down to the percentages of lost causes. When there are too many lost causes it can become a culture problem for the school which will try to create schools within the school to shelter the kids that care, when they have a hard time filling these they will often take kids from out of area to set better examples or boost test score to salvage a school’s reputation.

Schools like Whitman are so highly regarded because instead of a school within a school it is a school within a mixed system for parents with the means. While many fight for special programs like magnet to get their kids sheltered and enriched, Whitman parents just opt for a place that has almost 100% kids with high expectations as the means to shelter their kids. Can kids blossom in other environments…. Of course. But I would guarantee those parents by and large are continuously monitoring and competing for sheltered enrichment opportunities be it better classes with better peer groups or set aside programs within their environments. Whitman is just that but there isn’t an application other than a large mortgage out of reach for most.

Except that now there is an application. Students from across the county are able to apply to Whitman's Leadership Academy for Social Justice. And "Regional transportation for out of area students is being explored for 2024-2025."

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iOZqNQ1ug40Z4HAaaoCIxxL4vx-22PukRl44-XBo5qw/preview

[Anonymous]

Ha leadership academy for social justice. Wonder why that was put at Whitman? I’m sure a couple of self-righteous kids from Kennedy or Northwood with a chip on their shoulder about the man will do great in a school filled with the man’s children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ha leadership academy for social justice. Wonder why that was put at Whitman? I’m sure a couple of self-righteous kids from Kennedy or Northwood with a chip on their shoulder about the man will do great in a school filled with the man’s children.

It started at Whitman as it was a prorgram developed by their staff. Now they are expanding the program so it is available to kids from other schools too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone post the Whitman senior destinations instagram link? That is one way to compare to outcomes at other area high schools.

Not really since some kids cannot afford all of the options and need to commit based on cost. Also, wealthy families can help with essay coaches, college counselors, SAT prep etc. There is no level paying field with college aps. My child was choosing between full pay at Cornell and free tuition at UMDCP. Just because she is at UMD does not mean she was not academically qualified for a "better" school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone post the Whitman senior destinations instagram link? That is one way to compare to outcomes at other area high schools.

Not really since some kids cannot afford all of the options and need to commit based on cost. Also, wealthy families can help with essay coaches, college counselors, SAT prep etc. There is no level paying field with college aps. My child was choosing between full pay at Cornell and free tuition at UMDCP. Just because she is at UMD does not mean she was not academically qualified for a "better" school.

Not a W school kid btw.