Watkins mill IB vs Richard Montgomery
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
I think this is the same person from a few years ago who spent weeks insisting that MCPS was stratifying RMIB and other IB kids??? They want to believe that MCPS is putting the "better" ones into RMIB - as if MCPS was competent enough to (1) figure that out and (2) actually do it. Being in an IB cohort means spending the entire day with other smart/motivated students. If you can get that at your home school then you should. If you can't then go IB in my opinion. |
Anonymous
Correct. That is the main perk. My kid is in the IB cohort at Kennedy and while the outcomes don't come close to RM, the fact that he's surrounded by kids who are smart, motivated and want to do the work makes a world of difference. |
Anonymous
This. The experience at Watkins is undoubtedly similar. |
Anonymous
Yes, I was with this person with nurturing, but I would have preferred they said "but the students will come from poorer families," which is of course what they meant. It's funny isn't it, we are all so class-conscious that it's impolite to say "poor" but it's apparently okay to talk about "student quality." As for faculty "quality," there's no indication faculty are "lesser," although that's the common assumption. It is a lot harder to teach at Watkins than it is at RM, I'm quite sure. If anything, the faculty may be better, some of them. |
Anonymous
I'm the PP you are referring to and actually, this is where you're 100% wrong. I was not referring to quality with regard to class/income, but with regard to ACADEMIC quality, meaning the kids who are motivated and interested in doing well in school and have the accompanying grades and tests to back that up. While there might be a correlation that a higher portion of kids in lower-income schools are of lower academic quality (for an assortment of reasons btw, not all of their doing), I also believe kids from all socioeconomic backgrounds can be of high academic quality. So you projected your own biases onto my response and spun yourself into a tizzy. As for teacher quality with regard to IB outcomes, I didn't make that up out of thin air. I'll just leave it at that. |
Anonymous
I'm not sure that you are familiar with RM. Based on the last year of data that we have (2022 - and 2023 should be coming out asap), there were 1025 students at RM who took an AP exam, with a pass rate of 83.6%. The "cohort" of smart, motivated kids at RM is much larger than the number in the RMIB magnet. Much, much larger. At Kennedy, there were 327 kids who took an AP exam, with a pass rate of 36.9% and at Watkins Mill, there were only 99 kids who took an AP exam, with a 31.9% pass rate. Well, maybe all of the smart kids at Kennedy and WM are in the IB programs... they only release score data by test, but: English A: Language and Literature: RM: 77 exams taken; mean score = 5.4 Kennedy: 47; mean score = 3.7 Watkins Mill: 83; mean score = 4.1 English A: Literature RM: 63 exams taken; mean score = 5.7 Kennedy: 20; mean score = 3.3 Watkins Mill: no tests Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches RM: 114 exams taken; mean score = 5.6 Kennedy: no tests Watkins Mill: no tests Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation RM: 26 exams taken; mean score = 5.0 Kennedy: 35; mean score = 2.5 Watkins Mill: 14; mean score = 3.6 Biology RM: 47 exams taken; mean score = 5.3 Kennedy: 19; mean score = 3.5 Watkins Mill: 31; mean score = 2.8 Environmental Systems and Societies RM: 31 exams taken; mean score = 6.3 Kennedy: no tests Watkins Mill: no tests Physics RM: 58 exams taken; mean score = 5.4 Kennedy: no tests Watkins Mill: no tests I'm sure that the scores will improve in 2023, due to the regional programs. But the idea that there is some great cohort at Kennedy and WM, compared to normal AP classrooms at RM is just not borne out by this data. But definitely, a strong kid who can actually overcome these classes and score above the mean at Kennedy or WM is better off in college admissions due to both lack of competition and the appearance that they have overcome adversity, based on their school's statistics. |
Anonymous
Are you under the assumption I disagree that RMIB has higher academic outcomes? I literally said the “outcomes don’t come close to RM” and then you posted a bunch of that validates that exact point. And yes, the majority of those kids scores are from kids in the IB program. Kennedy forces many kids to take the IB versions of courses but it’s mainly the cohort kids who motivated enough to attempt the tests. |
Anonymous
*Forces?* They can't be forcing that many, DC's classes aren't that big |
Anonymous
Progressives know this better than anyone. |
Anonymous
Don’t forget that the kids who took (or didn’t take) those tests at Kennedy and WM in 2022 were NOT part of the magnet cohort. They were kids zoned for the school, or who selected it in the Choice process, who then opted to take IB classes. The first regional IB magnet cohorts are seniors this year, so any previous data regarding those schools’ IB programs is irrelevant. Because of the way the classes, exams, and other required IB components are structured, we won’t know until the end of this year how many of them were successful in the Diploma Program. So don’t let the rabid anti-IB poster derail the discussion. The fact is that there’s no relevant data available yet for any of the regional criteria-based magnet cohorts. |
Anonymous
Yes. They converted the English honors classes to IB classes last year. That was under the old principal though, so maybe the new principal reversed that mandate this year? But yes, those kids and teachers had no choice in the matter. I know so cause the teacher told me. |
Anonymous
Well, my kid loves the English teacher they have this year. They've had four, and one I liked a little less than the other three, but they were all fine. I'm a little confused, though. This was an HL class? The first year of Lit HL was great last year. Teacher never mentioned that to me. Or are you talking about 9th grade honors English? After that my kid took AP English. When my kid took theater with IB students in 9th, the IB students had heavier workloads, extra papers and assignments. I'd assume it would be the same? One thing you have to understand is a public school has to balance the needs of all of its students. Sometimes that means limited resources and compromise. There are trade-offs that are positive. A less competitive environment, more individualized experience (in my experience), smaller classes. I really encourage you to listen to that podcast. Have a great night. |
Anonymous
So no IB kid takes any AP or IB test until Senior year? The whole point of my post was to respond to the poster who says that the strong IB cohort of "smart, motivated" kids at Kennedy is the primary benefit of the program. The title of the thread is "Watkins Mill IB vs. Richard Montgomery" and I am asserting that at RM, even kids who aren't in the RMIB have stronger and more plentiful "smart, motivated" peers than at the other two schools discussed in this thread. |
Anonymous
I'm the Kennedy parent you were quoting before. The "smart, motivated kids" comment I was made was relevant to the pool of kids at Kennedy. Kennedy was the school my kid was sent to. Their first choice was Wheaton but they didn't get it. I don't dispute that the RM has a pool of kids outside the IB program who are academically stronger than the non-IB pool at Kennedy. I'll take your word for it. But for those for whom RM is not an option, the Regional IB at Kennedy is definitely better than the non-IB pool at Kennedy, and maybe at their non-Kennedy DCC homeschool, and thus be an opportunity to surround themselves with smart, motivated kids, in relation to THAT SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT. You keep trying to compare the Regional IBs to RMIB when I've already made clear I agree it is the best in the county and its academic outcomes are not matched by any IB program in the county. |