Error in my child’s enrichment criteria for magnet consideration. What can be done?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This happened to my kid a few years ago. An error kept them out of the pool initially. I inquired with dccaps to verify the problem, then submitted an appeal. Kid was placed in the lottery at that point, but did not get a spot. It was frustrating, since the odds are better of being selected in the first round of the lottery than in later rounds, but there was no other recourse.

This happened to us for CES. Super frustrating because your best shot at a seat is in the initial lottery draw. We never got a seat.

They should tell people whether their children meet the criteria before they run the initial lottery so they can process appeals before the initial draw.

Exactly. I’m the OP. My child is in a CES, by the way. They’ve got excellent scores. They meet the criteria, full stop. I’m calling the school tomorrow. But super frustrating that this wasn’t flagged earlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you sure your child was not absent for any of the MAP tests?

They were present for all tests and I have all of the MAP results and the scores. I’m confident they were eligible for the lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This happened to my kid a few years ago. An error kept them out of the pool initially. I inquired with dccaps to verify the problem, then submitted an appeal. Kid was placed in the lottery at that point, but did not get a spot. It was frustrating, since the odds are better of being selected in the first round of the lottery than in later rounds, but there was no other recourse.

This happened to us for CES. Super frustrating because your best shot at a seat is in the initial lottery draw. We never got a seat.

They should tell people whether their children meet the criteria before they run the initial lottery so they can process appeals before the initial draw.

Exactly. I’m the OP. My child is in a CES, by the way. They’ve got excellent scores. They meet the criteria, full stop. I’m calling the school tomorrow. But super frustrating that this wasn’t flagged earlier.

95% could be within range of many in CES. Give school a piece of your mind. But call Central. name or office of whoever is in charge is probably on mcps website. It is not a "lottery" like you see for lottery drawings/powerball. It is more "subjective" than that..no one will say it out loud.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got the email that my child wasn’t identified for enrichment from MCPS and therefore not part of the pool. This is an error as they literally meet every single criteria - grades, above average reading designation, and locally horned MAP R scores well above the minimum.

What can be done at this point? I’m so angry. I’ve sent a note to the DCCAPS office to understand what is going on and what can be done. Any insight?

Honestly, the magnet programs have now been watered down with the lottery and the local norming-they're not the gems they used to be-they're smart kids but not the top 1% like they used to be

Still waaaay better than what you get in local schools. If the commute works, I can’t imagine not taking it.

Depends. A school with a good cohort might be better than being at those very rough around the edges schools where those magnets are housed. Frankly I am a little relieved we didn’t get invited so I’m not torn between the choices.

[Anonymous]

DCCAPS doesn't run the merit-based middle school nmagnets.

They run the pure lottery magnets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got the email that my child wasn’t identified for enrichment from MCPS and therefore not part of the pool. This is an error as they literally meet every single criteria - grades, above average reading designation, and locally horned MAP R scores well above the minimum.

What can be done at this point? I’m so angry. I’ve sent a note to the DCCAPS office to understand what is going on and what can be done. Any insight?

Honestly, the magnet programs have now been watered down with the lottery and the local norming-they're not the gems they used to be-they're smart kids but not the top 1% like they used to be

Still waaaay better than what you get in local schools. If the commute works, I can’t imagine not taking it.

This may be true or completely false- depends very much on which local school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As you don’t know what the minimum MAP-R score was, you do not know whether they meet the criteria or not. From past experience, all the parents I know that raged at MCPS for leaving their kid out of the pool find that they did not, in fact, met the criteria.

Of course if they did make a mistake they will be added to the pool for any waitlist places, but that’s unlikely.

My child’s score was well above the stated minimum.

There is no "stated minimum.". They don't publish what the different MAP score cutoffs are for each school grouping. If you're saying "I saw the words 85th percentile and assumed that means that if my child is well above the national/district-wide 85th percentile then they made the cutoff," you are incorrect. In some cases the cutoff is far above the 85th percentile and in others it's far below.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got the email that my child wasn’t identified for enrichment from MCPS and therefore not part of the pool. This is an error as they literally meet every single criteria - grades, above average reading designation, and locally horned MAP R scores well above the minimum.

What can be done at this point? I’m so angry. I’ve sent a note to the DCCAPS office to understand what is going on and what can be done. Any insight?

Honestly, the magnet programs have now been watered down with the lottery and the local norming-they're not the gems they used to be-they're smart kids but not the top 1% like they used to be

Still waaaay better than what you get in local schools. If the commute works, I can’t imagine not taking it.

Depends. A school with a good cohort might be better than being at those very rough around the edges schools where those magnets are housed. Frankly I am a little relieved we didn’t get invited so I’m not torn between the choices.

Er, have you been to Takoma Park??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As you don’t know what the minimum MAP-R score was, you do not know whether they meet the criteria or not. From past experience, all the parents I know that raged at MCPS for leaving their kid out of the pool find that they did not, in fact, met the criteria.

Of course if they did make a mistake they will be added to the pool for any waitlist places, but that’s unlikely.

My child’s score was well above the stated minimum.

Like I said, you don’t know what the minimum is. It’s not “stated” anywhere and it changes each year and varies by school. You do not know whether your kid met that minimum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As you don’t know what the minimum MAP-R score was, you do not know whether they meet the criteria or not. From past experience, all the parents I know that raged at MCPS for leaving their kid out of the pool find that they did not, in fact, met the criteria.

Of course if they did make a mistake they will be added to the pool for any waitlist places, but that’s unlikely.

My child’s score was well above the stated minimum.

There is no "stated minimum.". They don't publish what the different MAP score cutoffs are for each school grouping. If you're saying "I saw the words 85th percentile and assumed that means that if my child is well above the national/district-wide 85th percentile then they made the cutoff," you are incorrect. In some cases the cutoff is far above the 85th percentile and in others it's far below.

I am confident my child meets the cutoff. Period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As you don’t know what the minimum MAP-R score was, you do not know whether they meet the criteria or not. From past experience, all the parents I know that raged at MCPS for leaving their kid out of the pool find that they did not, in fact, met the criteria.

Of course if they did make a mistake they will be added to the pool for any waitlist places, but that’s unlikely.

My child’s score was well above the stated minimum.

Like I said, you don’t know what the minimum is. It’s not “stated” anywhere and it changes each year and varies by school. You do not know whether your kid met that minimum.

85th locally normed is the baseline. My child was well above that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As you don’t know what the minimum MAP-R score was, you do not know whether they meet the criteria or not. From past experience, all the parents I know that raged at MCPS for leaving their kid out of the pool find that they did not, in fact, met the criteria.

Of course if they did make a mistake they will be added to the pool for any waitlist places, but that’s unlikely.

My child’s score was well above the stated minimum.

There is no "stated minimum.". They don't publish what the different MAP score cutoffs are for each school grouping. If you're saying "I saw the words 85th percentile and assumed that means that if my child is well above the national/district-wide 85th percentile then they made the cutoff," you are incorrect. In some cases the cutoff is far above the 85th percentile and in others it's far below.

I am confident my child meets the cutoff. Period.

You’re guessing then. So do you want to share her stats if you’re so confident?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCCAPS doesn't run the merit-based middle school nmagnets.

They run the pure lottery magnets.

This was the email address shared in the letter we received. It’s also what’s online for criteria based programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As you don’t know what the minimum MAP-R score was, you do not know whether they meet the criteria or not. From past experience, all the parents I know that raged at MCPS for leaving their kid out of the pool find that they did not, in fact, met the criteria.

Of course if they did make a mistake they will be added to the pool for any waitlist places, but that’s unlikely.

My child’s score was well above the stated minimum.

Like I said, you don’t know what the minimum is. It’s not “stated” anywhere and it changes each year and varies by school. You do not know whether your kid met that minimum.

85th locally normed is the baseline. My child was well above that.

I don’t think you understand. 85th percentile locally normed can be as high as 98 or 99 percent. Is that where your kid is? If not, you don’t know if they meet the criteria. Also it’s the fall score that they look at.

[Anonymous]

National percentile might be 99th but local is much, much lower.