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Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)
SAT - Averages for Arlington’s Asian students below state and national averages
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Anonymous
The magnet programs within Montgomery County (Blair and Richard Montgomery) are much smaller than TJHSST, and the scores at TJ blow away any other school in the DC region. If TJ did not exist, the scores at Fairfax schools such as Langley and McLean would be right up there with Whitman and Churchill. Overall, the 2010 SAT scores in Fairfax were about 10 points higher than in Montgomery (1664 vs. 1653). While Montgomery has many high-performing schools, it also has more lower-performing schools than in Fairfax. And part of the increase in MCPS scores this year over last year appears to be attributable to fewer Montgomery students taking the SATs (Montgomery schools appear to be counseling lower-achieving students to take the ACT, rather than the SAT). |
Anonymous
What does this mean? |
Anonymous
Where's all the white women? |
Anonymous
asians comprise a far higher percentage of those selected to attend TJ than you would expect given the percentage of asians in the pool of eligible students each year. Put another way, if they are 10 percent of the eligible students for selection. but comprise 50% of all those selected, they are grossly overrepresented. |
Anonymous
Grossly overrepresented vs. unfair are two different things. Those kids who make it, earn it. No affirmative action needed. |
Anonymous
Absolutely. I was just giving a definition of what statistically underrepresented meant. |
Anonymous
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asians comprise a far higher percentage of those selected to attend TJ than you would expect given the percentage of asians in the pool of eligible students each year. Put another way, if they are 10 percent of the eligible students for selection. but comprise 50% of all those selected, they are grossly overrepresented.
This is because TJ does not factor race into admissions. I imagine in a few years that there will be enough complaints about overrepresentation that it will start taking race into consideration to make it harder for asians and easier for underrepresented minorities to get in, which is what the colleges do. |
Anonymous
asians comprise a far higher percentage of those selected to attend TJ than you would expect given the percentage of asians in the pool of eligible students each year. Put another way, if they are 10 percent of the eligible students for selection. but comprise 50% of all those selected, they are grossly overrepresented. This is because TJ does not factor race into admissions. I imagine in a few years that there will be enough complaints about overrepresentation that it will start taking race into consideration to make it harder for asians and easier for underrepresented minorities to get in, which is what the colleges do. A form of affirmative action was implemented at TJ a few years ago, along with a greater emphasis on liberal arts. I think that principal was encouraged to leave early. |
Anonymous
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back to the topic for a second? any thoughts on why Asians in Arlington fall behind Asians state-wise and nationally?
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Anonymous
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Probably has to do with the fact that the Asian population in Arlington tends to include a high percentage of recent immigrants, and there are at least as many Asians from South Central Asia (Pakistan, India) and SE Asia (Phillipines, Vietnam) as from China and Korea.
It's not a knock on SC/SE Asians, but Afghan, Filipino or Vietnamese students generally aren't going to have the test scores of kids whose parents were educated in China or Korea. |
Anonymous
I agree with this comment. In fact, I think SE Asians are considered under-represented minorities for college admissions purposes. Not so with Chinese and Koreans. |
Anonymous
Interesting. If I'm not mistaken India and Phillpines are English-speaking countries (and were westernized/colonized), while not the case for neither China nor Korea. I'd be surprised if at least the reading and writing scores were not higher among them. |
Anonymous
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Many students whose parents come from India have done very well in the local school systems. Students whose parents come from other Asian countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Philippines have not done as well, on average, as students from India, China or Korea.
There are lots of possible factors at play - students from Afghanistan literally may have fled a war-torn region where students could not regularly attend school, Filipino students may have been separated from parents working overseas for extended periods, whereas the Chinese-American or Korean-American students are more likely to have parents who attended rigorous secondary schools. |
Anonymous
The reasons is that they are not comparing apples to apples. Asians are not homogenious, as they consist of a lot of varying cultures and demographics. A lot of asians in NoVa came to the U.S. under student or work visas and are highly educated professionals, or are children or grandchildren of such immigrants. Other asians came to the U.S. because of war, persecution, or poverty from their homes. Some were highly educated, a lot were not. After the initial waves of immigrants become citizens, they can get visas for their relatives. Some of these relatives are highly educated, but many were not. Test scores is highly correlated to the wealth and education of the parents. Arlington has a large number of working class housing options in the south part of the county. Fairfax County's working class housing is concentrated in Falls Church, Annandale, and Alexandria. North Arlington has tiny, expensive housing, but an easy commute to DC. This appeals to lawyers, lobbyists, PR, media, etc. Fairfax County has larger houses, longer commute to DC, but an easier commute to defense contractors and the tech sector. My guess is there are probably more asian technology professionals than lawyers, so Fairfax County appeals to them more. So Arlington has a larger mix of asian students from working class families than Fairfax, so it isn't a real comparable measure. You should compare the asian students test scores from N. Arlington to those in say McLean, Vienna, or Langley. Or those in S. Arlington to those in Annandale and Falls Church part of Fairfax County. I have a hard time believing that there would be much of a discrepancy. |
Anonymous
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17:46 - Obviously you put a lot of thought into your post, and it was very interesting. I'd only point out that Asian students who took the SATs (which prompted the OP question) aren't concentrated in South Arlington. There are almost as many Asian students at Yorktown as at Wakefield, and there are more Asian students at W-L (which serves both North and South Arlington neighborhoods) than at either Yorktown or Wakefield.
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