Racial make up in honors vs. non-honors classes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have an African American son who will be starting elementary school next year. Any advice in terms of ideal an ideal elementary schools in MC that offer a great education and some diversity? We heard that North Chevy Chase is great but starts in grade 3?

You cannot pick a school like they do in DC.

[Anonymous]

We are renting and will move to whatever area gives our son a great education and has some racial diversity. We like MoCo- but don't want him to be the only AA in his class.

[Anonymous]

Rosemary Hills is for K-2 and it is known as a "rainbow school" b/c of its diversity. We just started K and we're happy so far. At back to school night, there were parents of many different shades in her class although the biggest chunk were still white. It feeds into NCC for 3rd-6th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm wondering why it matters to you what the racial composition is of his classes? Isn't this a great opportunity to teach him that race doesn't matter? That he's a smart kid and he should learn to work well with the other smart kids in his class?

It matters because race does not determine your intelligence. So if there are 50% minority in the schools there should be 50% minorities in AP classes. Otherwise there is another reason why kids are not in AP classes.

It not just a minority issue -this happens to boys, kids with LDs, and minorities.

It does matter to me that my kids are not given the impression in their school experience that blacks and Hispanics are poor, not as smart and trouble.

This is a big problem in diverse MoCo schools. So I understand why the poster above who is Caucasian and in private believes her diverse experience is more balanced.

So you would rather have affirmative action in honors classes than allow students who truly deserve it to be in those classes? Your school is not actively telling minority students they can't join honors classes because they are asian, hispanic, or with a learning disability. For whatever reason (and it could be parental involvement or lack of english skills or whatever), the students who are in honors classes deserve to be there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I asked my kid last night and he said there are many Asians and southeast Asian kids in his honors classes. More than their pro rata. Is that an issue for OP as well?

I'm sure OP is one of those people who thinks Asians don't count because they are not so-called underpriveleged minorities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm wondering why it matters to you what the racial composition is of his classes? Isn't this a great opportunity to teach him that race doesn't matter? That he's a smart kid and he should learn to work well with the other smart kids in his class?

It matters because race does not determine your intelligence. So if there are 50% minority in the schools there should be 50% minorities in AP classes. Otherwise there is another reason why kids are not in AP classes.

It not just a minority issue -this happens to boys, kids with LDs, and minorities.

It does matter to me that my kids are not given the impression in their school experience that blacks and Hispanics are poor, not as smart and trouble.

This is a big problem in diverse MoCo schools. So I understand why the poster above who is Caucasian and in private believes her diverse experience is more balanced.

Because she goes to a private school that only lets in students of a certain caliber or above? Sorry, public schools can't do that.

[Anonymous]

That might be a good thing for DS when it comes time for college. Less competition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I asked my kid last night and he said there are many Asians and southeast Asian kids in his honors classes. More than their pro rata. Is that an issue for OP as well?

Many? Try most. What a surprise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm wondering why it matters to you what the racial composition is of his classes? Isn't this a great opportunity to teach him that race doesn't matter? That he's a smart kid and he should learn to work well with the other smart kids in his class?

It matters because race does not determine your intelligence. So if there are 50% minority in the schools there should be 50% minorities in AP classes. Otherwise there is another reason why kids are not in AP classes.

It not just a minority issue -this happens to boys, kids with LDs, and minorities.

It does matter to me that my kids are not given the impression in their school experience that blacks and Hispanics are poor, not as smart and trouble.

This is a big problem in diverse MoCo schools. So I understand why the poster above who is Caucasian and in private believes her diverse experience is more balanced.

So you would rather have affirmative action in honors classes than allow students who truly deserve it to be in those classes? Your school is not actively telling minority students they can't join honors classes because they are asian, hispanic, or with a learning disability. For whatever reason (and it could be parental involvement or lack of english skills or whatever), the students who are in honors classes deserve to be there.

No one is saying that the kids who are there don't deserve to be there, so stop acting so threatened. The question is why more AA are not there. The answer is not to lower the standards just to fill the seats with more color. The answer is to better prepare the capable students, regardless of color, from a younger age. This isn't a 6th grade or a 9th grade issue. It is a k-5 preparation and engagement issue.

[Anonymous]

It's mostly socioeconomics.

And yes, your poor will most likely be hispanics and blacks. Africans, however, (true African Americans, that is) are oftentimes more advanced b/c of strong family influence, despite being labeled FARMs.

So, in this area, it's a combination of money and family influence.

Move to the Midwest and you'll find many more poor whites from dysfunctional families living in poverty.

My daughter's in private school. Her school is becoming more and more diverse, and about 1/3 of her class is a mix of African, black, Asian and hispanic students. The majority of the parents in her school are educated and involved.

There's the difference.

In public, however, you teach the masses, which means you're responsible for all children living w/in that school cluster. And if your school pulls from a diverse area, where there are pockets of poverty, you cannot unfortunately reach them all. So many will end up in on level classes b/c these are now the most basic courses a school offers. So w/o family support, it's impossible to help a child move up, as transience and absenteeism are oftentimes the norm.

As a parent, while I'd worry about the lack of diversity, I'd worry more about my child NOT being challenged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm wondering why it matters to you what the racial composition is of his classes? Isn't this a great opportunity to teach him that race doesn't matter? That he's a smart kid and he should learn to work well with the other smart kids in his class?

It matters because race does not determine your intelligence. So if there are 50% minority in the schools there should be 50% minorities in AP classes. Otherwise there is another reason why kids are not in AP classes.

It not just a minority issue -this happens to boys, kids with LDs, and minorities.

It does matter to me that my kids are not given the impression in their school experience that blacks and Hispanics are poor, not as smart and trouble.

This is a big problem in diverse MoCo schools. So I understand why the poster above who is Caucasian and in private believes her diverse experience is more balanced.

So you would rather have affirmative action in honors classes than allow students who truly deserve it to be in those classes? Your school is not actively telling minority students they can't join honors classes because they are asian, hispanic, or with a learning disability. For whatever reason (and it could be parental involvement or lack of english skills or whatever), the students who are in honors classes deserve to be there.

No one is saying that the kids who are there don't deserve to be there, so stop acting so threatened. The question is why more AA are not there. The answer is not to lower the standards just to fill the seats with more color. The answer is to better prepare the capable students, regardless of color, from a younger age. This isn't a 6th grade or a 9th grade issue. It is a k-5 preparation and engagement issue.

It is a preschool preparation problem. My husband and are middle class Latinos. I grew with Asian friends in California and grew to realize how much their parents cared about and focused on their education. I put my son in Kumon for math and taught him how to read and spell at home. At Kumon he was the only brown kid there that was preschool age. The only other Latinos /AA I saw were upper elementary students working on remediation. He just started kindergarten at a high performing school. He has already realized that he is in the top group of students (he has already figured out who can read and write). The teacher has already told me twice what a "nice kid" he is. She even said "your son is such good boy, I really need more boys like him". Two weeks into school he is already getting validated for being a good student and believes that he is really smart. Many of our Latino middle class and upper middle class friends think we are crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm wondering why it matters to you what the racial composition is of his classes? Isn't this a great opportunity to teach him that race doesn't matter? That he's a smart kid and he should learn to work well with the other smart kids in his class?

It matters because race does not determine your intelligence. So if there are 50% minority in the schools there should be 50% minorities in AP classes. Otherwise there is another reason why kids are not in AP classes.

It not just a minority issue -this happens to boys, kids with LDs, and minorities.

It does matter to me that my kids are not given the impression in their school experience that blacks and Hispanics are poor, not as smart and trouble.

This is a big problem in diverse MoCo schools. So I understand why the poster above who is Caucasian and in private believes her diverse experience is more balanced.

So you would rather have affirmative action in honors classes than allow students who truly deserve it to be in those classes? Your school is not actively telling minority students they can't join honors classes because they are asian, hispanic, or with a learning disability. For whatever reason (and it could be parental involvement or lack of english skills or whatever), the students who are in honors classes deserve to be there.

No one is saying that the kids who are there don't deserve to be there, so stop acting so threatened. The question is why more AA are not there. The answer is not to lower the standards just to fill the seats with more color. The answer is to better prepare the capable students, regardless of color, from a younger age. This isn't a 6th grade or a 9th grade issue. It is a k-5 preparation and engagement issue.

It is a preschool preparation problem. My husband and are middle class Latinos. I grew with Asian friends in California and grew to realize how much their parents cared about and focused on their education. I put my son in Kumon for math and taught him how to read and spell at home. At Kumon he was the only brown kid there that was preschool age. The only other Latinos /AA I saw were upper elementary students working on remediation. He just started kindergarten at a high performing school. He has already realized that he is in the top group of students (he has already figured out who can read and write). The teacher has already told me twice what a "nice kid" he is. She even said "your son is such good boy, I really need more boys like him". Two weeks into school he is already getting validated for being a good student and believes that he is really smart. Many of our Latino middle class and upper middle class friends think we are crazy.

THis! By Kindergarten kids are already behind. It you are trying to catch children up during k-5 you are already behind the eight ball. YEs, some of our family thinks we are crazy (AA and Lationo) but most of our friends are highly educated Lationa and AA so they are investing as much as we are in preparing our child. I mentioned this on another thread an another poster went crazy but this is the idea behind the Harlem's Children ZOne Baby College WHICH IS FOR THE PARENTS not the babies. It teaches the parents the importance of what most upper middle class parents take for gratned, read to your children, have toys that challenge your child available, expose them to many experiences, and speak to your child often

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems like MCPS is doing away with all differentiation to avoid lines like this.

Some MCPS high schools have gone to all honors and AP classes in some subjects. No on-level. Just honors and AP. Yep, that's right. Every child is an honors or AP student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems like MCPS is doing away with all differentiation to avoid lines like this.

Some MCPS high schools have gone to all honors and AP classes in some subjects. No on-level. Just honors and AP. Yep, that's right. Every child is an honors or AP student.

This is complete BS if they are doing this and I say this as a hispanic. The kids aren't being done any favors by being called "honors" if they haven't worked for it and would not be able to handle truly advanced coursework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm wondering why it matters to you what the racial composition is of his classes? Isn't this a great opportunity to teach him that race doesn't matter? That he's a smart kid and he should learn to work well with the other smart kids in his class?

It matters because race does not determine your intelligence. So if there are 50% minority in the schools there should be 50% minorities in AP classes. Otherwise there is another reason why kids are not in AP classes.

It not just a minority issue -this happens to boys, kids with LDs, and minorities.

It does matter to me that my kids are not given the impression in their school experience that blacks and Hispanics are poor, not as smart and trouble.

This is a big problem in diverse MoCo schools. So I understand why the poster above who is Caucasian and in private believes her diverse experience is more balanced.

So you would rather have affirmative action in honors classes than allow students who truly deserve it to be in those classes? Your school is not actively telling minority students they can't join honors classes because they are asian, hispanic, or with a learning disability. For whatever reason (and it could be parental involvement or lack of english skills or whatever), the students who are in honors classes deserve to be there.

No one is saying that the kids who are there don't deserve to be there, so stop acting so threatened. The question is why more AA are not there. The answer is not to lower the standards just to fill the seats with more color. The answer is to better prepare the capable students, regardless of color, from a younger age. This isn't a 6th grade or a 9th grade issue. It is a k-5 preparation and engagement issue.

It is a preschool preparation problem. My husband and are middle class Latinos. I grew with Asian friends in California and grew to realize how much their parents cared about and focused on their education. I put my son in Kumon for math and taught him how to read and spell at home. At Kumon he was the only brown kid there that was preschool age. The only other Latinos /AA I saw were upper elementary students working on remediation. He just started kindergarten at a high performing school. He has already realized that he is in the top group of students (he has already figured out who can read and write). The teacher has already told me twice what a "nice kid" he is. She even said "your son is such good boy, I really need more boys like him". Two weeks into school he is already getting validated for being a good student and believes that he is really smart. Many of our Latino middle class and upper middle class friends think we are crazy.

23:45 here. Yes, preschool preparation is very important. We are AA, and our daughter went to a wonderful preschool, we read with her, she was reading before she turned 5, etc, etc. But my point was about how schools need to address the issue. It is great that your son is getting validation so early in school. But on the first day of kindergarten, who knows if he (or my daughter when she was that age) are actually "smart" or simply better prepared than the many other Latino and AA kids who are not getting that teacher validation. Kindergarten is too soon for the school system to be already relegating vast numbers of students to 12 years of average to below average expectations simply because their parents are housecleaners and cab drivers rather than doctors and lawyers. Maybe the parents have missed a lot of the enrichment they could have been doing in the first 5 years, but that doesn't mean the schools shouldn't be doing all they can in k-5 to enable those kids who are intellectually capable to be prepared for advanced classes in the upper grades. Our DD has tested as gifted, and definitely needs enrichment and acceleration. I don't want advanced classes to be watered down. I want the pool for those classes and programs to become more competitive due to more students being prepared for higher level work, not less competitive from watering them down.