Best performing elementary schools in MoCo?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not to mention the atmosphere in the "best" schools can be oppressive, competitive, not nurturing, etc. How are top scores achieved? Pressure? Do they mean anything? No. "Best" is not always best.

The top scores on standardized tests such as the SAT's and ACT's are achieved because many parents at these school pay for private tutoring and preparatory services prior to the students taking these types of tests. Is it any wonder the "top" schools in the county other than the magnet schools are in wealthy areas? Wealthier parents have the disposable income to get their kids the extra help they need to shine. It's not that the teachers are doing a better job at the top schools than the other schools in the county.

Oh please. All the tutoring in the world isn't going to get a kid a perfect or near-perfect SAT score.

There is a correlation between income and test results, but it's not because of test prep. Any sociologist will tell you that it's because of family environment -- hearing big words from an early age, being taken to museums, traveling, having lots of books in the house, the whole package.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
PP here -

I send my kids to my local public schools because I can't afford to send them to private school. I moved to the neighborhood thinking the schools were great. Turns out, the schools aren't what they get the press to be.

The high school was ranked #1 in the state of Maryland by US News and World Report last year. A drug house was busted by Montgomery County Police right across the street from the school last spring. Someone in the neighborhood was keeping the drug dealer busy enough to be located there.

Kids with the issues at school feel entitled. The wealthiest kids are the ones with the biggest problems. They feel like their parents will always bail them out. Many parents are attorneys or know the best in the area. These kids don't live up to the same yardstick as kids across the county. Worse case scenario, they get busted. They might get expelled but their parents will put them in private school. They will never face a judge or do jail time.

So your kid goes to BCC or Whitman or maybe Chuchill - I don't know which was on top of the US News rankings last year, but it was one of these. Those rankings are based mostly on the number of AP and IB tests the kids take. So yes, I'd agree with you that these are kids taking heavy course loads. And yes, rich kids often feel entitled. But I don't buy that Whitman or BCC, with all these kids taking AP and IB tests and doing well on them, is any more of a drug den than Sidwell or a Cathedral school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The high school was ranked #1 in the state of Maryland by US News and World Report last year. A drug house was busted by Montgomery County Police right across the street from the school last spring. Someone in the neighborhood was keeping the drug dealer busy enough to be located there.

Really? If there was indeed a "drug house" located "right across the street from the school" than one would think there'd be press coverage of such an event. Post a link that proves it happened. I'm betting we'll see Romney elected president before we see such a link.

[Anonymous]

Oh please. All the tutoring in the world isn't going to get a kid a perfect or near-perfect SAT score.

There is a correlation between income and test results, but it's not because of test prep. Any sociologist will tell you that it's because of family environment -- hearing big words from an early age, being taken to museums, traveling, having lots of books in the house, the whole package.

Do not not believe the dumb sociologist you read. In every wealthy community in America the family environment includes lots of tutoring, test prep, Princeton and Kaplan review, summer test prep and multiple attempts at the SAT (besides travel, books and enrichment in school). In poor communities in America this type of prep and multiple attempts at SAT is not common. In addition, it is uncommon for folk from poor communities in America to get accommodations for taking the SAT. Accommodation for taking these exams (extra time, small rooms etc) is endemic in wealthy communities in America. The College Board will provide interested parties with this information ... not the out of touch sociologist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Oh please. All the tutoring in the world isn't going to get a kid a perfect or near-perfect SAT score.

There is a correlation between income and test results, but it's not because of test prep. Any sociologist will tell you that it's because of family environment -- hearing big words from an early age, being taken to museums, traveling, having lots of books in the house, the whole package.

Do not not believe the dumb sociologist you read. In every wealthy community in America the family environment includes lots of tutoring, test prep, Princeton and Kaplan review, summer test prep and multiple attempts at the SAT (besides travel, books and enrichment in school). In poor communities in America this type of prep and multiple attempts at SAT is not common. In addition, it is uncommon for folk from poor communities in America to get accommodations for taking the SAT. Accommodation for taking these exams (extra time, small rooms etc) is endemic in wealthy communities in America. The College Board will provide interested parties with this information ... not the out of touch sociologist.

Sorry, but you're wrong. Test prep alone might raise SAT scores by 200, but it won't raise a 1500 to 2300. Nor do kids go from 1500 to 2300 because they got to take the SATs a 2nd or 3rd time.

The rich-poor gap you're rightly concerned about is a factor, but it's more because of the enrichment you mention. The kids who get 2300 are benefiting from a lifetime of living in educated families who use big words, travel, and send their kids to music lessons and good schools. Which is a problem society needs to address, but society would be making a mistake if it went after the narrow problem of just test prep.

And FWIW, the College Board would never confirm your point, as you claim. The College Board is all for prepping by familiarizing yourself with the test and maybe practicing some algebra questions, but they deny that big changes can be made through test prep. Think of it from their point of view: if test prep can lead to gains of 800 or more points, then their test is simply a measure of family income instead of college readiness or intelligence - which would destroy their whole purported mission and put them out of business.

[Anonymous]

Wealthy communities in America have children who spend millions of dollars prepping for SAT, millions of dollars for SAT tutors, millions of dollars for SAT camps, millions of dollars on taking the PSAT and SAT multiple times before the 11 th grade, and millions of dollars for lawyers, psychologists and psychiatrists for the paperwork to get special privelages and accommodations when it comes to taking the SAT exam. All these have an impact on SAT scores least of which is the educational advantages of high SES.

Poor communities do not have these opportunities since they can't afford them.

If you prepare extensively in this manner, take the SAT exam multiple times and get special accommodations to sit for these SAT exams; the SAT scores will be higher and not lower. This is simple arithematic. It is not complicated. If a poor individual was only given the above, that SAT score will be higher -- independent of SES!!!

[Anonymous]

http://www.nysun.com/new-york/student-backlash-brews-against-untimed-tests/60619/

This phenomena occurs in every wealthy zip code and community in America. The only conclusion is either 1/4 to 1/2 of these kids have major learning disabilities or much like Romney spend a lifetime gaming the system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wealthy communities in America have children who spend millions of dollars prepping for SAT, millions of dollars for SAT tutors, millions of dollars for SAT camps, millions of dollars on taking the PSAT and SAT multiple times before the 11 th grade, and millions of dollars for lawyers, psychologists and psychiatrists for the paperwork to get special privelages and accommodations when it comes to taking the SAT exam. All these have an impact on SAT scores least of which is the educational advantages of high SES.

Poor communities do not have these opportunities since they can't afford them.

If you prepare extensively in this manner, take the SAT exam multiple times and get special accommodations to sit for these SAT exams; the SAT scores will be higher and not lower. This is simple arithematic. It is not complicated. If a poor individual was only given the above, that SAT score will be higher -- independent of SES!!!

Hey Lucy, you moved the football. Nobody is disputing that SAT scores will increase with prep - by maybe 200 points.

But test prep can never explain the larger differences in SAT between rich and poor communities. Taking a kid from Ballou and merely giving him SAT test prep will not raise his score from 1500 to 2300. The problem is deeper, and includes low expectations, lack of access to books throughout his life, and the years he spent at low-performing DCPS schools such as Ballou.

[Anonymous]

Wrong question to ask. With only 300 folk getting perfect 2400 per test session I doubt anyone is interested in this benchmark (these are outliers). But, the millions of dollars spent on test preparation and accommodations by the wealthy do garner the important 200 to 400 point gains (you acknowledge) that make the difference between Ivy and Podunk (this gain is real and a deal maker)!!

Cheers,

Ms Ball

[Anonymous]

http://www.nysun.com/new-york/student-backlash-brews-against-untimed-tests/60619/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wrong question to ask. With only 300 folk getting perfect 2400 per test session I doubt anyone is interested in this benchmark (these are outliers). But, the millions of dollars spent on test preparation and accommodations by the wealthy do garner the important 200 to 400 point gains (you acknowledge) that make the difference between Ivy and Podunk (this gain is real and a deal maker)!!

Cheers,

Ms Ball

Well you've dragged the conversation so far off the topic of "Best Elementary Schools in MoCo" that it's hard to figure out what the question is, let alone the answer.

But it looks like your original point concerned SAT score differentials between schools in lower-income areas (think parts of DC) and schools in higher-income areas (think Bethesda and Potomac). If that's what we're still talking about here, then the SAT differential between these rich and poor areas is way more than any 200-point gain that could reasonably be attributed to SAT test prep. (Fact Check: even the SAT test prep centers don't claim 400-point gains, because they almost never achieve gains this high. Their own promo material mostly talks about 200-point gains.) Check out this WaPo article which says it's "rare" to find a Ballou student who does better than 1500 on the 2400 SATs: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle/2009/09/how_to_survive_our_worst_schoo.html. One, or five or six, SAT prep sessions isn't going to bring this score up to the 2200 necessary for an Ivy. I can't understand why you continue to insist that home environment and schooling, both of which operate over 16 years before a kid takes the SATs, are unimportant.

But hey, why don't you put your theory to the test in your own house. Let your kid rely solely on SAT test prep. Toss out all the books in your house (if you have any) and send him to a lousy school. Then come back here in 10 years when he's 16, and tell us his SAT scores.

(Oh God, I now realize I've been sucked into a conversation with the Crazy Tiger Mom who thinks test prep is more important than sports. I'm outta here!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://www.nysun.com/new-york/student-backlash-brews-against-untimed-tests/60619/

Interesting issue. But maybe start a new thread?

[Anonymous]

Well you've dragged the conversation so far off the topic of "Best Elementary Schools in MoCo" that it's hard to figure out what the question is, let alone the answer.

But it looks like your original point concerned SAT score differentials between schools in lower-income areas (think parts of DC) and schools in higher-income areas (think Bethesda and Potomac). If that's what we're still talking about here, then the SAT differential between these rich and poor areas is way more than any 200-point gain that could reasonably be attributed to SAT test prep. (Fact Check: even the SAT test prep centers don't claim 400-point gains, because they almost never achieve gains this high. Their own promo material mostly talks about 200-point gains.) Check out this WaPo article which says it's "rare" to find a Ballou student who does better than 1500 on the 2400 SATs: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle/20..._survive_our_worst_schoo.html. One, or five or six, SAT prep sessions isn't going to bring this score up to the 2200 necessary for an Ivy. I can't understand why you continue to insist that home environment and schooling, both of which operate over 16 years before a kid takes the SATs, are unimportant.

But hey, why don't you put your theory to the test in your own house. Let your kid rely solely on SAT test prep. Toss out all the books in your house (if you have any) and send him to a lousy school. Then come back here in 10 years when he's 16, and tell us his SAT scores.

(Oh God, I now realize I've been sucked into a conversation with the Crazy Tiger Mom who thinks test prep is more important than sports. I'm outta here!)

Grr...Must be another whack job with multiple personalities.

[Anonymous]

from US News: Churchill was the best last year. Then Whitman, Wooten, Poolesville, WJ, and BCC. In that order.

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/maryland

[Anonymous]

OP asked for the best performing ELEMENTARY schools.

Can anyone help? I'm curious too. For example, someone just told me that Rosemary Hills is no good, but Chevy Chase is great. That the public elementary over near Sangamore is good but too crowded.

Is there any sort of comprehensive resource anywhere?