MCPS - National Merit Seminfinalists pretty unevenly distributed, don't you think?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again -- correction, Poolesville did pretty well. I misread the numbers there. Still there are many MCPS schools with no NM semifinalists. Are people surprised?

No. Because those kids go to magnet schools. I don't thing schools should claim a NM semi finalist if they were educated 90% of there,education at another school. These kids take PSATs in 7th and 8th grade, are admitted based on these scores and then magnet schools are like wow look how great we are. It's smoke and mirrors to get people to buy houses in failing neighborhoods.

Not surprised either that W parents won't bus their smart kids to a failing school.

This is really not factual.

Admissions tests aren't PSATs, first of all. And as a mom whose kid goes to a magnet in one of those "failing" schools (actually not failing, but anyway ...) we have lots of kids whose home neighborhoods are W schools or BCC cluster schools. It's not smoke and mirrors, it's an appropriate education for gifted kids. Sorry if that rankles.

Affluent parents will cross boundaries to send their kids to high-profile magnets like Blair or RM-IB. They won't do so for vague specialty programs like those scattered among the schools in eastern MoCo?

Well, considering that I HAVE A KID in the middle school magnet program at Eastern, I can tell you with confidence that there are kids there from Chevy Chase and the W clusters. And some of those kids will go on the the CAP program or math scince magnets at Blairs.

The "vague specialty programs" that you refer to aren't magnets, they are programs for kids in the DCC so you can't go there if you don't live in the DCC. But the magnets -- yes, kids do go. As for drinking the koolaid, if you are that poster, I can tell you again that I HAVE A KID in the magnet and one who is in regular MCPS middle school and I can tell you with 100% confidence that the magnet classes are much more interesting, enriching, accelerated and challenging that the ones my other child has in her vaunted West-county W cluster middle school.

If you want to get worked up about something, get worked up about the level of challenge and depth that most of our kids are presented with in everyday classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again -- correction, Poolesville did pretty well. I misread the numbers there. Still there are many MCPS schools with no NM semifinalists. Are people surprised?

No. Because those kids go to magnet schools. I don't thing schools should claim a NM semi finalist if they were educated 90% of there,education at another school. These kids take PSATs in 7th and 8th grade, are admitted based on these scores and then magnet schools are like wow look how great we are. It's smoke and mirrors to get people to buy houses in failing neighborhoods.

Not surprised either that W parents won't bus their smart kids to a failing school.

This is really not factual.

Admissions tests aren't PSATs, first of all. And as a mom whose kid goes to a magnet in one of those "failing" schools (actually not failing, but anyway ...) we have lots of kids whose home neighborhoods are W schools or BCC cluster schools. It's not smoke and mirrors, it's an appropriate education for gifted kids. Sorry if that rankles.

Affluent parents will cross boundaries to send their kids to high-profile magnets like Blair or RM-IB. They won't do so for vague specialty programs like those scattered among the schools in eastern MoCo?

Well, considering that I HAVE A KID in the middle school magnet program at Eastern, I can tell you with confidence that there are kids there from Chevy Chase and the W clusters. And some of those kids will go on the the CAP program or math scince magnets at Blairs.

The "vague specialty programs" that you refer to aren't magnets, they are programs for kids in the DCC so you can't go there if you don't live in the DCC. But the magnets -- yes, kids do go. As for drinking the koolaid, if you are that poster, I can tell you again that I HAVE A KID in the magnet and one who is in regular MCPS middle school and I can tell you with 100% confidence that the magnet classes are much more interesting, enriching, accelerated and challenging that the ones my other child has in her vaunted West-county W cluster middle school.

If you want to get worked up about something, get worked up about the level of challenge and depth that most of our kids are presented with in everyday classes.

This. But unfortunately the space is very limited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again -- correction, Poolesville did pretty well. I misread the numbers there. Still there are many MCPS schools with no NM semifinalists. Are people surprised?

No. Because those kids go to magnet schools. I don't thing schools should claim a NM semi finalist if they were educated 90% of there,education at another school. These kids take PSATs in 7th and 8th grade, are admitted based on these scores and then magnet schools are like wow look how great we are. It's smoke and mirrors to get people to buy houses in failing neighborhoods.

Not surprised either that W parents won't bus their smart kids to a failing school.

This is really not factual.

Admissions tests aren't PSATs, first of all. And as a mom whose kid goes to a magnet in one of those "failing" schools (actually not failing, but anyway ...) we have lots of kids whose home neighborhoods are W schools or BCC cluster schools. It's not smoke and mirrors, it's an appropriate education for gifted kids. Sorry if that rankles.

Affluent parents will cross boundaries to send their kids to high-profile magnets like Blair or RM-IB. They won't do so for vague specialty programs like those scattered among the schools in eastern MoCo?

Well, considering that I HAVE A KID in the middle school magnet program at Eastern, I can tell you with confidence that there are kids there from Chevy Chase and the W clusters. And some of those kids will go on the the CAP program or math scince magnets at Blairs.

The "vague specialty programs" that you refer to aren't magnets, they are programs for kids in the DCC so you can't go there if you don't live in the DCC. But the magnets -- yes, kids do go. As for drinking the koolaid, if you are that poster, I can tell you again that I HAVE A KID in the magnet and one who is in regular MCPS middle school and I can tell you with 100% confidence that the magnet classes are much more interesting, enriching, accelerated and challenging that the ones my other child has in her vaunted West-county W cluster middle school.

If you want to get worked up about something, get worked up about the level of challenge and depth that most of our kids are presented with in everyday classes.

+1

[Anonymous]

It's pretty much what I would expect. Everyone on DCUM who thinks that all MCPS are created equal is in denial.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's pretty much what I would expect. Everyone on DCUM who thinks that all MCPS are created equal is in denial.

Everyone who thinks that test scores = school quality is also in denial.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again -- correction, Poolesville did pretty well. I misread the numbers there. Still there are many MCPS schools with no NM semifinalists. Are people surprised?

No. Because those kids go to magnet schools. I don't thing schools should claim a NM semi finalist if they were educated 90% of there,education at another school. These kids take PSATs in 7th and 8th grade, are admitted based on these scores and then magnet schools are like wow look how great we are. It's smoke and mirrors to get people to buy houses in failing neighborhoods.

Not surprised either that W parents won't bus their smart kids to a failing school.

This is really not factual.

Admissions tests aren't PSATs, first of all. And as a mom whose kid goes to a magnet in one of those "failing" schools (actually not failing, but anyway ...) we have lots of kids whose home neighborhoods are W schools or BCC cluster schools. It's not smoke and mirrors, it's an appropriate education for gifted kids. Sorry if that rankles.

Affluent parents will cross boundaries to send their kids to high-profile magnets like Blair or RM-IB. They won't do so for vague specialty programs like those scattered among the schools in eastern MoCo?

Well, considering that I HAVE A KID in the middle school magnet program at Eastern, I can tell you with confidence that there are kids there from Chevy Chase and the W clusters. And some of those kids will go on the the CAP program or math scince magnets at Blairs.

The "vague specialty programs" that you refer to aren't magnets, they are programs for kids in the DCC so you can't go there if you don't live in the DCC. But the magnets -- yes, kids do go. As for drinking the koolaid, if you are that poster, I can tell you again that I HAVE A KID in the magnet and one who is in regular MCPS middle school and I can tell you with 100% confidence that the magnet classes are much more interesting, enriching, accelerated and challenging that the ones my other child has in her vaunted West-county W cluster middle school.

If you want to get worked up about something, get worked up about the level of challenge and depth that most of our kids are presented with in everyday classes.

+1

+2. I'm another parent who has had kids go through the Takoma ES, Takoma MS, and Blair magnets. I, too, can assure PP that kids cross boundaries for these magnet programs. The magnet classes are very challenging, high quality, and appropriate for the magnet kids.

And yes, the "vague specialty programs" are only available for kids who live inside the Down County Consortium. Bethesda, Potomac and Rockville, to name a few, aren't part of the DCC.

Meanwhile, we like the fact that the magnets are housed in diverse schools. Every day in their non-magnet classes they meet with kids with a very diverse range of backgrounds, SES, and ethnicities. These aren't like the white/asian bubble where PP probably sends his kids.

[Anonymous]

But it is not indicative of the education ou will receive from that school... Blair or rm. It is very deceiving to rank the school with the magnet kids test scores. It is a marketing tool for real estate in montgomery county for neighborhoods nobody would buy in if they really knew the ranking of the school with out the magnet kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again -- correction, Poolesville did pretty well. I misread the numbers there. Still there are many MCPS schools with no NM semifinalists. Are people surprised?

No. Because those kids go to magnet schools. I don't thing schools should claim a NM semi finalist if they were educated 90% of there,education at another school. These kids take PSATs in 7th and 8th grade, are admitted based on these scores and then magnet schools are like wow look how great we are. It's smoke and mirrors to get people to buy houses in failing neighborhoods.

Not surprised either that W parents won't bus their smart kids to a failing school.

This is really not factual.

Admissions tests aren't PSATs, first of all. And as a mom whose kid goes to a magnet in one of those "failing" schools (actually not failing, but anyway ...) we have lots of kids whose home neighborhoods are W schools or BCC cluster schools. It's not smoke and mirrors, it's an appropriate education for gifted kids. Sorry if that rankles.

Affluent parents will cross boundaries to send their kids to high-profile magnets like Blair or RM-IB. They won't do so for vague specialty programs like those scattered among the schools in eastern MoCo?

From the chart provided you can see the majority did not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's the list:

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/pdf/MCPS%20Semifinalists%202014%209%2011%2013.pdf

Lots from Whitman, Churchill, Blair and Richard Montgomery. BCC and WJ make a decent showing. Most other schools, even Poolesville, not so many. What do people think?

Looks like the Wu, Xu, Liu Crew did well, as did the Zhang, Deng, Tang Gang. All the rest, Mazel Tov!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again -- correction, Poolesville did pretty well. I misread the numbers there. Still there are many MCPS schools with no NM semifinalists. Are people surprised?

No. Because those kids go to magnet schools. I don't thing schools should claim a NM semi finalist if they were educated 90% of there,education at another school. These kids take PSATs in 7th and 8th grade, are admitted based on these scores and then magnet schools are like wow look how great we are. It's smoke and mirrors to get people to buy houses in failing neighborhoods.

Not surprised either that W parents won't bus their smart kids to a failing school.

This is really not factual.

Admissions tests aren't PSATs, first of all. And as a mom whose kid goes to a magnet in one of those "failing" schools (actually not failing, but anyway ...) we have lots of kids whose home neighborhoods are W schools or BCC cluster schools. It's not smoke and mirrors, it's an appropriate education for gifted kids. Sorry if that rankles.

+1

We are in a W school district. Both my kids go to Blair. The PSATs were not part of the admissions process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But it is not indicative of the education ou will receive from that school... Blair or rm. It is very deceiving to rank the school with the magnet kids test scores. It is a marketing tool for real estate in montgomery county for neighborhoods nobody would buy in if they really knew the ranking of the school with out the magnet kids.

So the creation of magnet schools is a conspiracy by the real estate industry? I really don't think so. And if someone is buying a house based on the # of NMSFs at a particular HS they've probably researched magnet programs as well. If their kid is NMSF caliber then s/he should get into the magnet program regardless of whether they are in bounds or not.

[Anonymous]

MoCo magnet program can only service a very, very small percentage of its GT student body, much less than other school districts in Fairfax, manhattan, etc.
So if you're researching anything, look hard at where mcps spends its money, it is not BT or magnet programs, in fact, quite the opposite (LD, ESOL), once you strip out pensions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But it is not indicative of the education ou will receive from that school... Blair or rm. It is very deceiving to rank the school with the magnet kids test scores. It is a marketing tool for real estate in montgomery county for neighborhoods nobody would buy in if they really knew the ranking of the school with out the magnet kids.

I'm another poster here to tell you that test scores =/= quality of education. You need to get off that hobby horse, because it's wrong. Blair has some fantastic teachers in the non-magnet part, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the list:

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/pdf/MCPS%20Semifinalists%202014%209%2011%2013.pdf

Lots from Whitman, Churchill, Blair and Richard Montgomery. BCC and WJ make a decent showing. Most other schools, even Poolesville, not so many. What do people think?

Looks like the Wu, Xu, Liu Crew did well, as did the Zhang, Deng, Tang Gang. All the rest, Mazel Tov!

Looks like you are stupid and childish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But it is not indicative of the education ou will receive from that school... Blair or rm. It is very deceiving to rank the school with the magnet kids test scores. It is a marketing tool for real estate in montgomery county for neighborhoods nobody would buy in if they really knew the ranking of the school with out the magnet kids.

I'm another poster here to tell you that test scores =/= quality of education. You need to get off that hobby horse, because it's wrong. Blair has some fantastic teachers in the non-magnet part, too.

IMO test scores are important, but only as a threshold. I.e. scores over a certain level indicates a reasonable peer group and a school that's not focusing too much time/resources on a large number of kids who might need remedial help. I would agree that the vast majority of the time the schools are a lot more similar in terms of the education provided than the test scores might indicate.