Why does mcps do a crappy job with magnet/enriched opportunities

[Anonymous]

It is super important that we restrict the best opportunities for high quality intensive math and science education to a tiny fraction of the hundreds, if not thousands, of smart and motivated high school students in the region that could handle the work. Why would we want more kids to have a strong grounding in these areas, it's not like these are foundational skills that make a huge difference in our fastest growing industries...oh, wait.

And we wonder why the U.S. ranks so poorly on math and science performance compared with other nations...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The programs are awesome because they do not include every kid whose mom thinks they are gifted. Faifax has a program which includes about 20% of the kids and people complain it is pretty watered down. Can't have it both ways.

So open up the magnet programs for the top 5 percent of kids...it seems like the enriched studies and MS and HS programs rejects plenty of 98 and even 99 percentile kids.

Because they are for 1% kids. Not for 5%. Not enough funding and space for those while there are lost of bottom %20 kids to bring up.

So how come Fairfax can do it for 20%.

Because they don’t spend a ton of the school budget on overhead on tests, policies, applications, paying people to read applications, etc... They also don’t bus the kids all over their gigantic county like we do. Another huge waste of money and normalcy.

Only MCPS knkws how to waste money AND not give enough programs to kids that need enrichment.

We all know the top 1%, 5% or 15% are all spoon fed tutors and testing from tiger mommies day 1. Why give them a platform to go crazy competing for these few spots. They will STILL “enrich” them a5 home whether the material is watered down or not.

Let the teachers pick like Fairfax does. My school did the same thing. Used standardized testing scores, grades, and teacher references.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

So how come Fairfax can do it for 20%.

Because they don’t spend a ton of the school budget on overhead on tests, policies, applications, paying people to read applications, etc... They also don’t bus the kids all over their gigantic county like we do. Another huge waste of money and normalcy.

Only MCPS knkws how to waste money AND not give enough programs to kids that need enrichment.

We all know the top 1%, 5% or 15% are all spoon fed tutors and testing from tiger mommies day 1. Why give them a platform to go crazy competing for these few spots. They will STILL “enrich” them a5 home whether the material is watered down or not.

Let the teachers pick like Fairfax does. My school did the same thing. Used standardized testing scores, grades, and teacher references.

In Fairfax everybody complains bitterly about watered-down programs. teacher favoritism, and parent pushing. AAP in FCPS has its own forum on DCUM because the rest of the FCPS couldn't stand it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I find this crazy because there are tons of bright, hardworking kids in this county, that MCPS seems to care very little about.

The BOE is almost dismissive at the meetings when parents try to advocate for more 'enriched' programming or curriculum offerings.

The current leadership (BOE/Superintendent) have made it completely clear that they have zero interest in supporting enriched programming. Their one and only focus is closing the Achievement Gap. And, that being said, it is in their best interest to not offer extensive enrichment opportunities.

Also agree with the PP that parents don't hold the BOE accountable. We continue to vote for people who don't care about our kids.

And, lastly, MCPS is TOO DAMN BIG. It is impossible for a school system this size to effectively meet the needs of its students. And, over the past decade, as a parent, I feel that it's doing a pretty crappy job at meeting the needs of most students.

Oh, look, it's the "MCPS is trying to close the achievement gap by making my smart kid dumber" argument.

Do you know how MCPS measures the achievement gap?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The programs are awesome because they do not include every kid whose mom thinks they are gifted. Faifax has a program which includes about 20% of the kids and people complain it is pretty watered down. Can't have it both ways.

So open up the magnet programs for the top 5 percent of kids...it seems like the enriched studies and MS and HS programs rejects plenty of 98 and even 99 percentile kids.

Because they are for 1% kids. Not for 5%. Not enough funding and space for those while there are lost of bottom %20 kids to bring up.

So how come Fairfax can do it for 20%.

Because they don’t spend a ton of the school budget on overhead on tests, policies, applications, paying people to read applications, etc... They also don’t bus the kids all over their gigantic county like we do. Another huge waste of money and normalcy.

Only MCPS knkws how to waste money AND not give enough programs to kids that need enrichment.

We all know the top 1%, 5% or 15% are all spoon fed tutors and testing from tiger mommies day 1. Why give them a platform to go crazy competing for these few spots. They will STILL “enrich” them a5 home whether the material is watered down or not.

Let the teachers pick like Fairfax does. My school did the same thing. Used standardized testing scores, grades, and teacher references.

You don't seem to know much about it. They have an incredibly complex system with regional centers, bussing, and an elaborate application process. And many parents feel the classes are not so different than the regular ones. They are envious of MCPS's magnets (though like here they probably all assume their child would/should get in).

[Anonymous]

There is a limited budget and MCPS is a HUGE County.

MCPS has to at least get students to meet the minimum requirements. I see this at our Focus ES. Lots of time and energy spent on getting kids extra help (ESOL with low ratios, outreach into the community with special programs at the lower income apartment homes, etc). But very little resources available for the higher performing kids - whether they are low-income or not.

MCPS has experienced changing demographics and needs to dedicate funding to students who need extra help. They figure the high performing kids will do well, no matter what.

[Anonymous]

If they did a "better job" as the poster asks, many people on this board would just complain that the magnets are now just watered down shadows of their former selves and the same as regular classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I find this crazy because there are tons of bright, hardworking kids in this county, that MCPS seems to care very little about.

The BOE is almost dismissive at the meetings when parents try to advocate for more 'enriched' programming or curriculum offerings.

The current leadership (BOE/Superintendent) have made it completely clear that they have zero interest in supporting enriched programming. Their one and only focus is closing the Achievement Gap. And, that being said, it is in their best interest to not offer extensive enrichment opportunities.

Also agree with the PP that parents don't hold the BOE accountable. We continue to vote for people who don't care about our kids.

And, lastly, MCPS is TOO DAMN BIG. It is impossible for a school system this size to effectively meet the needs of its students. And, over the past decade, as a parent, I feel that it's doing a pretty crappy job at meeting the needs of most students.

Oh, look, it's the "MCPS is trying to close the achievement gap by making my smart kid dumber" argument.

Do you know how MCPS measures the achievement gap?

Do tell

[Anonymous]

If my smart kid doesn't get into the magnet program, then that shows that the magnet program is too small.

If my smart kid gets into the magnet program but your not-so-smart kid does too, then that shows that the magnet program is too big.

Ergo, the right size for a magnet program is: big enough so that my smart kid gets in, but small enough so that your not-so-smart kid doesn't get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I find this crazy because there are tons of bright, hardworking kids in this county, that MCPS seems to care very little about.

The BOE is almost dismissive at the meetings when parents try to advocate for more 'enriched' programming or curriculum offerings.

The current leadership (BOE/Superintendent) have made it completely clear that they have zero interest in supporting enriched programming. Their one and only focus is closing the Achievement Gap. And, that being said, it is in their best interest to not offer extensive enrichment opportunities.

Also agree with the PP that parents don't hold the BOE accountable. We continue to vote for people who don't care about our kids.

And, lastly, MCPS is TOO DAMN BIG. It is impossible for a school system this size to effectively meet the needs of its students. And, over the past decade, as a parent, I feel that it's doing a pretty crappy job at meeting the needs of most students.

Oh, look, it's the "MCPS is trying to close the achievement gap by making my smart kid dumber" argument.

Do you know how MCPS measures the achievement gap?

I know all this crying and complaining with absolutely no facts to back up this misguided premise has gotten very old. The choices MCPS has been making over the last few years like universal screening, cohort criteria, replacing a broken curriculum all have been consistently spot on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The programs are awesome because they do not include every kid whose mom thinks they are gifted. Faifax has a program which includes about 20% of the kids and people complain it is pretty watered down. Can't have it both ways.

So open up the magnet programs for the top 5 percent of kids...it seems like the enriched studies and MS and HS programs rejects plenty of 98 and even 99 percentile kids.

Because they are for 1% kids. Not for 5%. Not enough funding and space for those while there are lost of bottom %20 kids to bring up.

They are not even for top 1% anymore. They are for students who don't have "peer cohorts" in their home schools. Maybe except for HS, but who knows if they start changing HS admissions, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

So how come Fairfax can do it for 20%.

Because they don’t spend a ton of the school budget on overhead on tests, policies, applications, paying people to read applications, etc... They also don’t bus the kids all over their gigantic county like we do. Another huge waste of money and normalcy.

Only MCPS knkws how to waste money AND not give enough programs to kids that need enrichment.

We all know the top 1%, 5% or 15% are all spoon fed tutors and testing from tiger mommies day 1. Why give them a platform to go crazy competing for these few spots. They will STILL “enrich” them a5 home whether the material is watered down or not.

Let the teachers pick like Fairfax does. My school did the same thing. Used standardized testing scores, grades, and teacher references.

In Fairfax everybody complains bitterly about watered-down programs. teacher favoritism, and parent pushing. AAP in FCPS has its own forum on DCUM because the rest of the FCPS couldn't stand it.

+1 And don't think AAP parents don't "tutor" or prep their kids. They do.

[Anonymous]

My kid is in a CES this year, and the program is just awesome. They teach the way I think almost all kids should be taught, and the curriculum and activities they use are absolutely stellar. I appreciate that my child is in a class with academic peers, but really, he would be pretty happy if he could have even half this program, “watered down” at his home school. A key thing I see about the activities they do is that they allow the kids to reach their own limits. An example: they begin writing a poem and the teacher has them write down all the words they can think of that have to do with the topic. Then, they have to write their poem without using a single one of those words. This would work in ANY classroom, and is a wonderful way to let an assignment allow natural differentiation. This doesn’t happen once a week, this kind of teaching seems to happen throughout the day, every day. Too many of the “regular” classroom activities in the current ELA curriculum are rigid and limited, so that many kids feel trapped instead of inspired.

MCPS has been looking for a new curriculum for ELA and I really think they should look to the CES programs for fantastic ideas. I also think that there is comparatively little pressure on the CES teachers to get test scores up, and as a result, the teachers and kids have a real joy of teaching and learning together. Less worksheets, less drilling, more doing and talking and experiencing together. I, for one, would happily give up CES if all those things could come back to all the home classrooms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in a CES this year, and the program is just awesome. They teach the way I think almost all kids should be taught, and the curriculum and activities they use are absolutely stellar. I appreciate that my child is in a class with academic peers, but really, he would be pretty happy if he could have even half this program, “watered down” at his home school. A key thing I see about the activities they do is that they allow the kids to reach their own limits. An example: they begin writing a poem and the teacher has them write down all the words they can think of that have to do with the topic. Then, they have to write their poem without using a single one of those words. This would work in ANY classroom, and is a wonderful way to let an assignment allow natural differentiation. This doesn’t happen once a week, this kind of teaching seems to happen throughout the day, every day. Too many of the “regular” classroom activities in the current ELA curriculum are rigid and limited, so that many kids feel trapped instead of inspired.

MCPS has been looking for a new curriculum for ELA and I really think they should look to the CES programs for fantastic ideas. I also think that there is comparatively little pressure on the CES teachers to get test scores up, and as a result, the teachers and kids have a real joy of teaching and learning together. Less worksheets, less drilling, more doing and talking and experiencing together. I, for one, would happily give up CES if all those things could come back to all the home classrooms.

But in the home classroom the teacher would be busy trying to get the lower performing students up to speed and would be drilling etc..that is the whole point of having a separate program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is in a CES this year, and the program is just awesome. They teach the way I think almost all kids should be taught, and the curriculum and activities they use are absolutely stellar. I appreciate that my child is in a class with academic peers, but really, he would be pretty happy if he could have even half this program, “watered down” at his home school. A key thing I see about the activities they do is that they allow the kids to reach their own limits. An example: they begin writing a poem and the teacher has them write down all the words they can think of that have to do with the topic. Then, they have to write their poem without using a single one of those words. This would work in ANY classroom, and is a wonderful way to let an assignment allow natural differentiation. This doesn’t happen once a week, this kind of teaching seems to happen throughout the day, every day. Too many of the “regular” classroom activities in the current ELA curriculum are rigid and limited, so that many kids feel trapped instead of inspired.

MCPS has been looking for a new curriculum for ELA and I really think they should look to the CES programs for fantastic ideas. I also think that there is comparatively little pressure on the CES teachers to get test scores up, and as a result, the teachers and kids have a real joy of teaching and learning together. Less worksheets, less drilling, more doing and talking and experiencing together. I, for one, would happily give up CES if all those things could come back to all the home classrooms.

But in the home classroom the teacher would be busy trying to get the lower performing students up to speed and would be drilling etc..that is the whole point of having a separate program.

I have seen the kids who “need” drilling back at the home school and their bright spark is dying. I cannot think of many kids who actually need endless, boring, repetitive drilling. That is just poor curriculum or lazy teaching. You can hide drills in engaging activities that allow kids to slow down or reach further.