FCPS plans to "reform" TJ?
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Anonymous
Did you fall asleep 30 years ago? It’s test-prep Asians who want to keep TJ as it is with no changes. |
Anonymous
Sounds great! I'm all for this plan! |
Anonymous
Fear and hate. That’s what built the GOP. |
Anonymous
LOL! And... where exactly are these parents going to go? Too funny pp! |
Anonymous
Private schools. There some good, smaller parochial schools that don't break the bank. I know people who moved their kids from private to public once their kids were accepted into AAP. Parents can move the money they put into enrichment and test prep into tuition. FCPS does not want to lose those test score from their schools. |
Anonymous
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It's interesting because I've taught in middle schools in FCPS in three different schools. I worked in a middle class, non-TJ feeder school for 7 years (think Robinson, Fairfax, Lake Braddock or West Springfield). I enjoyed working there, taught math and the kids were bright and hard-working. A few were interested in TJ but there really wasn't much support from teachers, guidance or admin. beyond doing the bare minimum. I had zero guidance on filling out recommendations, what TJ is looking for and we basically said "good luck" with only a few kids getting in. (It's still the case for these schools).
I then went to teach at a Title I middle school. The kids had other struggles beyond only math. I spent way more time teaching the language of math, teaching and reinforcing concepts. I did have some students who were advanced and a few pursued TJ. Very rarely we had more than a handful of kids who attended. Like my previous school, there was very little support to mentor kids, write recommendations, or even pay attention to the TJ deadlines. The few kids who made it in really had to manage and advocate to get through the process. I now teach in a major TJ feeder (home with a sick kid today). And it is like working in a completely different school system. We attend multiple meetings with admins and other teachers to discuss, coordinate and manage the TJ application process. TJ counselors and admins provide us guidance on best practices. Our teaching is accelerated as a matter of course (and sadly, our ESOL and SPED students struggle and really get the short end of the stick unless they have parents who are aggressively managing IEPs and 504's and ESOL support). It is night and day. So, in some ways, I think spreading TJ spots to the middle school level would address some of the inequity that is sort of baked in the cake in FCPS. I look at my first school, where there were as many kids in Alg. 1 in 7th as my current school and see that there is such a different approach to TJ. Getting a more uniform approach probably would address things, but absent there being a sense of demand, schools are site run and they really do focus on the issues that impact as many kids as possible. For the rare TJ applicant, they don't get the support that they would if they went to my current school. Even though all of the schools are in FCPS. |
Anonymous
LCPS to AOS and AET. MCPs to RMIB and Blair. Basis. Someone will give these kids the STEM education they want. There are articles interviewing Amazon and they chose NOVA despite the high COL because of its “STEM pipeline” AAP to TJ to VT. Although VT is having issues. And VA pledged a billion dollars towards STEM education to get Amazon. Not a billion dollars in infrastructure. A billion dollars in education. TJ has a big impact on regional economic success and VA’s quest to become less dependent on the federal government. You may not like it. You may laugh. But it’s true. It’s a governors school. Ultimately, this goes through Richmond, not the SM. Every year the Eastern County Rep bring this up because they hate the imbalance between the Carson RRMs admit numbers and Eastern country admission numbers. And every year it does in committee with the Eastern County Rep being the only vote for. From the outside looking in, messing with TJs success in the wake of Amazon is insane. It’s meant to be 100% merit based. It is not meant to be Harvard. It’s meant to be MiT. You could change its mission, but then you get a mediocre school. And yes. TJ moves heaven and Earth to get qualified URMs and low SES to apply. If you fit these categories, you can do a two year MS program with mentoring and summer institute and TJ and TJ prepping classes and access to things like robotics teams to prepare you. Paid for by the Jack Kent Cook Foundation. It has not moved the needle. If FCPS wanted better representation, they pull IB out of the Eastern County HSs and make them more attractive places to send smart kids. People commuting would love to live in Annandale or Alexandria vs Herndon. But if this did come to pass, yes. Parents would rent an apartment their kids 8th grade year. Pick the least competitive HS, and tutor their kids like heck. It would make it easier, not harder, to game the system. |
Anonymous
This is happening in MCPS right now. TJ will never be the same school. |
Anonymous
They are not coming to MCPS. It already uses the same approach. |
Anonymous
Early oughts TJ grad here. Pre-emergence of test prep, back when the student body was demonstrably better rounded. The school's demographic diversity (which wasn't great to begin with, but at least nominally mirrored the county breakdown) has tanked since then, with no appreciable improvement in college placement results (same or fewer Ivy admits/attendees, UVA admits down). Maybe there's more scholarship money floating around now, but we had Intel finalists and state science fair winners in addition to regional and state championship sports teams and robust curricular music programs (3 full class periods of chorus!). To my mind, two things have changed - the addition of the 4th history credit requirement for the FCPS advanced degree, which meant that with TJ grad requirements, students could no longer take a non-academic curricular elective without taking summer school, and the rise of test prep/parental involvement. I'm very curious about whether admissions testing can ever stay ahead of the test prep mills... |
Anonymous
Then the answer is to have at least one TJ point person/ mentor teacher and one TJ fluent guidance counselor who actively interact with TJ admissions at each school. And have STEM staff formally make kids aware and work with them. But of the demand isn’t there, you don’t force it. Also— I have a kid pupil placed into good FCPS IB (Marshall, SLHS, Robinson). I love IB. And IB prep MS is not conducive to TJ success. TJ has a 15-20% dropback rate. Their class of 480 gains 10-20 froshmores and graduates about 425. Miserable kids dropout. Unprepared kids are counseled out, often sophomore year. I don’t see how it helps a kid who is not prepared or not interested to go and fail. I have a kid on a 504. TJ does not compromise its academic standards for anyone. And I respect that. My kid has struggled at times. There were times if I asked him if he should just drop back. But TJ didn’t make compromises. And my kid really wanted it. And he’s better for it. He had college options I loved for him and hitting the ground running freshman year— prepared to succeed without accommodations. So is the plan to dropout unqualified kids who apply? Or is it to compromise TJ’s academic quality? I will also say— Its an intense place. My big shock was not how hard it was for the kid. That was well known. It was how much it demanded for me to have a kid 45 minutes away doing ECs without late buses, leaving at 7, getting home and 9, and then making sure they are fed and having them do 4 hours of homework. I know virtually no kids who have made it to graduation without a lot of parent support. Monetary, yes. But time and stress too. If the supports aren’t there, and the parents don’t want it for their kids, kids don’t succeed. It’s night and day different between that and what it takes to support my base school kid. |
Anonymous
I am not surprised that there is such a disparity across the county. How much of the difference is due to the parents level of involvement in the process? I live in area that feeds into Carson and see the Test Prep places on Elden Street and the various enrichment centers and programs. DS is going to be participating in chess, robotics, and coding after school this session because it is available and he is interested. I have no idea how many kids end up at TJ but parents are discussing advanced math, although not too many are interested in AAP per se. My understanding is that there are schools were the PTAs are full of parents who are very involved and want to make sure their kids have a lot of STEM based enrichment options. Do you think that the kids at your other schools would be able to handle, or want to handle, the academic pressure that comes from attending TJ? Are they prepared enough in their classes? I am not sure that I would want DS to go to TJ, the commute and the pressure strike me as crazy. I am surprised to hear that TJ is not reaching out to all schools to provide guidance on the process for the teachers and counselors at the schools. I should think that the same meetings and trainings should be held annually so that all the schools have the same information on admissions. |
Anonymous
It’s crazy. MD/ MoCo would have had a real shot at Amazon with the same STEM pipeline and UMD-CP if MCPS wasn’t intentionally shift away from high end differentiation. Schools drive where educated people live which drives employers to locate in an area and stabilizes housing values. It’s one big feedback loop. MoCo was crazy to disrupt theirs. NoVA is reaping the benefits by becoming the east coast tech hub. |
Anonymous
Something is messed up with TJ and the demographics in particular FARMS. |
Anonymous
I don't think there are fewer Ivy attendees. There was quite a big decrease in the number choosing to go to UVA last year. Big trend is more going OOS, which is not good for the "STEM pipeline for Virginia. |