What are middle school magnet admissions based on?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, they are based on how much you as a parent prep your child to be ready for the tests they use to decide.

Well I didn’t prep my kid at all. Didn’t even know it was happening. Yet he got in. So your post is meaningless.

[Anonymous]

NP, also parent of 4th grader, is the dcc also an option? We don’t live in that area but are just outside the boundary. Is that still an option if we don’t get into a magnet and if we go by way of lottery?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, they are based on how much you as a parent prep your child to be ready for the tests they use to decide.

I'm sorry you are bitter about the process, and there are no doubt some kids who prepared extensively for the test (although I do question whether that helps), but that assertion is just plain incorrect.

It blows my mind how selectively outraged people can become. We live in a culture where its perfectly fine to spend thousands, to tens of thousands, on travel sports, specialized training, personal coaches, etc., all in some (with extremely rare exceptions) pipe dream of a college scholarship. But try to prepare your child so that they can take advantage of the programs offered by schools supported by your own tax dollars - outrage. Again, I doubt extensive preparation is worth it, and at some point the kid is going to rebel, but why is doing the minimum so your kid is not surprised by the test viewed with such opprobrium is beyond me. It's as if people think you should go through life unprepared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, they are based on how much you as a parent prep your child to be ready for the tests they use to decide.

I asked my kid to treat every of his homework, test, etc. seriously, and always try his best. I ask him to spend time wisely if he is stuck to one problem (i.e., test skills that you learn when you were at school). I recommend classic books or books I feel good to read to him, he recommends his reading materials to me so I can know what he is learning from school recently. During dinner time, we discuss what happened at school or in his friendship circle, local or international news, republican or democratic candidates, etc. If those are called parent prep, I'd love to prep him until he leaves for college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, they are based on how much you as a parent prep your child to be ready for the tests they use to decide.

I'm sorry you are bitter about the process, and there are no doubt some kids who prepared extensively for the test (although I do question whether that helps), but that assertion is just plain incorrect.

It blows my mind how selectively outraged people can become. We live in a culture where its perfectly fine to spend thousands, to tens of thousands, on travel sports, specialized training, personal coaches, etc., all in some (with extremely rare exceptions) pipe dream of a college scholarship. But try to prepare your child so that they can take advantage of the programs offered by schools supported by your own tax dollars - outrage. Again, I doubt extensive preparation is worth it, and at some point the kid is going to rebel, but why is doing the minimum so your kid is not surprised by the test viewed with such opprobrium is beyond me. It's as if people think you should go through life unprepared.

It is just simple entitlement and envy towards the OTHER. How dare they work harder?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like this year they try to recruit equal number of students from every elementary schools. It’s easier to get in from local schools than from CES.

Yes - For advanced learners, the probability of getting admitted to MS magnets seems to be better if they stay in their home ES instead of CES.

Statistically speaking, none of the changes should disproportionately affect CES students, for any given home middle school. But that has not been the case. For example, I know a few parents whose kids got into MS magnets from non-CES schools; they were happy of course, but were also wondering how, since their friends from CES with better scores and going to the same home MS did not get in. The home middle schools (NBMS/Cabin John) were considered to have a peer cohort. We are talking about kids who have the same home ES and home MS, and same SES, no IEP, etc. This was the first year of implementation, when almost nobody was admitted initially from Barnsley and Cold Spring. (I think something similar happened last year too.)

If there was any doubt that this process is a crapshoot, here was the clincher: That year (first year of the new admissions process), there was a meeting at Carver (in spring, after the results were announced) where the MCPS official explained how they have eliminated subjective measures (such as recs.) and made the process objective.

Having an objective process is a double edged sword - it becomes very easy to see through the charade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like this year they try to recruit equal number of students from every elementary schools. It’s easier to get in from local schools than from CES.

Yes - For advanced learners, the probability of getting admitted to MS magnets seems to be better if they stay in their home ES instead of CES.

Statistically speaking, none of the changes should disproportionately affect CES students, for any given home middle school. But that has not been the case. For example, I know a few parents whose kids got into MS magnets from non-CES schools; they were happy of course, but were also wondering how, since their friends from CES with better scores and going to the same home MS did not get in. The home middle schools (NBMS/Cabin John) were considered to have a peer cohort. We are talking about kids who have the same home ES and home MS, and same SES, no IEP, etc. This was the first year of implementation, when almost nobody was admitted initially from Barnsley and Cold Spring. (I think something similar happened last year too.)

If there was any doubt that this process is a crapshoot, here was the clincher: That year (first year of the new admissions process), there was a meeting at Carver (in spring, after the results were announced) where the MCPS official explained how they have eliminated subjective measures (such as recs.) and made the process objective.

Having an objective process is a double edged sword - it becomes very easy to see through the charade.

This is a great example of using old and anecdotal data to make an invalid, current point. Quit trying to make yourself feel better and others bad by calling it a crapshoot. MoCo has made very clear what it is trying to do. You may not like it, and maybe your kid was disadvantaged, but that doesn't make it a charade or crapshoot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, they are based on how much you as a parent prep your child to be ready for the tests they use to decide.

I asked my kid to treat every of his homework, test, etc. seriously, and always try his best. I ask him to spend time wisely if he is stuck to one problem (i.e., test skills that you learn when you were at school). I recommend classic books or books I feel good to read to him, he recommends his reading materials to me so I can know what he is learning from school recently. During dinner time, we discuss what happened at school or in his friendship circle, local or international news, republican or democratic candidates, etc. If those are called parent prep, I'd love to prep him until he leaves for college.

You are obnoxious PP. You are “that” mom and you don’t even realize it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, they are based on how much you as a parent prep your child to be ready for the tests they use to decide.

I asked my kid to treat every of his homework, test, etc. seriously, and always try his best. I ask him to spend time wisely if he is stuck to one problem (i.e., test skills that you learn when you were at school). I recommend classic books or books I feel good to read to him, he recommends his reading materials to me so I can know what he is learning from school recently. During dinner time, we discuss what happened at school or in his friendship circle, local or international news, republican or democratic candidates, etc. If those are called parent prep, I'd love to prep him until he leaves for college.

You are obnoxious PP. You are “that” mom and you don’t even realize it

So what do you think a normal parenting should look like? Only cares about kid's extra-curriculum activities, and zero-communication about school/friends/courses? That sounds totally ridiculous to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, they are based on how much you as a parent prep your child to be ready for the tests they use to decide.

I'm sorry you are bitter about the process, and there are no doubt some kids who prepared extensively for the test (although I do question whether that helps), but that assertion is just plain incorrect.

It blows my mind how selectively outraged people can become. We live in a culture where its perfectly fine to spend thousands, to tens of thousands, on travel sports, specialized training, personal coaches, etc., all in some (with extremely rare exceptions) pipe dream of a college scholarship. But try to prepare your child so that they can take advantage of the programs offered by schools supported by your own tax dollars - outrage. Again, I doubt extensive preparation is worth it, and at some point the kid is going to rebel, but why is doing the minimum so your kid is not surprised by the test viewed with such opprobrium is beyond me. It's as if people think you should go through life unprepared.

While PPs comment may not be correct, I am not seeing the outrage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like this year they try to recruit equal number of students from every elementary schools. It’s easier to get in from local schools than from CES.

Yes - For advanced learners, the probability of getting admitted to MS magnets seems to be better if they stay in their home ES instead of CES.

Statistically speaking, none of the changes should disproportionately affect CES students, for any given home middle school. But that has not been the case. For example, I know a few parents whose kids got into MS magnets from non-CES schools; they were happy of course, but were also wondering how, since their friends from CES with better scores and going to the same home MS did not get in. The home middle schools (NBMS/Cabin John) were considered to have a peer cohort. We are talking about kids who have the same home ES and home MS, and same SES, no IEP, etc. This was the first year of implementation, when almost nobody was admitted initially from Barnsley and Cold Spring. (I think something similar happened last year too.)

If there was any doubt that this process is a crapshoot, here was the clincher: That year (first year of the new admissions process), there was a meeting at Carver (in spring, after the results were announced) where the MCPS official explained how they have eliminated subjective measures (such as recs.) and made the process objective.

Having an objective process is a double edged sword - it becomes very easy to see through the charade.

This is a great example of using old and anecdotal data to make an invalid, current point. Quit trying to make yourself feel better and others bad by calling it a crapshoot. MoCo has made very clear what it is trying to do. You may not like it, and maybe your kid was disadvantaged, but that doesn't make it a charade or crapshoot.

Np. I think the other PP's post was very thoughtful and we are seeing the same thing this year. Kids at CES with higher scores getting waitlisted while the two kids from home school got in with significantly lower scores. Making on judgment on whether this is good or bad but these are the facts. It does look like they tried to take a few from each school and limit the number from the CES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like this year they try to recruit equal number of students from every elementary schools. It’s easier to get in from local schools than from CES.

Yes - For advanced learners, the probability of getting admitted to MS magnets seems to be better if they stay in their home ES instead of CES.

Statistically speaking, none of the changes should disproportionately affect CES students, for any given home middle school. But that has not been the case. For example, I know a few parents whose kids got into MS magnets from non-CES schools; they were happy of course, but were also wondering how, since their friends from CES with better scores and going to the same home MS did not get in. The home middle schools (NBMS/Cabin John) were considered to have a peer cohort. We are talking about kids who have the same home ES and home MS, and same SES, no IEP, etc. This was the first year of implementation, when almost nobody was admitted initially from Barnsley and Cold Spring. (I think something similar happened last year too.)

If there was any doubt that this process is a crapshoot, here was the clincher: That year (first year of the new admissions process), there was a meeting at Carver (in spring, after the results were announced) where the MCPS official explained how they have eliminated subjective measures (such as recs.) and made the process objective.

Having an objective process is a double edged sword - it becomes very easy to see through the charade.

This is a great example of using old and anecdotal data to make an invalid, current point. Quit trying to make yourself feel better and others bad by calling it a crapshoot. MoCo has made very clear what it is trying to do. You may not like it, and maybe your kid was disadvantaged, but that doesn't make it a charade or crapshoot.

Np. I think the other PP's post was very thoughtful and we are seeing the same thing this year. Kids at CES with higher scores getting waitlisted while the two kids from home school got in with significantly lower scores. Making on judgment on whether this is good or bad but these are the facts. It does look like they tried to take a few from each school and limit the number from the CES.

'

The process is name and school blind. The selection committee doesn't know what scool the students are from and doesn't know if they are in a CES or not. That being said, I'm pretty sure they use the FARMS rate of the ES that the student attends to figure the MCPS percentile, so the CES kids are grouped with other CES kids. Not sure in a process that is school blind how they ensure representation from every school.

"The process for selection is race-neutral, name and school blind."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like this year they try to recruit equal number of students from every elementary schools. It’s easier to get in from local schools than from CES.

Yes - For advanced learners, the probability of getting admitted to MS magnets seems to be better if they stay in their home ES instead of CES.

Statistically speaking, none of the changes should disproportionately affect CES students, for any given home middle school. But that has not been the case. For example, I know a few parents whose kids got into MS magnets from non-CES schools; they were happy of course, but were also wondering how, since their friends from CES with better scores and going to the same home MS did not get in. The home middle schools (NBMS/Cabin John) were considered to have a peer cohort. We are talking about kids who have the same home ES and home MS, and same SES, no IEP, etc. This was the first year of implementation, when almost nobody was admitted initially from Barnsley and Cold Spring. (I think something similar happened last year too.)

If there was any doubt that this process is a crapshoot, here was the clincher: That year (first year of the new admissions process), there was a meeting at Carver (in spring, after the results were announced) where the MCPS official explained how they have eliminated subjective measures (such as recs.) and made the process objective.

Having an objective process is a double edged sword - it becomes very easy to see through the charade.

This is a great example of using old and anecdotal data to make an invalid, current point. Quit trying to make yourself feel better and others bad by calling it a crapshoot. MoCo has made very clear what it is trying to do. You may not like it, and maybe your kid was disadvantaged, but that doesn't make it a charade or crapshoot.

Np. I think the other PP's post was very thoughtful and we are seeing the same thing this year. Kids at CES with higher scores getting waitlisted while the two kids from home school got in with significantly lower scores. Making on judgment on whether this is good or bad but these are the facts. It does look like they tried to take a few from each school and limit the number from the CES.

'

The process is name and school blind. The selection committee doesn't know what scool the students are from and doesn't know if they are in a CES or not. That being said, I'm pretty sure they use the FARMS rate of the ES that the student attends to figure the MCPS percentile, so the CES kids are grouped with other CES kids. Not sure in a process that is school blind how they ensure representation from every school.

"The process for selection is race-neutral, name and school blind."

NP. In the beginning of the process they have to placing kids in groups by school or cluster and removing identifying info. The people reviewing the applications don't know the specific school or cluster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, they are based on how much you as a parent prep your child to be ready for the tests they use to decide.

I asked my kid to treat every of his homework, test, etc. seriously, and always try his best. I ask him to spend time wisely if he is stuck to one problem (i.e., test skills that you learn when you were at school). I recommend classic books or books I feel good to read to him, he recommends his reading materials to me so I can know what he is learning from school recently. During dinner time, we discuss what happened at school or in his friendship circle, local or international news, republican or democratic candidates, etc. If those are called parent prep, I'd love to prep him until he leaves for college.

You are obnoxious PP. You are “that” mom and you don’t even realize it

The other PP sounds like a great mom! What’s the problem?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP, also parent of 4th grader, is the dcc also an option? We don’t live in that area but are just outside the boundary. Is that still an option if we don’t get into a magnet and if we go by way of lottery?

Is it an option how?