How is it possible that Walt Whitman high school has a score of 4 on greatschools.org??

[Anonymous]

who runs their life by that
who gives a ****

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:who runs their life by that
who gives a ****

apparently many parents give a **** as evidenced by the many posts in which people state they would only live in areas where schools are rated a 9 or 10. Now that one of those schools is rated a 4 - I'm supposed to believe no one gives a ****.

Its all so laughable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When are you people going to realize that Greatschools is run buy real estate interests and is not at all skewed towards the actual rating of the schools? Many of you follow it like its the Bible when in fact its a sham to make you buy into the neighborhoods where the agents have excess properties.

Its based on test scores. its not a sham. But you have to understand what it is -- JUST test scores. No other factor is considered. If you can use it as just one data point - I think its valuable. But it isn't the whole picture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you compare the white students of Einstein to Whitman the SAT scores are the same, FYI.

Wait, so it's NOT something magical about the teaching or curriculum at Whitman that makes its students do so well? It's just that middle and upper class white kids tend to do well anywhere, and Whitman has tons of them?

This is not a revelation to me (Einstein cluster) but it bears repeating.

Where are you getting your numbers? If you look at page 19 of this MCPS report
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/pdf/160929%20SAT%20Exam%20Participation%20Perform.pdf
it shows that white students had the following scores:
Einstein 1804, Whitman 1917, BCC 1841, Blair 1960, Churchill 1880, Richard Montgomery 1873, Poolesville 1772, Sherwood 1669, Walter Johnson 1815, Wootton 1809

WWHHHAAATT?!?!

[Anonymous]

We're in the Blair cluster and know many happy, successful, and college-bound graduates. With that said, the Blair number is probably skewed by the presence of the magnet program and some number of kids not taking the SAT at all.

Still, it's nice to know that Blair kids are doing well and I don't think the magnet programs account for all of the high numbers, just some of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you compare the white students of Einstein to Whitman the SAT scores are the same, FYI.

Wait, so it's NOT something magical about the teaching or curriculum at Whitman that makes its students do so well? It's just that middle and upper class white kids tend to do well anywhere, and Whitman has tons of them?

This is not a revelation to me (Einstein cluster) but it bears repeating.

Where are you getting your numbers? If you look at page 19 of this MCPS report
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/pdf/160929%20SAT%20Exam%20Participation%20Perform.pdf
it shows that white students had the following scores:
Einstein 1804, Whitman 1917, BCC 1841, Blair 1960, Churchill 1880, Richard Montgomery 1873, Poolesville 1772, Sherwood 1669, Walter Johnson 1815, Wootton 1809

Fascinating report. For the record Whitman had the highest SATs in the county for Hispanic students, and 2nd highest for black and FARMS students. So maybe it isn't doing so badly with the students it has.

Not surprised about Blair, I expect that's impacted by the magnet programs. Poolesville gets a similar bump, which is what you would expect. Not as much as TJ, but great that MCPS has this option for smart kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Fascinating report. For the record Whitman had the highest SATs in the county for Hispanic students, and 2nd highest for black and FARMS students. So maybe it isn't doing so badly with the students it has.

Not surprised about Blair, I expect that's impacted by the magnet programs. Poolesville gets a similar bump, which is what you would expect. Not as much as TJ, but great that MCPS has this option for smart kids.

All 50 Hispanic kids, fewer than 26 black kids, and fewer than 26 FARMS kids per grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Fascinating report. For the record Whitman had the highest SATs in the county for Hispanic students, and 2nd highest for black and FARMS students. So maybe it isn't doing so badly with the students it has.

Not surprised about Blair, I expect that's impacted by the magnet programs. Poolesville gets a similar bump, which is what you would expect. Not as much as TJ, but great that MCPS has this option for smart kids.

All 50 Hispanic kids, fewer than 26 black kids, and fewer than 26 FARMS kids per grade.

So what. People earlier were saying that Whitman was failing these kids, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're in the Blair cluster and know many happy, successful, and college-bound graduates. With that said, the Blair number is probably skewed by the presence of the magnet program and some number of kids not taking the SAT at all.

Still, it's nice to know that Blair kids are doing well and I don't think the magnet programs account for all of the high numbers, just some of them.

76% of white students at Blair took the SAT. (123 of the 162 white students in the class graduating in 2016 took the SAT per the report a PP posted). They are not all in the magnet or in CAP. The total of magnet and CAP students in each graduating class is 100 (magnet) + 75 (CAP) so around half of these kids are neighborhood kids, who live mostly in the Takoma Park and Four Corners communities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you compare the white students of Einstein to Whitman the SAT scores are the same, FYI.

Wait, so it's NOT something magical about the teaching or curriculum at Whitman that makes its students do so well? It's just that middle and upper class white kids tend to do well anywhere, and Whitman has tons of them?

This is not a revelation to me (Einstein cluster) but it bears repeating.

Where are you getting your numbers? If you look at page 19 of this MCPS report
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/pdf/160929%20SAT%20Exam%20Participation%20Perform.pdf
it shows that white students had the following scores:
Einstein 1804, Whitman 1917, BCC 1841, Blair 1960, Churchill 1880, Richard Montgomery 1873, Poolesville 1772, Sherwood 1669, Walter Johnson 1815, Wootton 1809

I'm not the person who said they were the same...but those numbers look pretty much the same, maybe with the exception of Sherwood's that are low. Nobody makes a major real estate and life decision based on whether a school averages 1800 or 1900 for your demographic.

[Anonymous]

I live in the BCC cluster and not really a big fan of either Whitman or BCC students that I encounter in downtown Bethesda, if I am honest. The BCC students are generally more outwardly poorly behaved/rowdy and I have seen a couple smoking cigarettes. The Whitman students truly act grossly snobbish and the clothes some of the girls wear is disturbing.

With that said, as a parent, the only score or rating that matters to me is SAT/ACT. As for the rest of it, I couldn't care less.

Obviously paying for test prep and the ability to pay for test prep helps. But that is not going to get you there on its own. The still need the school (and parents) get them 80% there so that the test prep can give them an edge.

Once the SAT/ACT scores begin to suffer, then I think I will agree that there is a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you compare the white students of Einstein to Whitman the SAT scores are the same, FYI.

Wait, so it's NOT something magical about the teaching or curriculum at Whitman that makes its students do so well? It's just that middle and upper class white kids tend to do well anywhere, and Whitman has tons of them?

This is not a revelation to me (Einstein cluster) but it bears repeating.

Where are you getting your numbers? If you look at page 19 of this MCPS report
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/pdf/160929%20SAT%20Exam%20Participation%20Perform.pdf
it shows that white students had the following scores:
Einstein 1804, Whitman 1917, BCC 1841, Blair 1960, Churchill 1880, Richard Montgomery 1873, Poolesville 1772, Sherwood 1669, Walter Johnson 1815, Wootton 1809

I'm not the person who said they were the same...but those numbers look pretty much the same, maybe with the exception of Sherwood's that are low. Nobody makes a major real estate and life decision based on whether a school averages 1800 or 1900 for your demographic.

Holy cow, the white students at Blair are killing it! Makes sense considering probably 90% of them live in the Takoma Park historic district, where houses are more expensive than many Bethesda neighborhoods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you compare the white students of Einstein to Whitman the SAT scores are the same, FYI.

Wait, so it's NOT something magical about the teaching or curriculum at Whitman that makes its students do so well? It's just that middle and upper class white kids tend to do well anywhere, and Whitman has tons of them?

This is not a revelation to me (Einstein cluster) but it bears repeating.

Where are you getting your numbers? If you look at page 19 of this MCPS report
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/pdf/160929%20SAT%20Exam%20Participation%20Perform.pdf
it shows that white students had the following scores:
Einstein 1804, Whitman 1917, BCC 1841, Blair 1960, Churchill 1880, Richard Montgomery 1873, Poolesville 1772, Sherwood 1669, Walter Johnson 1815, Wootton 1809

I'm not the person who said they were the same...but those numbers look pretty much the same, maybe with the exception of Sherwood's that are low. Nobody makes a major real estate and life decision based on whether a school averages 1800 or 1900 for your demographic.

Holy cow, the white students at Blair are killing it! Makes sense considering probably 90% of them live in the Takoma Park historic district, where houses are more expensive than many Bethesda neighborhoods.

Its shocking how poorly the white kids in Poolesville are doing. Clearly in that case the Asian students are fully responsible for keeping up that schools reputation.

I am not really surprised that Einstein and WJ are exactly the same. Its the same white kids, just on different sides of the literal train tracks in Kennsington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you compare the white students of Einstein to Whitman the SAT scores are the same, FYI.

Wait, so it's NOT something magical about the teaching or curriculum at Whitman that makes its students do so well? It's just that middle and upper class white kids tend to do well anywhere, and Whitman has tons of them?

This is not a revelation to me (Einstein cluster) but it bears repeating.

Where are you getting your numbers? If you look at page 19 of this MCPS report
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/pdf/160929%20SAT%20Exam%20Participation%20Perform.pdf
it shows that white students had the following scores:
Einstein 1804, Whitman 1917, BCC 1841, Blair 1960, Churchill 1880, Richard Montgomery 1873, Poolesville 1772, Sherwood 1669, Walter Johnson 1815, Wootton 1809

Fascinating report. For the record Whitman had the highest SATs in the county for Hispanic students, and 2nd highest for black and FARMS students. So maybe it isn't doing so badly with the students it has.

I think the black and FARMS performance is actually a better measure. Because "Hispanic" in the Whitman context is not the same as in the RM or Blair context. I actually know through a friend three families who are "Hispanic" and their kids go to Whitman, but they are here because they work at the World Bank. All come from crazy wealthy families in Latin America. There are likely even more World Bank families and then after that a good number are likely IMF and embassy families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Where are you getting your numbers? If you look at page 19 of this MCPS report
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/pdf/160929%20SAT%20Exam%20Participation%20Perform.pdf
it shows that white students had the following scores:
Einstein 1804, Whitman 1917, BCC 1841, Blair 1960, Churchill 1880, Richard Montgomery 1873, Poolesville 1772, Sherwood 1669, Walter Johnson 1815, Wootton 1809

Anyone else notice that the number of white students taking the SAT dropped from 80% in 2012 to 70% in 2016? Is this an indicator that higher performing white students/families leaving MCPS or that lower performing white students are just not motivated to take it anymore? White student scores basically haven't changed at all during that period, so I have no idea what this means. A combination of both?