Marshall "3rd for Best School"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/models/natalia-siwiec-net-worth/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agreed. We were considering Marshall IB for our child in a couple of years but that is now off the table. My sister lives in Atlanta and has told me all about the cheating scandal down there, where the local superintendent ended up in jail. This sounds too much like that.

You are an idiot.
No one has cheated or accused anyone of cheating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would be wary of sending my kid to a school where the administration was either so stupid that it didn't realize it was loudly touting a phony ranking or so dishonest that it didn't care one way or the other. The error in the 2012 US News ranking was obvious, since US News identified the factual assumptions underlying the rankings on the school profiles. But the Marshall boosters denied repeatedly there was any problem, apparently because they were so excited to be in the same company as some of the neighboring schools. That approach kind of worked for a while, at least until US News updated its ranking with more accurate information on IB participation at Marshall and the ranking fell sharply this year. The emperor no longer had any clothes.

A prior poster made an important point that too much attention is placed these days on rankings by the likes of the Washington Post and US News. By treating a phony ranking as validation of the school's success and touting it so prominently, however, Marshall sought to focus even more attention on such rankings. Anyone looking at the situation from outside can see that the school won't gain the wider respect it so obviously covets until people there are honest and candid enough to admit when they screw up. For now, they continue to come across as very defensive and insular.

I think you're a little sensitive. We live in the Marshall district and have kids in ES. We weren't aware of the ranking, hadn't even noticed the sign, and don't visit Marshall's website, so I'm not quite sure how you feel they are blasting it from the rooftops. Most people in this area don't even know that TJ was number 1 in the nation for several years.

Who is "they" that you expect an apology from?
Would you want the county to come out and say that the data was incorrect? They're not going to do that because it was last year and new rankings have already come out and no one cares about last year anymore. They would be laughed at.
Would you like Marshall to put a big sign out front saying "Not really #3?" Again, it's pretty silly considering how long ago it was. the new rankings are available online for all to see.

No one is basing Marshall's success on a data point or a ranking. Anyone with common sense would base it on teachers, test scores, etc, and ignore the news ranking nonsense.

I just can't figure out why the whole situation seems to rock your very core.

[Anonymous]

I think Marshall should leave the #3 up, but replace the irginia with ienna. Marshall....#3 in Vienna.

(Not that it is a bad school....but Madison and Oakton are rated higher)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Would you like Marshall to put a big sign out front saying "Not really #3?" Again, it's pretty silly considering how long ago it was. the new rankings are available online for all to see.

No one is basing Marshall's success on a data point or a ranking. Anyone with common sense would base it on teachers, test scores, etc, and ignore the news ranking nonsense.

You would think, wouldn't you? But it's the school that still touts a #3 ranking at the top of its web page and has a large sign announcing "#3 in Virginia, #55 in Nation" directly in front of the school building. It's the parents that still emphasize that ranking at the top of the school's PTA web page. And it was Marshall's principal who announced to parents last year: "Earlier this year, George C. Marshall High School was ranked by US News and World Report as the 3rd best high school in Virginia and 55th in the country. I am proud of this accomplishment for our school community. It should come as no surprise ..."

Now that it's obvious beyond a doubt that last year's ranking was based on incorrect data, Jay Pearson and others at the school ought to be embarassed enough to revise the web pages, which are updated regularly, and to remove the big sign. Although it would be a courageous thing to do, no one expects Pearson to acknowledge publicly that he stepped into it by treating the US News ranking as if it were one of the best things about the school. It amazes me that parents don't insist on more accountability for what has made GCM administrators look, at best, clueless, but some people are only interested in being cheerleaders.

[Anonymous]

I expect it will be removed at the end of the school year when they focus on such things as updating signs.

So funny how people focus on the wrong stuff. It's an open secret among teachers that IB is a great program, which is maybe why so many people place their kids there. But then, what do teachers know compared to all the experts in Fairfax County

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I expect it will be removed at the end of the school year when they focus on such things as updating signs.

So funny how people focus on the wrong stuff. It's an open secret among teachers that IB is a great program, which is maybe why so many people place their kids there. But then, what do teachers know compared to all the experts in Fairfax County

When you have a limited number of IB schools surrounded by AP schools, you'd expect the IB school to be a net recipient of pupil placements. That's true of Marshall and some, but not all, of the other IB schools in the county. It is a veru good program for some students, and I'm sure some teachers would love to travel to IB events in different locations at FCPS expense.

But I can't think of any current AP school in the county, with the possible exception of Falls Church, where parents or teachers have suggested they'd like to see IB introduced. The School Board tried to turn Woodson into an IB school years ago, and the parents opposed that proposal and won.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I expect it will be removed at the end of the school year when they focus on such things as updating signs.

So funny how people focus on the wrong stuff. It's an open secret among teachers that IB is a great program, which is maybe why so many people place their kids there. But then, what do teachers know compared to all the experts in Fairfax County

When you have a limited number of IB schools surrounded by AP schools, you'd expect the IB school to be a net recipient of pupil placements. That's true of Marshall and some, but not all, of the other IB schools in the county. It is a veru good program for some students, and I'm sure some teachers would love to travel to IB events in different locations at FCPS expense.

But I can't think of any current AP school in the county, with the possible exception of Falls Church, where parents or teachers have suggested they'd like to see IB introduced. The School Board tried to turn Woodson into an IB school years ago, and the parents opposed that proposal and won.

Woodson became IB, then the school 86'd it a few years later in 1999. I don't know all the details, but the school had to choose between keeping IB, or going back to AP. It was an either/or decision. The Woodson parents preferred the AP curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think Marshall should leave the #3 up, but replace the irginia with ienna. Marshall....#3 in Vienna.

(Not that it is a bad school....but Madison and Oakton are rated higher)

Still waiting for that us news retraction

[Anonymous]

Well AP is the American way as treadmill-ish and unoriginal as it is. Those of us who are a little more traveled appreciate IB, as does most of the rest of the world. But then, NOVA is the center of the world right? So what does it matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't have a dog in this fight, but either there was a problem with the data last year or parents need to know why the IB participation rate fell from 99% to 58% in one year.

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia/districts/fairfax-county-public-schools/george-c-marshall-high-school-20451

I'll take this as a retraction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well AP is the American way as treadmill-ish and unoriginal as it is. Those of us who are a little more traveled appreciate IB, as does most of the rest of the world. But then, NOVA is the center of the world right? So what does it matter.

American colleges and universities are the best in the world. IB is great if you want to go to the Sorbonne and participate in strikes with the rest of the French students. And it's great if you're a teacher who gets to go an expensive junket for IB training. Otherwise, it's not so great for students or taxpayers. The AAPAC just recommended that FCPS look for ways to strengthen the math and science curricula at the county's IB schools to bring them up to the AP schools.

And, of course, only a small fraction of the students at IB schools get an IB diploma, and they don't even find out until after they've graduated. The return on the county's investment in IB programs is debatable, but it has helped some historically under-enrolled schools in the county attract some pupil placements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well AP is the American way as treadmill-ish and unoriginal as it is. Those of us who are a little more traveled appreciate IB, as does most of the rest of the world. But then, NOVA is the center of the world right? So what does it matter.

American colleges and universities are the best in the world. IB is great if you want to go to the Sorbonne and participate in strikes with the rest of the French students. And it's great if you're a teacher who gets to go an expensive junket for IB training. Otherwise, it's not so great for students or taxpayers. The AAPAC just recommended that FCPS look for ways to strengthen the math and science curricula at the county's IB schools to bring them up to the AP schools.

And, of course, only a small fraction of the students at IB schools get an IB diploma, and they don't even find out until after they've graduated. The return on the county's investment in IB programs is debatable, but it has helped some historically under-enrolled schools in the county attract some pupil placements.

Actually, the committee said "AAPAC recommends that more advanced mathematics options should be made available for IB students in secondary school." Likely referring to offering "IB Further Math" which is in line with other post-calculus classes at AP schools. No one is "changing curricula," just adding more math options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well AP is the American way as treadmill-ish and unoriginal as it is. Those of us who are a little more traveled appreciate IB, as does most of the rest of the world. But then, NOVA is the center of the world right? So what does it matter.

American colleges and universities are the best in the world. IB is great if you want to go to the Sorbonne and participate in strikes with the rest of the French students. And it's great if you're a teacher who gets to go an expensive junket for IB training. Otherwise, it's not so great for students or taxpayers. The AAPAC just recommended that FCPS look for ways to strengthen the math and science curricula at the county's IB schools to bring them up to the AP schools.

And, of course, only a small fraction of the students at IB schools get an IB diploma, and they don't even find out until after they've graduated. The return on the county's investment in IB programs is debatable, but it has helped some historically under-enrolled schools in the county attract some pupil placements.

What an ignorant post. Have you ever actually been outside of the United States?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't have a dog in this fight, but either there was a problem with the data last year or parents need to know why the IB participation rate fell from 99% to 58% in one year.

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia/districts/fairfax-county-public-schools/george-c-marshall-high-school-20451

I'll take this as a retraction.

+1. The participation rate obviously did not go down 41% in one year. The prior rate used by US News was wrong.