Another article about the magnet programs in Washington Post

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see Jeff went thru here.

How do you know that? Is there a Jeff-cam on this forum somewhere?

As predicted, anything that mentioned IQ was deleted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read this thread. What more do you want MCPS to do. You can't force a horse to drink water.

That's the question, isn't it? Whatever MCPS is doing, it's not working. So MCPS has two choices:

1. Look for something that does work.
2. Say, "Obviously nothing will work, so we won't bother."

I vote for #1.

It terms of selective magnets its all well and good to try to get more people aware of programs but it most likely will not result in a change in the demographics of the programs. This is a nationwide phenomena and MCPS is not going to solve it.

[Anonymous]

I agree with PP who wrote that early intervention is the key.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with PP who wrote that early intervention is the key.

We've spent 200 billion on Headstart with absolutely no lasting results.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read this thread. What more do you want MCPS to do. You can't force a horse to drink water.

That's the question, isn't it? Whatever MCPS is doing, it's not working. So MCPS has two choices:

1. Look for something that does work.
2. Say, "Obviously nothing will work, so we won't bother."

I vote for #1.

It terms of selective magnets its all well and good to try to get more people aware of programs but it most likely will not result in a change in the demographics of the programs. This is a nationwide phenomena and MCPS is not going to solve it.

So you vote for #2, I guess. It won't work, so don't bother.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with PP who wrote that early intervention is the key.

We've spent 200 billion on Headstart with absolutely no lasting results.

Over 50 years...

But it shouldn't be surprising that a few years of preschool that is not necessarily high quality wouldn't make a big difference in the lives of children who were born into the effects of poverty and continue to live in the effects of poverty. The corollary of the "Headstart hasn't done anything" argument always seems to be, "So let's get rid of it." We could improve Headstart, we could continue intervention, we could do things to mitigate the effects of poverty seriously in other ways than just a few years of preschool, we could actually reduce poverty -- but nah, let's just get rid of Headstart altogether. Why bother, after all? We will always have the poor among us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think summer vacation is important too, I just don't think it needs to be 12 weeks long. 4-6 weeks would be good, and then maybe an extra week of Spring break, and a week in October when the weather is actually nice.

+1 I vote for year round.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I don't understand why this man, who is a leader in the MC Latino Advocacy Coalition, isn't making it his job to spread the word about these programs instead of whining that there are Latinos who are unaware of these programs.

Good point. Isn't that his job?

No, it isn't. It's the job of MCPS to get information about MCPS to MCPS parents. Right?

MCPS puts a ton of information out there, in many different languages, on paper, on their website, by telephone. It is not possible for MCPS officials to go door to door and have conversations. If this guy wants to advocate for the Latino community, he needs to get on it and stop feeling free to sit back and let everyone else do the work of informing his community.

Nobody is saying that MCPS should go door-to-door. But if you're supposed to get the information out to people, but the people aren't getting it, then you're not doing your job properly.

Holy cow! Are you serious? Mailman's job is to deliver the mail. It's my job to read and take actions. MCPS's job is to offer and communicate it to students/families. If people don't read/don't care, what is MCPS supposed to do??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read this thread. What more do you want MCPS to do. You can't force a horse to drink water.

That's the question, isn't it? Whatever MCPS is doing, it's not working. So MCPS has two choices:

1. Look for something that does work.
2. Say, "Obviously nothing will work, so we won't bother."

I vote for #1.

It terms of selective magnets its all well and good to try to get more people aware of programs but it most likely will not result in a change in the demographics of the programs. This is a nationwide phenomena and MCPS is not going to solve it.

So you vote for #2, I guess. It won't work, so don't bother.

Depends on what you are talking about...

As I said getting the word out is not going to make the magnets more diverse. So work on making everyone aware is fine but its not a solution to the diversity issue. I think it would be preferable to work on population specific issues in the regular school setting which could ultimately lead to more "diverse" magnet population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read this thread. What more do you want MCPS to do. You can't force a horse to drink water.

That's the question, isn't it? Whatever MCPS is doing, it's not working. So MCPS has two choices:

1. Look for something that does work.
2. Say, "Obviously nothing will work, so we won't bother."

I vote for #1.

It terms of selective magnets its all well and good to try to get more people aware of programs but it most likely will not result in a change in the demographics of the programs. This is a nationwide phenomena and MCPS is not going to solve it.

So you vote for #2, I guess. It won't work, so don't bother.

You can take a horse to water but you can't make them drink. It is what it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see Jeff went thru here.

How do you know that? Is there a Jeff-cam on this forum somewhere?

As predicted, anything that mentioned IQ was deleted.

One poster posted IQ numbers by race, another poster baited others to jump in, and it worked and Jeff stepped in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Holy cow! Are you serious? Mailman's job is to deliver the mail. It's my job to read and take actions. MCPS's job is to offer and communicate it to students/families. If people don't read/don't care, what is MCPS supposed to do??

Is that what you do with your child? "I told you to do it. If you didn't hear me or you didn't listen, what am I supposed to do?"

As you say, it's MCPS's job to communicate. And evidently MCPS is not communicating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read this thread. What more do you want MCPS to do. You can't force a horse to drink water.

That's the question, isn't it? Whatever MCPS is doing, it's not working. So MCPS has two choices:

1. Look for something that does work.
2. Say, "Obviously nothing will work, so we won't bother."

I vote for #1.

It terms of selective magnets its all well and good to try to get more people aware of programs but it most likely will not result in a change in the demographics of the programs. This is a nationwide phenomena and MCPS is not going to solve it.

So you vote for #2, I guess. It won't work, so don't bother.

You can take a horse to water but you can't make them drink. It is what it is.

Only time will tell. All that glitters is not gold. You can't eat your cake and have it too. Money doesn't grow on trees. Hey look, I can type in clichés too. And it's easier than actually thinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read this thread. What more do you want MCPS to do. You can't force a horse to drink water.

That's the question, isn't it? Whatever MCPS is doing, it's not working. So MCPS has two choices:

1. Look for something that does work.
2. Say, "Obviously nothing will work, so we won't bother."

I vote for #1.

It terms of selective magnets its all well and good to try to get more people aware of programs but it most likely will not result in a change in the demographics of the programs. This is a nationwide phenomena and MCPS is not going to solve it.

So you vote for #2, I guess. It won't work, so don't bother.

You can take a horse to water but you can't make them drink. It is what it is.

Only time will tell. All that glitters is not gold. You can't eat your cake and have it too. Money doesn't grow on trees. Hey look, I can type in clichés too. And it's easier than actually thinking.

Time has spoken already. And nothing to show.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with PP who wrote that early intervention is the key.

We've spent 200 billion on Headstart with absolutely no lasting results.

There are research studies on IQ and academic performance that address the issue with Headstart. The primary problem is that for low SES children, the enrichment they receive in Headstart doesn't show lasting effects after elementary school as you stated. However, recent long-term studies on children that attend programs (e.g., Abecedarian program) that provide enrichment in the summer and through high school that mirror middle-class/high SES families provide outside of school do show lasting results for low SES children. Look at the work of Richard Nisbett et al. (2012) for example.