Magnet MS results - Takoma Park & Eastern - anyone heard today?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Sounds like this is what's tripping up the understanding of all this. When everyone posts that their kids are 99th percentile with perfect grades, we're not seeing the difference between the 136 kids and the 150 kids with perfect grades. Presumably the selection committee did see those raw scores. I wonder whether they'd tell you if you called to ask? (Note, though, that anything in the 98th and 99th percentile is considered gifted.)

We haven't gotten a letter yet, but DD's friend from their HGC class had 99%/straight As and got a rejection letter. She's zoned for a MS with 40ish% FARMS and a Great Schools 5.

DD is zoned for TPMS, had a couple of Bs in first quarter, tends to test relatively well but not spectacularly, but she does show a sky-high Lexile level on the MAP testing. So I'm a little skeptical of the idea that the acceptances will come today, because she definitely doesn't sound like a better candidate than a lot of the rejected kids, unless her raw COGAT score was somehow through the roof. I'd be shocked if she was accepted, after hearing all this. But it's her bad luck that she had to apply the first year they didn't take teacher recommendations, because hers said she'd be perfect for the program at Eastern.

They would tell you the scores. You have a legal right to see them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It looks like MCPS was conducting testing for acceptance into the CES to screen out the best, brightest students. They are just focusing on diversity to give those at a disadvantage to have a better learning environment or opportunity. Someone mentioned that evaluation also considered the student's academic peer group of highly able students. They also take into account that accelerated and enriched programs may also be provided at the selected middle schools (e.g., advanced English and advanced Math). This is a BS way of protecting themselves from any lawsuit. Their focus is not on the brightest, capable students. It is an unfortunate situation as the school system is run by a few special interest administrators whose goal is anything but academic excellence. These guys need to protect their jobs and cater to their special interest group friends.

You have absolutely no proof that they are "just focusing on diversity." Stop using kids of color as a convenient scapegoat. Yes, it is disappointing. I know a couple of kids who got rejection letters yesterday who would have done GREAT at the TPMS program, but they will also do GREAT at their home school.

Folks need to channel this anger into MCPS for removing tracking from middle school classes, rather than focusing their disappointment on Black and brown children.

And focus on what to do to change this back to providing more support for gifted children in their home middle schools. We can quibble all day about whether our own 99%-scoring students should have been admitted vs. other people's 99%-scoring students and whether the reasons were subjective and/or justified. But the fact is, there are many gifted children around here, and only 200 MS places in these 2 schools.
With the collective intelligence of the parents posting on this thread, we can surely identify what programs we'd *like* to see at our kids' home middle schools. Imagine you lived in a school district with no magnet middle schools. What kind of gifted program would you like to see at the middle school that is currently not there? Which ones are cost-effective for the school district? Easy to implement in a year or so? Start from there. You have 3 years to make it happen so your child can get at least some some special gifted attention by 8th. If you spend months challenging the Board of Ed (like one poster said he/she plan to do), you should also be spending just as much time creating an actual near-term solution for your child. My plan is to work with the home school to see what they have the appetite to do and unite with other interested parents.

Talking about proof, I am not sure if you are just ignorant about MCPS focus on diversity in the program. Here is an an article that may educate you and bring you up to date.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/report-on-racial-disparities-in-gifted-and-magnet-programs-gets-strong-reaction/2016/06/01/2d249e0a-1dc4-11e6-9c81-4be1c14fb8c8_story.html?utm_term=.2ad34bcc84bd

[Anonymous]

Cold Spring High Gifted Center (HGC), the best HGC center in the county, the kids with highest scores of verbal, non-verbal reasoning and quantitative sections for the admission test 2 year ago, has 0 kid get accepted this year. These kids with MAP-M over 260, 270 in forth grade, 290 in fifth grade, MAP-R over 240 in forth grade, 250 in fifth grade, Lexile reading score almost college-level, principle or assistant principle player in MCYO orchestras (pre or chamber), national athletic awards winner (swimming, badminton, figure skating, chess), math Kangaroo state and national winners, AoPs top points winners in Algebra I. I have no any comments. But, please don't use the so-called "getting TPMS or EMS tends to be more competitive than getting into HGC program" to make your point. Getting into Cold Spring HGC is much more competitive than any other HGC program.

Although it is very disappointing, I think it is good to go away from such disaster selection process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cold Spring High Gifted Center (HGC), the best HGC center in the county, the kids with highest scores of verbal, non-verbal reasoning and quantitative sections for the admission test 2 year ago, has 0 kid get accepted this year. These kids with MAP-M over 260, 270 in forth grade, 290 in fifth grade, MAP-R over 240 in forth grade, 250 in fifth grade, Lexile reading score almost college-level, principle or assistant principle player in MCYO orchestras (pre or chamber), national athletic awards winner (swimming, badminton, figure skating, chess), math Kangaroo state and national winners, AoPs top points winners in Algebra I. I have no any comments. But, please don't use the so-called "getting TPMS or EMS tends to be more competitive than getting into HGC program" to make your point. Getting into Cold Spring HGC is much more competitive than any other HGC program.

Although it is very disappointing, I think it is good to go away from such disaster selection process.

I'm wondering how you know that no child from the Cold Spring HGC was accepted.

(Also, you know, for the purposes of MS magnet admissions, MCPS doesn't care if you're assistant principal at MCYO or a champion figure skater. Nor should they.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cold Spring High Gifted Center (HGC), the best HGC center in the county, the kids with highest scores of verbal, non-verbal reasoning and quantitative sections for the admission test 2 year ago, has 0 kid get accepted this year. These kids with MAP-M over 260, 270 in forth grade, 290 in fifth grade, MAP-R over 240 in forth grade, 250 in fifth grade, Lexile reading score almost college-level, principle or assistant principle player in MCYO orchestras (pre or chamber), national athletic awards winner (swimming, badminton, figure skating, chess), math Kangaroo state and national winners, AoPs top points winners in Algebra I. I have no any comments. But, please don't use the so-called "getting TPMS or EMS tends to be more competitive than getting into HGC program" to make your point. Getting into Cold Spring HGC is much more competitive than any other HGC program.

Although it is very disappointing, I think it is good to go away from such disaster selection process.

Serious question: how do you know no-one was admitted? Are you an administrator or teacher?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cold Spring High Gifted Center (HGC), the best HGC center in the county, the kids with highest scores of verbal, non-verbal reasoning and quantitative sections for the admission test 2 year ago, has 0 kid get accepted this year. These kids with MAP-M over 260, 270 in forth grade, 290 in fifth grade, MAP-R over 240 in forth grade, 250 in fifth grade, Lexile reading score almost college-level, principle or assistant principle player in MCYO orchestras (pre or chamber), national athletic awards winner (swimming, badminton, figure skating, chess), math Kangaroo state and national winners, AoPs top points winners in Algebra I. I have no any comments. But, please don't use the so-called "getting TPMS or EMS tends to be more competitive than getting into HGC program" to make your point. Getting into Cold Spring HGC is much more competitive than any other HGC program.

Although it is very disappointing, I think it is good to go away from such disaster selection process.

Shocking!!!! My kid is currently in the HGC program for 4th and 5th grade with extremely high scores (MAPs, PARCC, CES testing, Math Olympia) also got rejected for TPMS and EMS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Shocking!!!! My kid is currently in the HGC program for 4th and 5th grade with extremely high scores (MAPs, PARCC, CES testing, Math Olympia) also got rejected for TPMS and EMS.

How high?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cold Spring High Gifted Center (HGC), the best HGC center in the county, the kids with highest scores of verbal, non-verbal reasoning and quantitative sections for the admission test 2 year ago, has 0 kid get accepted this year. These kids with MAP-M over 260, 270 in forth grade, 290 in fifth grade, MAP-R over 240 in forth grade, 250 in fifth grade, Lexile reading score almost college-level, principle or assistant principle player in MCYO orchestras (pre or chamber), national athletic awards winner (swimming, badminton, figure skating, chess), math Kangaroo state and national winners, AoPs top points winners in Algebra I. I have no any comments. But, please don't use the so-called "getting TPMS or EMS tends to be more competitive than getting into HGC program" to make your point. Getting into Cold Spring HGC is much more competitive than any other HGC program.

Although it is very disappointing, I think it is good to go away from such disaster selection process.

Serious question: how do you know no-one was admitted? Are you an administrator or teacher?

Typically the HGC teacher can give a quick answer. Information from the DD is reliable as the HGC teacher will announce it to the class. This group of kids who have been screened into the HGC program will need to be adequately addressed as the system just failed them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Typically the HGC teacher can give a quick answer. Information from the DD is reliable as the HGC teacher will announce it to the class. This group of kids who have been screened into the HGC program will need to be adequately addressed as the system just failed them.

Wait, what? You're telling us that your kid at the Cold Spring CES told you that the CES teacher told the class that nobody at the Cold Spring CES was admitted to TPMS or Eastern?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Shocking!!!! My kid is currently in the HGC program for 4th and 5th grade with extremely high scores (MAPs, PARCC, CES testing, Math Olympia) also got rejected for TPMS and EMS.

How high?

If the student scores consistently in 99%tile on all the standardized tests with a strong track record with all As in the HGC program , there is no need to ask how high. He is among the top 1%.

[Anonymous]

Just checked mail and still no letter. In silver spring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:23:01, I'm not sure what your point is. The Cogat is a well-recognized test; if there are a lot of people scoring in the 99th percentile it is not because standards are lower.

If you look at this chart, anything from 135-160 is the 99%ile on the Cogat.

https://www.nsd.org/Page/28102

Sounds like this is what's tripping up the understanding of all this. When everyone posts that their kids are 99th percentile with perfect grades, we're not seeing the difference between the 136 kids and the 150 kids with perfect grades. Presumably the selection committee did see those raw scores. I wonder whether they'd tell you if you called to ask? (Note, though, that anything in the 98th and 99th percentile is considered gifted.)

We haven't gotten a letter yet, but DD's friend from their HGC class had 99%/straight As and got a rejection letter. She's zoned for a MS with 40ish% FARMS and a Great Schools 5.

DD is zoned for TPMS, had a couple of Bs in first quarter, tends to test relatively well but not spectacularly, but she does show a sky-high Lexile level on the MAP testing. So I'm a little skeptical of the idea that the acceptances will come today, because she definitely doesn't sound like a better candidate than a lot of the rejected kids, unless her raw COGAT score was somehow through the roof. I'd be shocked if she was accepted, after hearing all this. But it's her bad luck that she had to apply the first year they didn't take teacher recommendations, because hers said she'd be perfect for the program at Eastern.

There are 25 seats reserved in the magnet program for local TPMS students. So there is a very high probability - compared to the friends who are not zoned for TPMS - your DD will be accepted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Shocking!!!! My kid is currently in the HGC program for 4th and 5th grade with extremely high scores (MAPs, PARCC, CES testing, Math Olympia) also got rejected for TPMS and EMS.

How high?

If the student scores consistently in 99%tile on all the standardized tests with a strong track record with all As in the HGC program , there is no need to ask how high. He is among the top 1%.

You don't say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:23:01, I'm not sure what your point is. The Cogat is a well-recognized test; if there are a lot of people scoring in the 99th percentile it is not because standards are lower.

If you look at this chart, anything from 135-160 is the 99%ile on the Cogat.

https://www.nsd.org/Page/28102

Sounds like this is what's tripping up the understanding of all this. When everyone posts that their kids are 99th percentile with perfect grades, we're not seeing the difference between the 136 kids and the 150 kids with perfect grades. Presumably the selection committee did see those raw scores. I wonder whether they'd tell you if you called to ask? (Note, though, that anything in the 98th and 99th percentile is considered gifted.)

We haven't gotten a letter yet, but DD's friend from their HGC class had 99%/straight As and got a rejection letter. She's zoned for a MS with 40ish% FARMS and a Great Schools 5.

DD is zoned for TPMS, had a couple of Bs in first quarter, tends to test relatively well but not spectacularly, but she does show a sky-high Lexile level on the MAP testing. So I'm a little skeptical of the idea that the acceptances will come today, because she definitely doesn't sound like a better candidate than a lot of the rejected kids, unless her raw COGAT score was somehow through the roof. I'd be shocked if she was accepted, after hearing all this. But it's her bad luck that she had to apply the first year they didn't take teacher recommendations, because hers said she'd be perfect for the program at Eastern.

There are 25 seats reserved in the magnet program for local TPMS students. So there is a very high probability - compared to the friends who are not zoned for TPMS - your DD will be accepted.

There you go. Acceptance is based on diversity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

There are 25 seats reserved in the magnet program for local TPMS students. So there is a very high probability - compared to the friends who are not zoned for TPMS - your DD will be accepted.

There you go. Acceptance is based on diversity.

?

Typically the definition of diversity does not include "attending the home school that hosts the program".