Silver Springs schools?

[Anonymous]

I would assume the math/science teacher. My Sherwood student is going to have to go to MC for
Math in 11th & 12th grade, but if they were at Blair, or even Blake- they'd have high enough math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, I know a retired MoCo cop who led security teams at mcps schools, and I got the lowdown on all schools in terms of safety. So, there's that. You can't truly compare data unless they break it down by race and SES. Ie: imagine comparing upper class white males at any W school, Blair, Sherwood, Paint Branch, etc. Chances are their scores would be comparable. The big difference that lots of folks on here seem hesitant to admit is that some schools in MoCo have extremely high rates of farms, behavior issues, etc. While most kids won't be fazed by this, some might. And since you can't pick your kid's friends, the best you can do is put them in an environment where a lot of students are college bound and likely to take school seriously. That's all. And I don't think there's anything racist about that since it really isn't a race issue at all. Rather, it's SES, behavior, and a general attitude towards education. And the proof is in the pudding: low income kids often thrive academically in schools where they are in the minority and are surrounded by middle to upper class students. There was actually a MoCo study that randomly placed low income families on housing assistance in two parts of the county...and shocker, the kids in the more affluent area at the better schools fared much better.

Again, lots of this doesn't apply to YOUR solidly upper class kid who will likely do well at any school in the county. But studies show that poor kids do better when they are in schools where the majority of kids are not poor. This is common sense to most of us, but numerous studies across the country demonstrate this as well.

What does this study show? That high-poverty schools are bad for poor kids. (It's a good study. Here it is: http://tcf.org/assets/downloads/tcf-Schwartz.pdf)

What does this study not show? That moderate-poverty schools are bad for middle-class kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Intel Science winners are from the Magnet yes, but any kid who is high in math/science can take those classes. It's the same at RM- kids can take the IB classes and don't have to 'test' in.

Just to make sure I didn't misunderstand; any student at Blair can take magnet courses?

Could you please tell me when this was implemented?

How is it determined if a kid is "high in math/science?"

Who makes the determination?

RM is an IB school. Parents know going in that RM kids can take IB classes without testing in. The Blair magnet program is a separate program.

Are CAP classes accessible to anyone who performs "high" (your word) in what ever subjects? Do you know the criteria for anyone to take CAP classes?

I'm interested in the responses to the questions about the magnet too.

Thanks to the poster who brought this important piece of info to our notice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, I know a retired MoCo cop who led security teams at mcps schools, and I got the lowdown on all schools in terms of safety. So, there's that. You can't truly compare data unless they break it down by race and SES. Ie: imagine comparing upper class white males at any W school, Blair, Sherwood, Paint Branch, etc. Chances are their scores would be comparable. The big difference that lots of folks on here seem hesitant to admit is that some schools in MoCo have extremely high rates of farms, behavior issues, etc. While most kids won't be fazed by this, some might. And since you can't pick your kid's friends, the best you can do is put them in an environment where a lot of students are college bound and likely to take school seriously. That's all. And I don't think there's anything racist about that since it really isn't a race issue at all. Rather, it's SES, behavior, and a general attitude towards education. And the proof is in the pudding: low income kids often thrive academically in schools where they are in the minority and are surrounded by middle to upper class students. There was actually a MoCo study that randomly placed low income families on housing assistance in two parts of the county...and shocker, the kids in the more affluent area at the better schools fared much better.

Again, lots of this doesn't apply to YOUR solidly upper class kid who will likely do well at any school in the county. But studies show that poor kids do better when they are in schools where the majority of kids are not poor. This is common sense to most of us, but numerous studies across the country demonstrate this as well.

What does this study show? That high-poverty schools are bad for poor kids. (It's a good study. Here it is: http://tcf.org/assets/downloads/tcf-Schwartz.pdf)

What does this study not show? That moderate-poverty schools are bad for middle-class kids.

This "study" is a bad study. It is based on flawed data and is not a study that was peer reviewed. It is politics.

[Anonymous]

If you can provide evidence a student is qualified to take the magnet-level math/science, there is space, and the teacher agrees, any Blair student can take any class. It isn't any more difficult.

Do we now need to bold everything to debunk the SS haters? This is really out of hand. Luckily it's out in the open for everyone to see what kind of people do and do not live in SS. I couldn't be happier here, and I couldn't be happier some folks don't live among us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What does this study show? That high-poverty schools are bad for poor kids. (It's a good study. Here it is: http://tcf.org/assets/downloads/tcf-Schwartz.pdf)

What does this study not show? That moderate-poverty schools are bad for middle-class kids.

This "study" is a bad study. It is based on flawed data and is not a study that was peer reviewed. It is politics.

What are the flaws in the data?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you can provide evidence a student is qualified to take the magnet-level math/science, there is space, and the teacher agrees, any Blair student can take any class. It isn't any more difficult.

Do we now need to bold everything to debunk the SS haters? This is really out of hand. Luckily it's out in the open for everyone to see what kind of people do and do not live in SS. I couldn't be happier here, and I couldn't be happier some folks don't live among us.

To be fair, I am not sure this was always the policy at Blair. Is it possible that the new principal instituted this policy fairly recently? Benefit of doubt for the haters.

[Anonymous]

Here are some facts from this thread:
04/07/2014 19:21
First of all, The Post's Challenge Index is merely a measure of how many kids are taking AP tests. Blair is the largest school in the state of Maryland, and a lot of those kids are not college-bound. The college-bound kids, they're doing just fine, as the college admission results indicate every year.
04/07/2014 20:09
The Intel Science winners are from the Magnet yes, but any kid who is high in math/science can take those classes. It's the same at RM- kids can take the IB classes and don't have to 'test' in.
04/07/2014 22:07
If you can provide evidence a student is qualified to take the magnet-level math/science, there is space, and the teacher agrees, any Blair student can take any class. It isn't any more difficult.
04/08/2014 09:29
To be fair, I am not sure this was always the policy at Blair. Is it possible that the new principal instituted this policy fairly recently? Benefit of doubt for the haters.

[Anonymous]

09:29 Are you saying Renay Johnson may be responsible for the policy? I hear she got rid of counselors being assigned for magnet students and many experienced teachers are resigning from the magnet program. Is it true?

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm not going to read through all this, but wanted to say we live in the 20910 zip code and send our kid to East Silver Spring Elementary. We couldn't be happier--great teachers and leadership, and nice, diverse families. I grew up in Bethesda and attended public schools in that area. So far, my child's experience in MCPS is much better than mine was, 20 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Just posted on the other thread, a reality check courtesy the County Council: http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/OLO/Resources/Fi...20Report%202014-7%20Final.pdf.

NEC and DCC schools don't measure up to the rest of the county.

[Anonymous]

If the Blair boosters do believe that Blair is a good school, then write to the County Council, the BOE, and tell them that you are satisfied with the quality of schools.

[Anonymous]

Link doesn't work

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Link doesn't work

Sorry!!!

Here it is:
http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/OLO/Resources/Files/OLO%20Report%202014-7%20Final.pdf

[Anonymous]

The lesson to be learned from Blair boosters is that they are often uninformed (for example claiming there were 2 coordinators at Blair) and/or factually challenged (see the OLO report linked above that gives an assessment of the NEC and DCC schools).