Why do non-magnet HS impede academic achievement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would a HS offer a placement test when only one eve is offered, honors for all, in 9th and 10th grade? After that, students can sign up for AB and IB if they want. There is zero gatekeeping.

Try getting a French immersion student who has been exposed to the language for 9 years (and three periods during the last three of those) placed in something higher than level 4 as a freshman (where students having been in standard, one-period French 1, 2 & 3 in middle school also are placed).

I'm sure there are other examples of rigidity, local or across the board, where schools just don't make an effort to meet students where they are.

Well, no MCPS magnet program is going to let a student do that, either.

OK. Still gatekeeping. Still failing to meet students where they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would a HS offer a placement test when only one eve is offered, honors for all, in 9th and 10th grade? After that, students can sign up for AB and IB if they want. There is zero gatekeeping.

Try getting a French immersion student who has been exposed to the language for 9 years (and three periods during the last three of those) placed in something higher than level 4 as a freshman (where students having been in standard, one-period French 1, 2 & 3 in middle school also are placed).

I'm sure there are other examples of rigidity, local or across the board, where schools just don't make an effort to meet students where they are.

Of all the things to cry gatekeeping about, this is pretty small potatoes. As the parent of an immersion kid, the beauty of immersion is that my child has a lovely accent and feels comfortable speaking the target language without embarrassment. The downside is that my child did not have rigorous grammatical instruction, their writing was not heavily edited, and they still have the social and study skills of a freshman. With that said, some schools let immersion kids start at WL 5, but no higher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would a HS offer a placement test when only one eve is offered, honors for all, in 9th and 10th grade? After that, students can sign up for AB and IB if they want. There is zero gatekeeping.

Try getting a French immersion student who has been exposed to the language for 9 years (and three periods during the last three of those) placed in something higher than level 4 as a freshman (where students having been in standard, one-period French 1, 2 & 3 in middle school also are placed).

I'm sure there are other examples of rigidity, local or across the board, where schools just don't make an effort to meet students where they are.

Of all the things to cry gatekeeping about, this is pretty small potatoes. As the parent of an immersion kid, the beauty of immersion is that my child has a lovely accent and feels comfortable speaking the target language without embarrassment. The downside is that my child did not have rigorous grammatical instruction, their writing was not heavily edited, and they still have the social and study skills of a freshman. With that said, some schools let immersion kids start at WL 5, but no higher.

Which ones?

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know what the placement test for world languages looks like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe because the magnets and other application based programs exist for this purpose?

Covering, together, maybe a quarter of the population that would benefit from a more enriched/rigorous/advanced/accelerated approach? Then leaving the remaining three quarters to the decisions of local schools that clearly do not provide some reasonably equivalent programming to meet individuals where they are with any consistency across schools/administrations? Please

(DP)

Have you explored all the options? Some are only really limited by ability to pass entry tests. If those program can only meet the needs of 25% of students it is because the other students can’t pass the test, which is exactly who shouldn’t be accelerated.

If you aren’t interested in those programs because you want your local HS to customize to you instead of leveraging a centrally administered opportunity, that seems like a you issue.

I think you misunderstand.

Prior past poster suggested magnets and application-based programs exist for the purpose of meeting the need noted by the OP. The observation is that the magnets and application-based programs might have room for a quarter of those who would benefit (e.g., those who likely would pass a test if one were offered).

If there were tests where everyone meeting a certain bar was offered reasonably similar opportunities, that would be one thing. (And it would be disingenuous to say top X% is the bar when the need may be among more or less than a certain percentage from year to year.) However, between the local-school limitations (variable implementations and offerings across the system) and the limited program seats, there aren't spots enough to meet the need.