mcps. sounds about right. (GT admissions changes)

[Anonymous]

Our child is in a CES. There's nothing about the curriculum that couldn't be taught at any regular ES, but it is challenging, and the school made clear that they expect a not insignificant portion of the kids to really struggle and "fail" (in the relative sense). Rather than just breezing by in the local ES with minimal effort. In that sense, the CES is somewhat remorseless; the class will not slow down for your child. For ES' will a large enough number of classrooms per grade, you could give it a try, but I wonder how happy many parents would be with that.

[Anonymous]

I'm thinking about it. What really changed for Asian-Americans? Are we not used to a higher standard and bar in education and employment anyways? Are we not supposed to be exponentially better than others to even dream of any advancement? Nothing has changed really. Your kids need to experience the racism that their parents experience everyday at work, because they were buying the myth that US looks at merit and not skin color. They better learn that it is not true and they better learn it in school instead of their professional world.

We need more Asian-Americans in politics. Lets stop being meek and turning the other cheek. Humbleness is a sign of weakness.

- Asian parent

[Anonymous]

Accelerated classes at home schools with a large cohort of peers seems like a good solution to the limited ms magnet spaces. I’m sure teachers will be given a lot of leeway in developing something very special. Not to mention kids won’t have to get up early for long bus rides to and from magnets.

And there are always high school magnets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Accelerated classes at home schools with a large cohort of peers seems like a good solution to the limited ms magnet spaces. I’m sure teachers will be given a lot of leeway in developing something very special. Not to mention kids won’t have to get up early for long bus rides to and from magnets.

And there are always high school magnets.

what's the point? They will apply the same admission criteria in the HS magnet, too.

[Anonymous]

I'm fine with universal screening, but using the cohort criteria really does exclude the brighter kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm fine with universal screening, but using the cohort criteria really does exclude the brighter kids.

But don’t they get the advanced classes at their home school? I thought they send the kids who are advanced but there’s not enough (20?) other advanced kids at their school, and where there are enough kids to form a class they keep them at their home school? I’d prefer my kid be at the home school, unless the magnet is close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm fine with universal screening, but using the cohort criteria really does exclude the brighter kids.

But don’t they get the advanced classes at their home school? I thought they send the kids who are advanced but there’s not enough (20?) other advanced kids at their school, and where there are enough kids to form a class they keep them at their home school? I’d prefer my kid be at the home school, unless the magnet is close.

+1. Seems like a win win for schools with a lot of very bright students. I would prefer my kid to stay at his home school rather than spend a half hour or more on the bus to a magnet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm fine with universal screening, but using the cohort criteria really does exclude the brighter kids.

But don’t they get the advanced classes at their home school? I thought they send the kids who are advanced but there’s not enough (20?) other advanced kids at their school, and where there are enough kids to form a class they keep them at their home school? I’d prefer my kid be at the home school, unless the magnet is close.

+1. Seems like a win win for schools with a lot of very bright students. I would prefer my kid to stay at his home school rather than spend a half hour or more on the bus to a magnet

I agree. The research behind the style of "highly gifted" program utilized by MCPS focuses on the risk of mental health issues for the highly gifted if they do not have a peer group. If the peer group exists at their home MS, and they are actually grouped into some classes TOGETHER, this need is probably met. The mental health issues don't come from not having difficult classes. They likely come from the ongoing failure of meaningful communication that happens when there are no peers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Surprised to see the article said that outside testing was used to qualify. I did not think this was true.

By "outside testing" they mean the COGAT (a test that isn't part of the usual MCPS battery of standardized tests).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm fine with universal screening, but using the cohort criteria really does exclude the brighter kids.

But don’t they get the advanced classes at their home school? I thought they send the kids who are advanced but there’s not enough (20?) other advanced kids at their school, and where there are enough kids to form a class they keep them at their home school? I’d prefer my kid be at the home school, unless the magnet is close.

No. If it was the exact same curriculum, then yes, but it's not the same curriculum, so no.. those one or two classes does not make a magnet program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm fine with universal screening, but using the cohort criteria really does exclude the brighter kids.

But don’t they get the advanced classes at their home school? I thought they send the kids who are advanced but there’s not enough (20?) other advanced kids at their school, and where there are enough kids to form a class they keep them at their home school? I’d prefer my kid be at the home school, unless the magnet is close.

No. If it was the exact same curriculum, then yes, but it's not the same curriculum, so no.. those one or two classes does not make a magnet program.

It does give them a peer group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm fine with universal screening, but using the cohort criteria really does exclude the brighter kids.

But don’t they get the advanced classes at their home school? I thought they send the kids who are advanced but there’s not enough (20?) other advanced kids at their school, and where there are enough kids to form a class they keep them at their home school? I’d prefer my kid be at the home school, unless the magnet is close.

No. If it was the exact same curriculum, then yes, but it's not the same curriculum, so no.. those one or two classes does not make a magnet program.

It does give them a peer group.

Yes, it is only part of the curriculum. My child's teachers did note that the magnet classes are the exact same math and social studies classes at the magnets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Accelerated classes at home schools with a large cohort of peers seems like a good solution to the limited ms magnet spaces. I’m sure teachers will be given a lot of leeway in developing something very special. Not to mention kids won’t have to get up early for long bus rides to and from magnets.

And there are always high school magnets.

The increased competitiveness that came with universal screening and cohort expansion into local schools both seemed like huge improvements over years past.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm fine with universal screening, but using the cohort criteria really does exclude the brighter kids.

But don’t they get the advanced classes at their home school? I thought they send the kids who are advanced but there’s not enough (20?) other advanced kids at their school, and where there are enough kids to form a class they keep them at their home school? I’d prefer my kid be at the home school, unless the magnet is close.

No. If it was the exact same curriculum, then yes, but it's not the same curriculum, so no.. those one or two classes does not make a magnet program.

It does give them a peer group.

Yes, it is only part of the curriculum. My child's teachers did note that the magnet classes are the exact same math and social studies classes at the magnets.

I hope it's not lost on readers that these parents who go on about how great their schools are because of the peer group are the same that cry to high heaven when their precious didn't make it into the magnet and they're stuck with their local school's peer group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And as people have stated, putting less weight on test scores would result in lowering the ability of the group:

Kimberly Petrola, a fourth-grade teacher at Fox Chapel Elementary School in Germantown, one of the Centers for Enriched Studies, acknowledged that instruction had changed since the school became part of the pilot program last year, ahead of the rest of the county.

With a more diverse student body, not every child performed above grade level, Ms. Petrola said. She said she and other teachers used ability grouping to teach at different levels. For example, for a unit in which students read an author’s autobiography and fiction side by side, to look for consistent themes, some groups were assigned authors who wrote at a more challenging reading level.

That was happening 15+ years ago, when the HGC was expanded due to political pressure.

~CES (former HGC) teacher