Which mcps high school has declined the most?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In 1970 BCC was selected by Newsweek as the best high-school in America. Today it's something like a GS 6 based on its test scores.

I would have gone to BCC in the 70s had I not gone to private school and I don't recall it having a particularly good reputation then. Honestly my parents didn't even consider it an option. It's miles better now.

[Anonymous]

MOCO county in the 70s and 80s was mostly white. The smarter and wealthier people lived in the west then too. Working class families that may or may not have been college educated lived in the east. There was the same academic divide that exists today but the eastern schools weren't as low as they are now. The kids in the east could at least pass and graduate.

The main reason for decline within MCPS is that it has grown too big. MCPS central office staff are simply horribly unqualified to run a school system this large. It is one mismanaged crisis after another and everything is falling apart around them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The largest academic decline has been in the east and poorer areas of up county. For all the hyping that goes on, academically Einstein, Northwood, Blair, Kennedy, and Wheaton have plunged. Out of the good schools, Whitman has lost its top academic spot consistently to Churchill. Wootton and Poolesville for the several years. Whitman's desirability and reputation are still better but score wise it is lower. Seneca Valley, and Magruder have dropped. Northwest has not dropped, its scores are actually pretty good and equal to QO but it has a bad reputation in comparison to QO.

RM, Wootton and Poolesville are really the only example of schools that are better today than they were 20 years ago.

It's truly amazing how much overlap there is between DCUM's perception of school quality, on the one hand, and the demographic makeup of the school's student body, on the other. Astonishing. What could the explanation for that possibly be?

DP

Honestly, I’m not white and I don’t care what the demographic makeup of my kids’ school is. I do, however, look at the stats. When my kids’ HS is showing that less than 50% of the graduates are ready for college, it makes me stop and think.

That’s statistic doesn’t mean what you think it means. You’re talking about the “percentage of students meeting University of Maryland entrance requirements” on the Schools at a Glance reports, right? Because there’s nowhere else statistics on “readiness for college” are published.

That statistic refers to students having taken and passed a very specific set of courses, e.g. a certain number of years of English and foreign language, certain math, etc. Even at Whitman, which we can all agree is one of the richest schools with the most students graduating and going to college, that statistic is 57%. https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/04427.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The largest academic decline has been in the east and poorer areas of up county. For all the hyping that goes on, academically Einstein, Northwood, Blair, Kennedy, and Wheaton have plunged. Out of the good schools, Whitman has lost its top academic spot consistently to Churchill. Wootton and Poolesville for the several years. Whitman's desirability and reputation are still better but score wise it is lower. Seneca Valley, and Magruder have dropped. Northwest has not dropped, its scores are actually pretty good and equal to QO but it has a bad reputation in comparison to QO.

RM, Wootton and Poolesville are really the only example of schools that are better today than they were 20 years ago.

It's truly amazing how much overlap there is between DCUM's perception of school quality, on the one hand, and the demographic makeup of the school's student body, on the other. Astonishing. What could the explanation for that possibly be?

Agreed. We need to stop associating school success with test scores. There is more to being a good school than just test scores and college acceptance rates. Being in a diverse school, for instance, can teach a child more than what can be tested on or read in any book. Many of us place more of a value on this type of life learning than arbitrary test scores.

[Anonymous]

Agreed. We need to stop associating school success with test scores. There is more to being a good school than just test scores and college acceptance rates. Being in a diverse school, for instance, can teach a child more than what can be tested on or read in any book. Many of us place more of a value on this type of life learning than arbitrary test scores.

What a bunch of bullshit. First many of the "diverse" schools are completely segregated inside the school. Try the all white Blair caps program or the desperation to make sure your kid gets into a waterer down CES lest they be left behind in the general population yard. Hypocrisy at its best.

Its tiresome that some posters want to claim that graduating from high school, being prepared for college, and being able to PASS a basic grade level ELA and math class is not important to rationalize sending their kids to a crappy school. These are really bottom of the barrel measures. If you can't make these measures, the school is in trouble and it is not a good learning environment for anyone.

People should be up in arms about the failure rates within MCPS. They shouldn't be trying to hide them or rationalize them away -unless these are MCPS people posting. They should be screaming for the heads of MCPS staff who are failing the kids. They should be screaming for more school interventions or putting schools like Einstein on a probation watch until things improve. Nope -lets instead pretend that academics and learning do not matter. Its simply about existing for a few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Agreed. We need to stop associating school success with test scores. There is more to being a good school than just test scores and college acceptance rates. Being in a diverse school, for instance, can teach a child more than what can be tested on or read in any book. Many of us place more of a value on this type of life learning than arbitrary test scores.

What a bunch of bullshit. First many of the "diverse" schools are completely segregated inside the school. Try the all white Blair caps program or the desperation to make sure your kid gets into a waterer down CES lest they be left behind in the general population yard. Hypocrisy at its best.

Its tiresome that some posters want to claim that graduating from high school, being prepared for college, and being able to PASS a basic grade level ELA and math class is not important to rationalize sending their kids to a crappy school. These are really bottom of the barrel measures. If you can't make these measures, the school is in trouble and it is not a good learning environment for anyone.

People should be up in arms about the failure rates within MCPS. They shouldn't be trying to hide them or rationalize them away -unless these are MCPS people posting. They should be screaming for the heads of MCPS staff who are failing the kids. They should be screaming for more school interventions or putting schools like Einstein on a probation watch until things improve. Nope -lets instead pretend that academics and learning do not matter. Its simply about existing for a few years.

I'm going out on a limb here and guessing you have no direct experience with Blair, Einstein, or any school east of Connecticut Avenue?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The largest academic decline has been in the east and poorer areas of up county. For all the hyping that goes on, academically Einstein, Northwood, Blair, Kennedy, and Wheaton have plunged. Out of the good schools, Whitman has lost its top academic spot consistently to Churchill. Wootton and Poolesville for the several years. Whitman's desirability and reputation are still better but score wise it is lower. Seneca Valley, and Magruder have dropped. Northwest has not dropped, its scores are actually pretty good and equal to QO but it has a bad reputation in comparison to QO.

RM, Wootton and Poolesville are really the only example of schools that are better today than they were 20 years ago.

It's truly amazing how much overlap there is between DCUM's perception of school quality, on the one hand, and the demographic makeup of the school's student body, on the other. Astonishing. What could the explanation for that possibly be?

DP

Honestly, I’m not white and I don’t care what the demographic makeup of my kids’ school is. I do, however, look at the stats. When my kids’ HS is showing that less than 50% of the graduates are ready for college, it makes me stop and think.

That’s statistic doesn’t mean what you think it means. You’re talking about the “percentage of students meeting University of Maryland entrance requirements” on the Schools at a Glance reports, right? Because there’s nowhere else statistics on “readiness for college” are published.

That statistic refers to students having taken and passed a very specific set of courses, e.g. a certain number of years of English and foreign language, certain math, etc. Even at Whitman, which we can all agree is one of the richest schools with the most students graduating and going to college, that statistic is 57%. https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/04427.pdf

Thank you, PP, for providing some actually useful context!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The largest academic decline has been in the east and poorer areas of up county. For all the hyping that goes on, academically Einstein, Northwood, Blair, Kennedy, and Wheaton have plunged. Out of the good schools, Whitman has lost its top academic spot consistently to Churchill. Wootton and Poolesville for the several years. Whitman's desirability and reputation are still better but score wise it is lower. Seneca Valley, and Magruder have dropped. Northwest has not dropped, its scores are actually pretty good and equal to QO but it has a bad reputation in comparison to QO.

RM, Wootton and Poolesville are really the only example of schools that are better today than they were 20 years ago.

It's truly amazing how much overlap there is between DCUM's perception of school quality, on the one hand, and the demographic makeup of the school's student body, on the other. Astonishing. What could the explanation for that possibly be?

Agreed. We need to stop associating school success with test scores. There is more to being a good school than just test scores and college acceptance rates. Being in a diverse school, for instance, can teach a child more than what can be tested on or read in any book. Many of us place more of a value on this type of life learning than arbitrary test scores.

Yea, college is over-rated. It's more important that your 27 year old child living in your basement has a nice diverse group of friends to invite over to play Mario Cart on a Tuesday afternoon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Agreed. We need to stop associating school success with test scores. There is more to being a good school than just test scores and college acceptance rates. Being in a diverse school, for instance, can teach a child more than what can be tested on or read in any book. Many of us place more of a value on this type of life learning than arbitrary test scores.

What a bunch of bullshit. First many of the "diverse" schools are completely segregated inside the school. Try the all white Blair caps program or the desperation to make sure your kid gets into a waterer down CES lest they be left behind in the general population yard. Hypocrisy at its best.

Its tiresome that some posters want to claim that graduating from high school, being prepared for college, and being able to PASS a basic grade level ELA and math class is not important to rationalize sending their kids to a crappy school. These are really bottom of the barrel measures. If you can't make these measures, the school is in trouble and it is not a good learning environment for anyone.

People should be up in arms about the failure rates within MCPS. They shouldn't be trying to hide them or rationalize them away -unless these are MCPS people posting. They should be screaming for the heads of MCPS staff who are failing the kids. They should be screaming for more school interventions or putting schools like Einstein on a probation watch until things improve. Nope -lets instead pretend that academics and learning do not matter. Its simply about existing for a few years.

This +1 million

I have a kid at a Title 1 school and I am mostly struck by the incredibly low expectations. Low expectations for behavior. Low expectations for academics. Especially when compared to my friends/relatives at wealthier schools. That is an issue.

MCPs needs to focus more on demonstrating that all the kids are progressing and that the time they are spending in school is actually productive.

[Anonymous]

One of my neighbors growing up went to Blair in the magnet program. He described it as a bunch of nerds surrounding by gang members . Guy was brilliant, got a perfect SAT score when that meant having to get everything right. He said some of the younger kids were absolute geniuses such as this 13? Year old who had to go to UMCP for math classes advanced enough for him

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In 1970 BCC was selected by Newsweek as the best high-school in America. Today it's something like a GS 6 based on its test scores.

I would have gone to BCC in the 70s had I not gone to private school and I don't recall it having a particularly good reputation then. Honestly my parents didn't even consider it an option. It's miles better now.

BCC is a GS 9, as someone already corrected upthread. Honestly, I don't know why some people post when they clearly don't know what they're talking about.
https://www.greatschools.org/maryland/bethesda/861-Bethesda-Chevy-Chase-High-School/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In 1970 BCC was selected by Newsweek as the best high-school in America. Today it's something like a GS 6 based on its test scores.

I would have gone to BCC in the 70s had I not gone to private school and I don't recall it having a particularly good reputation then. Honestly my parents didn't even consider it an option. It's miles better now.

BCC is a GS 9, as someone already corrected upthread. Honestly, I don't know why some people post when they clearly don't know what they're talking about.
https://www.greatschools.org/maryland/bethesda/861-Bethesda-Chevy-Chase-High-School/

BCC is a GS 9 overall, and a GS 7 (not a 6) based on test scores, Whitman is a GS4 based on test scores (cue the Whitman boosters talking about how their kids are too cool to take meaningless standardized tests).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Agreed. We need to stop associating school success with test scores. There is more to being a good school than just test scores and college acceptance rates. Being in a diverse school, for instance, can teach a child more than what can be tested on or read in any book. Many of us place more of a value on this type of life learning than arbitrary test scores.

What a bunch of bullshit. First many of the "diverse" schools are completely segregated inside the school. Try the all white Blair caps program or the desperation to make sure your kid gets into a waterer down CES lest they be left behind in the general population yard. Hypocrisy at its best.

Its tiresome that some posters want to claim that graduating from high school, being prepared for college, and being able to PASS a basic grade level ELA and math class is not important to rationalize sending their kids to a crappy school. These are really bottom of the barrel measures. If you can't make these measures, the school is in trouble and it is not a good learning environment for anyone.

People should be up in arms about the failure rates within MCPS. They shouldn't be trying to hide them or rationalize them away -unless these are MCPS people posting. They should be screaming for the heads of MCPS staff who are failing the kids. They should be screaming for more school interventions or putting schools like Einstein on a probation watch until things improve. Nope -lets instead pretend that academics and learning do not matter. Its simply about existing for a few years.

This +1 million

I have a kid at a Title 1 school and I am mostly struck by the incredibly low expectations. Low expectations for behavior. Low expectations for academics. Especially when compared to my friends/relatives at wealthier schools. That is an issue.

MCPs needs to focus more on demonstrating that all the kids are progressing and that the time they are spending in school is actually productive.

I'm sorry to hear that was your experience. My kid just finished at a Title I school, and it was the total opposite. From the principal to the teachers and paraeducators, I noted consistently high expectations.

[Anonymous]

I taught in a Title 1 school. I taught in 2 non-Title 1 schools. Across the board the Title 1 teachers and admin expected more from their students. Sorry I ever left that school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Agreed. We need to stop associating school success with test scores. There is more to being a good school than just test scores and college acceptance rates. Being in a diverse school, for instance, can teach a child more than what can be tested on or read in any book. Many of us place more of a value on this type of life learning than arbitrary test scores.

What a bunch of bullshit. First many of the "diverse" schools are completely segregated inside the school. Try the all white Blair caps program or the desperation to make sure your kid gets into a waterer down CES lest they be left behind in the general population yard. Hypocrisy at its best.

Its tiresome that some posters want to claim that graduating from high school, being prepared for college, and being able to PASS a basic grade level ELA and math class is not important to rationalize sending their kids to a crappy school. These are really bottom of the barrel measures. If you can't make these measures, the school is in trouble and it is not a good learning environment for anyone.

People should be up in arms about the failure rates within MCPS. They shouldn't be trying to hide them or rationalize them away -unless these are MCPS people posting. They should be screaming for the heads of MCPS staff who are failing the kids. They should be screaming for more school interventions or putting schools like Einstein on a probation watch until things improve. Nope -lets instead pretend that academics and learning do not matter. Its simply about existing for a few years.

30% of Churchill graduates don't make them. 25% of Wootton graduates. 42% of Whitman graduates. 40% of Poolesville graduates.