MCPS - National Merit Seminfinalists pretty unevenly distributed, don't you think?

[Anonymous]

Here's the list:

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/pdf/MCPS%20Semifinalists%202014%209%2011%2013.pdf

Lots from Whitman, Churchill, Blair and Richard Montgomery. BCC and WJ make a decent showing. Most other schools, even Poolesville, not so many. What do people think?

[Anonymous]

OP again -- correction, Poolesville did pretty well. I misread the numbers there. Still there are many MCPS schools with no NM semifinalists. Are people surprised?

[Anonymous]

Looks the same as usual. The magnets are basically siphoning the smartest kids from all but the W schools (and even they lose kids to the magnets). Just like TJ, although that's even more kids.

It's important to keep in mind that MD has a very high cutoff. This year it went up a few points, I think it was 223. My DC would have made the cutoff in about 25 other states, but wasn't that close here. If we had a 205 cutoff, or even a 215 cutoff, there would probably be qualifiers at a broader set of schools.

[Anonymous]

What determines a state's cutoff anyway? I imagine the cutoff is highest in places with the highest acheiving students and schools, such as MD, NJ, MA but I'm not too clear on the specifics. Does anyone know more about this?

I realize the magnets siphon off talent from many good schools. I'm not sure how to feel about this. I guess it's good that families in lower performing clusters have a choice, but it makes many of the non-magnet schools less desirable places to be, IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What determines a state's cutoff anyway? I imagine the cutoff is highest in places with the highest acheiving students and schools, such as MD, NJ, MA but I'm not too clear on the specifics. Does anyone know more about this?

I realize the magnets siphon off talent from many good schools. I'm not sure how to feel about this. I guess it's good that families in lower performing clusters have a choice, but it makes many of the non-magnet schools less desirable places to be, IMO.

I'm pretty sure they set the cutoff to get roughly the same % of kids from each state.

[Anonymous]

NMSF are the top 1/2 of 1 percent in each state. The cutoffs vary a lot by state. MD, NJ, and AMericans Abroad (i.e. CEOs kids) have the highest cutoffs.

As for MCPS, test scores and incomes lines up on a 45 degree line when plotted against one another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again -- correction, Poolesville did pretty well. I misread the numbers there. Still there are many MCPS schools with no NM semifinalists. Are people surprised?

No. Because those kids go to magnet schools. I don't thing schools should claim a NM semi finalist if they were educated 90% of there,education at another school. These kids take PSATs in 7th and 8th grade, are admitted based on these scores and then magnet schools are like wow look how great we are. It's smoke and mirrors to get people to buy houses in failing neighborhoods.

Not surprised either that W parents won't bus their smart kids to a failing school.

[Anonymous]

The PSAT, like the SAT is a very biased test. You can learn how to take the test well. Children who are in environments that reinforce understanding how to take the test, do better. Results usually line up to SES with magnet schools being an outlier.

[Anonymous]

The cutoffs vary a lot by state. MD, NJ, and AMericans Abroad (i.e. CEOs kids) have the highest cutoffs

DC is higher than MD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The cutoffs vary a lot by state. MD, NJ, and AMericans Abroad (i.e. CEOs kids) have the highest cutoffs

DC is higher than MD.

I think they assign DC the highest state's cutoff. Otherwise, the small population would mean that five kids frm SIdwell would be the only semifinalists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The PSAT, like the SAT is a very biased test. You can learn how to take the test well. Children who are in environments that reinforce understanding how to take the test, do better. Results usually line up to SES with magnet schools being an outlier.

Well, scores usually line up by race and SES, so you would expect the more affluent schools that are predominantly white/asian to do much better on average. The increase by SES seems to be remarkably consistent.

By SES:



Broken out by both:

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again -- correction, Poolesville did pretty well. I misread the numbers there. Still there are many MCPS schools with no NM semifinalists. Are people surprised?

No. Because those kids go to magnet schools. I don't thing schools should claim a NM semi finalist if they were educated 90% of there,education at another school. These kids take PSATs in 7th and 8th grade, are admitted based on these scores and then magnet schools are like wow look how great we are. It's smoke and mirrors to get people to buy houses in failing neighborhoods.

Not surprised either that W parents won't bus their smart kids to a failing school.

This is really not factual.

Admissions tests aren't PSATs, first of all. And as a mom whose kid goes to a magnet in one of those "failing" schools (actually not failing, but anyway ...) we have lots of kids whose home neighborhoods are W schools or BCC cluster schools. It's not smoke and mirrors, it's an appropriate education for gifted kids. Sorry if that rankles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again -- correction, Poolesville did pretty well. I misread the numbers there. Still there are many MCPS schools with no NM semifinalists. Are people surprised?

No. Because those kids go to magnet schools. I don't thing schools should claim a NM semi finalist if they were educated 90% of there,education at another school. These kids take PSATs in 7th and 8th grade, are admitted based on these scores and then magnet schools are like wow look how great we are. It's smoke and mirrors to get people to buy houses in failing neighborhoods.

Not surprised either that W parents won't bus their smart kids to a failing school.

This is really not factual.

Admissions tests aren't PSATs, first of all. And as a mom whose kid goes to a magnet in one of those "failing" schools (actually not failing, but anyway ...) we have lots of kids whose home neighborhoods are W schools or BCC cluster schools. It's not smoke and mirrors, it's an appropriate education for gifted kids. Sorry if that rankles.

Affluent parents will cross boundaries to send their kids to high-profile magnets like Blair or RM-IB. They won't do so for vague specialty programs like those scattered among the schools in eastern MoCo?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NMSF are the top 1/2 of 1 percent in each state. The cutoffs vary a lot by state. MD, NJ, and AMericans Abroad (i.e. CEOs kids) have the highest cutoffs.

As for MCPS, test scores and incomes lines up on a 45 degree line when plotted against one another.

I think Massachusetts and boarding schools have the highest cutoff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again -- correction, Poolesville did pretty well. I misread the numbers there. Still there are many MCPS schools with no NM semifinalists. Are people surprised?

No. Because those kids go to magnet schools. I don't thing schools should claim a NM semi finalist if they were educated 90% of there,education at another school. These kids take PSATs in 7th and 8th grade, are admitted based on these scores and then magnet schools are like wow look how great we are. It's smoke and mirrors to get people to buy houses in failing neighborhoods.

Not surprised either that W parents won't bus their smart kids to a failing school.

This is really not factual.

Admissions tests aren't PSATs, first of all. And as a mom whose kid goes to a magnet in one of those "failing" schools (actually not failing, but anyway ...) we have lots of kids whose home neighborhoods are W schools or BCC cluster schools. It's not smoke and mirrors, it's an appropriate education for gifted kids. Sorry if that rankles.

They must be putting vodka in your Kool aid.