TJ Commended Student Emails Released - Who is really responsible?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There certainly needs to be regime change at FCPS and on the School Board. Not sure this particular issue will get the Republicans there, although the Democrats seem to be trying to help them by claiming that kids in the top 2-3% of PSAT test takers (but not top 1%) are low-achievers begging for a “participation trophy.”

Most of the URMs the Democrats pretend to care about so much would be over the moon if their kids were commended students in the top 3%.

I think the coalition for TJ needs to keep up their attacks. Of course I'm a democrat and enjoy watching them alienate the rest of county

I'm not a Republican, but I was alienated by how many Democrats responded to this situation by suggesting that being recognized as among the top 3% of PSAT test-takers was a non-event akin to a "participation trophy" for kids who weren't Semifinalists (in the top 1%). For a party that often goes after "1%-ers," this seemed awfully crude and disrespectful.

Of course I'm a former commended student, as was one of my kids, so apparently we don't really belong in the same room with the TJAAG types.

You think that they need their own ceremony for this? It wasn't well-attended in the past if that gives you any idea of the student interest.

No, I don't think there needs to be a "ceremony." Just let the commended kids know on a timely basis and maybe take a picture for the yearbook.

OK. They were notified. Sounds like they will notify them more quickly in the future.

No matter how you slice it, it doesn't warrant a state investigation.

Agree. FCPS has many problems; this isn't one of them.

Who exactly do you think is responsible for these “many problems”? FCPS has been completely dominated by Democrats during the period in which FCPS’s reputation has declined precipitously.

It has only declined precipitously amongst a very small group of people in a very small echo chamber.

The only ways in which FCPS has declined precipitously is in the massive amount of standardized testing that continues to be piled on and on and on. We literally have WEEKS less instructional time. Who is pushing for all that testing? Republicans, ever since NCLB. More a more and more testing, less and less instructional time.

I’ve been teaching since 1994. THAT’s the biggest change and the biggest erosion of educational quality.

The Republicans have been in no position to dictate an increasing amount of standardized testing in FCPS classrooms in recent years. If you believe this, you really have no business in a classroom.

As for NCLB, it passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in 2002, and was motivated by the same desire for “equal outcomes” that the consultants paid by Reid espouse. The main difference was that NCLB led to a hyper-focus on measuring progress, whereas the equity consultants today want to deny and eliminate performance metrics. That would take some pressure off teachers, but then we’d have no way of knowing whether kids are learning.

NCLB was a weapon to cut funding from schools that underperformed. And they usually underperformed because of - you guessed it - lack of funding that was appropriate to their circumstances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There certainly needs to be regime change at FCPS and on the School Board. Not sure this particular issue will get the Republicans there, although the Democrats seem to be trying to help them by claiming that kids in the top 2-3% of PSAT test takers (but not top 1%) are low-achievers begging for a “participation trophy.”

Most of the URMs the Democrats pretend to care about so much would be over the moon if their kids were commended students in the top 3%.

I think the coalition for TJ needs to keep up their attacks. Of course I'm a democrat and enjoy watching them alienate the rest of county

I'm not a Republican, but I was alienated by how many Democrats responded to this situation by suggesting that being recognized as among the top 3% of PSAT test-takers was a non-event akin to a "participation trophy" for kids who weren't Semifinalists (in the top 1%). For a party that often goes after "1%-ers," this seemed awfully crude and disrespectful.

Of course I'm a former commended student, as was one of my kids, so apparently we don't really belong in the same room with the TJAAG types.

You think that they need their own ceremony for this? It wasn't well-attended in the past if that gives you any idea of the student interest.

Exactly. Less testing. less measurement, and less (or no) accountability. Teachers should not have any measurement on whether or not they are effective and they should have four-day work weeks.


No, I don't think there needs to be a "ceremony." Just let the commended kids know on a timely basis and maybe take a picture for the yearbook.

OK. They were notified. Sounds like they will notify them more quickly in the future.

No matter how you slice it, it doesn't warrant a state investigation.

Agree. FCPS has many problems; this isn't one of them.

Who exactly do you think is responsible for these “many problems”? FCPS has been completely dominated by Democrats during the period in which FCPS’s reputation has declined precipitously.

It has only declined precipitously amongst a very small group of people in a very small echo chamber.

The only ways in which FCPS has declined precipitously is in the massive amount of standardized testing that continues to be piled on and on and on. We literally have WEEKS less instructional time. Who is pushing for all that testing? Republicans, ever since NCLB. More a more and more testing, less and less instructional time.

I’ve been teaching since 1994. THAT’s the biggest change and the biggest erosion of educational quality.

[/quote

BS
Massive decline in academic expectations, grading system, discipline, curricular quality with a massive expansion of Gatehouse

Bloated, lumbering system with zero oversight

Get an inspector general

FCPS is too large.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There certainly needs to be regime change at FCPS and on the School Board. Not sure this particular issue will get the Republicans there, although the Democrats seem to be trying to help them by claiming that kids in the top 2-3% of PSAT test takers (but not top 1%) are low-achievers begging for a “participation trophy.”

Most of the URMs the Democrats pretend to care about so much would be over the moon if their kids were commended students in the top 3%.

I think the coalition for TJ needs to keep up their attacks. Of course I'm a democrat and enjoy watching them alienate the rest of county

I'm not a Republican, but I was alienated by how many Democrats responded to this situation by suggesting that being recognized as among the top 3% of PSAT test-takers was a non-event akin to a "participation trophy" for kids who weren't Semifinalists (in the top 1%). For a party that often goes after "1%-ers," this seemed awfully crude and disrespectful.

Of course I'm a former commended student, as was one of my kids, so apparently we don't really belong in the same room with the TJAAG types.

You think that they need their own ceremony for this? It wasn't well-attended in the past if that gives you any idea of the student interest.

No, I don't think there needs to be a "ceremony." Just let the commended kids know on a timely basis and maybe take a picture for the yearbook.

OK. They were notified. Sounds like they will notify them more quickly in the future.

No matter how you slice it, it doesn't warrant a state investigation.

Agree. FCPS has many problems; this isn't one of them.

Who exactly do you think is responsible for these “many problems”? FCPS has been completely dominated by Democrats during the period in which FCPS’s reputation has declined precipitously.

It has only declined precipitously amongst a very small group of people in a very small echo chamber.

The only ways in which FCPS has declined precipitously is in the massive amount of standardized testing that continues to be piled on and on and on. We literally have WEEKS less instructional time. Who is pushing for all that testing? Republicans, ever since NCLB. More a more and more testing, less and less instructional time.

I’ve been teaching since 1994. THAT’s the biggest change and the biggest erosion of educational quality.

The Republicans have been in no position to dictate an increasing amount of standardized testing in FCPS classrooms in recent years. If you believe this, you really have no business in a classroom.

As for NCLB, it passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in 2002, and was motivated by the same desire for “equal outcomes” that the consultants paid by Reid espouse. The main difference was that NCLB led to a hyper-focus on measuring progress, whereas the equity consultants today want to deny and eliminate performance metrics. That would take some pressure off teachers, but then we’d have no way of knowing whether kids are learning.

NCLB was a weapon to cut funding from schools that underperformed. And they usually underperformed because of - you guessed it - lack of funding that was appropriate to their circumstances.

Rs playing the long game to destroy US public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some number of students have a marginally weaker college application due to this error. A lot of college admission decisions come down to marginal differences. Very likely for an individual student it makes no difference, but over 100 students I am not as confident that this made no difference to admissions decisions.

It appears to be established the director of student services lied about it to a parent.

There is absolutely no evidence that he lied. She concluded that he lied, but there is no reason to believe this is the case. If they’ve gotten the same pro-forma cover letter from the company for 15 years, no one in the office is reading it anymore. It is a okay Tory a logical assumption that kids would be contacted by the company since this is a private company, out of FCPS, that produces these awards.

It sounds like he spent a long time on the phone with her and was forthcoming and perhaps too open about his own opinions. But there is no evidence at all that he lied. Sounds far more likely that the office was busy, these aren’t a big deal (they truly are not) and it skipped someone’s mind. I myself have ADHD. If something disappears in a pile, it is quite likely that I could forget about it for literally weeks for no nefarious reason. School employees are incredibly overworked these days.

To think of all the school personnel time that has now been lost to this one parent on a complete bender.

Exactly. Stop believing the bullcrap that the RWNJs are pushing. They have clear political goals and will do/say anything to achieve their goals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great parent letters, IMO (not a high school parent, so no dog in this fight)

Starts off reasonable then quickly goes off the rails.

“You lied to me!”

She completely went off the rails, IMO. Honestly, of everything coming across the desk of someone in student services, this is SO, SO low on the priority list. It actually pisses me off to think of the valuable time wasted across the county to “investigate” this clerical error.

Valuable time wasted across the state.

Why TF is anyone in VA wasting time/money to deal with this nonsense? Oh right, GOP loves to push political stunts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some number of students have a marginally weaker college application due to this error. A lot of college admission decisions come down to marginal differences. Very likely for an individual student it makes no difference, but over 100 students I am not as confident that this made no difference to admissions decisions.

It appears to be established the director of student services lied about it to a parent.

How many?

How many TJ students:
a) were not already aware of their NM status?
b) had 11/1 ED applications?
c) didn't already have better awards to even list NM commended?
d) had all of the above?

[Anonymous]

Still LMAO at the Langley parent who claimed last night that TJ and Langley were the two "temples of learning" in FCPS when complaining about the notice delay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Still LMAO at the Langley parent who claimed last night that TJ and Langley were the two "temples of learning" in FCPS when complaining about the notice delay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The local Democrats have finally realized that minimizing the significance of getting a Letter of Commendation, or otherwise saying the failure to notify students was no big deal, is a losing strategy that makes them look like a bunch of out-of-touch elitists ("equity is at the center of everything we do, although your kid is a loser if they only scored in the top 3% and not just the top 1%").

They are now pivoting to complaining that Miyares' investigation is a case of selective prosecution (that is, that he's only looking into this so he can embarrass FCPS, the school system for a largely Democratic county).

That's a better strategy, but it's sure taken them an awfully long time to get there.

Anonymous people on DCUM throwing out facts isn’t a “political strategy”.

The local Democratic activists are kind of a hive mind on Twitter. They were all saying variations of the same thing about the late LOC notifications for a while, and then they pivoted to the "he just wants to 'own the libs'" angle.

It wasn’t a pivot. Both things are true.

Meanwhile, today a former admissions director weighed in on the matter:

“For a high school student to be designated a National Merit commended student is trivial. Although those students are commended for their score, tens of thousands achieve this status, and it is highly improbable that the presence or absence of this information would have any impact on a college admission decision. Both The Post and the governor of Virginia have wildly overreacted to the latest news from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

As a former director of admission at three major research universities (Carnegie Mellon, Washington University in St. Louis and Michigan State) and a former member of the National Merit Scholarship Selection Committee, I am certain of this position.”

William H. Turner, Williamsburg, Va.

We can take any idea of actual harm in this situation and throw it out the window.

Never heard of this guy and I don't see why his beliefs are any more credible than the beliefs of any other person.

...because he was a director of admission at three major research universities? If you don't understand why that gives a person credibility, you're monumentally clueless.

WAS. 50+ years ago. If you don't understand why that has no bearing on today's admission standards, you're monumentally clueless.

Of all of the hilarious deflections I've seen in this whole saga by people who insist that this was a big deal, this one is the funniest.

Starting to think that they're just taking it personally that their kid didn't make Semifinalist status and insisting on their snowflakey participation trophy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Still LMAO at the Langley parent who claimed last night that TJ and Langley were the two "temples of learning" in FCPS when complaining about the notice delay.

Putting Langley anywhere near the level of TJ in any discussion of academic caliber is hilarious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great parent letters, IMO (not a high school parent, so no dog in this fight)

Starts off reasonable then quickly goes off the rails.

“You lied to me!”

She completely went off the rails, IMO. Honestly, of everything coming across the desk of someone in student services, this is SO, SO low on the priority list. It actually pisses me off to think of the valuable time wasted across the county to “investigate” this clerical error.

But it's not a clerical error. The emails make it clear that the notices were withheld to protect the feelings of the students who didn't get it. And now three schools are involved - same story. Think that is coincidence? Of course it isn't:

"We’re all supposed to believe that three Fairfax schools had the exact same screw-up where all the different principals did their part, but the staff messed up and didn't give that to the students?" one mom said.

A Richmond law firm is conducting an independent review looking to find exactly what happened and how it took place. The Virginia attorney general is also investigating all Fairfax County Public Schools.

I'm glad the AG is doing a county-wide sweep. You TJ apologists can keep yelling that it's a commendation only or a clerical error but the fact is that the Virginia Human Rights statute may have been violated - this will be especially so if it turns out that the students who should have received the notification are asians and the ones "protected" from the knowledge are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great parent letters, IMO (not a high school parent, so no dog in this fight)

Starts off reasonable then quickly goes off the rails.

“You lied to me!”

She completely went off the rails, IMO. Honestly, of everything coming across the desk of someone in student services, this is SO, SO low on the priority list. It actually pisses me off to think of the valuable time wasted across the county to “investigate” this clerical error.

But it's not a clerical error. The emails make it clear that the notices were withheld to protect the feelings of the students who didn't get it. And now three schools are involved - same story. Think that is coincidence? Of course it isn't:

"We’re all supposed to believe that three Fairfax schools had the exact same screw-up where all the different principals did their part, but the staff messed up and didn't give that to the students?" one mom said.

A Richmond law firm is conducting an independent review looking to find exactly what happened and how it took place. The Virginia attorney general is also investigating all Fairfax County Public Schools.

I'm glad the AG is doing a county-wide sweep. You TJ apologists can keep yelling that it's a commendation only or a clerical error but the fact is that the Virginia Human Rights statute may have been violated - this will be especially so if it turns out that the students who should have received the notification are asians and the ones "protected" from the knowledge are not.

They weren’t withheld at TJ. They were distributed.

[Anonymous]

It doesn't matter if it was just the PSAT or if it affects college applications. Students and parents should have been notified as soon as possible. Many families are proud of that accomplishment and they should be even if others don't care. Seems like the schools with high asian population were affected. I wonder if any schools with low asian population were affected as well then they could kill the racist claims.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There certainly needs to be regime change at FCPS and on the School Board. Not sure this particular issue will get the Republicans there, although the Democrats seem to be trying to help them by claiming that kids in the top 2-3% of PSAT test takers (but not top 1%) are low-achievers begging for a “participation trophy.”

Most of the URMs the Democrats pretend to care about so much would be over the moon if their kids were commended students in the top 3%.

I think the coalition for TJ needs to keep up their attacks. Of course I'm a democrat and enjoy watching them alienate the rest of county

I'm not a Republican, but I was alienated by how many Democrats responded to this situation by suggesting that being recognized as among the top 3% of PSAT test-takers was a non-event akin to a "participation trophy" for kids who weren't Semifinalists (in the top 1%). For a party that often goes after "1%-ers," this seemed awfully crude and disrespectful.

Of course I'm a former commended student, as was one of my kids, so apparently we don't really belong in the same room with the TJAAG types.

You think that they need their own ceremony for this? It wasn't well-attended in the past if that gives you any idea of the student interest.

No, I don't think there needs to be a "ceremony." Just let the commended kids know on a timely basis and maybe take a picture for the yearbook.

OK. They were notified. Sounds like they will notify them more quickly in the future.

No matter how you slice it, it doesn't warrant a state investigation.

Agree. FCPS has many problems; this isn't one of them.

Who exactly do you think is responsible for these “many problems”? FCPS has been completely dominated by Democrats during the period in which FCPS’s reputation has declined precipitously.

It has only declined precipitously amongst a very small group of people in a very small echo chamber.

The only ways in which FCPS has declined precipitously is in the massive amount of standardized testing that continues to be piled on and on and on. We literally have WEEKS less instructional time. Who is pushing for all that testing? Republicans, ever since NCLB. More a more and more testing, less and less instructional time.

I’ve been teaching since 1994. THAT’s the biggest change and the biggest erosion of educational quality.

The Republicans have been in no position to dictate an increasing amount of standardized testing in FCPS classrooms in recent years. If you believe this, you really have no business in a classroom.

As for NCLB, it passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in 2002, and was motivated by the same desire for “equal outcomes” that the consultants paid by Reid espouse. The main difference was that NCLB led to a hyper-focus on measuring progress, whereas the equity consultants today want to deny and eliminate performance metrics. That would take some pressure off teachers, but then we’d have no way of knowing whether kids are learning.

NCLB was a weapon to cut funding from schools that underperformed. And they usually underperformed because of - you guessed it - lack of funding that was appropriate to their circumstances.

Rs playing the long game to destroy US public schools.

Teachers who want to teach with no accountability go hand in hand with administrators who want to downplay student achievement in the name of equity.

That will go a long way towards destroying public schools as long as parents care about their kids' education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There certainly needs to be regime change at FCPS and on the School Board. Not sure this particular issue will get the Republicans there, although the Democrats seem to be trying to help them by claiming that kids in the top 2-3% of PSAT test takers (but not top 1%) are low-achievers begging for a “participation trophy.”

Most of the URMs the Democrats pretend to care about so much would be over the moon if their kids were commended students in the top 3%.

I think the coalition for TJ needs to keep up their attacks. Of course I'm a democrat and enjoy watching them alienate the rest of county

I'm not a Republican, but I was alienated by how many Democrats responded to this situation by suggesting that being recognized as among the top 3% of PSAT test-takers was a non-event akin to a "participation trophy" for kids who weren't Semifinalists (in the top 1%). For a party that often goes after "1%-ers," this seemed awfully crude and disrespectful.

Of course I'm a former commended student, as was one of my kids, so apparently we don't really belong in the same room with the TJAAG types.

You think that they need their own ceremony for this? It wasn't well-attended in the past if that gives you any idea of the student interest.

No, I don't think there needs to be a "ceremony." Just let the commended kids know on a timely basis and maybe take a picture for the yearbook.

OK. They were notified. Sounds like they will notify them more quickly in the future.

No matter how you slice it, it doesn't warrant a state investigation.

Agree. FCPS has many problems; this isn't one of them.

Who exactly do you think is responsible for these “many problems”? FCPS has been completely dominated by Democrats during the period in which FCPS’s reputation has declined precipitously.

It has only declined precipitously amongst a very small group of people in a very small echo chamber.

The only ways in which FCPS has declined precipitously is in the massive amount of standardized testing that continues to be piled on and on and on. We literally have WEEKS less instructional time. Who is pushing for all that testing? Republicans, ever since NCLB. More a more and more testing, less and less instructional time.

I’ve been teaching since 1994. THAT’s the biggest change and the biggest erosion of educational quality.

The Republicans have been in no position to dictate an increasing amount of standardized testing in FCPS classrooms in recent years. If you believe this, you really have no business in a classroom.

As for NCLB, it passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in 2002, and was motivated by the same desire for “equal outcomes” that the consultants paid by Reid espouse. The main difference was that NCLB led to a hyper-focus on measuring progress, whereas the equity consultants today want to deny and eliminate performance metrics. That would take some pressure off teachers, but then we’d have no way of knowing whether kids are learning.

NCLB was a weapon to cut funding from schools that underperformed. And they usually underperformed because of - you guessed it - lack of funding that was appropriate to their circumstances.

Rs playing the long game to destroy US public schools.

Teachers who want to teach with no accountability go hand in hand with administrators who want to downplay student achievement in the name of equity.

That will go a long way towards destroying public schools as long as parents care about their kids' education.

How does defunding schools help students? Newsflash - it doesn’t. Penalizing struggling schools is not the answer. They need *more* support.

If you want accountability, hold the GOP accountable for defunding our schools.