Did the Takoma MS magnet got MORE white this year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
what? no. Students who are very high achievers need the magnet programs. They are the ones who need the challenge more.

Many MSers are languishing in non magnets all over the county due to unchallenging curriculum. My 7th grader complains about how slow the classes are.

Good news! They're adding two classes for gifted kids at the home middle schools, to address the problem of languishing seventh-graders!

That is good news!!

Except it is also fake news. The classes are only available for sixth graders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
what? no. Students who are very high achievers need the magnet programs. They are the ones who need the challenge more.

Many MSers are languishing in non magnets all over the county due to unchallenging curriculum. My 7th grader complains about how slow the classes are.

Good news! They're adding two classes for gifted kids at the home middle schools, to address the problem of languishing seventh-graders!

That is good news!!

Except it is also fake news. The classes are only available for sixth graders.

It would be great if folks understood that MCPS is not going to respond in real time to every single complaint about every individual kid. They are changing the system. This is good, but change isn't going to come all at once. That would be nigh impossible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Next year (2018-2019) they will be available for sixth graders. The following year (2019-2020) they will be available for sixth graders and seventh graders. And the year after that (2020-2021), they will be available for all three grades in middle school: sixth, seventh, and eighth.

More great news!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
what? no. Students who are very high achievers need the magnet programs. They are the ones who need the challenge more.

Many MSers are languishing in non magnets all over the county due to unchallenging curriculum. My 7th grader complains about how slow the classes are.

Good news! They're adding two classes for gifted kids at the home middle schools, to address the problem of languishing seventh-graders!

That is good news!!

Except it is also fake news. The classes are only available for sixth graders.

It would be great if folks understood that MCPS is not going to respond in real time to every single complaint about every individual kid. They are changing the system. This is good, but change isn't going to come all at once. That would be nigh impossible.

This. Things are clearly changing, and likely aspects of the system will get better. However, change is always difficult, and the situation will get worse before it gets better, as staff resists change, and people complain about the messy way it'll be done (because MCPS is a huge bureaucracy, and bureaucracies don't do change well).

Unfortunately, a lot of kids will be caught up in the turmoil, but the status quo isn't acceptable, so the change has to happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
what? no. Students who are very high achievers need the magnet programs. They are the ones who need the challenge more.

Many MSers are languishing in non magnets all over the county due to unchallenging curriculum. My 7th grader complains about how slow the classes are.

Good news! They're adding two classes for gifted kids at the home middle schools, to address the problem of languishing seventh-graders!

That is good news!!

Except it is also fake news. The classes are only available for sixth graders.

and the MS Principals are publicly announcing that nothing is really changing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
what? no. Students who are very high achievers need the magnet programs. They are the ones who need the challenge more.

Many MSers are languishing in non magnets all over the county due to unchallenging curriculum. My 7th grader complains about how slow the classes are.

Good news! They're adding two classes for gifted kids at the home middle schools, to address the problem of languishing seventh-graders!

That is good news!!

Except it is also fake news. The classes are only available for sixth graders.

Next year (2018-2019) they will be available for sixth graders. The following year (2019-2020) they will be available for sixth graders and seventh graders. And the year after that (2020-2021), they will be available for all three grades in middle school: sixth, seventh, and eighth.

So the same student base only. Class of 2025 and under.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Next year (2018-2019) they will be available for sixth graders. The following year (2019-2020) they will be available for sixth graders and seventh graders. And the year after that (2020-2021), they will be available for all three grades in middle school: sixth, seventh, and eighth.

More great news!

My DC will be in 9th grade by then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Next year (2018-2019) they will be available for sixth graders. The following year (2019-2020) they will be available for sixth graders and seventh graders. And the year after that (2020-2021), they will be available for all three grades in middle school: sixth, seventh, and eighth.

More great news!

My DC will be in 9th grade by then.

Yes, as the PP said, it is unrealistic to expect MCPS to instantly address the issues of every student in the county. My kid is in ninth grade now and would have loved to have had these classes. Nonetheless, I am able to recognize that the classes are a good thing, even though they won't benefit my own kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
what? no. Students who are very high achievers need the magnet programs. They are the ones who need the challenge more.

Many MSers are languishing in non magnets all over the county due to unchallenging curriculum. My 7th grader complains about how slow the classes are.

Good news! They're adding two classes for gifted kids at the home middle schools, to address the problem of languishing seventh-graders!

That is good news!!

Except it is also fake news. The classes are only available for sixth graders.

Oh, but the current 7th graders were rejected from the magnets under the old *merit* system, they weren't capable of magnet level work and would have caused the entire magnet system to crumble had they been admitted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Next year (2018-2019) they will be available for sixth graders. The following year (2019-2020) they will be available for sixth graders and seventh graders. And the year after that (2020-2021), they will be available for all three grades in middle school: sixth, seventh, and eighth.

More great news!

My DC will be in 9th grade by then.

Yes, as the PP said, it is unrealistic to expect MCPS to instantly address the issues of every student in the county. My kid is in ninth grade now and would have loved to have had these classes. Nonetheless, I am able to recognize that the classes are a good thing, even though they won't benefit my own kid.

no one has said that mcps *trying* to offer enriched classes is a bad thing, only that such classes aren't really all that enriched. My 7th grader is an "Honors" class now, and it's a joke. DC complains about how slow it is. Teachers are supposed to offer differentiation for the kids who are advanced, per the Principal when a bunch of former HGC students' parents met with the school. Two years later, DC really sees not much differentiation.

That's why I'm hugely skeptical about these so called more enriched classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
no one has said that mcps *trying* to offer enriched classes is a bad thing, only that such classes aren't really all that enriched. My 7th grader is an "Honors" class now, and it's a joke. DC complains about how slow it is. Teachers are supposed to offer differentiation for the kids who are advanced, per the Principal when a bunch of former HGC students' parents met with the school. Two years later, DC really sees not much differentiation.

That's why I'm hugely skeptical about these so called more enriched classes.

You don't know who's doing it, you don't know who's in them, you don't know what they'll involve, but you're pretty sure they'll be lousy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:American public schools are not like the schools some people here experienced in their home countries. Unfortunately this magnet cycle may have been a rude awakening. The mission of the US Department of Education is this: "ED's mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access." Note the "and ensuring equal access" part, which had to be a goal because this country has a very long history of restricting access to education by race and class. The mission is not to reward the top test-takers or to winnow out the best students for the purpose of plum jobs or college spots, like it may be in some countries. I feel as if we are speaking a different language from one another here.

This should be a pinned post. Someone in one of these threads posted about how magnet admissions should be more like uni admissions in Russia or India. Which...leaving aside the issues of corruption in those systems, and leaving aside that we are talking about 8 year-olds, not 18 year-olds, that's not how America works. Social mobility is a core national ideal, and you cannot square that with a system that tracks kids from kindergarten onward and then subjects them to high-stakes testing at 16 that determines their college major and life trajectory.

MSers are not 8 yrs olds (I believe this thread is about MS magnet).

Equitable access means -- it doesn't matter where you live, too.

I thought merit was also an American value.

If MCPS doesn't care about test scores then why are they trying to close the achievement gap and publish test score stats?

MSer are closer to 8-year-olds than 18-year-olds. At this level potential is more important than merit. Potential is a need that a school system can meet. Merit is someone who is already thriving where they are, whether that is because their home school is exceptional or they are doing something outside of school.

I have never heard this as a definition of merit. Would dictionary are you using?

A public school should provide equitable admission criteria to a county wide test in program regardless of where you live in the county or who your neighbors are, just as it should do so regardless of your skin color.

Sorry, but if there's a school where everyone is already exceptional, they clearly don't need a magnet. If there's a student who stands out among peers, they do need a magnet, even if those peers aren't anywhere near as good. The magnet is a scarce county-wide resource and access should be distributed across ms clusters.

what? no. Students who are very high achievers need the magnet programs. They are the ones who need the challenge more.

Many MSers are languishing in non magnets all over the county due to unchallenging curriculum. My 7th grader complains about how slow the classes are.

No they are thriving. Their peers are thriving. If they really are all bored at school they should participate in class. Your 7th grader is complaining, because that's what they do. They already have all the pieces in place and this is why the new classes are being piloted at the home schools.

This has to be a MCPS administrator posting!

[Anonymous]

no one has said that mcps *trying* to offer enriched classes is a bad thing, only that such classes aren't really all that enriched. My 7th grader is an "Honors" class now, and it's a joke. DC complains about how slow it is. Teachers are supposed to offer differentiation for the kids who are advanced, per the Principal when a bunch of former HGC students' parents met with the school. Two years later, DC really sees not much differentiation.

That's why I'm hugely skeptical about these so called more enriched classes.

X100.0 MCPS will never expand quality GT programs because there are too many people in the Central Office who can't stand that the demographics play out in a way that benefits whites and asians. It is their opinion that the demographic groups which are 2-3 years ahead of the URM students should be held back as much as possible.

What is said is that many progressive whites moves to Montgomery County because they were totally for social programs and didn't mind paying extra taxes for them. They also didn't mind if more resources went to URM students or students with more URM students. They are not OK with the Central Office's attitude that their children do not and will never matter to MCPS. They are moving to NOVA (and making it bluer which is great) and Howard County

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

no one has said that mcps *trying* to offer enriched classes is a bad thing, only that such classes aren't really all that enriched. My 7th grader is an "Honors" class now, and it's a joke. DC complains about how slow it is. Teachers are supposed to offer differentiation for the kids who are advanced, per the Principal when a bunch of former HGC students' parents met with the school. Two years later, DC really sees not much differentiation.

That's why I'm hugely skeptical about these so called more enriched classes.

X100.0 MCPS will never expand quality GT programs because there are too many people in the Central Office who can't stand that the demographics play out in a way that benefits whites and asians. It is their opinion that the demographic groups which are 2-3 years ahead of the URM students should be held back as much as possible.

What is said is that many progressive whites moves to Montgomery County because they were totally for social programs and didn't mind paying extra taxes for them. They also didn't mind if more resources went to URM students or students with more URM students. They are not OK with the Central Office's attitude that their children do not and will never matter to MCPS. They are moving to NOVA (and making it bluer which is great) and Howard County

Have you ever even been in VA? We have a split existence between the states and it really ain't all that special across the river. And we know plenty of families with kids in APS, Alexandria, and FCPS. The duty for public school systems to close the "achievement gap" comes from the federal government. It is not something MCPS dreamed up. Same for ending disproportionate suspensions of various minorities. So you can run, but the policies will follow you all over the USA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:American public schools are not like the schools some people here experienced in their home countries. Unfortunately this magnet cycle may have been a rude awakening. The mission of the US Department of Education is this: "ED's mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access." Note the "and ensuring equal access" part, which had to be a goal because this country has a very long history of restricting access to education by race and class. The mission is not to reward the top test-takers or to winnow out the best students for the purpose of plum jobs or college spots, like it may be in some countries. I feel as if we are speaking a different language from one another here.

This should be a pinned post. Someone in one of these threads posted about how magnet admissions should be more like uni admissions in Russia or India. Which...leaving aside the issues of corruption in those systems, and leaving aside that we are talking about 8 year-olds, not 18 year-olds, that's not how America works. Social mobility is a core national ideal, and you cannot square that with a system that tracks kids from kindergarten onward and then subjects them to high-stakes testing at 16 that determines their college major and life trajectory.

MSers are not 8 yrs olds (I believe this thread is about MS magnet).

Equitable access means -- it doesn't matter where you live, too.

I thought merit was also an American value.

If MCPS doesn't care about test scores then why are they trying to close the achievement gap and publish test score stats?

MSer are closer to 8-year-olds than 18-year-olds. At this level potential is more important than merit. Potential is a need that a school system can meet. Merit is someone who is already thriving where they are, whether that is because their home school is exceptional or they are doing something outside of school.

I have never heard this as a definition of merit. Would dictionary are you using?

A public school should provide equitable admission criteria to a county wide test in program regardless of where you live in the county or who your neighbors are, just as it should do so regardless of your skin color.

Sorry, but if there's a school where everyone is already exceptional, they clearly don't need a magnet. If there's a student who stands out among peers, they do need a magnet, even if those peers aren't anywhere near as good. The magnet is a scarce county-wide resource and access should be distributed across ms clusters.

what? no. Students who are very high achievers need the magnet programs. They are the ones who need the challenge more.

Many MSers are languishing in non magnets all over the county due to unchallenging curriculum. My 7th grader complains about how slow the classes are.

No they are thriving. Their peers are thriving. If they really are all bored at school they should participate in class. Your 7th grader is complaining, because that's what they do. They already have all the pieces in place and this is why the new classes are being piloted at the home schools.

This has to be a MCPS administrator posting!

Nope, just an MS parent who finds your reasoning repugnant. I'm unsympathetic to your whining because I've got my own kids and adding enrichment classes to local schools is more likely to serve both our needs and I have an older child so I do see this as an improvement even if it's partly too late for my family. I think spreading the admissions more evenly through the county is more equitable. It makes no sense to take a large cohort from one school, when clearly something is already going well at that school.