Getting into Takoma Park Middle School's magnet as a boy

[Anonymous]

Assume she is not in-boundary the girl still took a preferentially reserved slot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Assume she is not in-boundary the girl still took a preferentially reserved slot.

I think you are wrong - I don't think that for competitive-admission programs, gender can be a factor, per Eisenberg.

I can tell you that four years ago, in my child's HGC class, there were 8 girls and 17 boys.

In my neighbor's French Immersion fourth-grade class, there are a tiny minority of boys (I think she said 7 boys and 18 girls).

[Anonymous]

magic numbers 7 and 18

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: magic numbers 7 and 18

?

[Anonymous]

Not true in my HGC today.
Ratio is about 1:1.

If 3 X more boys than girls apply to the middle school magnet program in math, sciene and computer science (number may be higher) it would be hard to arrive at a 1:1 maticulation ratio.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not true in my HGC today.
Ratio is about 1:1.

If 3 X more boys than girls apply to the middle school magnet program in math, sciene and computer science (number may be higher) it would be hard to arrive at a 1:1 maticulation ratio.

Understood. My point is that at least the year my child was in the HGC, there was no gender balancing in the admissions process.

I agree with your other point. From a legal point of view, I don't believe that they can accept a girl in lieu of a more-qualified boy.

[Anonymous]

What you mean by "more qualified" ? Please define in an objective and scientific manner for the Judge and jury of the Court.

It does not take rocket science to make a case for "more qualified" when this is based on a variety of criteria: grade point averge, entrance test scores, teacher recommendations, outside extracurricular activities, essays, outside tests (CTY, EXPLORE, SAT, PSAT) and other awards and prizes that makes up the candidates portfolio.

I'm sure you are beginning to get my drift? None of these criteria are differentially weighted (and for a damn good reason).
It gives the selection committee more flexibility.

The year your daughter got into the magnet program was not an anomaly. Face it, girls have a preferential advantage applying into the Science, Math, and Computer Science Magnet programs (and should they should)...10 years ago, 4 years ago and today. I agree with this policy to get more girls into these STEM areas since women make up at least 50 percent of our intellectual power. This is well within the law. But, cultural norms and behavior may discourage girls from pursuing interests and careers in these areas.

On the basis of the judging requirements (multiple and varied) for acceptance into these programs you would be hard pressed to disprove that amongst a number of bright kids one was clearly more superior than another on the basis of the myriad of judging elements or variables (e.g., test scores). This clearly gives the vetting committee some leeway to met overarching objectives (e.g., balanced gender ratio) and providing for the County's "best". Of course, in an economy of scarcity there will many more qualified kids (by the aggregate of judging criteria) for whom there is no seat. This approach or strategy is not new, it's done in all educational organizations.

While we all believe our girls are special and the very best ... I'm sure yours is...this should not blind you to the facts and common sense. When significantly less girls are applying to these STEM magnets and gender balance is an important aspect of socialization and education if the ratio of girls to boys is so disparate in favor of boys this is because relatively few girls are applying. The selection committee will make every effort to correct the imbalances by digging deeper into the qualified girl pool to round out the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
What you mean by "more qualified" ? Please define in an objective and scientific manner for the Judge and jury of the Court.

It does not take rocket science to make a case for "more qualified" when this is based on a variety of criteria: grade point averge, entrance test scores, teacher recommendations, outside extracurricular activities, essays, outside tests (CTY, EXPLORE, SAT, PSAT) and other awards and prizes that makes up the candidates portfolio.

I'm sure you are beginning to get my drift? None of these criteria are differentially weighted (and for a damn good reason).
It gives the selection committee more flexibility.

The year your daughter got into the magnet program was not an anomaly. Face it, girls have a preferential advantage applying into the Science, Math, and Computer Science Magnet programs (and should they should)...10 years ago, 4 years ago and today. I agree with this policy to get more girls into these STEM areas since women make up at least 50 percent of our intellectual power. This is well within the law. But, cultural norms and behavior may discourage girls from pursuing interests and careers in these areas.

On the basis of the judging requirements (multiple and varied) for acceptance into these programs you would be hard pressed to disprove that amongst a number of bright kids one was clearly more superior than another on the basis of the myriad of judging elements or variables (e.g., test scores). This clearly gives the vetting committee some leeway to met overarching objectives (e.g., balanced gender ratio) and providing for the County's "best". Of course, in an economy of scarcity there will many more qualified kids (by the aggregate of judging criteria) for whom there is no seat. This approach or strategy is not new, it's done in all educational organizations.

While we all believe our girls are special and the very best ... I'm sure yours is...this should not blind you to the facts and common sense. When significantly less girls are applying to these STEM magnets and gender balance is an important aspect of socialization and education if the ratio of girls to boys is so disparate in favor of boys this is because relatively few girls are applying. The selection committee will make every effort to correct the imbalances by digging deeper into the qualified girl pool to round out the class.

11:11 here. I don't have a daughter.

[Anonymous]

Understood. My point is that at least the year my child was in the HGC, there was no gender balancing in the admissions process.

Not true. The committee failed at achieving this goal. Either there were not enough female applicants or many declined to go the the HGC, or many did not want to put their girls on the long daily bus rides to some HGC. And despite best intentions of striking a nice boy to girl balance at the HGC for socialization and optimal education purposes this may fail because of obvious reasons.

The committee did not decide to dismiss with trying to achieve a 1:1 gender ratio at your HGC because your daughter was applying. These ratios are hard to achieve has the continual proactive approach.

[Anonymous]

11:11 here. I don't have a daughter

me too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assume she is not in-boundary the girl still took a preferentially reserved slot.

I think you are wrong - I don't think that for competitive-admission programs, gender can be a factor, per Eisenberg.

I can tell you that four years ago, in my child's HGC class, there were 8 girls and 17 boys.

In my neighbor's French Immersion fourth-grade class, there are a tiny minority of boys (I think she said 7 boys and 18 girls).

FWIW, the immersion programs are strictly by lottery, not by test or any other factor, with no latitude for balancing by gender or anything else. So the immersion program is an example of a school BEFORE balancing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

...


A case in point is Sligo Creek ES, where the Academy kids (rest of the school) often really resent the immersion kids. I know because my kid went to the immersion program and got beat up by academy kids, and I know other immersion kids who also got beat up.

There is a lot of resentment between the two programs at SCES, but you shouldn't necessarily attribute the bullying to the resentment btween the programs. My Academy son got beat up for two years there as well by other Academy kids (we finally just left the school this year.) Given that he wasn't an Immersion kid, that certainly wasn't the reason. The school simply doesn't actually DISCIPLINE kids who need it.

[Anonymous]

I'm a couple years away from applying to TPMS, but since this discussion came up and I know we're headed in that direction ...

If a child is out-of-boundary at Piney Branch, do they apply as out-of-boundary to TPMS, with the application in the out-of-boundary pool? Or are they considered as part of the cluster for applying to TPMS?

[Anonymous]

Your neighborhood home school determines your boundary status.

[Anonymous]

When my daughter was applying to Eastern and TP magnets a few years ago, directors at both open houses said there was slight gender preference, as all the parents in our area already knew. We live in SS but were zoned for SSIMS, where my daughter eventually went to continue French Immersion and get those h.s. credits. She lost out on Eastern and TP. If your child's home middle school is Eastern or TP, you have some advantage, as every parent in our area knows. Also, it's important to point out that there are many, many, many kids who deserve to be in these magnets who don't get in. At the open houses, we were told that the folks reading the applications did it all in ONE DAY. Each had a stack to read and put his/her top choices in a pile. Those got passed around, kids got picked. It's incredible that they would even admit this -- not too bright for magnet teachers! By contrast, the high school magnets - Blair, CAP, RM's IB -- take weeks to choose their students. We knew several top applicants to MS magnets who didn't get in and several who got in but were certainly not as deserving as the former. We knew several who got in and deserved it. It's kind of a crapshoot for all bright kids, unless yours is truly exceptional. My girl didn't make it, but she just got into CAP (only DCC kids apply to that) and the wait pool for RM's IB, where 900 kids applied from all over the county and 110 were picked with 100 on wait list. The school told me that wait pool kids are not ranked and that they reevaluate each app before picking from the pool. Now that's an impressive admittance procedure. No gender pref., no school pref. So, please, please don't worry if your kid misses out on middle school magnets. HS magnet directors roll their eyes and scoff when you ask if the magnet middles are feeders into the magnet HS. Just give all of them a shot, and don't let your children feel they are not as bright and deserving as you know they are just because they didn't get in. In this area, you can't possibly be fair with so few slots in these programs. There are too many super bright kids with well educated and often driven parents. All those kids deserve a rigorous, challenging, creative educational experience, and it's sad that the county just doesn't have the resources for it.