Letters sent to minority ES student encouraging them to apply to MS HCG

[Anonymous]

Don't worry folks, the G&T, HCG is such a teeny tiny part of MCPS offerings, and falling farther and farther down Starr's List of Things to Do, it will die out soon. He'd rather focus on ESOL and teaching to proficiency. That's where it's at and that's what gets him the Common Core fed dollars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Let me get this straight: all white teachers in MCPS are racist and cannot judge the performance of any AA, Asian or Hispanic child. Amazing leap of logic for you. You are clearly in need of some sort of medication.

An interesting leap of interpretation. I guess all white policeman are racist by your logic?

Do you read?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't worry folks, the G&T, HCG is such a teeny tiny part of MCPS offerings, and falling farther and farther down Starr's List of Things to Do, it will die out soon. He'd rather focus on ESOL and teaching to proficiency. That's where it's at and that's what gets him the Common Core fed dollars.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With regard to bias against non native speakers, if they are not writing as well in English as other kids,then they won't be as successful in applying to the humanities magnet. That doesn't constitute bias.

These tests usually contain a component that tests vocabulary which is largely a random selection, knowledge of which is really unrelated to be successful in or capable of magnet participation. High performance on this is heavily biased toward native english speakers.

What the hell are you talking about? English is the language of instruction. Proficiency in that language has everything to do with success in a humanities magnet. Why don't you work on starting your own Spanish language charter and be done with it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With regard to bias against non native speakers, if they are not writing as well in English as other kids,then they won't be as successful in applying to the humanities magnet. That doesn't constitute bias.

These tests usually contain a component that tests vocabulary which is largely a random selection, knowledge of which is really unrelated to be successful in or capable of magnet participation. High performance on this is heavily biased toward native english speakers.

What the hell are you talking about? English is the language of instruction. Proficiency in that language has everything to do with success in a humanities magnet. Why don't you work on starting your own Spanish language charter and be done with it?

Do you think that middle-schoolers with very large vocabularies do better in the humanities magnet than middle-schoolers with smaller vocabularies? I don't understand why that would necessarily be the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't worry folks, the G&T, HCG is such a teeny tiny part of MCPS offerings, and falling farther and farther down Starr's List of Things to Do, it will die out soon. He'd rather focus on ESOL and teaching to proficiency. That's where it's at and that's what gets him the Common Core fed dollars.

HGC is Highly Gifted Center. HCG is human chorionic gonadotropin.

Also, Montgomery County did not participate in the Race to the Top funding, if that's what you mean by "Common Core fed dollars".

And since 14% of MCPS students were in ESOL last year (of whom 70% were born in the US, and most were in elementary schools), Joshua Starr should be focusing on ESOL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With regard to bias against non native speakers, if they are not writing as well in English as other kids,then they won't be as successful in applying to the humanities magnet. That doesn't constitute bias.

These tests usually contain a component that tests vocabulary which is largely a random selection, knowledge of which is really unrelated to be successful in or capable of magnet participation. High performance on this is heavily biased toward native english speakers.

What the hell are you talking about? English is the language of instruction. Proficiency in that language has everything to do with success in a humanities magnet. Why don't you work on starting your own Spanish language charter and be done with it?

Do you think that middle-schoolers with very large vocabularies do better in the humanities magnet than middle-schoolers with smaller vocabularies? I don't understand why that would necessarily be the case.

So an advanced vocabulary is now an unfair advantage? And has nothing to do with success in an advanced program. Okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With regard to bias against non native speakers, if they are not writing as well in English as other kids,then they won't be as successful in applying to the humanities magnet. That doesn't constitute bias.

These tests usually contain a component that tests vocabulary which is largely a random selection, knowledge of which is really unrelated to be successful in or capable of magnet participation. High performance on this is heavily biased toward native english speakers.

What the hell are you talking about? English is the language of instruction. Proficiency in that language has everything to do with success in a humanities magnet. Why don't you work on starting your own Spanish language charter and be done with it?

Do you think that middle-schoolers with very large vocabularies do better in the humanities magnet than middle-schoolers with smaller vocabularies? I don't understand why that would necessarily be the case.

So an advanced vocabulary is now an unfair advantage? And has nothing to do with success in an advanced program. Okay.

No, that is a misstatement. More accurately:

1. A large vocabulary is a large vocabulary.
2. A large vocabulary is probably not necessary, and is definitely not sufficient, for success in the humanities magnet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With regard to bias against non native speakers, if they are not writing as well in English as other kids,then they won't be as successful in applying to the humanities magnet. That doesn't constitute bias.

These tests usually contain a component that tests vocabulary which is largely a random selection, knowledge of which is really unrelated to be successful in or capable of magnet participation. High performance on this is heavily biased toward native english speakers.

What the hell are you talking about? English is the language of instruction. Proficiency in that language has everything to do with success in a humanities magnet. Why don't you work on starting your own Spanish language charter and be done with it?

Do you think that middle-schoolers with very large vocabularies do better in the humanities magnet than middle-schoolers with smaller vocabularies? I don't understand why that would necessarily be the case.

So an advanced vocabulary is now an unfair advantage? And has nothing to do with success in an advanced program. Okay.

No, that is a misstatement. More accurately:

1. A large vocabulary is a large vocabulary.
2. A large vocabulary is probably not necessary, and is definitely not sufficient, for success in the humanities magnet.

My kid is in HGC, and I would disagree with the bolded. While, a large vocab. in and of itself is not sufficient for success in HGC, I think it is a necessity. I've seen some of the writing assignments my DC has been doing in HGC, and a large vocabulary is necessary at this level to earn at least a P.

[Anonymous]

How are we all overlooking that this is based on the clearly biased reports of a 9-10 year old? As someone with extensive experience with that age group, there's something really fishy going on for a child that age to pay that much attention, care what letter another kid got, and notice that it was only students of color. Are there only 2 students of color in her class? The whole root of this "issue" seems suspect to me. I would wonder about my child's story if it were my kid, as opposed to jumping to conclusions about racial injustices.

[Anonymous]

9 and 10 year-olds are simple reflections of their parents and households...don't you know these kids parrot what they hear their parents bellyaching about in the car and at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many people know about HGC and magnets and do not even want to apply based on their own reasons. Many a times there kids are very bright but they are not interested because they do not know all the facts.


I understand why the teachers gave the minority students letters, it is because they are underrepresented. I understand why OP is annoyed, it is because it is creating a rift in the classroom since this act is seen as preferential.

If I was a teacher - I would give these letters to ALL the students in the classroom and then I would phone these 2 parents and also reinforce the benefits of HGC for their kids to them. I think this would be more effective and less preferential, more politically correct too.

Sneakier, anyway.

No. Not sneakier. I am Asian and my kids are in HGC and magnet programs. I feel that it is proper to give the same info to everyone. If there is a need to encourage bright AA students or any bright students with oblivious parents to apply - then it is more effective to have a one-on-one talk with the parents. Eventually, it should be the merit of the child that should get them selected into the program and not their race.

I do not mind 2 AA kids getting the letter. I mind that the rest of the class did not get the letter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

No, that is a misstatement. More accurately:

1. A large vocabulary is a large vocabulary.
2. A large vocabulary is probably not necessary, and is definitely not sufficient, for success in the humanities magnet.

My kid is in HGC, and I would disagree with the bolded. While, a large vocab. in and of itself is not sufficient for success in HGC, I think it is a necessity. I've seen some of the writing assignments my DC has been doing in HGC, and a large vocabulary is necessary at this level to earn at least a P.

But that's circular. You need a large vocabulary in the HGC because the HGC expects you to have a large vocabulary. And furthermore it's a reasonable expectation, because people who do not have a large vocabulary do not score well on the vocabulary part of the test and therefore don't get admitted to the HGC.

[Anonymous]

I find the "everyone knows who the smart kids are" comment ridiculous. You only know who the loud mouthed braggarts in the classroom are...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find the "everyone knows who the smart kids are" comment ridiculous. You only know who the loud mouthed braggarts in the classroom are...

Which is why a large part of the admission process is based on the test.