The open house is on Monday. The kids are excited. Of course it serves a purpose! |
Yes, there is. |
No there is not. All the 8th graders through out the county take the same MAP M test. There is an algebra MCAP but MAP is the same whatever course they are taking. |
I wouldn't be surprised to learn that there was a different map being offered at the wealthy Potomac schools. |
Do you not see all the parents here bragging? The toxic culture of the race to nowhere is alive and well at MCPS magnet programs. Of course the students feed into it all and many go on to have a lot mental health issues down the line. My oldest was in RMIB and was miserable. The students turn their noses up to non IB students. They popped adderall to focus all night study sessions to stay ahead. They ridiculed and dropped anyone that left the IB for a more balanced life. “They couldn’t do it” I definitely believe they are making lists and there is probably a mom who helped start it talking to another mom on the phone. Then let the kids take over. There are some genuinely nice kids, but the majority think and act like they are better than everyone else. |
Unfortunately, I agree. And it begins with some of the parents. Essentially having just one metric here - MAP M has made it way worse for the kids too. They are focused less on the joy of learning and more on one test where you have to study ahead for success. |
So your answer here is to demonize hard work and ability? |
| The TPMS magnet kids group chat is fortunately nothing like the nasty parents here on DCUM. My kid hasn’t encountered any toxic competitiveness either but I have a child who avoids that kind of thing anyway. |
It’s not one metric. It’s very clear that the essay is very important too, arguably more so if you don’t have 300 plus map scores |
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I agree the discussion about the list has been overblown. The kids were just talking about who got in and CONGRATULATING each other. They were excited to see which classmates might attend HS with them.
It should not be surprising that they were talking about this on chat and that the same discussions were taking place among other 8th graders at other school all over the county. The TPMS chat got overwhelming because of so many "yes I got responses" that someone created a list. It was not meant to be a list for parents to look at and it was not created for people to try to compare themselves to those who got in. There are a few smug parents on this thread who are talking down to those whose children did not get in. There are also a few upset parents whose children did not get in and are making some accusations with no evidence. Put those two together and that's how you got this toxic thread. FWIW, I agree a little bit with everyone. I do think there's a lot of randomness and luck in the process. I can also see how there are biases built into the system but accusing specific kids at specific schools of getting in because of their race is going too far. To those on waitlists from TPMS, I suspect many of your children will end up getting offers in the next few months. There are a lot of highly qualified kids who were not offered spots. Stay positive and be kind to those who did get in. They may end up being your child's classmates next year. |
I'm not privy to this list or even aware that it actually exists, but I do have one of those rare kids with over 300 at TPMS. I asked DC if they'd heard of this, they said then even they checked two groups and couldn't find anything... I guess that doesn't prove anything but I honestly have to wonder if this is just some another DCUM fabrication. |
My kid didn’t know about it either. But she also said she “wouldn’t be friends with kids who did that kind of thing,” so maybe it’s one particular friend group? |
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This 300+ thing, it clearly went beyond fabrication at least in this thread.
For one, since MCPS eliminates CoGAT and emphasizes MAP-M as the only quantifiable metric for STEM magnet, kids have to chase higher scores to assure a better chance for an education that fits their needs. For two, among the 300+ kids (yes, one of them is my DC), they set this as a little game with NEWA to seek the scoring mechanisms behind the test. They are proud to get a higher score, but nothing beyond that at least to my knowledge. The highest scorer doesn't get any reward. And kids in Roberto Clement and other local MSs also have these scores. Why set TPMS as a target? It's the fault of the evaluation system that uses a test that's not supposed to be used as a differentiation tool for the tail distribution. |
My guess is that kids (and parents) put more weight on this than the committee does because it’s the only quantitative metric we have (beyond GPA, which probably has less variation.) |
Agree. Absolutely not blaming the kids or TPMS but having essentially one heavily weighed metric (grade variation being very low) creates problems. MAP M is not supposed to be used this way. There is no other choice though given the weak evaluation system. |