Magnet MS results - Takoma Park & Eastern - anyone heard today?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The problem is not universal testing - I think it is a good thing. The problem is rejecting students because they have a peer group in the home school, while not providing anything even remotely equivalent to what the magnet programs offer at their home school. That is the "new and improved" process for this year. (The icing on the cake is to tell the parents to "work with the principal for programming and grouping practices." http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/curriculum/specialprograms/middle/Frequently%20Asked%20Questions%20Eastern%20and%20Takoma%20Park%20Magnet%20ProgramsFINAL(1).pdf)

MCPS has a very bad track record of challenging advanced learners in their home schools.

They're telling you to do it. So stop complaining and go do it.

PP here: been there, done that.

When you have a DC who hates to go to school because she is too advanced for her class, you quickly learn about MCPS' priorities. And I know of parents whose kids were even more advanced learners than mine - truly gifted kids who ace SAT when they are in elementary - who had to fight with MCPS to get their kids' needs met.

Take a look at an example:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/how-a-top-school-district-tried-to-block-a-very-gifted-child/2016/07/31/32dfc37a-5513-11e6-bbf5-957ad17b4385_story.html?utm_term=.b54f2b40695c

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess the real question is why MCPS would report the applicant's percentile scores in which 99% covers ~130 - 160 raw scores when they have the raw score. It's unlikely an accident because it had always been the raw score that was reported in the old 3rd grade HGC test which also used Cogat. In the past, the medians of the accepted were also given in the decision letter. Now, it would be three 99%'s, and the accepted or rejected would never know where their standing is in the test. I understand MCPS is trying to tune down the importance of the test or any test, but without clearly listing any criteria that the decision was based upon, one can only guess it was something that can't be openly stated.

I don't have kids applying, but the way MCPS handles it's policy changing and decision making is very worrisome, and many changes such as the elementary grading system in recently years have been deemed failures and had to be rolled back the old way. I don't know if the changes to the magnet programs in the past couple of years will make the programs better? Maybe yes, more likely no. I feel MCPS is so desperate it would try anything randomly. Today it is the magnet programs which is irrelevant to most, tomorrow it might be something that will impact you.

If you want to know your kid's CogAt scores, you can get them.

MCPS most likely won't release the median of the accepted students this year, but if enough parents get the raw scores of their student and report it here voluntarily, everyone will have a better idea.

No. You may get a number but it won't be the median. Don't do fake math!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess the real question is why MCPS would report the applicant's percentile scores in which 99% covers ~130 - 160 raw scores when they have the raw score. It's unlikely an accident because it had always been the raw score that was reported in the old 3rd grade HGC test which also used Cogat. In the past, the medians of the accepted were also given in the decision letter. Now, it would be three 99%'s, and the accepted or rejected would never know where their standing is in the test. I understand MCPS is trying to tune down the importance of the test or any test, but without clearly listing any criteria that the decision was based upon, one can only guess it was something that can't be openly stated.

I don't have kids applying, but the way MCPS handles it's policy changing and decision making is very worrisome, and many changes such as the elementary grading system in recently years have been deemed failures and had to be rolled back the old way. I don't know if the changes to the magnet programs in the past couple of years will make the programs better? Maybe yes, more likely no. I feel MCPS is so desperate it would try anything randomly. Today it is the magnet programs which is irrelevant to most, tomorrow it might be something that will impact you.

If you want to know your kid's CogAt scores, you can get them.

MCPS most likely won't release the median of the accepted students this year, but if enough parents get the raw scores of their student and report it here voluntarily, everyone will have a better idea. [/quotte]

No. You may get a number but it won't be the median. Don't do fake math!

who said it'll be the median. knowing more is always better than being in the dark. If the parents find out that it's indeed the accepted have better scores than their rejected with 99% scores, they will accept the rejection easier, isn't it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The problem is not universal testing - I think it is a good thing. The problem is rejecting students because they have a peer group in the home school, while not providing anything even remotely equivalent to what the magnet programs offer at their home school. That is the "new and improved" process for this year. (The icing on the cake is to tell the parents to "work with the principal for programming and grouping practices." http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/curriculum/specialprograms/middle/Frequently%20Asked%20Questions%20Eastern%20and%20Takoma%20Park%20Magnet%20ProgramsFINAL(1).pdf)

MCPS has a very bad track record of challenging advanced learners in their home schools.

They're telling you to do it. So stop complaining and go do it.

PP here: been there, done that.

When you have a DC who hates to go to school because she is too advanced for her class, you quickly learn about MCPS' priorities. And I know of parents whose kids were even more advanced learners than mine - truly gifted kids who ace SAT when they are in elementary - who had to fight with MCPS to get their kids' needs met.

Take a look at an example:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/how-a-top-school-district-tried-to-block-a-very-gifted-child/2016/07/31/32dfc37a-5513-11e6-bbf5-957ad17b4385_story.html?utm_term=.b54f2b40695c

It's always easy for people to find reasons not to do things.

If you try, you might succeed, or you might not succeed. If you don't try, it's guaranteed that you won't succeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess the real question is why MCPS would report the applicant's percentile scores in which 99% covers ~130 - 160 raw scores when they have the raw score. It's unlikely an accident because it had always been the raw score that was reported in the old 3rd grade HGC test which also used Cogat. In the past, the medians of the accepted were also given in the decision letter. Now, it would be three 99%'s, and the accepted or rejected would never know where their standing is in the test. I understand MCPS is trying to tune down the importance of the test or any test, but without clearly listing any criteria that the decision was based upon, one can only guess it was something that can't be openly stated.

I don't have kids applying, but the way MCPS handles it's policy changing and decision making is very worrisome, and many changes such as the elementary grading system in recently years have been deemed failures and had to be rolled back the old way. I don't know if the changes to the magnet programs in the past couple of years will make the programs better? Maybe yes, more likely no. I feel MCPS is so desperate it would try anything randomly. Today it is the magnet programs which is irrelevant to most, tomorrow it might be something that will impact you.

If you want to know your kid's CogAt scores, you can get them.

Another thread has a poster saying they called to ask and were told they weren't being released, however, it was unclear whether the poster was talking about high school or middle school. I would call, but I'm at work and don't have my kid's student ID number with me. Has anyone successfully gotten their kid's raw score?

It was for middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The problem is not universal testing - I think it is a good thing. The problem is rejecting students because they have a peer group in the home school, while not providing anything even remotely equivalent to what the magnet programs offer at their home school. That is the "new and improved" process for this year. (The icing on the cake is to tell the parents to "work with the principal for programming and grouping practices." http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/curriculum/specialprograms/middle/Frequently%20Asked%20Questions%20Eastern%20and%20Takoma%20Park%20Magnet%20ProgramsFINAL(1).pdf)

MCPS has a very bad track record of challenging advanced learners in their home schools.

They're telling you to do it. So stop complaining and go do it.

PP here: been there, done that.

When you have a DC who hates to go to school because she is too advanced for her class, you quickly learn about MCPS' priorities. And I know of parents whose kids were even more advanced learners than mine - truly gifted kids who ace SAT when they are in elementary - who had to fight with MCPS to get their kids' needs met.

Take a look at an example:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/how-a-top-school-district-tried-to-block-a-very-gifted-child/2016/07/31/32dfc37a-5513-11e6-bbf5-957ad17b4385_story.html?utm_term=.b54f2b40695c

It's always easy for people to find reasons not to do things.

If you try, you might succeed, or you might not succeed. If you don't try, it's guaranteed that you won't succeed.

Agree. If you feel the magnet admission is fishy, fight it. If you don't try, you don't know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It's always easy for people to find reasons not to do things.

If you try, you might succeed, or you might not succeed. If you don't try, it's guaranteed that you won't succeed.

Agree. If you feel the magnet admission is fishy, fight it. If you don't try, you don't know.

Yes, of course, you are free to make your own decisions about where best to apply your efforts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I find this "mid-west humility" hilariously pretentious. Especially, the final "teaching moment. Sorry, but it is. Great that your kid got in and did well. But, when 2 kids from CS get in and Oakview has "no"s across the board w/ 5 kids still waiting, that is beyond the realm of the bigger pool theory. There are clearly other factors at play. Will be interesting to see how next year at the magnets plays out.

You think it is? I don't think it is.

I'm not the Midwestern PP, although I am also a PP and also from the Midwest.

I agree - nothing I’ve seen takes this out of the other pool theory being a distinct possibility. Especially if those 5 oakview mids still waiting (which I had not yet heard about) all turn into yesses.

[Anonymous]

Surely not coincidental that exactly now the AEI Director position is being eliminated. This is about closing the achievement gap, plain and simple. The magnet curricula will be watered down, because the current best and brightest are not admitted, but bright kids with potential who haven't had the same access to rigorous academic training (say, at the Cold Spring HGC). In order to allow these less-advantaged kids to grow into a MS magnet track, the curriculum would have to be adjusted to give them a good chance at success. MCPS should just move to an AAP model, be more inclusive and transparent, and be done with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Surely not coincidental that exactly now the AEI Director position is being eliminated. This is about closing the achievement gap, plain and simple. The magnet curricula will be watered down, because the current best and brightest are not admitted, but bright kids with potential who haven't had the same access to rigorous academic training (say, at the Cold Spring HGC). In order to allow these less-advantaged kids to grow into a MS magnet track, the curriculum would have to be adjusted to give them a good chance at success. MCPS should just move to an AAP model, be more inclusive and transparent, and be done with it.

Oh good grief.

My kid is at Clemente in the Humanities program. There are lots of kids in the Humanities program at Clemente who were not at the HGC. Nobody is dumbing anything down for them.

(By the way, PP, "the best and the brightest" got the US into the Vietnam War. That's where the phrase comes from. Being "the best and the brightest" is not something to be proud of.)

[Anonymous]

You can call AEI for median percentiles for pool, and median for accepted students at each program. I was trying to get Cogat scores for an application to another program, but they would not release over the phone.

Median percentiles of accepted students for TPMS are:

V: 97
Q: 99
NV:97
Composite: 99

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Surely not coincidental that exactly now the AEI Director position is being eliminated. This is about closing the achievement gap, plain and simple. The magnet curricula will be watered down, because the current best and brightest are not admitted, but bright kids with potential who haven't had the same access to rigorous academic training (say, at the Cold Spring HGC). In order to allow these less-advantaged kids to grow into a MS magnet track, the curriculum would have to be adjusted to give them a good chance at success. MCPS should just move to an AAP model, be more inclusive and transparent, and be done with it.

No, mcps doubled the applicant pool by identifying kids who should be applying to the magnets. As a result, making admission that much more elusive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can call AEI for median percentiles for pool, and median for accepted students at each program. I was trying to get Cogat scores for an application to another program, but they would not release over the phone.

Median percentiles of accepted students for TPMS are:

V: 97
Q: 99
NV:97
Composite: 99

Thanks - this is quite helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can call AEI for median percentiles for pool, and median for accepted students at each program. I was trying to get Cogat scores for an application to another program, but they would not release over the phone.

Median percentiles of accepted students for TPMS are:

V: 97
Q: 99
NV:97
Composite: 99

The median was 99.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can call AEI for median percentiles for pool, and median for accepted students at each program. I was trying to get Cogat scores for an application to another program, but they would not release over the phone.

Median percentiles of accepted students for TPMS are:

V: 97
Q: 99
NV:97
Composite: 99

Thanks - this is quite helpful.

If this is the median, this means they accepted many kids who did not have straight 99s across the board. Just as suspected.