TJ Falls to 14th in the Nation Per US News

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Percent total of Asians will obviously go down, mathematically, because there are many middle schools where there are very few Asians. If more Asians moved to other middle schools instead of primarily concentrating in Rocky Run, Carson, and Cooper, then the Asian percentage will go up again.

Replace "Asians" in your quote with some other races and swap out the school names and then maybe you'll understand how not race-blind the change is. Well, other than the fact that you are choosing to not understand and throwing out statements like this one is the best you can do.

I don't care either way - no interest in sending any of my kids to TJ. But to pretend this change didn't have an agenda they can't admit publicly is asinine.

The changes absolutely had an agenda that they have been very public about admitting - FCPS wanted to open access to TJ to students from all schools within the catchment area and to students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.

The impact of this has been that now, pretty much any sufficiently motivated student can dream about attending TJ regardless of whether or not they were selected for AAP or ended up within a narrow range or schools.

And the school is fairly obviously better off for it.

Actually, it just shows that their own processes in advanced academics are failing to lift up URMs, so they just resorted to giving spots away. It’s pretty much proof that the county can’t close the achievement gap.

Bring AAP services to all FCPS schools and that will take care of this issue. Can we all agree on that?

Currently, LLIV is rolling out to every elementary school. Before that, every student was evaluated for Level IV at every FCPS school and, if admitted, provided transportation to a center school.

We are agreed.

The problem is from the parents who wanted their kids to focus more on sports and let the Ipads take care of their kids rather than spending time teaching their kids. Now, these parents demand better chances of being admitted to a STEM school for their children than those for kids of families, most are middle-income first-gen immigrants, who always prioritize education and hard work. Although the current admissions process is supporting that demand, it cannot change a child's learning habit and fix many years of parents' negligence.

Where on earth did you get the idea that your "sports families" were the driver of the change in TJ admissions? That's silly. And wrong.

DP - it's pretty simple. They are using Black kids as the boogeyman for everything they're upset with in this case, and in their mind, black kids = sports families.

It's evidence of an uninformed and frankly racist broad worldview, which unfortunately is not that uncommon in this area.

Agree, this poster is blatantly racist and repeat it over and over, from basketball, sneaker, sports… Black is still represented very very small number in TJ but why do they keep attacking them. It is just nauseating and hope this thread just closed down.
From an Asian mom (not “that kind” of Asian).

Nice try, but no one is as big a racist as you are. How many different identities will you assume?
- Black dad.

Harry Jackson has entered the chat...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Percent total of Asians will obviously go down, mathematically, because there are many middle schools where there are very few Asians. If more Asians moved to other middle schools instead of primarily concentrating in Rocky Run, Carson, and Cooper, then the Asian percentage will go up again.

Replace "Asians" in your quote with some other races and swap out the school names and then maybe you'll understand how not race-blind the change is. Well, other than the fact that you are choosing to not understand and throwing out statements like this one is the best you can do.

I don't care either way - no interest in sending any of my kids to TJ. But to pretend this change didn't have an agenda they can't admit publicly is asinine.

The changes absolutely had an agenda that they have been very public about admitting - FCPS wanted to open access to TJ to students from all schools within the catchment area and to students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.

The impact of this has been that now, pretty much any sufficiently motivated student can dream about attending TJ regardless of whether or not they were selected for AAP or ended up within a narrow range or schools.

And the school is fairly obviously better off for it.

Actually, it just shows that their own processes in advanced academics are failing to lift up URMs, so they just resorted to giving spots away. It’s pretty much proof that the county can’t close the achievement gap.

Bring AAP services to all FCPS schools and that will take care of this issue. Can we all agree on that?

Currently, LLIV is rolling out to every elementary school. Before that, every student was evaluated for Level IV at every FCPS school and, if admitted, provided transportation to a center school.

We are agreed.

The problem is from the parents who wanted their kids to focus more on sports and let the Ipads take care of their kids rather than spending time teaching their kids. Now, these parents demand better chances of being admitted to a STEM school for their children than those for kids of families, most are middle-income first-gen immigrants, who always prioritize education and hard work. Although the current admissions process is supporting that demand, it cannot change a child's learning habit and fix many years of parents' negligence.

Where on earth did you get the idea that your "sports families" were the driver of the change in TJ admissions? That's silly. And wrong.

DP - it's pretty simple. They are using Black kids as the boogeyman for everything they're upset with in this case, and in their mind, black kids = sports families.

It's evidence of an uninformed and frankly racist broad worldview, which unfortunately is not that uncommon in this area.

"*African-American or Black Students Receive the Greatest Share of Athletic Scholarships among Minority Students*
Among minority students enrolled in Bachelor’s degree programs, African-American or Black students receive a greater number of athletic scholarships (22.8% in 2007-2008) as compared to other minority groups of students including Asian and Hispanic students. Asian students receive the lowest number of athletic scholarships, 0.1% in 2007-2008. "

a simple google search revealed the source of this statistic:
https://www.fastweb.com/student-news/articles/athletic-scholarships-who-gets-them-and-how-many-are-there

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Percent total of Asians will obviously go down, mathematically, because there are many middle schools where there are very few Asians. If more Asians moved to other middle schools instead of primarily concentrating in Rocky Run, Carson, and Cooper, then the Asian percentage will go up again.

Replace "Asians" in your quote with some other races and swap out the school names and then maybe you'll understand how not race-blind the change is. Well, other than the fact that you are choosing to not understand and throwing out statements like this one is the best you can do.

I don't care either way - no interest in sending any of my kids to TJ. But to pretend this change didn't have an agenda they can't admit publicly is asinine.

The changes absolutely had an agenda that they have been very public about admitting - FCPS wanted to open access to TJ to students from all schools within the catchment area and to students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.

The impact of this has been that now, pretty much any sufficiently motivated student can dream about attending TJ regardless of whether or not they were selected for AAP or ended up within a narrow range or schools.

And the school is fairly obviously better off for it.

Actually, it just shows that their own processes in advanced academics are failing to lift up URMs, so they just resorted to giving spots away. It’s pretty much proof that the county can’t close the achievement gap.

Bring AAP services to all FCPS schools and that will take care of this issue. Can we all agree on that?

Currently, LLIV is rolling out to every elementary school. Before that, every student was evaluated for Level IV at every FCPS school and, if admitted, provided transportation to a center school.

We are agreed.

The problem is from the parents who wanted their kids to focus more on sports and let the Ipads take care of their kids rather than spending time teaching their kids. Now, these parents demand better chances of being admitted to a STEM school for their children than those for kids of families, most are middle-income first-gen immigrants, who always prioritize education and hard work. Although the current admissions process is supporting that demand, it cannot change a child's learning habit and fix many years of parents' negligence.

Where on earth did you get the idea that your "sports families" were the driver of the change in TJ admissions? That's silly. And wrong.

DP - it's pretty simple. They are using Black kids as the boogeyman for everything they're upset with in this case, and in their mind, black kids = sports families.

It's evidence of an uninformed and frankly racist broad worldview, which unfortunately is not that uncommon in this area.

You’re such a racist and narrowly minded person to assume that neglecting parents who want their kids to play sports are African Americans. White kids have benefited the more from the new admissions. Their parents are also most vocal in dumping down on TJ’s evaluations and restricting advanced math courses for for kids of other families.

Huh? The PP is pointing out that racist posters frequently post comments about black families/sports/parenting. Look at 16:33. They post crap like that all of the time.

I am the OP and I didn't mention anything about races. Automatically associating sports and neglective parenting with African American families is blatantly racist. I would argue that parents of all races who don't want to invest their time in their kids are the most vocal defenders of the current ridiculous admissions system.

I am African American, and consider sports and academic achievements to be a sense of pride for all Americans, not just blacks or asians. There have been black mathematicians like Katherine Johnson who have skipped multiple math grades and went to college at 13, and then there have been asian basketball players like Yao Ming who started pro basketball at 13, lot earlier than Lebron James.

References to basketball are fine with me as well. My kid plays basketball, soccer, as well as attends Kumon, and there are plenty that do more. We are latino, if that matters.

[Anonymous]

So we can pretty much put a pin in this one.

The new policies have resulted in a drop in standardized testing scores both in general, and a significant drop in URM standardized test scores. This accounts for roughly 30% of the scoring rubric by USNews.

At the tippy top of the rankings, Im sure the margin is narrow and this is enough to drop many spots and will probably result in another drop next year.

Its pretty much just as nonsense as Great Schools rankings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So we can pretty much put a pin in this one.

The new policies have resulted in a drop in standardized testing scores both in general, and a significant drop in URM standardized test scores. This accounts for roughly 30% of the scoring rubric by USNews.

At the tippy top of the rankings, Im sure the margin is narrow and this is enough to drop many spots and will probably result in another drop next year.

Its pretty much just as nonsense as Great Schools rankings.

The drop in ranking highlights the declining standards at TJ. Specifically, without a merit-based entrance test, TJ admissions cannot select merit-based URM students from the pool of URM applicants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So we can pretty much put a pin in this one.

The new policies have resulted in a drop in standardized testing scores both in general, and a significant drop in URM standardized test scores. This accounts for roughly 30% of the scoring rubric by USNews.

At the tippy top of the rankings, Im sure the margin is narrow and this is enough to drop many spots and will probably result in another drop next year.

Its pretty much just as nonsense as Great Schools rankings.

If the margin is narrow then the drop wouldn’t be that significant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So we can pretty much put a pin in this one.

The new policies have resulted in a drop in standardized testing scores both in general, and a significant drop in URM standardized test scores. This accounts for roughly 30% of the scoring rubric by USNews.

At the tippy top of the rankings, Im sure the margin is narrow and this is enough to drop many spots and will probably result in another drop next year.

Its pretty much just as nonsense as Great Schools rankings.

If the margin is narrow then the drop wouldn’t be that significant.

URM scoring only accounts for 10% of overall. In some areas TJ is better than their peer schools. A significant drop in this small area may only result in dropping to 14. Also explains why they were regularly #1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For a long time the number one school in the nation, US News now has TJ at #14. Not sure how much is a change in methodology, how much is the admissions policy (surprised to see WTOP call that one out below, because they usually parrot the FCPS party line on everything), and how much is other schools getting better.

Following controversial changes to its admissions policy in 2021 to boost diversity, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia remains the top ranked school in the D.C. region and 14th in the nation, slipping from the top 10. It’s also the 5th ranked STEM school in the nation.

https://wtop.com/education/2024/04/regions-best-high-schools/

2022 #1
2023 #5
2024 #14
Can't wait to see the 2025 ranking

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For a long time the number one school in the nation, US News now has TJ at #14. Not sure how much is a change in methodology, how much is the admissions policy (surprised to see WTOP call that one out below, because they usually parrot the FCPS party line on everything), and how much is other schools getting better.

Following controversial changes to its admissions policy in 2021 to boost diversity, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia remains the top ranked school in the D.C. region and 14th in the nation, slipping from the top 10. It’s also the 5th ranked STEM school in the nation.

https://wtop.com/education/2024/04/regions-best-high-schools/

2022 #1
2023 #5
2024 #14
Can't wait to see the 2025 ranking

2019 #10

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So we can pretty much put a pin in this one.

The new policies have resulted in a drop in standardized testing scores both in general, and a significant drop in URM standardized test scores. This accounts for roughly 30% of the scoring rubric by USNews.

At the tippy top of the rankings, Im sure the margin is narrow and this is enough to drop many spots and will probably result in another drop next year.

Its pretty much just as nonsense as Great Schools rankings.

The drop in ranking highlights the declining standards at TJ. Specifically, without a merit-based entrance test, TJ admissions cannot select merit-based URM students from the pool of URM applicants.

Yes, the drop in rankings was based on 2022 data before they fixed the broken selection criteria used by the old process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So we can pretty much put a pin in this one.

The new policies have resulted in a drop in standardized testing scores both in general, and a significant drop in URM standardized test scores. This accounts for roughly 30% of the scoring rubric by USNews.

At the tippy top of the rankings, Im sure the margin is narrow and this is enough to drop many spots and will probably result in another drop next year.

Its pretty much just as nonsense as Great Schools rankings.

The drop in ranking highlights the declining standards at TJ. Specifically, without a merit-based entrance test, TJ admissions cannot select merit-based URM students from the pool of URM applicants.

Yes, the drop in rankings was based on 2022 data before they fixed the broken selection criteria used by the old process.

Yeah that was the year of the freshman of the new selection process who were 25% FARMs (URM according to USNews) and represented a sizable increase in the URM population at TJ. They also scored significantly worse on SOLs as compared to previous years URM, albeit a very small number of students. This is not really up for debate.

And even more, the non-URM students of the new class scored worse than previous years,

Interestingly enough, average FCPS schools scored on average better than the previous year (2020-2021) result.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For a long time the number one school in the nation, US News now has TJ at #14. Not sure how much is a change in methodology, how much is the admissions policy (surprised to see WTOP call that one out below, because they usually parrot the FCPS party line on everything), and how much is other schools getting better.

Following controversial changes to its admissions policy in 2021 to boost diversity, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia remains the top ranked school in the D.C. region and 14th in the nation, slipping from the top 10. It’s also the 5th ranked STEM school in the nation.

https://wtop.com/education/2024/04/regions-best-high-schools/

2022 #1
2023 #5
2024 #14
Can't wait to see the 2025 ranking

Made a travesty of a once reputed stem institution! And this coming from a URM who supports merit over equity politics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For a long time the number one school in the nation, US News now has TJ at #14. Not sure how much is a change in methodology, how much is the admissions policy (surprised to see WTOP call that one out below, because they usually parrot the FCPS party line on everything), and how much is other schools getting better.

Following controversial changes to its admissions policy in 2021 to boost diversity, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia remains the top ranked school in the D.C. region and 14th in the nation, slipping from the top 10. It’s also the 5th ranked STEM school in the nation.

https://wtop.com/education/2024/04/regions-best-high-schools/

2022 #1
2023 #5
2024 #14
Can't wait to see the 2025 ranking

2019 #10

Don't bother them with facts that don't support the narrative. You'll just make them cranky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For a long time the number one school in the nation, US News now has TJ at #14. Not sure how much is a change in methodology, how much is the admissions policy (surprised to see WTOP call that one out below, because they usually parrot the FCPS party line on everything), and how much is other schools getting better.

Following controversial changes to its admissions policy in 2021 to boost diversity, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia remains the top ranked school in the D.C. region and 14th in the nation, slipping from the top 10. It’s also the 5th ranked STEM school in the nation.

https://wtop.com/education/2024/04/regions-best-high-schools/

2022 #1
2023 #5
2024 #14
Can't wait to see the 2025 ranking

2019 #10

2018 #6

[Anonymous]

Let’s us go with objective PSAT scores and NNSF semi-finalists when they are declared for the class of 2025. Compare that with previous classes. ( before the equity mafia spins a yarn)