More TAG dedicated centers in PG County

[Anonymous]

Anonymous
05/30/2016 12:59 Subject: PG County schools? TAG prgram?
I have started a petition. We need more dedicated centers for gifted students to free teachers from having to differentiate curriculums which is a myth anyway. Without more dedicated centers, not just to the arts but to the advanced students as well, the teachers can't focus on the lower performing students and their needs, or advance the middle of the road kids to excel higher. I know everyone wont agree but what we have now is not working- we need to do something different.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/354/051/807/lets-br...es-county-public-schools/#sign

[Anonymous]

Differentiated curriculum is not a myth.

-teacher who has done it.

[Anonymous]

A myth where?

As a PG county educator that's completely false. You can't teach correctly without differentiating. All students are not the same.

[Anonymous]

As you move the more advanced students out of the schools, the others suffer; it's one of the beauties of public education- your child learns about different levels and styles of learners, and a good teacher and school will differentiate appropriately. Maybe the complaint is with your school specifically and not with the county?

[Anonymous]

I really don't think a lack a TAG elementary centers is the problem. Generally everyone who applies for 2nd grade gets into a TAG magnet. In my mind a big problem lies with what happens to the TAG kids or other high performing kids who are left behind in the local Elementary Schools. If all TAG kids stayed in their local schools it would give the administrators at the local schools a reason to commit more funding to a TAG program in the local school. IMO they should get rid of the TAG elementary school magnets entirely and focus on middle and high schools.

A big problem is where to send your TAG student when they get to middle school. We need more high quality middle school programs. Lots of people choose to send their kids to TAG/Immersion/Montessori/Creative Arts Schools because it gets them through 8th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really don't think a lack a TAG elementary centers is the problem. Generally everyone who applies for 2nd grade gets into a TAG magnet. In my mind a big problem lies with what happens to the TAG kids or other high performing kids who are left behind in the local Elementary Schools. If all TAG kids stayed in their local schools it would give the administrators at the local schools a reason to commit more funding to a TAG program in the local school. IMO they should get rid of the TAG elementary school magnets entirely and focus on middle and high schools.

A big problem is where to send your TAG student when they get to middle school. We need more high quality middle school programs. Lots of people choose to send their kids to TAG/Immersion/Montessori/Creative Arts Schools because it gets them through 8th grade.

Yes, middle school is a big problem. If your kid doesn't get a seat in a TAG program in 2nd grade, then you are out of luck. Very, very few seats are available after then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really don't think a lack a TAG elementary centers is the problem. Generally everyone who applies for 2nd grade gets into a TAG magnet. In my mind a big problem lies with what happens to the TAG kids or other high performing kids who are left behind in the local Elementary Schools. If all TAG kids stayed in their local schools it would give the administrators at the local schools a reason to commit more funding to a TAG program in the local school. IMO they should get rid of the TAG elementary school magnets entirely and focus on middle and high schools.

A big problem is where to send your TAG student when they get to middle school. We need more high quality middle school programs. Lots of people choose to send their kids to TAG/Immersion/Montessori/Creative Arts Schools because it gets them through 8th grade.

Yes, middle school is a big problem. If your kid doesn't get a seat in a TAG program in 2nd grade, then you are out of luck. Very, very few seats are available after then.

Also the issue of fairness....if your child isn't TAG identified until 3rd grade you are probably excluded from the possibility of a TAG MS experience. This issue is particularly a problem with ESOL kids or kids who don't have Pre-K experience. These kids may not do well on the test in the first grade but by the time they get to 3rd they are identified.

[Anonymous]

Fastest way for PGCPS to increase its standing (test scores) is to draw mid/high performing kids who are now in private back into the system. The way to do that is to offer TAG or other specialty programs. Those kids come back into PGCPS and bam!... the test scores magically improve b/c now there are more kids passing to balance out those who are not.

That's why Maxwell was smart to suggest it... but I guess he didn't get the money to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fastest way for PGCPS to increase its standing (test scores) is to draw mid/high performing kids who are now in private back into the system. The way to do that is to offer TAG or other specialty programs. Those kids come back into PGCPS and bam!... the test scores magically improve b/c now there are more kids passing to balance out those who are not.

That's why Maxwell was smart to suggest it... but I guess he didn't get the money to do it.

Except, if you have TAG only schools it does very little to improve the system as a whole. The research is very clear on this. Separating young kids based on ability level is extraordinarily detrimental to middle and lower performing kids, ESOL, etc. so pulling them out and placing them in their own building has the effect of depressing everyone else's scores.

[Anonymous]

It doesn't depress anyone's score. It simply adds more kids into the passing scores and makes the county as a whole look better. Whether they are separate schools or not -- that is a policy decision. But, I am certain there are plenty of people who would come back into PGCPS if they knew their kid could get into a special program (STEM, TAG, language, whatever).

There really isn't a downside to bringing more middle and upper middle kids into the system. It's easy pickins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fastest way for PGCPS to increase its standing (test scores) is to draw mid/high performing kids who are now in private back into the system. The way to do that is to offer TAG or other specialty programs. Those kids come back into PGCPS and bam!... the test scores magically improve b/c now there are more kids passing to balance out those who are not.

That's why Maxwell was smart to suggest it... but I guess he didn't get the money to do it.

Except, if you have TAG only schools it does very little to improve the system as a whole. The research is very clear on this. Separating young kids based on ability level is extraordinarily detrimental to middle and lower performing kids, ESOL, etc. so pulling them out and placing them in their own building has the effect of depressing everyone else's scores.

The fastest way to increase test scores in a low income, low performing school is to raise the rent on the nearby apartment complexes. Sad but true.

Low test scores are very highly correlated with socioeconomic status.

If you want higher test scores you need to appeal to parents who are of higher socioeconomic status, and give them what they are looking for, for their kids. More spots in Middle School TAG programs would be a big step in that direction. We HAVE the TAG identified kids, but they aren't getting seats in a TAG middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fastest way for PGCPS to increase its standing (test scores) is to draw mid/high performing kids who are now in private back into the system. The way to do that is to offer TAG or other specialty programs. Those kids come back into PGCPS and bam!... the test scores magically improve b/c now there are more kids passing to balance out those who are not.

That's why Maxwell was smart to suggest it... but I guess he didn't get the money to do it.

Except, if you have TAG only schools it does very little to improve the system as a whole. The research is very clear on this. Separating young kids based on ability level is extraordinarily detrimental to middle and lower performing kids, ESOL, etc. so pulling them out and placing them in their own building has the effect of depressing everyone else's scores.

The fastest way to increase test scores in a low income, low performing school is to raise the rent on the nearby apartment complexes. Sad but true.

Low test scores are very highly correlated with socioeconomic status.

If you want higher test scores you need to appeal to parents who are of higher socioeconomic status, and give them what they are looking for, for their kids. More spots in Middle School TAG programs would be a big step in that direction. We HAVE the TAG identified kids, but they aren't getting seats in a TAG middle school.

Exactly! One way to raise test scores, and theoretically keep middle class families in PGCPS, is to stop the drain of the top scoring kids (10-20%) out of local public schools and into TAG ES centers. If parents knew they had a fair shot at getting into a TAG MS then they would at least consider staying at their local schools. Right now, if you don't choose to pull your kid out of local ES and into a TAG magnet then you have zero percent chance of getting into MS level.

This doesn't solve the overall MS problem but keeping middle class kids in the public ES is the first step. Once they are in the system things should slowly change.