Why are we having so many regional magnets when the Watkins Mills and Seneca Valley programs were failures?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
Yes, I realized that after I made that post. But my point still stands for Springbrook and Kennedy as I said in my second sentence. |
Anonymous
That's not quite right. You have to get a cumulative number of points, plus I think at least a 3/7 on each of them, plus do your research paper. Even if you don't get the diploma, it's still worth something to have taken the IB tests for subjects you did well in. Most colleges give credit for IB test like they do for APs (although some colleges effectively set the bar higher for IB tests, because they don't understand the grading scale well enough). But they are just different educational systems. IB focuses more in in-depth analysis of topcis and applied knowledge. So for instance even in math,you have to write a paper applying the math to a real-world problem. In history, instead of a survey course, you focus on a number of historical themes or events and go in-depth on them. Whereas the AP history classes are more like survey classes with a lot of multiple choice, short answer, and focus on using specific terminology/references in your response. I think there are benefits to each approaches. Many kids hate the amount of reading and writing involved in IB classes, but other kids really love the opportunity to dig into a topic. TLDR -- the differences are less in the college application process, and more in what you are learning and how you are learning it. |
Anonymous
|
The whole thing is ridiculous pie in the sky because they can't get enough IB qualified teachers to teach at all these schools. Even RM has struggled to replace people for some positions. As usual, MCPS is trying to get all creative and re-invent the wheel, instead of just improving the wheel that they currently have.
They are constantly wasting money implementing new models and after a few years, decide the model doesn't really work. If they just focused this money on giving the teachers the tools and support they need to actually teach, they could probably solve a lot of the current problems. I feel like every year, the teachers just get more irritated and less willing to make allowances or go the extra mile for kids -- they are all drawing their boundaries because they feel like MCPS will otherwise just use them up and spit them out. That's the real problem in the district. Give teachers more planning time and more actual curriculum specific support -- don't just keep changing the model on them. |
Anonymous
BINGO! |
Anonymous
https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DJVQ56678E2B/$file/Attachment%20D%20SY2025%20Student%20Enrollment%20Countywide%20Programs%20250724.pdf A lot of the RMIB kids are from RM, Wootton, Churchill - all in region 4. WJ might help Kennedy IB, but it would depend on how many students at WJ would be willing to go to Kennedy over the programs at Woodward/WJ. MCPS is assuming that the interest in IB will remain static, and that the same number of students interested in a program in School A will be the same number of students interested in a program in school B, thereby not impacting capacity. But, I guarantee you that this is not going to be the way it plays out. There are stronger interests in programs like STEM than there are in other programs. |
Anonymous
I actually think it'll hurt Kennedy IB. High-achieving Kennedy kids with means and resources will jump at the opportunity to be in a higher-performing high school like Walter Johnson and will apply to programs at Woodward and Walter Johnson just to escape the squalor and struggle at Kennedy. Which will further weaken the pool of quality IB candidates for the Kennedy IB program. |
Anonymous
Good point. And nobody from WJ will commute to Kennedy for their Watkins Mill-type IB or for their vocational medical training programs. |
Anonymous
Another way to look at this is essentially as a proximity map. You seem to want to use the data as a marker for how many kids would qualify, but it's also a marker for how close those schools are to RM. The schools sending the most kids to RM are, by and large, also the closest schools without a criteria-based program. A person could argue that the link between proximity and matriculation at these programs tells the story of why more criteria-based programs are needed. |
Anonymous
No one chooses Kennedy and no will choose WJ over Kennedy. MCPS needs to see the actual demand for IB. Many families prefer AP. |
Anonymous
It's also interesting to note that the original plan for the regional IB programs was to NOT keep RM as countywide- but that changed at the last minute. While all the planning was going on it was for 4 regional programs, not 3 regional and one county wide. The last minute pivot may have impacted results. IF the regionals all offered the same courses as RM I think you'd see different results. |
Anonymous
Not sure about that. Wooton and Churchill also send a ton of kids to Blair as well, and it's certainly not close. |
Anonymous
|
What I think most of you are missing in your eager rush to take more opportunities away from poor families (poor immigrant families, for the most part--when talking about Moco demographics) is that access to something like an IB program is very important to them, and can be the key to future success. Unlike the AP, IB is about holistic learning. Educating the whole student. Creating well-rounded citizens. Your own kids with their access to privilege and your own obsession with STEM may not feel the need for it. But those kids do.
|
Anonymous
The application programs have only graduated two cohorts, and those were from the covid years. It's hardly a fair comparison. If you look at actual college admissions for Kennedy and Springbok, you'll see some impressive results. |