How is the new pilot offering equivalent to TPMS/Eastern

[Anonymous]

What I think MCPS should do is rank kids who were in the running for a magnet program and then track them accordingly. The top 3% go to TPMS/Eastern, the next 10% go to their home schools and take the enriched classes with their cohorts, and those who aren't qualified will just have to make do with 'Honors'.

I believe Faifax County has a similar system in place with their different levels of AAP programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I think MCPS should do is rank kids who were in the running for a magnet program and then track them accordingly. The top 3% go to TPMS/Eastern, the next 10% go to their home schools and take the enriched classes with their cohorts, and those who aren't qualified will just have to make do with 'Honors'.

I believe Faifax County has a similar system in place with their different levels of AAP programs.

it’s tough to do that unless you base it only on one test. then rich (mostly non minorities) will prep for it and you’ll have little equity, which is what mcps is trying to achieve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The medians of the pool did not indicate that the scores were terribly skewed upward here in Lake WhateverisPCPostKeillorscandal. If 5% of the 4000 kids tested scored in the 99%ile, that's 200 kids - spread over 20 Middle Schools.

If that were the case no problem because there are 200 spots at eastern and TPMS. Magnets exist precisely because these 200 kids are need to be brought together in a common setting instead of being scattered across 20 middle schools
Instead it looks like many of them were passed over and in favor of applicants with lower scores

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The medians of the pool did not indicate that the scores were terribly skewed upward here in Lake WhateverisPCPostKeillorscandal. If 5% of the 4000 kids tested scored in the 99%ile, that's 200 kids - spread over 20 Middle Schools.

If that were the case no problem because there are 200 spots at eastern and TPMS. Magnets exist precisely because these 200 kids are need to be brought together in a common setting instead of being scattered across 20 middle schools
Instead it looks like many of them were passed over and in favor of applicants with lower scores

can you people just shut up with your baseless assertions? you have no evidence to support that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The medians of the pool did not indicate that the scores were terribly skewed upward here in Lake WhateverisPCPostKeillorscandal. If 5% of the 4000 kids tested scored in the 99%ile, that's 200 kids - spread over 20 Middle Schools.

If that were the case no problem because there are 200 spots at eastern and TPMS. Magnets exist precisely because these 200 kids are need to be brought together in a common setting instead of being scattered across 20 middle schools
Instead it looks like many of them were passed over and in favor of applicants with lower scores

can you people just shut up with your baseless assertions? you have no evidence to support that.

This is one person. Probably the racist one. Don't club us all together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher not a parent, and I believe there should be differentiation for gifted kids, but here are my predictions:

Admin and counselors at places like Cabin John and Pyle get DELUGED with calls/emails from parents who think their child should be in the pilot classes. “We wanted to be close to home so we didn’t apply to the magnet, but my child could have gotten in and therefore they should be in that section.” There probably are way more qualified kids at a huge school like Pyle than there are spots in those classes.

Teachers get ticked off that they have five minutes to learn yet another curriculum, knowing that many parents will be displeased with the rollout and they’ll be the ones to bear the brunt of that.

Mega scheduling problems—yet to be determined, sure to happen. Tons of annoyed counselors upset that they too have yet another thing to deal with. Hopefully that master scheduling training will be done well.

Totally irritated principals who have disdain for the “pushy” gifted community who think their children are “special snowflakes”—and who’ve been trying to head off this type of differentiation for years. They now will have to admit defeat on the matter, at least temporarily.

It won’t be enough. No matter what, it won’t be enough. And there will be a lot of unhappy parents whose kids don’t get to take these classes. And so...

Eventually everyone will get to take the magnet-ish classes, and we’ll all be back to where we started. ?

I am a teacher and a parent who fully supports your perspective.

My oldest decided not to take the magnet test as she didn't think she'd make the cut, but more importantly, she said she knows her stress level too well! Having said that, I personally am against magnets. But what makes me laugh is the ironic measures the system takes in creating and supporting test in magnets, "special magnets" (Argyle, Loiderman, and Parkland), and now school-based magnets.

Instead of spending money busing kids from one school to the next and instead of trying to accommodate every Snowflake at the non-magnet schools, go back to community-supported schools and RAMP UP the rigor in on level classes. Oh - and let's not forget the "all honors" courses, where a course is labeled as advanced across the board.

If even half of you knew what went on in "regular" classes, you'd lose your minds. We are graduating kids who can barely read and write, and I blame multiple stakeholders for shortsighted visions, fear of lawsuits, and selfish motives.

[Anonymous]

Ramp up but then when kids are not passing we ramp down to get "better" numbers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ramp up but then when kids are not passing we ramp down to get "better" numbers

are you an MCPS teacher?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher not a parent, and I believe there should be differentiation for gifted kids, but here are my predictions:

Admin and counselors at places like Cabin John and Pyle get DELUGED with calls/emails from parents who think their child should be in the pilot classes. “We wanted to be close to home so we didn’t apply to the magnet, but my child could have gotten in and therefore they should be in that section.” There probably are way more qualified kids at a huge school like Pyle than there are spots in those classes.

Teachers get ticked off that they have five minutes to learn yet another curriculum, knowing that many parents will be displeased with the rollout and they’ll be the ones to bear the brunt of that.

Mega scheduling problems—yet to be determined, sure to happen. Tons of annoyed counselors upset that they too have yet another thing to deal with. Hopefully that master scheduling training will be done well.

Totally irritated principals who have disdain for the “pushy” gifted community who think their children are “special snowflakes”—and who’ve been trying to head off this type of differentiation for years. They now will have to admit defeat on the matter, at least temporarily.

It won’t be enough. No matter what, it won’t be enough. And there will be a lot of unhappy parents whose kids don’t get to take these classes. And so...

Eventually everyone will get to take the magnet-ish classes, and we’ll all be back to where we started. ?

I am a teacher and a parent who fully supports your perspective.

My oldest decided not to take the magnet test as she didn't think she'd make the cut, but more importantly, she said she knows her stress level too well! Having said that, I personally am against magnets. But what makes me laugh is the ironic measures the system takes in creating and supporting test in magnets, "special magnets" (Argyle, Loiderman, and Parkland), and now school-based magnets.

Instead of spending money busing kids from one school to the next and instead of trying to accommodate every Snowflake at the non-magnet schools, go back to community-supported schools and RAMP UP the rigor in on level classes. Oh - and let's not forget the "all honors" courses, where a course is labeled as advanced across the board.

If even half of you knew what went on in "regular" classes, you'd lose your minds. We are graduating kids who can barely read and write, and I blame multiple stakeholders for shortsighted visions, fear of lawsuits, and selfish motives.

Teacher again. Exactly. “On level” should look like what currently stands as “honors.” I recommend well-behaved, responsible kids take honors even if ability-wise they should be on-level, because on-level is often remedial or full of disruptive kids who won’t be held accountable for their behavior. The problem with all of this isn’t that the county is trying to implement a stop-gap measure, it’s that as usual they plowed ahead without considering all the ramifications. I believe in equity and understand what they’re trying to do, and even support it to a large extent, but it wasn’t done thoughtfully. And if we want our county schools to stay highly regarded, MCPS has to also meet the needs of the high performers. I think the biggest losers here in the end will be Westland and Pyle, because their size means there are many many high performers, and the parents are going to lose their minds when their kids don’t get into these GT classes. Or they’ll all have their kids start taking the magnet test, maybe even prep for it—not to go, but to ensure they get a space in one of these home school classes. I hope MCPS really thinks through all the possibilities before next year. I do think they should pilot SOMETHING in the home schools, but if they want to keep up staff morale, they’re going to have to be pretty sensitive with how they approach teachers/counselors about these changes. Last summer/start of year was a disaster in terms of tech implementation, and if there’s another hasty, failed roll out that sets staff up to be ambushed by miserable parents, and that also stresses out their admin to the point that they’re cranky and take it out on theim, I think there will be a teacher exodus. Everyone is replaceable, but at some point you’re losing the seasoned teachers and filling those slots with really inexperienced professionals. It’s already happening to a certain extent, though there are other factors too — weak leadership, long commutes, low performers bringing everyone else down etc..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At my child’s school the entire grade is taking “Honors English” and “Honors Social Studies” and in MCPS whenever they pull this and the next step will be allow all students due to pressure by parents and balancing diversity, which turned into the entire grade(yes, this is true) taking honors. So Honors is no longer truely Honors, but rather above/on grade level. I can see the same thing happening here.

1. you need to learn how to use punctuation.

2. you don’t have evidence that will happen here. past events do not always predict future events.

History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes -- Mark Twain

no need to attribute it ... we’re all aware of a massively famous quote

Actually Mark Twain didn't say that. It's a misattribution.

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/01/12/history-rhymes/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher not a parent, and I believe there should be differentiation for gifted kids, but here are my predictions:

Admin and counselors at places like Cabin John and Pyle get DELUGED with calls/emails from parents who think their child should be in the pilot classes. “We wanted to be close to home so we didn’t apply to the magnet, but my child could have gotten in and therefore they should be in that section.” There probably are way more qualified kids at a huge school like Pyle than there are spots in those classes.

Teachers get ticked off that they have five minutes to learn yet another curriculum, knowing that many parents will be displeased with the rollout and they’ll be the ones to bear the brunt of that.

Mega scheduling problems—yet to be determined, sure to happen. Tons of annoyed counselors upset that they too have yet another thing to deal with. Hopefully that master scheduling training will be done well.

Totally irritated principals who have disdain for the “pushy” gifted community who think their children are “special snowflakes”—and who’ve been trying to head off this type of differentiation for years. They now will have to admit defeat on the matter, at least temporarily.

It won’t be enough. No matter what, it won’t be enough. And there will be a lot of unhappy parents whose kids don’t get to take these classes. And so...

Eventually everyone will get to take the magnet-ish classes, and we’ll all be back to where we started. ?

I am a teacher and a parent who fully supports your perspective.

My oldest decided not to take the magnet test as she didn't think she'd make the cut, but more importantly, she said she knows her stress level too well! Having said that, I personally am against magnets. But what makes me laugh is the ironic measures the system takes in creating and supporting test in magnets, "special magnets" (Argyle, Loiderman, and Parkland), and now school-based magnets.

Instead of spending money busing kids from one school to the next and instead of trying to accommodate every Snowflake at the non-magnet schools, go back to community-supported schools and RAMP UP the rigor in on level classes. Oh - and let's not forget the "all honors" courses, where a course is labeled as advanced across the board.

If even half of you knew what went on in "regular" classes, you'd lose your minds. We are graduating kids who can barely read and write, and I blame multiple stakeholders for shortsighted visions, fear of lawsuits, and selfish motives.

Teacher again. Exactly. “On level” should look like what currently stands as “honors.” I recommend well-behaved, responsible kids take honors even if ability-wise they should be on-level, because on-level is often remedial or full of disruptive kids who won’t be held accountable for their behavior. The problem with all of this isn’t that the county is trying to implement a stop-gap measure, it’s that as usual they plowed ahead without considering all the ramifications. I believe in equity and understand what they’re trying to do, and even support it to a large extent, but it wasn’t done thoughtfully. And if we want our county schools to stay highly regarded, MCPS has to also meet the needs of the high performers. I think the biggest losers here in the end will be Westland and Pyle, because their size means there are many many high performers, and the parents are going to lose their minds when their kids don’t get into these GT classes. Or they’ll all have their kids start taking the magnet test, maybe even prep for it—not to go, but to ensure they get a space in one of these home school classes. I hope MCPS really thinks through all the possibilities before next year. I do think they should pilot SOMETHING in the home schools, but if they want to keep up staff morale, they’re going to have to be pretty sensitive with how they approach teachers/counselors about these changes. Last summer/start of year was a disaster in terms of tech implementation, and if there’s another hasty, failed roll out that sets staff up to be ambushed by miserable parents, and that also stresses out their admin to the point that they’re cranky and take it out on theim, I think there will be a teacher exodus. Everyone is replaceable, but at some point you’re losing the seasoned teachers and filling those slots with really inexperienced professionals. It’s already happening to a certain extent, though there are other factors too — weak leadership, long commutes, low performers bringing everyone else down etc..

Would would you suggest we do then with the current cohort of kids who were kept local due to the peer-cohort justification? How would you solve the situation we have now in the short term for both teachers, admin and students, and what would you do for long term support?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At my child’s school the entire grade is taking “Honors English” and “Honors Social Studies” and in MCPS whenever they pull this and the next step will be allow all students due to pressure by parents and balancing diversity, which turned into the entire grade(yes, this is true) taking honors. So Honors is no longer truely Honors, but rather above/on grade level. I can see the same thing happening here.

1. you need to learn how to use punctuation.

2. you don’t have evidence that will happen here. past events do not always predict future events.

History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes -- Mark Twain

no need to attribute it ... we’re all aware of a massively famous quote

Actually Mark Twain didn't say that. It's a misattribution.

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/01/12/history-rhymes/

I knew someone was going to focus on that. I think you can probably find a few websites that support that Twain said that and a few that said he didn't. I think we're missing the point of the post though when we discuss misattribution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher not a parent, and I believe there should be differentiation for gifted kids, but here are my predictions:

Admin and counselors at places like Cabin John and Pyle get DELUGED with calls/emails from parents who think their child should be in the pilot classes. “We wanted to be close to home so we didn’t apply to the magnet, but my child could have gotten in and therefore they should be in that section.” There probably are way more qualified kids at a huge school like Pyle than there are spots in those classes.

Teachers get ticked off that they have five minutes to learn yet another curriculum, knowing that many parents will be displeased with the rollout and they’ll be the ones to bear the brunt of that.

Mega scheduling problems—yet to be determined, sure to happen. Tons of annoyed counselors upset that they too have yet another thing to deal with. Hopefully that master scheduling training will be done well.

Totally irritated principals who have disdain for the “pushy” gifted community who think their children are “special snowflakes”—and who’ve been trying to head off this type of differentiation for years. They now will have to admit defeat on the matter, at least temporarily.

It won’t be enough. No matter what, it won’t be enough. And there will be a lot of unhappy parents whose kids don’t get to take these classes. And so...

Eventually everyone will get to take the magnet-ish classes, and we’ll all be back to where we started. ?

I am a teacher and a parent who fully supports your perspective.

My oldest decided not to take the magnet test as she didn't think she'd make the cut, but more importantly, she said she knows her stress level too well! Having said that, I personally am against magnets. But what makes me laugh is the ironic measures the system takes in creating and supporting test in magnets, "special magnets" (Argyle, Loiderman, and Parkland), and now school-based magnets.

Instead of spending money busing kids from one school to the next and instead of trying to accommodate every Snowflake at the non-magnet schools, go back to community-supported schools and RAMP UP the rigor in on level classes. Oh - and let's not forget the "all honors" courses, where a course is labeled as advanced across the board.

If even half of you knew what went on in "regular" classes, you'd lose your minds. We are graduating kids who can barely read and write, and I blame multiple stakeholders for shortsighted visions, fear of lawsuits, and selfish motives.

While I don't disagree with all your sentiments, the way you speak of students as snowflakes is disappointing. I maintain that there are a small group of kids who truly need the differentiation. Given how MCPS haphazardly thought through how they would roll out a magnet-lite, it does put undo stress on all parties. Just like you say, the rigor needs to be added back into the existing coursework and that is a larger problem in and of itself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher not a parent, and I believe there should be differentiation for gifted kids, but here are my predictions:

Admin and counselors at places like Cabin John and Pyle get DELUGED with calls/emails from parents who think their child should be in the pilot classes. “We wanted to be close to home so we didn’t apply to the magnet, but my child could have gotten in and therefore they should be in that section.” There probably are way more qualified kids at a huge school like Pyle than there are spots in those classes.

Teachers get ticked off that they have five minutes to learn yet another curriculum, knowing that many parents will be displeased with the rollout and they’ll be the ones to bear the brunt of that.

Mega scheduling problems—yet to be determined, sure to happen. Tons of annoyed counselors upset that they too have yet another thing to deal with. Hopefully that master scheduling training will be done well.

Totally irritated principals who have disdain for the “pushy” gifted community who think their children are “special snowflakes”—and who’ve been trying to head off this type of differentiation for years. They now will have to admit defeat on the matter, at least temporarily.

It won’t be enough. No matter what, it won’t be enough. And there will be a lot of unhappy parents whose kids don’t get to take these classes. And so...

Eventually everyone will get to take the magnet-ish classes, and we’ll all be back to where we started. ?

I am a teacher and a parent who fully supports your perspective.

My oldest decided not to take the magnet test as she didn't think she'd make the cut, but more importantly, she said she knows her stress level too well! Having said that, I personally am against magnets. But what makes me laugh is the ironic measures the system takes in creating and supporting test in magnets, "special magnets" (Argyle, Loiderman, and Parkland), and now school-based magnets.

Instead of spending money busing kids from one school to the next and instead of trying to accommodate every Snowflake at the non-magnet schools, go back to community-supported schools and RAMP UP the rigor in on level classes. Oh - and let's not forget the "all honors" courses, where a course is labeled as advanced across the board.

If even half of you knew what went on in "regular" classes, you'd lose your minds. We are graduating kids who can barely read and write, and I blame multiple stakeholders for shortsighted visions, fear of lawsuits, and selfish motives.

Another MCPS teacher here. What this teacher is saying is absolutely true. The "dumbing down" of courses in MCPS is mindblowing. I cannot believe MCPS is not yet in the news for graduating large numbers of students who are unqualified, just as DC and Prince Georges are charged with doing.

[Anonymous]

what will happen with the kids now looking at clemente? will they be subjected to all of this in the future?