4th Grade CES Admission Criteria?

[Anonymous]

I wanted some insight into the 4th grade CES admission process. In particular,

1) What are the criteria used to decide who gets in (i.e. Inview, grades, MAP-R, CogAT screener)?

2) Do they carry equal weight?

3) Are the criteria used the same for both local and regional CES? I'd imagine the is lower for local, but do they use the same weighted criteria?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

MCPS provides some information online at the link below, but this fails to provide any insight into the selection process. They state that multiple data points are considered which is vague. I'd hope their process had greater transparency.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/curriculum/specialprograms/elementary/Selection%20Process%20for%20the%20Centers%20for%20Enriched%20Studies.pdf

[Anonymous]

1) All of those criteria plus MAP-M, I think, even though math isn’t part of the CES curriculum. (Students are evaluated for Math 4/5, also called Compacted Math, separately from CES admissions. The vast majority of CES students take Math 4/5, but not all of them.)

2) MCPS does not disclose how they weight the criteria.

3) The criteria are the same, but obviously the standards for admission are lower at local centers.

[Anonymous]

Here's an official write-up:

What data was used to evaluate my child?

1) Grade 3 report card,
2) local assessments MAP-R and MAP-M
3) reading level
4) access to math enrichment,
5) instructional need, a non-scored student questionnaire,
6) an outside assessment: Cognitive Test of Abilities Test (CogAT): Screener,
7) current student services such as receiving special education services, ESOL-English for Speakers of Other Languages, 504 accommodations plan and Free and Reduced Meals
.

https://bit.ly/2qTW9sp

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's an official write-up:

What data was used to evaluate my child?

1) Grade 3 report card,
2) local assessments MAP-R and MAP-M
3) reading level
4) access to math enrichment,
5) instructional need, a non-scored student questionnaire,
6) an outside assessment: Cognitive Test of Abilities Test (CogAT): Screener,
7) current student services such as receiving special education services, ESOL-English for Speakers of Other Languages, 504 accommodations plan and Free and Reduced Meals
.

https://bit.ly/2qTW9sp

What does #7 even mean? If you have a 504, ESOL, or something else, you get dinged?

[Anonymous]

No, you don't get dinged. You get a leg up because it means that you succeeded to the extent you did despite having to deal with some adversity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's an official write-up:

What data was used to evaluate my child?

1) Grade 3 report card,
2) local assessments MAP-R and MAP-M
3) reading level
4) access to math enrichment,
5) instructional need, a non-scored student questionnaire,
6) an outside assessment: Cognitive Test of Abilities Test (CogAT): Screener,
7) current student services such as receiving special education services, ESOL-English for Speakers of Other Languages, 504 accommodations plan and Free and Reduced Meals
.

https://bit.ly/2qTW9sp

At our school, we were told that reading levels are no longer specifically assessed. Kids read "at", below or ahead. They don't do further assessment than this. Can a teacher chime in to let us know if this is true. I don't really care about CES, but just curious if teachers are still assessing students quarterly like they had in the past. Additionally, I don't see any type of "math enrichment" given. DS scored extremely high on MAP-M and he does the exact same thing others kids do. FWIW, I don't have an issue with this, but the criteria provided above seems outdated.

[Anonymous]

FARMS, ESOL yes a leg up. But not special needs. The program is not set up to accommodate many students' special needs so they want to limit them and make sure they can handle those needs. There is also the GT LD program for students who are gifted but have special needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's an official write-up:

What data was used to evaluate my child?

1) Grade 3 report card,
2) local assessments MAP-R and MAP-M
3) reading level
4) access to math enrichment,
5) instructional need, a non-scored student questionnaire,
6) an outside assessment: Cognitive Test of Abilities Test (CogAT): Screener,
7) current student services such as receiving special education services, ESOL-English for Speakers of Other Languages, 504 accommodations plan and Free and Reduced Meals
.

https://bit.ly/2qTW9sp

At our school, we were told that reading levels are no longer specifically assessed. Kids read "at", below or ahead. They don't do further assessment than this. Can a teacher chime in to let us know if this is true. I don't really care about CES, but just curious if teachers are still assessing students quarterly like they had in the past. Additionally, I don't see any type of "math enrichment" given. DS scored extremely high on MAP-M and he does the exact same thing others kids do. FWIW, I don't have an issue with this, but the criteria provided above seems outdated.

4 is definitely an odd thing to take in to account since it is school dependent, but it's possible your child did not make the cut. At our school they took only kids with 99th+ percentile scores for enrichment. A lot of parents who presumably have kids with 90+ percentile scores assume there isn't enrichment since I have heard them grumble about it but there is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's an official write-up:

What data was used to evaluate my child?

1) Grade 3 report card,
2) local assessments MAP-R and MAP-M
3) reading level
4) access to math enrichment,
5) instructional need, a non-scored student questionnaire,
6) an outside assessment: Cognitive Test of Abilities Test (CogAT): Screener,
7) current student services such as receiving special education services, ESOL-English for Speakers of Other Languages, 504 accommodations plan and Free and Reduced Meals
.

https://bit.ly/2qTW9sp

At our school, we were told that reading levels are no longer specifically assessed. Kids read "at", below or ahead. They don't do further assessment than this. Can a teacher chime in to let us know if this is true. I don't really care about CES, but just curious if teachers are still assessing students quarterly like they had in the past. Additionally, I don't see any type of "math enrichment" given. DS scored extremely high on MAP-M and he does the exact same thing others kids do. FWIW, I don't have an issue with this, but the criteria provided above seems outdated.

4 is definitely an odd thing to take in to account since it is school dependent, but it's possible your child did not make the cut. At our school they took only kids with 99th+ percentile scores for enrichment. A lot of parents who presumably have kids with 90+ percentile scores assume there isn't enrichment since I have heard them grumble about it but there is.

I'm the PP you had responded to. My DS has always been 99%, usually 2-3 grades up. I know the MAP-P doesn't count for much because it's K-2nd, but he also took the MAP-M in 3rd and scored somewhere 99% for 6th graders. And he definitely does not get any enrichment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FARMS, ESOL yes a leg up. But not special needs. The program is not set up to accommodate many students' special needs so they want to limit them and make sure they can handle those needs. There is also the GT LD program for students who are gifted but have special needs.

Anonymous wrote:FARMS, ESOL yes a leg up. But not special needs. The program is not set up to accommodate many students' special needs so they want to limit them and make sure they can handle those needs. There is also the GT LD program for students who are gifted but have special needs.

I attended a parent meeting in the spring of 2017, in which Meredith Casper stated that students with 504s and IEPs were among the groups of traditionally underrepresented students whose participation in CESs had been boosted with the new admission criteria that were part of the pilot program in certain areas that year (and have now been implemented countywide). I have a child with a 504 in a CES, and my child isn’t the only one. There’s significant overlap between some disorders and giftedness. Some students may find the GT/LD program a better fit, but that’s not the case for most students who have accommodations, but do not receive services.

[Anonymous]

I believe she said that to you at the time and meant it regarding the pilot programs, but it didn't actually happen for the newest classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe she said that to you at the time and meant it regarding the pilot programs, but it didn't actually happen for the newest classes.

So in other words, you're saying that MCPS will consider a student's special ed status (whether 504 or IEP) and use it against them in the selection process. I would imagine that if they were just neutral, then they would not have included it on the criteria list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's an official write-up:

What data was used to evaluate my child?

1) Grade 3 report card,
2) local assessments MAP-R and MAP-M
3) reading level
4) access to math enrichment,
5) instructional need, a non-scored student questionnaire,
6) an outside assessment: Cognitive Test of Abilities Test (CogAT): Screener,
7) current student services such as receiving special education services, ESOL-English for Speakers of Other Languages, 504 accommodations plan and Free and Reduced Meals
.

https://bit.ly/2qTW9sp

At our school, we were told that reading levels are no longer specifically assessed. Kids read "at", below or ahead. They don't do further assessment than this. Can a teacher chime in to let us know if this is true. I don't really care about CES, but just curious if teachers are still assessing students quarterly like they had in the past. Additionally, I don't see any type of "math enrichment" given. DS scored extremely high on MAP-M and he does the exact same thing others kids do. FWIW, I don't have an issue with this, but the criteria provided above seems outdated.

4 is definitely an odd thing to take in to account since it is school dependent, but it's possible your child did not make the cut. At our school they took only kids with 99th+ percentile scores for enrichment. A lot of parents who presumably have kids with 90+ percentile scores assume there isn't enrichment since I have heard them grumble about it but there is.

I'm the PP you had responded to. My DS has always been 99%, usually 2-3 grades up. I know the MAP-P doesn't count for much because it's K-2nd, but he also took the MAP-M in 3rd and scored somewhere 99% for 6th graders. And he definitely does not get any enrichment.

Your child would have made the cut at our school. They told me my DD was borderline for enrichment with a 99th percentile score close to the 99th percentile for that grade. I do think it varies from school to school year to year whether they have the resources to offer enrichment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe she said that to you at the time and meant it regarding the pilot programs, but it didn't actually happen for the newest classes.

So in other words, you're saying that MCPS will consider a student's special ed status (whether 504 or IEP) and use it against them in the selection process. I would imagine that if they were just neutral, then they would not have included it on the criteria list.

No, that's not a fair way to put it. It could be positive, could be negative or neutral depending on the needs.