Marshall "3rd for Best School"

[Anonymous]

PP, what do you think motivates the anti-Marshall poster if not fear? Or perhaps she's one of these jr. high school mean girl types who gets her power by putting others down? Honestly, I just don't get why she is constantly picking fights about Marshall and the US News rating.

[Anonymous]

Honesty is all.

[Anonymous]

People on DCUM have all sorts of motives that are impossible to discern. What's clear here, however, is that some whistleblowers pointed out a flaw in the 2012 US News data that accounted for Marshall's unexpectedly high rating, were attacked by Marshall boosters, and were validated when the 2013 rankings that made use of more accurate data on IB and AP participation rates at area schools were released.
It's not uncommon for people to attack whistleblowers who upset the apple cart. They frequently are accused of being malcontents with an agenda, and sometimes they are, but they also are often right. If I was a Marshall booster, I'd spend less time speculating on exactly why the "anti-Marshall" posters went on the warpath. You'll never know. Instead, I'd ask myself whether a willingness to listen to information that may portray my school in a less flattering light than I would prefer is actually a hallmark of a good school community. Some of the Marshall parents seem to be there already, but others still seem to have a ways to go.

[Anonymous]

7:09 I'm 8:14 and 6:21 so I have no idea what you're talking about. There's a reason why someone called a poster the crazy Marshall lady. She really was crazy even to Marshall parents. One might ask what the motive is pro-Marshall parents who put other schools down that have been doing well for ages and aren't getting any worse like McLean and Madison. When I grew up here, Oakton was considered the lesser school to Madison, but now it's even or perhaps even surpassed Madison. Madison hasn't ever lost its credibility as a great school though. The same can be said for Marshall if it just focusses on the positives and spends less time touting itself and putting others down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, for God's sake. People in this area are so ridiculous.

Yes, Marshall is a very good school. Third in the state is very good (assuming you buy into US News rankings) and #16 in the state is also very good. In general, Fairfax County has excellent schools. It would be very difficult to go wrong. Differences in rankings through US News or through Great Schools are about DEMOGRAPHICS. Who cares if a school like Oakton or Langley has slightly higher scores? The scores are slightly higher because they have slightly fewer poor kids. It doesn't mean the teaching is better, which is what we should really care about. The problem, of course, is that quality of teaching is incredibly difficult to measure. So instead we just prattle on endlessly about test scores like there's some meaningful difference between the education kids get at Langley vs. Woodson or McLean vs. Marshall. Give me a freaking break.

OP here. I am not as familiar with all the schools in Fairfax County as you seem to be, so maybe I am placing too much emphasis on rankings to help us decide. From the responses, it seems likely that the high "3rd for best school" ranking for Marshall was based on "bad data" and that school officials knew this and publicized it anyway. As someone with a research background, that troubles me, as it raises questions about academic integrity and the values the school seeks to promote among its students. At this point we plan to look elsewhere and will be crossing Pimmit Hills and Marshall off our list of options.

I challenge you to find a school, any school, in any country, that will say "yes, we've been ranked #very good by a national publication, but we aren't going to mention it anywhere since the data they've based it all is suspect. So we are just going to keep saying we're number #simply good."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:7:09 I'm 8:14 and 6:21 so I have no idea what you're talking about. There's a reason why someone called a poster the crazy Marshall lady. She really was crazy even to Marshall parents. One might ask what the motive is pro-Marshall parents who put other schools down that have been doing well for ages and aren't getting any worse like McLean and Madison. When I grew up here, Oakton was considered the lesser school to Madison, but now it's even or perhaps even surpassed Madison. Madison hasn't ever lost its credibility as a great school though. The same can be said for Marshall if it just focusses on the positives and spends less time touting itself and putting others down.

I haven't actually seen Marshall parents denigrating other schools.

[Anonymous]

11:46 - There is no point in responding to the ethically challenged. Your words speak for themselves.

11:53 - Did you miss Crazy Marshall Lady in action for many months. Lots of lower-case posts trashing other schools and communities, often four or five posts within a couple of minutes, frequently but not always late at night. Lives and dies by GreatSchools ratings, Redfin, and a single DCIst post from January that said Pimmit Hills and Petworth were hot.

[Anonymous]

So DD has a 79 average after 3 years of high school. We just met with the guidance counselor in her "college meeting" and received a copy of DDs transcript that has her current class rank as #3. We've never been told the class rank before but in years past, the top students have 97+%. But we're thinking DD should apply to colleges that have early rolling admissions. Some colleges start accepting application in August before senior year and acceptance letters have been known to go out as early as September. That way DD can get her app in while she's still ranked 3rd. I mean who pays attention to the ranking anyway? Why should DD be forced to correct the record? No one else ever has. And it's just state colleges she's applying to. WDYT?

[Anonymous]

A class rank based on grades that are easily tracked is a little different than a great school, US News, etc. rating that uses who knows what from where for it's rankings.

[Anonymous]

Actually, USNews rank was based on 99% IB participation, which Marshall does not have.

[Anonymous]

Yes WE KNOW! It was one thing they measured among many and it was unclear which classes they used to determine the participation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:11:46 - There is no point in responding to the ethically challenged. Your words speak for themselves.

11:53 - Did you miss Crazy Marshall Lady in action for many months. Lots of lower-case posts trashing other schools and communities, often four or five posts within a couple of minutes, frequently but not always late at night. Lives and dies by GreatSchools ratings, Redfin, and a single DCIst post from January that said Pimmit Hills and Petworth were hot.

You are lumping together about 10 different people. Have you thought that maybe many people like to tout positive points about places other than McLean or North Arlington?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes WE KNOW! It was one thing they measured among many and it was unclear which classes they used to determine the participation.

I doubt the previous person Crazy Anti-Marshall Lady. CAML (Camel)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually, USNews rank was based on 99% IB participation, which Marshall does not have.

No one.
Not one single person on this thread has said that Marshall does have 99% IB participation and that it was rightly ranked 3rd last year.
No one has said that Marshall is superior to other top FCPS schools.

And i can guarantee that is Langley or McLean were ranked #3, no one would ever think to question the data, even though it may be as incorrect as the 99% Marshall data.

Marshall is a great school
Marshall likely does not have 99% IB participation
US News and World Reports retracted some schools rankings based on incorrect data.
It did not retract Marshall's ranking.
A year has gone by.
New rankings have been released.

Who gives a crap what last year's rankings were?
It's over. Move on.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like Marshall needs to take down that big sign on Route 7. No one gives a crap about that stuff.