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TJ Falls to 14th in the Nation Per US News
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Anonymous
If they're still doing that it won't be for long. FCPS is using best practices for selection for gifted education. Others will soon follow because the strong results are hard to argue with. |
Anonymous
At what school would that be true? Certainly not at a highly selective school. I don't think 1400/4.0 even has a good chance at a school like Boston college. 1500 3.8 has a decent chance at ivy+ |
Anonymous
And yet, the current crop of students need remedial classes, get PSAT scores 100 points lower than before, get lower gpa, just less qualified along every academic metric. |
Anonymous
PSAT scores dropped by 100 points. Random selection is not as good as merit selection. I'm amazed that you think anyone is stupid enough to believe you. |
Anonymous
40% of FCPS 8th graders have a 3.5 GPA or higher. Yet, in the 2022-2023 testing cycle, only 12% of 8th graders scored pass advanced in their science SOL. Only 18.5% scored pass advanced in their English one. Only 20% scored pass advanced in their math level (only 8.2% were pass advanced in geometry or higher). Apparently a lot of kids are being handed As without demonstrating the expected level of mastery on pretty low level state tests. |
Anonymous
The previous crop of students also had issues. Nothing has really chagned. |
Anonymous
Sadly, the pandemic has affected scores at all schools. |
Anonymous
1) You're going to need to cite your sources on students needing remedial classes. There were some institutional supports that were provided in the year immediately post-COVID, but do you have any evidence from the last two years? 2) Yes, their PSAT scores are lower. It is now possible to get into TJ without being an exceptional test taker. This isn't and shouldn't be surprising. The PSAT, like the SAT, rewards skill and experience taking tests more than it rewards content area knowledge. 3) You're going to have to cite your sources on the new groups getting lower GPAs that their previous counterparts. Make sure you're using unweighted numbers, also, as there's no reason to punish them for choosing not to obsessively overload themselves with needless APs. |
Anonymous
Princeton as an example, average SAT is 1550 and GPA 3.95. I'd be more concerned about 3.8's distance below the 3.95 average than I would 1400's distance below the 1550 average, and at least the 4.0 gpa is above average to balance the metrics out, whereas the 1500/3.8 student is below average on both metrics. You mentioned Boston College, whose averages are 3.9 and 1490... I'd still rather have one above average (4.0) and one below (1400), than one about average (1500) and the other below (3.8). |
Anonymous
Most of these changes are fairly small and happened because of COVID learning loss. They PP is just pushing hteir false narrative because they liked the old system that favored wealthy schools. |
Anonymous
You mean aside from the 100 point drop in PSAT Much lower rates of pass advance SOL. Fewer Math Olympiad winners Fewer academic contest winners. Way more remedial students. Much higher wash out rates. A lot has changed, especially at the bottom end of the curve. The silver lining is that the kids that actually belong there are less stressed because the unqualified kids fill up the bottom half of the curve but they came to TJ for MORE competition, not less. |
Anonymous
I know it's sad that the learning loss from virtual school during the pandemic impacted test scores. I'd read that it will be years before we fully recover. |
Anonymous
Wait, you think the PSAT scores dropped at all schools? You know how the PSAT is scored right? The advanced pass rate on the SOLs dropped in 2022 at TJ, it went up at almost all other schools. This is not a pandemic effect. This is evidence that TJ students got demonstrably less competitive. |
Anonymous
Those "institutional supports" were remedial classes and they were not due to covid. If it was covid related, we would have seen similar "institutional supports" everywhere but we didn't. We saw them at TJ.
Or even an exceptional student.
Tests reward academic ability. The data is in and it is pretty well conclusive. This is why all the most selective schools are going back to requiring test scores. If an argument for getting rid of the test was because harvard was doing it, shouldn't the argument apply equally the other way to re-institute the test?
The math department sent out an email, perhaps you've seen it. https://fairfaxgop.org/tj-math-teachers-note-lowering-of-standards/ "The teachers said that the average score for their final exam for Math 4 — equivalent to trigonometry — was “in the low 70s with a substantial minority scoring below 50%,” calling the results “the lowest scores we’ve ever seen,” even amid a “lowering of standards” at the school for the course. (It isn’t clear yet the identities of the teachers.) The teachers wrote: These scores are deeply disappointing, and are the lowest scores we’ve ever seen as Math 4 teachers on a Final Exam. The math teachers noted that the final exam was “substantially easier” than final exams given to previous classes. The teachers said the students had “unprecedented supports provided to you this semester, including extra practice quizzes, bonus quizzes, practice worksheets, and a practice final exam, all things that were not given to previous students.” The teachers continued: We expected to see scores rise, not drop, with our lowering of standards." There is no indication at all that the current crop of students are as competitive as what we got under a merit based system. |
Anonymous
We have cobbled together this data for princeton from various studies and lawsuits. And a .2 drop in GPA carry as much weight as a 100 point drop in the SAT. https://www.prepscholar.com/sat/s/colleges/Princeton-sat-scores-GPA |