Reply to Middle School Magnet Programs (criteria based)

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[quote=Anonymous]No application.  Universal review of criteria by MCPS central staff for inclusion in the lotteries.  The criteria are adjusted to allow for similar levels of inclusion across a schools' FARMS status -- the MAP scores/national percentiles necessary for inclusion are lower for those whose elementary schools (unclear whether home area or attended, in the case of those at a language immersion or CES program) have higher FARMS rates on a sliding scale across five FARMS rate groupings.  This is what is meant when MCPS refers to "local norming," and, at the extremes, it can mean the difference between 60th percentile (national) and 93rd being the cutoff when applied to the 21-22 school year, with only 8 elementaries falling in the high-FARMS (60th-percentile cutoff) tranche.  The 85th percentile was the target for the moderate-FARMS middle tranche.

It is unclear if the 85th-percentile middle-tranche/overall target will be adjusted, and individual schools may change FARMS status (high, moderate high, moderate, low moderate, low) from last year to this, impacting the local norming of the national percentiles for these schools.  The tests that are evaluated are the ones going on right now (now past for some schools) -- fall of the 5th grade year, MAP-R (for Eastern/MLK), MAP-M (for TP/Clemente).  In addition, students would need to achieve an A in the relevant subject areas (Reading & Writing for Eastern/MLK; Math for TP/Clemente, with no adjustment for being in Math 5-6), with my understanding being that it is now only this period's grade that is included (as opposed to including 4th-grade grades, as in the past).  A further criteria was having an above-grade reading level; I am uncertain if this criteria has survived for both the humanities-focused and math/science-focused programs.

There does not seem to be a current heuristic that would allow for a "bad day" score or other extenuating circumstance.  It also is unclear if there would be communications to parents of the final criteria and a student's status vs. those criteria that would offer an opportunity to appeal prior to the lottery being conducted.  Lottery results are expected to be communicated in January.  Experience from last year was that such appeals were only possible after the lottery was conducted, placing successful appellants in the wait pool, with even less chance of being offered a seat, as that would require both spots being declined by students who had been offered a seat and then favorable lottery results from within the wait pool.

There are 125 6th-grade seats in the TPMS program, 25 of which are reserved for those within the TPMS catchment and the remaining 100 of which draw from the lower portion of the County.  I'm uncertain about the numbers reserved for the in-catchment population at the other three schools, but there are 112 seats at Eastern, serving the same area of the County, and 75 at both Clemente & MLK, which serve the upper portion of the County.  The difference in seats roughly mirrors the difference in student populations (up-County vs. down-County).

Those selected for the lottery but not placed in one of those programs are supposed to be offered the enriched/accelerated AIM (math) and/or HIGH (social studies) courses at their local MS.

Hope this helps.  Take it with a grain of salt; if MCPS communicates updated detail that is contradictory, I'd rely on that, instead.[/quote]

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