Reply to Lowell High School admissions will return to merit-based system after S.F. school board vote

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I guess the argument is that peer groups vary across pyramids.  Kids can find a large cohort of strong peers at the top schools like Langley, McLean, Chantilly and Oakton, but not at Lewis or Mount Vernon, so the types of kids who need a Governor’s School in each pyramid can vary.  If you look at it that way, the fact that the top kids coming from the low-performing pyramids in general might be just average at a top school doesn’t matter; what matters is that they wouldn’t be challenged at Lewis or Mount Vernon.

What we’re seeing with the latest admissions statistics is that TJ os going to remain a very strong school, possibly the best in the county or perhaps only second-best behind Langley.  FCPS is trading it’s pretty-eminence for greater geographical representation, and in doing so won’t have an especially hard time justifying it’s consistent with the goal of a Governor’s School. If the Youngkin administration wants to challenge what FCPS has done (assuming C4TJ fails in the courts), it will likely have to change the criteria or mission statement for Governor’s Schools (which it may very well end up doing). [/quote]

It's possible but doubtful. I think some parents like to tell themselves these things to justify their prejudices and suspect the top kids at these schools would be the top kids at any school. Sure, there are more kids present as "top" at wealthy schools because of the opportunities wealth affords them like outside enrichment, but that's not the same as natural ability which tends to be distributed throughout the population. [/quote]

The South Asians who immigrated here and populate NOVA are likely in the top quarter of the distribution curve in their countries of origin. That’s how many of them earned the right to immigrate here. Natural ability is more concentrated in that population.

Also, privilege matters only to a certain point. You need a certain amount of privilege to allow the student to focus on school and afford a few outside opportunities. But you reach a point of diminishing returns, and that’s where desire, talent and/or grit take over.

It’s not like Asians in the area are inherently more privileged than white kids in the area yet Asians dominated TJ admissions.[/quote]

White kids have been raised by striver parents or grandparents.  Now they have been spoiled and don't think they need to work hard because they live in a McMansion.  Immigrant kids are still working up the chain.
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White parent here.  I think this is somewhat true.  My family has been here for 2 generations now and my DH and I have an amount of money unimaginable to my immigrant grandparents. I would imagine my grandparents worked much harder than my kids will  At the risk of being prejudiced (and I truly have no ill intent), I would say there seems to be a cultural preference in Asian/South Asian communities in the US for STEM that does not necessarily exist with the white families I know.  It could be that the recent Asian/South Asian immigrants work in STEM so they value that more as the route to a good life in the US.  I know a lot of white kids that work very hard and are very accomplished, but many of them value and prefer other fields over STEM.[/quote]

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