Reply to Reaction to "Study of Choice and Special Academic Programs: Report of Findings and Recommendations"

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Reply to "Reaction to "Study of Choice and Special Academic Programs: Report of Findings and Recommendations" "

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think what MCPS needs to do, is take BABY STEPS, to better pinpoint what works without compromising the standards and rigorousness of the magnet programs.

I think MCPS should open more HGC centers in those schools that have a high URM population (Title 1).  The selection criteria for these [b]HGCs [/b]should be exactly like the current HGC admission process, however, they should make all the 3rd graders of the HGC hosting schools take the test - without filling in the applications.  The test should be mandatory for all the students.

There will be some students from host school who will score high enough to get in on their own merit, but then the host school should also have some seats available for their top students based on teacher recommendation.  These should be additional seats and not seats that the take away from outside  students who went through the application process.  THis should be a race blind process.

Then - there should also be another class room made entirely of the Host school GT students, who should be taught the same curriculum as the HGC students. Again this should be race blind. We should then see how these well these students do.  What level of acceleration do they need to be successful. Maybe these students don't need the rigor of HGC, but they need more than what is being offered in the regular classroom.       We would have then taken away the barriers for URMs like - the lack of knowledge about the program, the need to fill an application, the transportation issues, the difficulty of identifying the gifted URM students etc.  Lets start with baby steps first.

NO one wants to keep the URMs down, they should  be given resources,  but they  still have to use these resources to compete and to succeed on their own merit.  Just like everyone else.

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*fixed above.[/quote]

Except this may be perceived as tracking, something else schools are against. The only politically correct way of closing the gap is dumbing everybody down. That is why the schools are the way it is today. The only thing they cannot do anything about is racial segregation, hence the hand wringing.[/quote]

I am sorry, I don't understand what "Tracking" in MCPS means and why schools are against it?  Can you explain?

My other suggestion is that you should have a GT classroom in each ES (even if they are not hosting the HGC) and the HGC curriculum and extra enrichment and course material should be provided to them.   This is ES, there will not be an impact on GPA if these kids are not successful.

Infact, I am thinking that if MCPS just puts their entire HGC academic content, hw, projects etc., online, for everyone to see (and follow at home if they choose), there will be no problems. As good as the magnet programs are, they are not nothing special than what is the regular curriculum in most academically advanced countries. [/quote]

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