Reply to Best performing elementary schools in MoCo?

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Reply to "Best performing elementary schools in MoCo?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Wrong question to ask.  With only 300 folk getting perfect 2400 per test session I doubt anyone is interested in this benchmark (these are outliers).  But, the millions of dollars spent on test preparation and accommodations by the wealthy do garner the important 200 to 400 point gains (you acknowledge) that make the difference between Ivy and Podunk (this gain is real and a deal maker)!!

Cheers,

Ms Ball [/quote]

Well you've dragged the conversation so far off the topic of "Best Elementary Schools in MoCo" that it's hard to figure out what the question is, let alone the answer.

But it looks like your original point concerned SAT score differentials between schools in lower-income areas (think parts of DC) and schools in higher-income areas (think Bethesda and Potomac). If that's what we're still talking about here, then the SAT differential between these rich and poor areas is way more than any 200-point gain that could reasonably be attributed to SAT test prep. (Fact Check: even the SAT test prep centers don't claim 400-point gains, because they almost never achieve gains this high. Their own promo material mostly talks about 200-point gains.)  Check out this WaPo article which says it's "rare" to find a Ballou student who does better than 1500 on the 2400 SATs: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle/2009/09/how_to_survive_our_worst_schoo.html.  One, or five or six, SAT prep sessions isn't going to bring this score up to the 2200 necessary for an Ivy.  I can't understand why you continue to insist that home environment and schooling, both of which operate over 16 years before a kid takes the SATs, are unimportant.

But hey, why don't you put your theory to the test in your own house. Let your kid rely solely on SAT test prep. Toss out all the books in your house (if you have any) and send him to a lousy school. Then come back here in 10 years when he's 16, and tell us his SAT scores.

(Oh God, I now realize I've been sucked into a conversation with the Crazy Tiger Mom who thinks test prep is more important than sports. I'm outta here!)[/quote]

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