Reply to County-wide magnet/IB/GE/Humanity programs will become regional programs if the secondary program plan is passed

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Reply to "County-wide magnet/IB/GE/Humanity programs will become regional programs if the secondary program plan is passed"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]NP. It means they will be available only to kids zoned for a school in the same region as the program. [/quote]

The reason why the current programs are so successful is that MCPS can concentrate resources. If this is expanded, it will dilute everything, and the quality of all the programs would go down drastically. You would not be able to find enough teachers capable of teaching some of these advanced courses.

In addition, I highly doubt all these programs would even be nearly of the same quality if equity is the goal. Look at the current regional IB programs, and compare them to RM. [/quote]

Every time this comes up I feel the need to remind folks that the regional IB magnets have only been in existence long enough to have ONE graduating class, and continue to lose the strongest students to RMIB. Assuming that outcomes wouldn't improve with this change is not correct. [/quote]

I would actually agree with you on this. But, this is not the main reason.

The students are a huge factor in determining if the program is successful.

https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiNWY4ODhiMmUtNTcwNi00NjEwLTgxZjQtMDQ5MzA1NDQ4MDI3IiwidCI6ImRkZjc1NWU5LWJjZDYtNGE1ZS1hNDcyLTdjMzc4YTc4YzZjNyIsImMiOjF9

If you look at the testing & graduation section for Kennedy, RM, and Whitman, they are not even close to comparable. It is not feasible to offer many of the courses because there are not enough students who are able to fill up the classes. And thus, those at the very top of some regional programs will not have the same opportunity as others.

A strong student body also helps the students. Students who are strong and passionate about a subject will help push each other up so everyone improves. This is not possible with so many regional programs, as the data show.

Additionally, if you create so many programs, you will require so many more teachers. The teachers at the countywides are incredibly skilled, specialized, and unique. They are some of the very best educators in the nation. I doubt you would find enough to equitably staff all the programs. [/quote]
+1 splitting the 100 or RMIB students across the regions is not going to provide the economies of scale for each of those regional programs to provide the additional courses that RMIB has.

Kennedy has had 4 years to to develop its IB program, yet they still don't have magnet level classes starting in 9th grade from what I saw of the course offerings at Kennedy.  RMIB has magnet level classes starting in the 9th grade.
[/quote]

I have a hard time believing that in a county as huge and educated as MoCo, that there are only 100 students per year who are snowflake smart enough to handle a rigorous IB curriculum. I think the real constraint is qualified teachers.[/quote]

I agree with you. So Blair should become TJ and offer 500 slots per year. But not dividing these kids to 6 regions. 
[/quote]

+1 mostly. More students definitely could benefit from these programs. However, a major part of why the magnets are so successful is because of their small and concentrated size. But, if MCPS wants to provide equitable opportunities for more students, this would a step in the right direction. [/quote]

[b]TJ is more successful. [/b]It’s ok to expand the Blair program and not lose the advantage. [/quote]
LOL 
Blair Magnet is way more successful than TJ[/quote]

Then we should keep it. Why destroy it ?  There are ways to keep it while expanding access [/quote]
Who said they are going to destroy it?[/quote]

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