Reply to Did the Takoma MS magnet got MORE white this year?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]MAP-M is an 'adaptive' test that basically gives significant score advantages to kids who were prepped on the side. Is this also the case with PARCC? [/quote]

Well the JHU report pointed out that there were serious flaws in the MCPS 2.0 math curriculum leading to students not learning how to execute the skill, retaining knowledge or having large holes where MCPS failed to teach the concept or focused more on process than the actual concept or skill. Students who have been learning outside math school in on-line math programs, Kumon or Singapore etc would have an advantage.

[b]MCPS created this gap on its own. [/b]

This isn't a reason though to keep the highest performance students out of the most advanced courses. [/quote]

No, MCPS did not. Anymore than MCPS's deficient PE curriculum led to a gap between the soccer skills of students who do soccer outside of school vs. students who only do soccer at school, or MCPS's deficient music curriculum led to a gap between the skills of students who have private lessons on the violin vs. students who only do instrumental music at school.[/quote]

This is an important point in this conversation.  Groups of kids are represented over others in these programs because they are practicing privately -- some in formal classes and some just benefiting from parental help/guidance. TPMS magnet has a high percentage of Asian kids because they (overall, not every Asian kid) are in regular private classes for a variety of academic subjects: test prep, Mathcounts, general math/English, etc for months, even year round. We don't do that, but my kids have the benefit of academic parents who can tutor them in various topics. Is it the County's fault that some kids have advantages outside of school that affect their performance in school? I don't think so. Could the County add programs to enhance learning opportunities for kids who don't get it privately? Yes. And, I think they should, but, it is complicated. The kids who are in the constant prep classes are exhausted and don't have time to be kids. One kid complains that between magnet homework, test prep/enhancement classes, instrument practice/ensembles (2 instruments), they go to bed in the wee hours of the morning. They also have a long commute. They also excel at school/tests (and largely outscore my kid) because they/their family invests so much. But, would the County even want to match that if they could (which they couldn't)? That's one reason why I hope application programs keep personal essays, extra curriculars and teacher recs in the mix. They give more of a picture of the whole student. (Of course, there are essay writing courses out there, I'm sure). Also, to consider, these students who are prepping are working very hard and able to benefit from challenging curriculum. Should they be scrutinized more because they prep? I don't know. I think we just need more seats for these programs![/quote]

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