Reply to Two paths to magnet program at Richard Montgomery High School

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
[b]The facts: The percentage of RMIB kids receiving diplomas has fallen (93% class of 2015 to 88% class of 2017).  The SAT scores appear to have dropped by approximately 150 points which is huge- the drop in the writing score is especially noticeable since this is a perceived strength of the program.[/b]
The classroom atmosphere and expectations is harder to quantify.  Do your children attend magnet programs?  If you have spent any time in these classrooms you will know that the teacher is able to cover material rapidly which means they can spend more time on deep discussion or cover material that would not normally be covered.  Teachers can also expect students to cope with assignments that are very challenging.  If however 20% of the class is not at the same level of preparation and/or ability, any responsible and empathetic teacher would have to slow down and do less.  This would happen slowly, gradually and subtly.  [/quote]

Neither of these demonstrates harm to the application cohort, though. If you include kids who do less well on standardized tests in the group, it's not surprising if the group's mean standardized test scores decline. That doesn't mean that a given application-program kid's SAT scores would have been higher if they hadn't had regular-RM kids in their classes.[/quote]

Different PP here.  
Exactly, so the scores are being averaged over more students now.  Questions we can't answer but which would be instructive, are the application student's SAT scores dropping?  Are the number of IB tests or quality of scores dropping among application students?  If these things were happening then something is going wrong with instruction or pace.  If the aggregate numbers just look worse because more students are attempting and being averaged in, this isn't an issue.  Yes, the explainer sheet looks worse, but the explainer sheet accompanies a transcript.  The application student will have classes and scores above the average for the graduating class.  The opposite will be true for the local students, they'll compare unfavorably to the averages in scores and classes completed.

Which leaves us in the realm of anecdotes, and just personal experience. I have a hard time believing any Montgomery County HS couldn't produce a classroom full of students who are at least capable of keeping up with the pace of the classes.  These wouldn't be remedial students, they would be the top students in a large suburban HS.[/quote]

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