Reply to I don't get it- very few CES kids get into magnet school?

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Reply to "I don't get it- very few CES kids get into magnet school?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

I like your suggestions. My youngest is in 8th, so was in the old system. I think that given the sheer numbers of highly able students identified through the universal screening process, there is clearly a huge need for enrichment in the county. [b]Get rid of the regional middle school magnets (TPMS, Eastern, Clemente)[/b]. Focus all enrichment efforts at the home school level. All schools need to offer true honors and gifted classes. If a highly-able child does not have a large enough cohort at their MS, they get a COSA to any MS that does have a cohort (mcps provides transportation).

I think that the switch to universal screening demonstrates that the vast majority of parents in MCPS want their kids at local schools. People knew their kids were highly-able in the old selection system, but didn't apply because the magnets were too far, kids preferred to stay close to friends, kids/parents weren't interested in the curriculum-- a whole host of reasons.

It would have been interesting in the pilot year of universal screening to continue to use the same entrance tests, so they could compare scores between the self-nominated cohorts of previous years and the new universal cohort. Once they announced that they were going to switch to the Cogat to find "highly-able" students, I knew that the magnet program was shifting away from truly serving the top "high-able" cohort of students. Under the new testing system, white people seem to be benefiting the most. Interesting results.[/quote]

Is anybody else noticing a distinct message of[b] "If I can't have it, nobody ought have it[/b]" here?[/quote]

Totally served hot with an extra helping of racism. :(

[/quote]

I was with PP until the last paragraph. Not seeing data that shows a drop in top highly able kids accepted, just a shift to a different set of top highly able kids. But a truly enriched home school program in all the middle schools seems like a win win for everyone. [/quote]

It is meaningless to speak about which children are most "highly-able" without acknowledging the impact of resources and family support.  There will always be a tiny number of true geniuses who will shine regardless of how much, or little, support they receive (school, family, community, etc.), but every other "smart" kid people point to are a product on their upbringing, our DC included.  If you instead want to talk about kids who may be most prepared to take advantage of a magnet program, that's different.  Then it's an arms race (see NYC up to now).  As much as it might be against our DC's interests, I have no an issue with the county trying to identify kids who have the ability, interest and potential to benefit from a magnet program, but who may not have had the type of support to allow them to fully demonstrate their abilities.  Those kids exist, and to say it's just too bad they had the wrong parents isn't what a public school system should be about.  You can fault how MoCo is trying to do this. but I don't fault it for trying.

I do fault MoCo for needing to do this in the first place.  I don't understand why there aren't challenging classes for top students at home MS' and HS'.  And by challenging, I mean there is a real risk of getting a C or D if you can't (or are not willing to) keep up.  Have some slightly less challenging classes for kids who need more challenge, and then regular classes.   Put in real rigor, and you avoid having to select where kids should slot in.  They will self-select.  There is no HS (and I doubt any MS) that is too small to not have enough bright and ambitious kids to fill these classes at a level appropriate to them.  Not everyone needs to get an A.  Life isn't like that.

[/quote]
Very thoughtful post.  If a child doesn't have a parent willing/able to even fill out the application, that child will likely not be prepared to take advantage of a traditional magnet program.  If MCPS wants to to create another program with an extended day with specialized staff to provide executive functioning help, homework tutoring and a healthy dinner then that's something that should be considered.  Even this might not help if the kid then goes home and plays video games until 1:00am every night.  Also, I don't know where the money would come from but it shouldn't be take away from the traditional magnet program.

What you suggest in your second paragraph is a good idea but would probably be considered tracking which has been deemed racist by the PC Police.[/quote]

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