Reply to Watkins mill IB vs Richard Montgomery

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Watkins mill IB vs Richard Montgomery"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If you are asking this question, I am afraid RMIB is going to be too stressful for your kid.  You are too unaware and unprepared.

However, WMIB is not going to be rigorous enough because your kid will not have even an average cohort.

You might want to send your kid to WMHS and make them take AP classes.  It is going to be a very lonely experience for your kid, no matter what school they go to.

Prophetic words. Come back and comment on this in a year or two. [/quote]

I think this is the same person from a few years ago who spent weeks insisting that MCPS was stratifying RMIB and other IB kids??? They want to believe that MCPS is putting the "better" ones into RMIB - as if MCPS was competent enough to (1) figure that out and (2) actually do it.

[b]Being in an IB cohort means spending the entire day with other smart/motivated students. If you can get that at your home school then you should. If you can't then go IB in my opinion.[/b][/quote]

Correct. That is the main perk. My kid is in the IB cohort at Kennedy and while the outcomes don't come close to RM, the fact that he's surrounded by kids who are smart, motivated and want to do the work makes a world of difference.[/quote]

I'm not sure that you are familiar with RM.

Based on the last year of data that we have (2022 - and 2023 should be coming out asap), there were 1025 students at RM who took an AP exam, with a pass rate of 83.6%.  The "cohort" of smart, motivated kids at RM is much larger than the number in the RMIB magnet.  Much, much larger.  At Kennedy, there were 327 kids who took an AP exam, with a pass rate of 36.9% and at Watkins Mill, there were only 99 kids who took an AP exam, with a 31.9% pass rate.  Well, maybe all of the smart kids at Kennedy and WM are in the IB programs...  they only release score data by test, but:

English A: Language and Literature:
RM: 77 exams taken; mean score = 5.4
Kennedy: 47; mean score = 3.7
Watkins Mill: 83; mean score = 4.1

English A: Literature
RM: 63 exams taken; mean score = 5.7
Kennedy: 20; mean score = 3.3
Watkins Mill: no tests

Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches
RM: 114 exams taken; mean score = 5.6
Kennedy: no tests
Watkins Mill: no tests

Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation
RM: 26 exams taken; mean score = 5.0
Kennedy: 35; mean score = 2.5
Watkins Mill: 14; mean score = 3.6

Biology
RM: 47 exams taken; mean score = 5.3
Kennedy: 19; mean score = 3.5
Watkins Mill: 31; mean score = 2.8

Environmental Systems and Societies
RM: 31 exams taken; mean score = 6.3
Kennedy: no tests
Watkins Mill: no tests

Physics
RM: 58 exams taken; mean score = 5.4
Kennedy: no tests
Watkins Mill: no tests

I'm sure that the scores will improve in 2023, due to the regional programs.  But the idea that there is some great cohort at Kennedy and WM, compared to normal AP classrooms at RM is just not borne out by this data.  But definitely, a strong kid who can actually overcome these classes and score above the mean at Kennedy or WM is better off in college admissions due to both lack of competition and the appearance that they have overcome adversity, based on their school's statistics.[/quote]

Current WM '24 IB Regional Senior: I stumbled across this on accident while trying to find data, and would just like to point out that at least some of this data isn't true. There were students testing Math AA in 2022, but it was SL instead of HL, which may be where the data discrepancy comes from. IB Physics is always very popular, and there were plenty of seniors that year complaining about it. The teachers have all said that the regional cohorts have been different. Just wait for the new data to come out instead of trying to make conclusions based on old stats.[/quote]
+1
Also, using AP scores to make a statement about an IB school and the quality of the cohort (either in or out of the diploma program) is weird. The IB students at RM tend to double test in the APs corresponding to their IB courses, which they have to pay for. Students with lower SES don’t have the money to pay for extra tests. Using AP tests to compare the IB programs at three different schools with different student populations is ineffective.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics