Reply to Did MCPS do a sneaky thing for the magnet lotteries?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]+1. I think this person who keeps bringing up prepping has never had a kid in the middle school magnets. I have older kids, so two went through the pre-universal screening process, one went through the universal screening with COGAT, and then the last one went through the lottery.

There is really no way to know how many kids "prepped" for the magnet. My own anecdotal data after having one in TP and two in Eastern is that only first gen immigrant families prep (as in attending weekly prep classes for many months such as APlus) and these folks are really after TP, not Eastern. Not all kids who prep get into the magnets. These parents know this. They see these prep classes as an activity that is time better spent than sports--and, it is a social thing since all their friends are doing it. They are intense, involved parents, but also very nice and willing to share information about study tips, programs, internships, etc.

I never met an American or European family (of any race) who would admit to going to one of the weekly schools to prep, though I'm sure plenty of these families do enrichment too. We prefer to pretend to be shocked and delighted that our kids are "naturally" gifted even though they are most likely receiving enrichment of some sort at home or through various extra-curricular activities (just not something as blatant as APlus).

My own thoughts are that even in the pre-universal screening days, I doubt a majority of the kids prepped at places like APlus. I might believe that a significant portion (15% percent of so) of kids at TP prepped at some sort of specific program (if you showed me actual data), but I don't think a significant portion at Eastern were prepped this way.[/quote]

FWIW, I agree with this. I've had two Eastern kids, and neither went to "prep" classes. But both engaged in other activities that absolutely made them stronger candidates. The read-throughs of new scripts at drama class exposed them to new words and to literary analysis, music lessons strengthened the part of their brains that processes math, and "book clubs" with friends made them stronger readers.

They didn't do those activities to prepare for a magnet test - they did them because that's where their hearts were. The fact that it may have made the test easier was just a byproduct of them pursuing their true passions. I don't have any STEM-oriented kids, but I'd imagine the same is true for them. [/quote]

My kids didn't either but almost every one of their friends at the RMIB did. Some want to deny it for some reason, but I assure you this is very real. These centers are all over the place and their classes are often sold out. [/quote]

I understand the issue, but I'm kind of with the PP. One of my kids was very into learning math. Unfortunately, the school was far too slow for them. Initially, they did things on their own and quickly were far beyond even other advanced kids at their grade level. I'm not able to help develop this skill as well as some places like RSM are so my mathy kid started taking classes. They'd do this regardless if it helped them get into some program. They basically just want to learn things that interest them and are bored at school. Alternatively, I could let them be bored for years on end, but don't see that as a good answer either.[/quote]

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