Reply to Another article about the magnet programs in Washington Post

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Another article about the magnet programs in Washington Post "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]The middle school and high school magnet programs in particular are meant to serve students who are highly gifted AND highly capable.  Entrance is not based purely on an IQ test.  The tests measure your ability to do well in reading comprehension and mathematics- which requires the applicants to have read a lot over the years and to have done well in above grade level math classes for years too.  Applicants also have to write essays as part of the application and for some programs they have to write an essay during the test.  Teacher recommendations are also considered and these recommendations evaluate the applicant's work ethic in addition to their intelligence.  The programs also consider the applicant's academic record - their grades for at least the previous year.  There is an important reason for this - the middle school and high school magnets expect their students to handle a curriculum that is at least two grade levels above the advanced level curriculum in a regular school.  It is not surprising therefore that students who are admitted to these programs tend to come from families that place a very high value on education.  Most of the children I know in these programs have been supported from a very young age by parents who have read to them, have spent lots of time with them, they have attended high quality preschools, their parents show up for every back to school night and teacher conference and ask their children about their school day and homework everyday.  The kids are overwhelmingly from middle class families but are not necessarily rich.  Most of the parents have graduate degrees. So yes these children have many advantages that makes them more likely to be admitted to these programs and indeed make them more likely to succeed once they get there.  So how do we help equally gifted children who are not as lucky as these children?  I don't think the answer is to change the criteria for admission to magnet programs.  I would support universal preschool.  I would support more resources in K-5 to identify children with potential who are not getting enough support at home.  My child attended a Title 2 school K-3 and has been in magnet programs since then.  There were kids in his title 2 school who did not have books or crayons at home.  There was low turnout on back to school night.  There is only so much a public school can do to to compensate for a lack of a supportive home environment.  It is not impossible but it will take a lot of effort on the part of MCPS.  If we want to be close the achievement gap, we have to be honest about all the causes so we can come up with effective solutions.  [/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