Reply to MS Magnet admissions: are CES students at a disadvantage?

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Reply to "MS Magnet admissions: are CES students at a disadvantage?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]This is anecdotal but just to give you an examples so you understand how people feel about these changes. I recently met a group of mothers with kids in a high school Magnet. Four of them also had kids in elementary school and only one was planning to let their kid apply to the magnet middle school. Two were pulling their kids out of MCPS and one was going to keep their kid in their home middle school. The reason given was the new selection criteria and their concern about the quality of the program. They were all zoned for middle schools that have experienced discrimination in the last selection process. 
All of us agreed that the Magnet programs have been wonderful for our children. The three who are leaving mcps were willing to send their kids to the high school magnets if the selection process etc stays the same.[/quote]

Folks must have money to burn if they are willing to pull their kids out of public school based on nothing but rumors. We are three months into the very first cohort selected under the new admissions criteria. Let's not declare the whole thing a failure quite yet, and let's not assume the "quality of the program" will go down because the system is testing more kids and prioritizing kids who otherwise would not have a peer group. [/quote]

I agree.  The great things about the magnet are teachers who are used to doing things in a more integrated and project-based way, who are enthusiastic about their subjects, and students who are bright and hard-working/motivated/intellectually curious.  I don't think either of those elements has changed.  It doesn't have to be the top X% to be a more engaged, focused, fast-paced cohort than what you would get at the home middle school.  And it never was the top X% of the whole system, because it was taken from the smaller pool of those who chose to apply.  I don't think there is evidence (yet) to support the position that the MS magnets have changed significantly to accommodate a different group of students.  I read one thread where a teacher posted that they were concerned at first about admitting students with lower scores, but that the cohort this year has shown themselves to be plenty up for the challenge.  I do think that the 2 magnet-style classes added at many home schools could possibly tip the balance in some people's calculations as the commute is a major detraction for people in certain areas of the County.[/quote]

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