Reply to MCPS percentiles based on current school and not county or home school?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So they're telling high achieving students in low SES schools to go to the CES in a better school to get a better educational opportunity.  Then, they tell those same kids that they're put at a numerical disadvantage as compared to those who were not originally invited or who chose to stay behind when it comes to the next step in their education.  That's terrible![/quote]
Agree. I think this is something that needs to be fixed.[/quote]

Can someone provide a link where it shows this? Sorry if it’s already been posted. Up until now it has been that children are compared based on home middle school, regardless of whether they went to a CES or not. I don’t see where it changed.[/quote]

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/curriculum/specialprograms/middle/Magnet%20FAQs%202019(7).pdf

See #3, which changed on January 23, after the initial FAQ had been posted before the letters were mailed over a week before that.

"3. What do the MCPS percentiles mean? How are MCPS percentiles determined?
National norms are designed to compare and rank test takers in relation to one another based on those who took the test nationally. Local norms are designed to compare and rank test takers in relation to one another based on those who took the test locally – within MCPS. Local norming provides information about students in relation to their academic peer groups in MCPS. MCPS CogAT percentiles are locally normed percentiles established based on the three sections of the CogAT. Gifted and talented experts recommend the use of local norms as an equitable approach to ensure equity and access in identification of students for program access. Additionally, the current draft of Gifted and Talented Definitions from the Maryland State Department of Education includes the use of local norms as part of its gifted and talented identification process. The [b]socioeconomic status of elementary schools[/b] was used to determine the locally normed score on the CogAT (MCPS Percentiles). In establishing MCPS Percentiles, [b]students [i]in schools[/i] with minimal poverty[/b] were compared to one another, [b]students [i]in schools[/i] with moderate poverty[/b] were compared to each other, and [b]students [i]from schools[/i] highly impacted by poverty[/b] were compared to each other."

That strongly suggests that students were compared based on their current school, not home school.  Also, it looks at the school's poverty impact, not whether an individual student's family is poor or not.  When asked, the field office was unable to confirm which numbers were used, but also was unable to answer how much of a difference it would have made.  However, if the weighting would make ANY difference (and it must, otherwise why bother), it creates inherent inequities in how CES vs. non-CES students are treated for any CES student attending a school in a different poverty band (minimal, moderate, high) than their home school.  MCPS has made clear that their only way of determining schools "impacted by poverty" is the FARMS rate.  A student at a local ES with an 80% FARMS rate would be weighted higher than a student from the same neighborhood attending a CES at a school that has a 50% FARMS rate.  Similarly, a student at a local ES with an 50% FARMS rate would be weighted lower than a student from the same neighborhood attending a CES at a school that has a 80% FARMS rate.  It cuts both ways, but it certainly cuts.[/quote]

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