Reply to FCPS plans to "reform" TJ?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I hate the long quotes so I am not quoting.

Thanks to the Teacher PP. I appreciate your insight. And the parent who responded as well. Those are different insights then we normally see in this conversation and I appreciate them.

In the end, TJ is a program that requires a different type os student and mindset then most schools. While you have to be very smart to attend TJ and complete the course work you also have to be very committed to a more intense program. [/quote]

I'm the teacher who posted. I think it's such an interesting situation. You have a lot of people deeply invested in how the system works because they have put a lot of time, resources, energy into working the system.

What's also interesting is that in other parts of the county, TJ isn't viewed favorably. In my first school, I really think parents and students both wanted very little to do with TJ. It wasn't that they couldn't hack it (honestly the kids from school 1 and school 3 are fairly interchangeable when you take away the extras the kids in school 3 take on. I do wonder what would happen if TJ spots were divided equally among the middle schools. I think the big thing is that a lot of the insanity would come to an end. I hear from kids I taught and their parents and the uniform theme is that the expectations at TJ are increasingly unreasonable. I get a lot of complaints about math instruction and sometimes a few parents will get mad at me that my class didn't prepare their kids for the leap TJ required. The issue is that I really have no connection to the TJ math sequence. I don't know much about how it's structured. I teach Alg. and Geo. and the standards I use are basically what the county and state require. Our classes are not structured to be a bridge to TJ even though this school places a fairly large number of kids there.

From what I can tell, I think the big problem some kids run into at TJ is that the middle school math sequence -- even accelerated -- does not map to the TJ math sequence. What I've seen kids do is basically supplement outside and prepare during 8th grade and even 7th. I wonder if this is a good use of time, but I guess it is if making through TJ with good grades is important.

Now, I also know of kids who thrive. So, it's not an all or nothing. I think that's why it's so hard to grapple with issues at TJ. Yes, it's a great program. But could it be better? And what is better? More equity? More diversity? Better transition from middle school math to TJ math (a common complaint). Something else?

I think if people are serious about improving TJ, these are the types of questions that need to be answered. We don't need to do the endless ... well these are the smartest, hard working kids so we know it's a good program. We should be thinking about how we can serve these bright STEM students.[/quote]

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