Reply to Stats on magnet enrollment by home school

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Why do so many kids from Churchill, WJ, and Wootton go to RMIB? [/quote]

It's not just RMIB, they send a lot to Blair too.  Are those 3 bad schools or something?[/quote]

Those zones have most the tippy top students in the county. [/quote]

What does "tippy top students" even mean?  I can't imagine those schools have that many more gifted kids with high potential than other schools, most of which send less than 10 kids.

I'd believe kids in those areas have higher test scores or other accomplishments based on exposure though, between the elementary and middle schools and the exposure and support from better-off parents  But that shouldn't affect admissions that much, should it-- what are the admissions criteria?   The magnets are supposed to serve the smartest kids in the county, right?   Not just provide extra resources and supports to kids who get ahead because of receiving more resources and support than kids of equal intelligence in poorer areas/families?

If the countywide magnets are actually serving the smartest, most capable kids of all backgrounds countywide, regardless of background, then I support them.  But if they're essentially just helping 95th percentile kids from rich areas get more advantages than top 1-2% kids from poor areas because the richer kids score better on exposure-based tests like MAP or the like, then I have a huge problem with that [/quote]

According to the stats they shared, only 8% of RMIB kids and 12% of Blair SMCS and Poolesville SMCS kids have ever qualified for FARMS (I believe the ever FARMS rate for the county as a whole is 46%), and they have way fewer Black and Hispanic kids than the county as a whole.  So I highly doubt these magnet programs are actually using admissions criteria that select the most brilliant kids with the highest potential.  Just smart kids that test well probably.[/quote]

You don’t sound very smart. Low farm and fewer black and Hispanic equal not using admission criteria that select most brilliant kids with highest potential?  What kind of logic is that? [/quote]

What, you think that 80-90% of the smartest kids in the county come from the 1/3 of county kids who are white or Asian?  Nope, but I bet 80-90% of kids who test the best do.  [/quote]

More Asians and whites = the system selects for test-takers, not the most brilliant kids with real potential. That logic sounds pretty racist.
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Wait, you're saying that you think the magnets do accurately select the very smartest kids in the county, meaning you think that almost all of the smartest kids in the county are white and Asian and the magnets are correct to conclude that there are very few brilliant Black or Hispanic high schoolers in MCPS?  And you''re suggesting *I'm* the one who's racist?[/quote]

I’m just following your logic, but it doesn’t hold up. If you think the magnet programs aren’t selecting the smartest kids, then back it up with actual evidence. Just pointing out that most students are White or Asian doesn’t prove the process is flawed. Blair is a nationally recognized STEM magnet with a long track record of success as it consistently admits top talent who go on to win national and international academic competitions. You’re being racist by focusing on races only. 
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I'm confused.  Unless you believe that some races are more intelligent than others (which I would define as racist), how can you believe that a process that selects Asian and white kids much more often than Black and Hispanic kids is accurately selecting the kids with the greatest innate intelligence and true potential, rather than being skewed by kids' access to resources and exposure to strong education in these areas which then gets displayed in test scores?  This is frankly a challenging tendency to overcome in any school selection process.

(I never said that Blair doesn't select many highly gifted kids capable of winning national competitions, and this is not inconsistent with that.  The question is whether, besides selecting the truly brilliant white/Asian/richer kids who are not necessarily enough to fill a whole class on their own, the programs also successfully identify and select the brilliant Black and Hispanic kids as well, or whether those kids mostly get beaten out by the "just bright" Asian/white/richer kids instead due to higher test scores or the like.  The numbers strongly suggest the latter.)[/quote]

You’re still solely focusing on race. Many students excel in math and science competitions are selected, winning national/international Olympiads each year. Over 10 students are admitted to MIT annually, not because of their race, but because of their academic merit. The admissions process emphasizes MAP scores, grades and extracurricular achievements.  It effectively identifies top-performing students who succeed in academic competitions due to their hard work and talent, not their racial background.

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