Reply to Blind item: Regional criteria "magnets" will be lottery

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Blind item: Regional criteria "magnets" will be lottery"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Taylor specifically said they would not turn away students and that they would not be operating with a scarcity model. Plus, he said there are no caps on seats.

So it sounded like admissions was pretty much going to be an open door and no one would be rejected.[/quote]

This is like when they say they are providing transportation. It isn’t actually the full true story. They can’t have unlimited seats for these programs.

The question is about criteria. I actually have no problem if they have as many seats as they need to accommodate all applicants who are as qualified and prepared as the current program students. The issue is when they have so much room or maybe not so much interest that they lower the criteria. Which is how you end up with underperforming programs, like some of the regional IB programs. [/quote]

Exactly. The question is about criteria. I asked Jennie Franklin last winter during one in-person info session: as you are assigning similar program size, how do you set up the qualification criteria? Student stats and [b]number of students who are interested in STEM[/b] will be significantly higher than another region (yes, I'm talking about scenarios like Region 4 vs. Region 5, but I don't want to offend anyone). So do you apply different criteria? Or do you use lottery for the former region? Jennie didn't give me an answer. She hasn't thought about this back then. Applying different criteria is what's CES and MS magnet is doing, and you'll end us with very different student body no matter you then run a lottery or not. This student body will be significantly stronger in academics and more suitable for adapting into the current SMCS curriculum where the future STEM program will most likely be successful. [/quote]

I agree that stats will be different, but interest? I think you'd be surprised. [/quote]

This is your guess based on your limited personal experience in your friendship circle. Central office did run a survey last spring to ask you select the top program themes that you'll be interested in. They did presented the ranking, but if I recall correctly, it's not breaking down into different regions nor parents/students/educators. The only purpose of the survey is to showcase that hey, people are interested. And then they run full-speed ahead with the agenda in their mind. [/quote]

But they didn’t say these programs would be the ONLY way for a child to access high level courses. Why can’t we have good quality regular high schools in every building?[/quote]

I agree with you totally! Why can't every HS provide high level courses? Why do you have to apply and get accepted into a STEM/humanity program in order to access high level courses? If you apply and you have strong stats and strong interests, and lottery kicks you out? [/quote]

I think this is more nuanced than folks, including Taylor, would like to believe. YES, there should be high level courses offered in every building. But the devil is in the details. What are "high level courses?" and are they still high level if every kid in the school takes them?

That's the question Taylor has run smack into, and why we can't get a clear answer.

To take an example most folks will understand, "high level" math in every building probably means offering math up to the level that a typically high achieving kid could do taking one math class per year. In MCPS, that means offering up to MultiVariable in every school, because kids are being allowed to take Algebra in 6th across the county. Not often, but often enough that the option should be available. Maybe it's only one class per school, and maybe it's even hybrid/online, but every kid should have access.

But what about the real outliers? The kids who are taking Pre-Calc in middle school? The absolute bleeding edge of the bell curve? Well, that's why we should still have criteria-based magnets, because kids like that need to be gathered together. [/quote]

It isn’t that nuanced. MCPS knows exactly how many kids are enrolled in compacted math and therefore can predict how many kids will need advanced math classes to fulfill graduation requirements.

MCPS does not offer advanced English or Science options until 10th grade unless you’re at a regional magnet.

MCPS doesn’t oversee secondary principal staffing in the arts like they do in ES, so many schools aren’t able to offer leveled ensembles or the same advanced visual arts courses.

It’s not rocket science. The OLO Report 2026-2 gives clear recommendations for how MCPS can remedy this BEFORE changing to the regional model  [/quote]

If the schools offer AP science they can take it.  Also, some schools have added AP Seminar for 10th.  The problem is some schools don't offer any AP science classes or seminar.[/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