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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think being at TPMS or another magnet middle school makes the process that much harder from a social perspective because there will be a core group going to Blair and practically everyone applied.

My child got in from their regular MS and when they were trying to figure out if any friends got in the response she got most often was what are you talking about. They were paying no attention to the application process. These are top students who are in the cohorted math and history classes.[/quote]

I'm the OP about social development. Yes that's the point I was trying to make about the magnet middle schools. Of course there's always reshuffling from every level, elementary to M, MS to HS, but the cohort from the magnet middle schools going on to these HS magnet programs is particularly large. I don't know how to explain to my child that they can do very well, as well as their peers, work hard, and they have a different result. And yes, that's the point I was making about the roll out of notifications. It was at the end of the school day and all the kids were talking about, checking their email, etc. When my kid was hearing all of their friends wonderful results, and happy for the, but with nothing themselves, you can imagine what that does for their self image, but also the bigger understanding that all of their friends would get to go on together, and they will be left out.

I agree with PP that likely 500 applicants "deserve" the invitation, and at some point with the vast majority of applications it is splitting hairs. Clearly one of the answers is having more magnet seats, including at the MS level. But this observation is of course not new, and is likely not the direction MCPS will head to in the future with the general hostility nationwide towards gifted and talented education.

I'll admit I'm also biased towards my own experiences in gifted education, which did wonderful things for me as someone coming from a background of poverty. In our school district children were identified as deserving gifted education at the elementary level and those resources were provided to us at every level. There wasn't the faux scarcity of opportunities that there is in MCPS. In elementary the gifted education was done as a pull out class several times during the week. In middle school and high school there were full magnet programs at specific schools that everyone identified as gifted moved through (if they wanted to). So there was none of this bloodbath at every level, competing against one another, we all moved together. I regret my child isn't in a district that provides the accelerated education and gifted learning cohort to every student that needs it or would benefit from it.[/quote]

Congrats to the folks who 'got in". However, the way it has been handled is an absolute disaster. Making it so public by sending emails to kids in the middle of the week. Very thoughtless. 
Completely isolating and disheartening for kids who don't now get to be with their friends even though they did the work and have the grades and scores. I absolutely wish I didn't send my kid to TPMS. Better to be in home school and have a few kids go the magnet rather than be in this situation. I don't know how the rest of the school year is going to unfold. I am frankly worried. [/quote]

How else are they to handle it?  Just give all the slots to the TPMS kids?  What are you worried about for the rest of the school year?   It is what it is.[/quote]

Thanks for your opinion.[/quote]
DP. There are 100 students in TPMS magnet program, and there are 100 slots at Blair SMAC for the ENTIRE Montgomery County. So it's only logical that the county will have to reject certain kids from TPMS, along with hundreds of others from other schools.

Granted, they definitely should have done it in a more thoughtful manner but if you thought your child would be guaranteed a spot at a HS magnet simply by virtue of going to a MS magnet.. well, you probably should have kept them at a home school. [/quote]

Not the OP on the home school comment, but it's not a matter of going to a magnet HS "simply" because the child went to a magnet MS, but that the records of achievement are nearly identical. And then we get into the ridiculous splitting of hairs, which isn't a real reflection of whether one child should go and not another.[/quote]

Yep. The previous evaluation system was definitely more comprehensive. The current watered-down system with grades and MAP (which wasn't meant for this purpose) doesn't provide rich enough data to make an informed decision. No one is expecting a guaranteed spot but definitely expecting a more thoughtful evaluation system and process. [/quote]

I think the problem is that the previous process allowed tremendous room for bias and coaching. Teacher evaluations have been demonstrated to heavily favor white and Asian girls first, then white and Asian boys, and to disfavor other groups. For CES and MS magnets, weighting extracurricular activities confers a significant advantage onto kids whose parents can afford enrichment. It makes sense for HS because there are free opportunities for extracurricular engagement throughout middle school, but having extracurriculars in the mix for 3rd and 5th graders is going to really hurt kids whose parents can pay for private music/chess/computer programming lessons. [/quote]

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