Reply to anyone hear-- there's a GT forum for MoCo

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Here is Dr. Starr's email: Joshua_Starr@mcpsmd.org.  Write to him directly. The BOE email is: BOE@mcpsmd.org.  Write to them too.

I am not sure what PP means by "magnet school testing has no bearing on the GT identification." It does!! Global Screening is used to find students who are GT and then they are tested for magnets.

I think there may be students above the 90th percentile in the regular classroom but they are such a small amount and we can't lump them with the well prepared math and English group.  What the well prepared group wants and needs is different what Gt kids need.

The Lake Wobegon crowd is different from GT and I think getting in with that group is a mistake. [/quote]

I am the PP. The magnet testing is not automatic like the 2nd grade GT testing. It is available to those students (GT or non-GT) only who apply within a certain deadline. GT identification is not used for magnet selection; I know this for sure, I have talked to the people who do the selection. Magnet selection is based on magnet tests, teacher recommendations, previous years grade, current years grade for 2 quarters, student's essay, parent’s essay (in elementary school) and racial and gender balance (this one is not an official policy, but used). The last criterion is actually why I think it is not "only" highly gifted that get selected.

It is not true that the above 90th percentile is a small amount. 6 out of a class of 30 is not a small amount. I see this in my neighborhood school regularly. Statistics aside, we should be more concerned if the number of above 90%tile students in a class is less. As the percentage of highly able kids in a class goes down, the chances of them getting appropriate instruction dramatically vanishes. Why should even a single child be ignored by the school system? What if the child happens to be from a less affluent family and the parents can neither afford alternative schooling nor have a voice to advocate?

Agree that the need of above grade level students and the 90%tile students are different. But the “needs not being met in the school system” is the common problem for both the groups. Should the groups fight separately for their need? BTW, MCPS does not recognize this separate grouping.

I would rather spend my energy fighting for the common need of challenging every kid at the level they start than fight for separate identifications while many kids are being ignored! I really do not care whether a kid needs to read Shakespeare or be in Algebra class is caused by superior intelligence or because of preparedness. I really do not care if a kid needs to have IM in 6th grade or Geometry. As long as MCPS policy clearly expects schools to teach the IM ready kids and as well as the Geometry ready kids in the neighborhood school, I would be fine with it. Let us not complicate the fight. Let us expect MCPS to challenge every kid and not fall in the trap of labeling distinctions.
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