Reply to MCPS to end areawide Blair Magnet and countywide Richard Montgomery's IB program

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]38 pages of pissing back and forth... folks, if your kids are really smart, move to different school districts like howard county. if your kids are avg at best, stay in MCPS.[/quote]
The brightest, smartest kids in the DMV are in MCPS.  HoCo kids can't even compete with them. [/quote]

The state proficiency rate for Algebra I MCAP for 2023-2024 is 20 percent.

MCPS is slightly above that at 25.1 percent.  But Howard County is even better at 42.1 percent.

Here are the links to mdreportcard:

https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Assessments/MathPerformance/UALG01/U/6/3/1/15/XXXX/2024

https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/Assessments/MathPerformance/UALG01/U/6/3/1/13/XXXX/2024

But it looks like you have to click around it for a bit to bring up the overall profiency percentages and the direct link doesn't work.

For reference, Frederick has a rate of 25.2, Baltimore County 31.8 and Prince George's County 8.8.

My concern and issue is that with the way things going, I don't see MCPS going the right direction with the things they're focusing on and the changes they're trying to make.  While every school system has issues, I would like to think some of the other ones are doing something right where they're able to get more students to pass the Algebra test.

Algebra is the most basic math course for high school.  Where students will struggle in the rest of the high school math course sequence if they don't have a solid foundation in Algebra.  Also students that struggle in Algebra, likely don't have a firm foundation in the math taken before it.  This is all assuming that the MCAP accurately reflects the knowledge a student has in Algebra.

But I think the days of thinking that MCPS as a top school district is an outdated notion.  Where you can point to other nearby school systems that perform better based on various measures.[/quote]
Those are not the brightest students. 
You would know that if you were bright. [/quote]

The brightness will flea away from MCPS. They stay because of these stellar county-wide SMACS/GE/IB programs, and there's no reason for them to stay. Howard County is way much better in terms of making sure high quality for overall education.[/quote]
Yeah, yeah. We have been hearing this for the last 15+ years. It is  HoCo and everyone else in the DMV's wet dreams, so they could finally be able to compete with MCPS. [/quote]

Anybody who is unwilling to accept the fact that the surrounding counties are just as good or better than MCPS is just close minded and not accepting reality.

Based on 2020 Census, the order of counties with the highest household median income in the US are:

1 Loudoun
2 Falls Church
5 Fairfax
6 Howard
17 Calvert
20 Montgomery

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-income_counties_in_the_United_States

And it's often stated that school/student performance is related to SES.

Looking at the mdreportcard, which btw is 2023-2024 scores.  The part for 2020-21 is a link to 2020-2021 data.  [b]MCPS trails Howard County in all MCAP math subject areas except for Algebra 2[/b].  And I think Howard County doesn't really administer the Algebra 2 test.  In fact Montgomery County has proficiency rate below the state average for the MCAP Math 7 and 8 tests.

There's signs that MCPS isn't really focused on the brightest students.  Back when our oldest was getting ready to enroll in school, someone was trying to sell us on private schools saying that the issue with public education is that the classroom has to work along the pace of the slowest student.  We kind of see this now but on a county level.  Where it's common for us to ask our child why they don't have any assignments or are not learning anything in class and they said according to their teacher their class was on a faster pace then the rest of the county so didn't have to do anything until the next marking period.  Um, how about letting the kids keep learning and advancing instead of keeping them on the same track with everyone else?

The flight from Montgomery County has been real.  And it's not just white flight.  It's been black and brown families who either sees the same issues or realize they can get more for their money elsewhere.

If they take away these reputable programs, it just gives less reason for families to choose MCPS over the surrounding school systems.

Montgomery County still has some things going for it.  We were looking before the Silver line was built and back then Montgomery County had the easiest access to DC.  And Montgomery County had offerings that people from the surrounding counties would travel to.  But now things are branching out to the other counties and if commuting to DC isn't a factor, families should really seriously consider the other counties to live in addition to MCPS.  There are issues with the other counties too.  But you can't say that MCPS is still definitely better than the rest of them.[/quote]

Not sure about the Math 7 & 8 tests, unless they, too, are only counted for those taking the base course, which would eliminate those better at math in MCPS who take accelerated classes that may not be as available elsewhere in the state.  However, if the past post is correct about Algebra 1 proficiency only being reported by the state for those having taken it in HS, then the bolded bit above makes sense (and makes MCPS look better).

Only a very few MCPS students take Algebra 2 in MS.  The majority, then including the vast majority of MCPS students who are good at math, would be counted in the state proficiency ratings for that subject, as they take it in HS, even as their proficient scores in MS for Algebra 1 would not be counted.[/quote]

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