Reply to MS Magnet admissions: are CES students at a disadvantage?

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Reply to "MS Magnet admissions: are CES students at a disadvantage?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]A current magnet parent. Even in the previous selection system that did not penalize kids based on "cohort criterion", there has been a very wide range of capability levels among the magnet students. There is a wide misconception that there are too many very smart kids and not enough seats. This is simply not true. Especially in upper grade magnets, a significant number of magnet students struggle. If the selection criteria include the "home school cohort" criterion,[b] the discrepancy among magnet students will get even bigger.[/b][/quote]
Totally agree.   One DC went to HGC when it was still called HGC. DC was middle of the pack, but they all generally had the same abilities. The range wasn't that great.

If a high performing student from a low performing school has the same abilities compared to those higher performing students from the higher performing schools, then obviously, that's a no brainer. That child definitely belongs in a magnet program.

But if such a child only performs at the same level as the general student population in a highest performing school, then the *only* reason that child was admitted was due to the fact that there is no peer cohort in their lower performing school and not because they are the highest performers in the county. Granted, now the magnet program no longer is for the highest performing of the applicant pool, but rather within their home school, but there are challenges to such a mix.

This is kind of like HS students from low  performing HSs who are admitted to HYP type universities are ill prepared compared to the students from very high performing HS.   The range of abilities becomes exaggerated.  Not saying such students can't eventually catch up, but such students will certainly face more difficulties.

These higher performing students didn't have a similar peer cohort in their ESs, and may not have been exposed to more rigor.  Yes, such students should get the opportunity to be challenged, but throwing them in with kids who had this kind of exposure earlier on will certainly make it more challenging for those students, and I have to wonder if the standards in the magnet program won't be negatively affected by having such a big range of abilities.

I think if the original purpose of the magnet program is no longer applicable, then they should open up another magnet on the western side of the county, and not just because of academics but also for a shorter commute.  And no, having one or two classes that have a similar magnet curriculum is not the same as a magnet program.[/quote]

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