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

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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][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]make sure you're looking at the most recent region groupings. The link on the MCPS message to region maps was an old version. Not all regions are east-to-west anymore. [/quote]

Do you have a link to the new maps?[/quote]

Starting on slide 23: https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/DJVQ4P6782A9/$file/Sec%20Prog%20Analysis%20Boundary%20Studies%20Engaga%20Plan%20Update%20250724%20PPT.pdf[/quote]
So, they are going with option #5? - pg 26.[/quote]
DP. Yes. I think these boundaries balance higher and lower SES, and harmony of communities as much as possible. You cannot ignore harmony. I know a student from a very different community who was bussed into a program due to its opportunity at the insistence of their parent. That student was miserable and was elated at switching to a school community they could better resonate with at the first opportunity.[/quote]

No one wants forced bussing.  The best option is to put more money in the schools that don’t have much and make them equal.  The disparities are significant.  [b]A smart kid at a w school can get all their classes and academics met.  A smart kid dcc is forced to another school, Mc or go without. [/b] They don’t allow homeschooling or independent study or virtual classes outside Mcps.   Or, at least being back virtual so it aligns with MCPS schedules.

The demographics are changing in mcps in the dcc due to crazy housing prices.

Blair is a great program but not for all kids.  Not all kids want a magnet and prefer to choose their own classes and those kids should get the same opportunities.  One reason why dcc kids try for Blair is the other schools don’t have the academics and they leave which causes the low scores.  [/quote]

I think this is part of what MCPS is trying to figure out, and I credit Taylor with at least tackling it. My understanding is that they are going to make sure every school has a baseline number of advanced classes, and that they are currently auditing what is available where.

But we also need to be realistic and aim for what is possible. I think making sure every HS has AP Calculus BC is sufficient, and then bringing back virtual for MVC for some kids.

What other courses do you think every school should be offering? 
[/quote]

MVC[/quote]
there are not enough students interested in MVC in each HS to offer it.   If we had unlimited funding, sure. But, we don't.  Plus, good luck finding good teachers to teach mvc at every HS.[/quote]

I know nothing about MVC so am curious what folks think-- is it better to take MVC virtually from a good teacher (both good at teaching MVC and good at online teaching), or to take it locally with a poor or mediocre teacher?

(I know some individual kids really struggle with virtual learning, but I'm talking about the majority of kids here.)[/quote]

I'm a university faculty, and I had supervised an undergrad from a mediocre university before through the REU program. He was in English major, but happened to take an astronomy class for fun, and the professor who taught that class found him smart, so recommended to me to do some data analysis work. He started to learn coding all by himself from scratch, and at the end of that summer, he completed his work and we finished a scientific paper together later that year. He applied to a graduate program for astronomy major in a prestigious university, and got an offer. Now he is a PhD candidate there. I once asked him why he chose English as his major. And he told me he had a really bad experience in Calc BC class back in HS, that made him hating math so much, until he took the astronomy class, and finally found his true love and true talent. This is how a good or a bad HS teacher could impact...[/quote]

Okay, so is that a vote for prioritizing getting good teachers and having them teach virtually if you can't get enough good MVC teachers for all the high schools, over having an in-person MVC teacher at all high schools even if they're a bad teacher?[/quote]

As a parent, my opinion doesn't matter. Ppl on this board said we should listen to Taylor or Hazel who have education PhDs and hence who should be the experts, neglecting the fact that they didn't know the magnet curriculum, and didn't care how to expand the curriculum nor how to train or find qualified teachers. Nicky Hazel even spelled "cosmology" wrong under the "STEM" example course offering in her slides (she spelled "cosmetology"). So whatever the hell.[/quote]

Taylor doesn't have a PhD; he has an EdD (lower bar). Hazel has a master's degree. [/quote]

Good grief he has a doctorate in education (a terminal degree) from the University of Virginia. Hazel’s masters is from the University of Pennsylvania.  Are we really going to be snobs about their education or can we focus on substance.[/quote]

If she confused cosmology with cosmetology, that is pretty bad[/quote]

I’m not certain that she confused cosmology with cosmetology.  Cosmetology is often a CTE program. If I was going to plan it somewhere so likely would have it cross artistic and entrepreneurship. [/quote]

That was my initial thought, but cosmetology was on a slide about STEM offerings.  In no universe of the cosmos is cosmetology considered STEM.   MCPS communications have so many errors, that I'm not giving Hazel and co the benefit of the doubt on this one.[/quote]

I know it's weird but apparently cosmetology falls under "technology education" in MCPS (so the T in STEM) and they claim they educate the kids about the science of cosmetology- not a great fit, I agree, but I guess they are trying hard to cram most of their existing programs/specializations into one of their 5 buckets.

I can't imagine they mean cosmology on that slide-- it's a slide about CTE options that lead to certifications before graduating high school, which cosmetology does but I highly doubt there is any high-school-level cosmology certification MCPS plans to offer...[/quote]

It's not weird.  It's wrong.  Cosmetology is not part of STEM unless MCPS is specifically offering some sort of chemistry training to produce beauty products.  That MCPS considers cosmetology STEM is more disturbing than mixing up cosmology with cosmetology.[/quote]

Cosmetology is part of Career & Technical Education (CTE) in MCPS:

[url]https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/career-readiness/plans/hs-plans/[/url][/quote]

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