I do hear this fear from parents that you mention too, but I don't know if it's real. Can anyone chime in if they have a high-performing child in a lower-performing school, and how it has affected them?

np here. I have no kids yet in MoCo but I have a very close relative who teaches at New Hampshire Estates, a title I school. Sbe tells us things that she's really contractually or ethically forbidden to discuss. In her classes of ~15, there's always one child who isn't FARM + ESL. The other 14 are always poor to dirt poor recent immigrants with parents who are entirely uninvested in the kids' education -- for a variety of reasons. ie, they don't speak English, it's not culturally common to engage with teachers, they work 3 jobs, they live in another country and the kid is staying in a counsin's basement ... whatever.

Bottom line, my teacher-relative spends 98% of her time focusing on the 14 students described above because she must. The 'high performing child' gets minimal attention and my relative freely admits this. She is frustrated because she spend a huge amount of time on classroom management and behavior and less time than is needed on instruction.

Not to mention, when 14 of the 15 kids need to learn at a slow pace during oral instruction -- again, for a variety of understandable reasons -- the 15th kid must necessarily learn at a slow pace. Do a DCUM search for 'new hampshire estates' and you'll find other posts of hers and mine with more concrete examples of what I'm talking about.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The point is that MCPS "school A" does not necessarily equal MCPS "school B". There are variations across the board, not just in terms of SES and racial makeup, but in terms of how the curriculum is implemented and decisions that principals and administrators make at the local level. Don't be misguided in your assumption that because they are all MCPS schools that they are all the same.

Can anyone elaborate on this "how the curriculum is implemented" difference? Like specifically how the curriculum is implemented differently? Because I hear people make judgments all the time about which school is better, and I never hear them say it's because school A has differentiated reading groups, etc. They talk about test scores, National Merit finalists, who goes to what colleges, etc.

I went to a meeting recently where representatives from the MCPS AEI group (Accelerated and Enriched Instruction) were discussing opportunities for accelerated/enriched instruction in ES. They talked a lot about the William & Mary and Jacobs ladder programs which were "available" in all MCPS elementary schools, however, they acknowledged that not all schools were fully implenting these programs. If you felt your child needed this, you would need to advocate on behalf of your child. A woman at my table, who lived in the Kensington area said that her ES was using the William & Mary program in her child's language arts class. Not the same for my child in Rockville.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are referring to the clusters. Each high school has a cluster and the big topic right now in the B-CC cluster has to do with a new middle school. But take a look at the % of students that go to college from the down county high schools vs the other areas of the county

I am the OP. I see the differences in performance among schools too, but my point is that these are averages based on the different populations of kids who go there. That's what I meant by who sits next to your kid in class. If you know your child, you encourage your child, and they have great teachers, they will not suffer harm if the kid next to them does not go to college.

Given the current interest in test results in American schools, some parents may be concerned that large disparities in performance on tests will lead to greater focus on the kids who need remediation, leaving less attention to the kids who are already passing the tests. How does that fit with your argument, OP?

Thanks for asking. As somebody pointed out, currently the system is that schools with lower scores get increased support and smaller class sizes for ALL students. So the fact that my child's school has a larger % of low-income students currently means he has smaller class sizes so the teacher can spend more time with the kids who need remediation. So far that's worked great for us. I do hear this fear from parents that you mention too, but I don't know if it's real. Can anyone chime in if they have a high-performing child in a lower-performing school, and how it has affected them?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The point is that MCPS "school A" does not necessarily equal MCPS "school B". There are variations across the board, not just in terms of SES and racial makeup, but in terms of how the curriculum is implemented and decisions that principals and administrators make at the local level. Don't be misguided in your assumption that because they are all MCPS schools that they are all the same.

Can anyone elaborate on this "how the curriculum is implemented" difference? Like specifically how the curriculum is implemented differently? Because I hear people make judgments all the time about which school is better, and I never hear them say it's because school A has differentiated reading groups, etc. They talk about test scores, National Merit finalists, who goes to what colleges, etc.

As a teacher myself, my first response to your question is that the quality of your child's teacher will greatly vary from classroom to classroom (don't even worry about from school to school). In my experience, the most flexible, dynamic teachers who are most devoted to continuing to hone their skills themselves work in the needier, "less desirable" schools. That is by no means a generalization, but it's been my experience, and I've worked with a lot of teachers in schools all across the county. The reason why students in schools in more affluent areas do so well is because their parents are more likely to be highly educated, highly involved in their children's schooling, and to provide enrichment and remediation opportunities for their children outside of school. The variance I would be concerned with as a parent would be in the quailty of the classroom teacher, not in the differences in test scores from school to school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are referring to the clusters. Each high school has a cluster and the big topic right now in the B-CC cluster has to do with a new middle school. But take a look at the % of students that go to college from the down county high schools vs the other areas of the county

But what determines who goes to college? Is it which high school the child attends or their background? It was always my understanding that it's who your parents are/other aspects of your background and not which high school you attend. So if the parents are well-educated then whether their kids go to BCC or Einstein they are likely to attend college. Now, it's possible that there is a difference in college admissions to more competitive schools. I have no idea. But I doubt that it makes a difference in terms of whether they attend.

Actually, it is easier to get to a top-tier college from e.g. Einstein or Kennedy HS than it is from e.g. Whitman or Churchill, because there are fewer applicants from those schools competing for the spots.

A top student from Einstein will shine more in her application than the equivalent student from Whitman will.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you live in a more expensive house you pay more..and though there is one curriculm, it is implemented differently at different schools. At one school, coming in to K with no reading skills is the norm. At another one, many children are already reading. The teacher will teach differently as they should. The thing that poster here need to remember is that both can be excallant schools..even if one has lower scores etc.

You pay more for the house. You pay the same tax rate. You do not pay "higher taxes."

You pay the same tax rate but HIGHER for your house. I would love a flat tax on real estate.

Obviously, your taxes are higher if your house cost more. But the RATE is the same.

More taxes does not equate to entitlement to better schools under the county-based system.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you live in a more expensive house you pay more..and though there is one curriculm, it is implemented differently at different schools. At one school, coming in to K with no reading skills is the norm. At another one, many children are already reading. The teacher will teach differently as they should. The thing that poster here need to remember is that both can be excallant schools..even if one has lower scores etc.

You pay more for the house. You pay the same tax rate. You do not pay "higher taxes."

You pay the same tax rate but HIGHER for your house. I would love a flat tax on real estate.

NP here. Sorry, wrong. Same tax rate regardless of the value of the home. It is more dollars overall, but don't call it a higher tax rate.

Rate is expressed in terms of a percentage. A fixed percentage of a larger assessed value = larger number. The same percentage of a smaller assesed value = a smaller number. Everyone pays the same RATE, but if your property is worth more, you will pay more in taxes even though you are paying at the same rate as someone with a less expensive property. That is how a flat tax would work.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are referring to the clusters. Each high school has a cluster and the big topic right now in the B-CC cluster has to do with a new middle school. But take a look at the % of students that go to college from the down county high schools vs the other areas of the county

I am the OP. I see the differences in performance among schools too, but my point is that these are averages based on the different populations of kids who go there. That's what I meant by who sits next to your kid in class. If you know your child, you encourage your child, and they have great teachers, they will not suffer harm if the kid next to them does not go to college.

Given the current interest in test results in American schools, some parents may be concerned that large disparities in performance on tests will lead to greater focus on the kids who need remediation, leaving less attention to the kids who are already passing the tests. How does that fit with your argument, OP?

Anonymous wrote:The point is that MCPS "school A" does not necessarily equal MCPS "school B". There are variations across the board, not just in terms of SES and racial makeup, but in terms of how the curriculum is implemented and decisions that principals and administrators make at the local level. Don't be misguided in your assumption that because they are all MCPS schools that they are all the same.

Can anyone elaborate on this "how the curriculum is implemented" difference? Like specifically how the curriculum is implemented differently? Because I hear people make judgments all the time about which school is better, and I never hear them say it's because school A has differentiated reading groups, etc. They talk about test scores, National Merit finalists, who goes to what colleges, etc.

The point is that MCPS "school A" does not necessarily equal MCPS "school B". There are variations across the board, not just in terms of SES and racial makeup, but in terms of how the curriculum is implemented and decisions that principals and administrators make at the local level. Don't be misguided in your assumption that because they are all MCPS schools that they are all the same.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you live in a more expensive house you pay more..and though there is one curriculm, it is implemented differently at different schools. At one school, coming in to K with no reading skills is the norm. At another one, many children are already reading. The teacher will teach differently as they should. The thing that poster here need to remember is that both can be excallant schools..even if one has lower scores etc.

You pay more for the house. You pay the same tax rate. You do not pay "higher taxes."

You pay the same tax rate but HIGHER for your house. I would love a flat tax on real estate.

NP here. Sorry, wrong. Same tax rate regardless of the value of the home. It is more dollars overall, but don't call it a higher tax rate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe. The County itself has broken down the County into the Red Zone and Green Zone, to help it address historically underperforming schools. I wonder if Starr will continue with those designations.

Please provide a link to this breakdown.

http://www.gtamc.org/resources/links---montgomery-county/red-zone-green-zone-mcps-focus-and-non-focus-schools

Thank you! I had searched for it and couldn't find it.

Anonymous wrote:They are referring to the clusters. Each high school has a cluster and the big topic right now in the B-CC cluster has to do with a new middle school. But take a look at the % of students that go to college from the down county high schools vs the other areas of the county

I am the OP. I see the differences in performance among schools too, but my point is that these are averages based on the different populations of kids who go there. That's what I meant by who sits next to your kid in class. If you know your child, you encourage your child, and they have great teachers, they will not suffer harm if the kid next to them does not go to college.

Anonymous wrote:They are referring to the clusters. Each high school has a cluster and the big topic right now in the B-CC cluster has to do with a new middle school. But take a look at the % of students that go to college from the down county high schools vs the other areas of the county

But what determines who goes to college? Is it which high school the child attends or their background? It was always my understanding that it's who your parents are/other aspects of your background and not which high school you attend. So if the parents are well-educated then whether their kids go to BCC or Einstein they are likely to attend college. Now, it's possible that there is a difference in college admissions to more competitive schools. I have no idea. But I doubt that it makes a difference in terms of whether they attend.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe. The County itself has broken down the County into the Red Zone and Green Zone, to help it address historically underperforming schools. I wonder if Starr will continue with those designations.

Please provide a link to this breakdown.

http://www.gtamc.org/resources/links---montgomery-county/red-zone-green-zone-mcps-focus-and-non-focus-schools