Anonymous wrote:https://www.baconsrebellion.com/wp/tj-math-students-note-lowering-of-standards/

The teachers said that the average score for their final exam for TJ Math 4 — equivalent to trigonometry — was “in the low 70s with a substantial minority scoring below 50%,” calling the results “the lowest scores we’ve ever seen,” even amid a “lowering of standards” at the school for the course.

Anonymous wrote:One point that is willfully being ignored here by the SOL posters: math does not a genius make, not even for TJ entry. If you took algebra, and did well in advanced science classes, etc, why does that make you any less qualified than a geometry student who’s not great at other topics? From what I can see from the actual FCPS stats, GPA for admitted students has gone up (not down). And TJ has literally greater than 10x the number of students qualifying as national merit semi finalists than any other school in FCPS. Are we really to believe that this is a terribly dumbed down school in this new world? This reeks of sour grapes to me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One point that is willfully being ignored here by the SOL posters: math does not a genius make, not even for TJ entry. If you took algebra, and did well in advanced science classes, etc, why does that make you any less qualified than a geometry student who’s not great at other topics? From what I can see from the actual FCPS stats, GPA for admitted students has gone up (not down). And TJ has literally greater than 10x the number of students qualifying as national merit semi finalists than any other school in FCPS. Are we really to believe that this is a terribly dumbed down school in this new world? This reeks of sour grapes to me.

Very true but some posters here are very committed to their false narrative that society is in decline and this can only be addressed by returning to the days of test buying.

Anonymous wrote:One point that is willfully being ignored here by the SOL posters: math does not a genius make, not even for TJ entry. If you took algebra, and did well in advanced science classes, etc, why does that make you any less qualified than a geometry student who’s not great at other topics? From what I can see from the actual FCPS stats, GPA for admitted students has gone up (not down). And TJ has literally greater than 10x the number of students qualifying as national merit semi finalists than any other school in FCPS. Are we really to believe that this is a terribly dumbed down school in this new world? This reeks of sour grapes to me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One point that is willfully being ignored here by the SOL posters: math does not a genius make, not even for TJ entry. If you took algebra, and did well in advanced science classes, etc, why does that make you any less qualified than a geometry student who’s not great at other topics? From what I can see from the actual FCPS stats, GPA for admitted students has gone up (not down). And TJ has literally greater than 10x the number of students qualifying as national merit semi finalists than any other school in FCPS. Are we really to believe that this is a terribly dumbed down school in this new world? This reeks of sour grapes to me.

MS grades are pretty watered down. As are a gimme. But most admits every year had just about straight As so hard to know who’s “not great at other topics.” But in those other SOLs, the new students didn’t score as strong either.

And there is no PSAT/NMSF data for the new students yet, so we don’t know what that looks like.

Anonymous wrote:One point that is willfully being ignored here by the SOL posters: math does not a genius make, not even for TJ entry. If you took algebra, and did well in advanced science classes, etc, why does that make you any less qualified than a geometry student who’s not great at other topics? From what I can see from the actual FCPS stats, GPA for admitted students has gone up (not down). And TJ has literally greater than 10x the number of students qualifying as national merit semi finalists than any other school in FCPS. Are we really to believe that this is a terribly dumbed down school in this new world? This reeks of sour grapes to me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting that the applications to TJ seem to be essentially flat after the change in admissions policy. If I recall correctly, the number of applications rose for the Class of 2025 (though still lower than in some prior years before the admissions change), then dipped significantly for the Class of 2026 and was essentially flat for the Class of 2027.

Given that (1) the admissions change allegedly increased "access" to TJ for students who didn't have access because the "old" system was skewed in favor of wealthier kids and (2) the class sizes were expanded from roughly 470 to 550, one would have expected to see a sustained, sizable increase in applications. The fact that this hasn't happened suggests that whatever increase in "access" may have occurred is being offset by a decrease in interest among students and families who now perceive that TJ is less prestigious or no longer appreciates what they bring to the table.

I know some who post here are fine with that, but it underscores that the changes may be leading to unintended consequences - at least if FCPS really wanted to continue to hold out TJ as some type of "flagship" (as opposed to simply a specialized curriculum, like a language immersion program).

calling asian american students as wealthy kids is BS, and racist.

The unusual rise in applicants, among minority racial groups except asian americans, was not due to elimination of application fee, but a desperate move by FCPS to capitalize on the momentum generated by the George Floyd movement. There isn't any genuine upsurge in STEM interest among these applicant groups; rather, it seems to be a calculated effort to diversify the applicant pool with non-Asian applicants, possibly in anticipation of the backlash expected from the forceful reduction of Asian American applicants from 73% to 54%. Of course, application fee was never a problem as can be seen from the number of applicants before and after its removal. No one was stopping non-asian applicants from applying to TJ, except for the lack of stem interest due to lack of FCPS honor classes at bottom 10 middle schools that would help students prepare for TJ rigor.

TJ Applicants / Enrollment year
========================
2,766 2019-20
2,539 2020-21
3,034 2021-22 <== artificially induced surge & switch to essay based admission
2,544 2022-23
2,548 2023-24

Go back to the Class of 2017 and there were over 3100 applicants. So over the past decade there's been a pronounced decline in interest in TJ, despite the steps purportedly intended to make TJ more attractive to a wider pool of applicants. Of course, there are more applicants than seats, but it's certainly not a place on the upswing.

There are fewer kids in Fairfax and Nova now than pre-pandemic. Some have moved to private and some have moved to homeschool but some have moved away entirely. I wonder if it is enough to have this effect?

Anonymous wrote:One point that is willfully being ignored here by the SOL posters: math does not a genius make, not even for TJ entry. If you took algebra, and did well in advanced science classes, etc, why does that make you any less qualified than a geometry student who’s not great at other topics? From what I can see from the actual FCPS stats, GPA for admitted students has gone up (not down). And TJ has literally greater than 10x the number of students qualifying as national merit semi finalists than any other school in FCPS. Are we really to believe that this is a terribly dumbed down school in this new world? This reeks of sour grapes to me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting that the applications to TJ seem to be essentially flat after the change in admissions policy. If I recall correctly, the number of applications rose for the Class of 2025 (though still lower than in some prior years before the admissions change), then dipped significantly for the Class of 2026 and was essentially flat for the Class of 2027.

Given that (1) the admissions change allegedly increased "access" to TJ for students who didn't have access because the "old" system was skewed in favor of wealthier kids and (2) the class sizes were expanded from roughly 470 to 550, one would have expected to see a sustained, sizable increase in applications. The fact that this hasn't happened suggests that whatever increase in "access" may have occurred is being offset by a decrease in interest among students and families who now perceive that TJ is less prestigious or no longer appreciates what they bring to the table.

I know some who post here are fine with that, but it underscores that the changes may be leading to unintended consequences - at least if FCPS really wanted to continue to hold out TJ as some type of "flagship" (as opposed to simply a specialized curriculum, like a language immersion program).

calling asian american students as wealthy kids is BS, and racist.

The unusual rise in applicants, among minority racial groups except asian americans, was not due to elimination of application fee, but a desperate move by FCPS to capitalize on the momentum generated by the George Floyd movement. There isn't any genuine upsurge in STEM interest among these applicant groups; rather, it seems to be a calculated effort to diversify the applicant pool with non-Asian applicants, possibly in anticipation of the backlash expected from the forceful reduction of Asian American applicants from 73% to 54%. Of course, application fee was never a problem as can be seen from the number of applicants before and after its removal. No one was stopping non-asian applicants from applying to TJ, except for the lack of stem interest due to lack of FCPS honor classes at bottom 10 middle schools that would help students prepare for TJ rigor.

TJ Applicants / Enrollment year
========================
2,766 2019-20
2,539 2020-21
3,034 2021-22 <== artificially induced surge & switch to essay based admission
2,544 2022-23
2,548 2023-24

Go back to the Class of 2017 and there were over 3100 applicants. So over the past decade there's been a pronounced decline in interest in TJ, despite the steps purportedly intended to make TJ more attractive to a wider pool of applicants. Of course, there are more applicants than seats, but it's certainly not a place on the upswing.

So why is that?

More STEM class availability in other high schools
Negative publicity about TJ
Longer commute times
Covid factors
Too much homework and grind
Poor leadership at the school

The core of TJ is the same. But it's not a great place for most kids. For the right kid, it's the only place.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting that the applications to TJ seem to be essentially flat after the change in admissions policy. If I recall correctly, the number of applications rose for the Class of 2025 (though still lower than in some prior years before the admissions change), then dipped significantly for the Class of 2026 and was essentially flat for the Class of 2027.

Given that (1) the admissions change allegedly increased "access" to TJ for students who didn't have access because the "old" system was skewed in favor of wealthier kids and (2) the class sizes were expanded from roughly 470 to 550, one would have expected to see a sustained, sizable increase in applications. The fact that this hasn't happened suggests that whatever increase in "access" may have occurred is being offset by a decrease in interest among students and families who now perceive that TJ is less prestigious or no longer appreciates what they bring to the table.

I know some who post here are fine with that, but it underscores that the changes may be leading to unintended consequences - at least if FCPS really wanted to continue to hold out TJ as some type of "flagship" (as opposed to simply a specialized curriculum, like a language immersion program).

calling asian american students as wealthy kids is BS, and racist.

The unusual rise in applicants, among minority racial groups except asian americans, was not due to elimination of application fee, but a desperate move by FCPS to capitalize on the momentum generated by the George Floyd movement. There isn't any genuine upsurge in STEM interest among these applicant groups; rather, it seems to be a calculated effort to diversify the applicant pool with non-Asian applicants, possibly in anticipation of the backlash expected from the forceful reduction of Asian American applicants from 73% to 54%. Of course, application fee was never a problem as can be seen from the number of applicants before and after its removal. No one was stopping non-asian applicants from applying to TJ, except for the lack of stem interest due to lack of FCPS honor classes at bottom 10 middle schools that would help students prepare for TJ rigor.

TJ Applicants / Enrollment year
========================
2,766 2019-20
2,539 2020-21
3,034 2021-22 <== artificially induced surge & switch to essay based admission
2,544 2022-23
2,548 2023-24

Go back to the Class of 2017 and there were over 3100 applicants. So over the past decade there's been a pronounced decline in interest in TJ, despite the steps purportedly intended to make TJ more attractive to a wider pool of applicants. Of course, there are more applicants than seats, but it's certainly not a place on the upswing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting that the applications to TJ seem to be essentially flat after the change in admissions policy. If I recall correctly, the number of applications rose for the Class of 2025 (though still lower than in some prior years before the admissions change), then dipped significantly for the Class of 2026 and was essentially flat for the Class of 2027.

Given that (1) the admissions change allegedly increased "access" to TJ for students who didn't have access because the "old" system was skewed in favor of wealthier kids and (2) the class sizes were expanded from roughly 470 to 550, one would have expected to see a sustained, sizable increase in applications. The fact that this hasn't happened suggests that whatever increase in "access" may have occurred is being offset by a decrease in interest among students and families who now perceive that TJ is less prestigious or no longer appreciates what they bring to the table.

I know some who post here are fine with that, but it underscores that the changes may be leading to unintended consequences - at least if FCPS really wanted to continue to hold out TJ as some type of "flagship" (as opposed to simply a specialized curriculum, like a language immersion program).

calling asian american students as wealthy kids is BS, and racist.

The unusual rise in applicants, among minority racial groups except asian americans, was not due to elimination of application fee, but a desperate move by FCPS to capitalize on the momentum generated by the George Floyd movement. There isn't any genuine upsurge in STEM interest among these applicant groups; rather, it seems to be a calculated effort to diversify the applicant pool with non-Asian applicants, possibly in anticipation of the backlash expected from the forceful reduction of Asian American applicants from 73% to 54%. Of course, application fee was never a problem as can be seen from the number of applicants before and after its removal. No one was stopping non-asian applicants from applying to TJ, except for the lack of stem interest due to lack of FCPS honor classes at bottom 10 middle schools that would help students prepare for TJ rigor.

TJ Applicants / Enrollment year
========================
2,766 2019-20
2,539 2020-21
3,034 2021-22 <== artificially induced surge & switch to essay based admission
2,544 2022-23
2,548 2023-24

Go back to the Class of 2017 and there were over 3100 applicants. So over the past decade there's been a pronounced decline in interest in TJ, despite the steps purportedly intended to make TJ more attractive to a wider pool of applicants. Of course, there are more applicants than seats, but it's certainly not a place on the upswing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting that the applications to TJ seem to be essentially flat after the change in admissions policy. If I recall correctly, the number of applications rose for the Class of 2025 (though still lower than in some prior years before the admissions change), then dipped significantly for the Class of 2026 and was essentially flat for the Class of 2027.

Given that (1) the admissions change allegedly increased "access" to TJ for students who didn't have access because the "old" system was skewed in favor of wealthier kids and (2) the class sizes were expanded from roughly 470 to 550, one would have expected to see a sustained, sizable increase in applications. The fact that this hasn't happened suggests that whatever increase in "access" may have occurred is being offset by a decrease in interest among students and families who now perceive that TJ is less prestigious or no longer appreciates what they bring to the table.

I know some who post here are fine with that, but it underscores that the changes may be leading to unintended consequences - at least if FCPS really wanted to continue to hold out TJ as some type of "flagship" (as opposed to simply a specialized curriculum, like a language immersion program).

calling asian american students as wealthy kids is BS, and racist.

The unusual rise in applicants, among minority racial groups except asian americans, was not due to elimination of application fee, but a desperate move by FCPS to capitalize on the momentum generated by the George Floyd movement. There isn't any genuine upsurge in STEM interest among these applicant groups; rather, it seems to be a calculated effort to diversify the applicant pool with non-Asian applicants, possibly in anticipation of the backlash expected from the forceful reduction of Asian American applicants from 73% to 54%. Of course, application fee was never a problem as can be seen from the number of applicants before and after its removal. No one was stopping non-asian applicants from applying to TJ, except for the lack of stem interest due to lack of FCPS honor classes at bottom 10 middle schools that would help students prepare for TJ rigor.

TJ Applicants / Enrollment year
========================
2,766 2019-20
2,539 2020-21
3,034 2021-22 <== artificially induced surge & switch to essay based admission
2,544 2022-23
2,548 2023-24

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting that the applications to TJ seem to be essentially flat after the change in admissions policy. If I recall correctly, the number of applications rose for the Class of 2025 (though still lower than in some prior years before the admissions change), then dipped significantly for the Class of 2026 and was essentially flat for the Class of 2027.

Given that (1) the admissions change allegedly increased "access" to TJ for students who didn't have access because the "old" system was skewed in favor of wealthier kids and (2) the class sizes were expanded from roughly 470 to 550, one would have expected to see a sustained, sizable increase in applications. The fact that this hasn't happened suggests that whatever increase in "access" may have occurred is being offset by a decrease in interest among students and families who now perceive that TJ is less prestigious or no longer appreciates what they bring to the table.

I know some who post here are fine with that, but it underscores that the changes may be leading to unintended consequences - at least if FCPS really wanted to continue to hold out TJ as some type of "flagship" (as opposed to simply a specialized curriculum, like a language immersion program).

calling asian american students as wealthy kids is BS, and racist.

The unusual rise in applicants, among minority racial groups except asian americans, was not due to elimination of application fee, but a desperate move by FCPS to capitalize on the momentum generated by the George Floyd movement. There isn't any genuine upsurge in STEM interest among these applicant groups; rather, it seems to be a calculated effort to diversify the applicant pool with non-Asian applicants, possibly in anticipation of the backlash expected from the forceful reduction of Asian American applicants from 73% to 54%. Of course, application fee was never a problem as can be seen from the number of applicants before and after its removal. No one was stopping non-asian applicants from applying to TJ, except for the lack of stem interest due to lack of FCPS honor classes at bottom 10 middle schools that would help students prepare for TJ rigor.

TJ Applicants / Enrollment year
========================
2,766 2019-20
2,539 2020-21
3,034 2021-22 <== artificially induced surge & switch to essay based admission
2,544 2022-23
2,548 2023-24