Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My children are getting an exceptional education at Marshall. Older child got an IB diploma and got into a top 10 school, and the younger is in the IB program now. It may not be what everyone wants, but there is no doubt it's an excellent school and an excellent program.

Marshall mostly sends kids to NOVA, GMU and VCU. Madison sends far more kids to top schools.

Their senior destinations are similar. I believe more Marshall students were admitted to HYPS schools this past year, but that is just due to year-to-year variation.

Show us actual data to indicate otherwise.

I believe there is a benefit to 'schooling' with a diverse community of kids - IB and AP kids don't really segregate into honors classes until junior year, and they play sports, participate in Clubs and do extracurricular activities with all students in the school throughout all four years. Another poster made that point that judging schools by averages is misleading - better to evaluate your own kid and his/her objectives and then evaluate all the aspects of the schools available. It is amazing (to me) the range of offerings that are available to Fairfax students (and also amazing how much we pay for them!). If you can't find a 'good fit' at all the available schools/programs, there are lots of great private/parochial schools available as well.

Anonymous wrote:My children are getting an exceptional education at Marshall. Older child got an IB diploma and got into a top 10 school, and the younger is in the IB program now. It may not be what everyone wants, but there is no doubt it's an excellent school and an excellent program.

Marshall mostly sends kids to NOVA, GMU and VCU. Madison sends far more kids to top schools.

Anonymous wrote:I just don't understand why UMC people think their children will be harmed by going to school with FARMS kids. It's especially hypocritical if you see yourself as a liberal and supportive of public education to work your damnedest to make sure your kids don't share with FARMS kids, yet we see it all the time, esp. in gentrifying neighborhoods.

People aren't giving you a direct answer to this question because they know you're right. It IS hypocritical but dthey don't care.

My children are getting an exceptional education at Marshall. Older child got an IB diploma and got into a top 10 school, and the younger is in the IB program now. It may not be what everyone wants, but there is no doubt it's an excellent school and an excellent program.

Anonymous wrote:I just don't understand why UMC people think their children will be harmed by going to school with FARMS kids. It's especially hypocritical if you see yourself as a liberal and supportive of public education to work your damnedest to make sure your kids don't share with FARMS kids, yet we see it all the time, esp. in gentrifying neighborhoods.

But the selling point at IB schools seems to be IB is a "school within a school," so that seems no better (and worse overall for the non-IB kids, whether they are FARMS or not).

I just don't understand why UMC people think their children will be harmed by going to school with FARMS kids. It's especially hypocritical if you see yourself as a liberal and supportive of public education to work your damnedest to make sure your kids don't share with FARMS kids, yet we see it all the time, esp. in gentrifying neighborhoods.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Test scores at most IB schools remain lower because they're located in lower-income areas with more apartment complexes and poorer housing stock. The installation of AP or IB in the HS is never going to substantially change that issue. People who want out of a given pyramid badly enough will still find a way to transfer (foreign language, for instance). Sure there are some who actually prefer a certain program, but it's crazy to assume transfers from schools like Annandale to Woodson are all about the desire for AP.

Which is why FCPS should put an effort into redistricting school boundaries to reduce high concentrations of FARMs students and spread them throughout the system. More mixing of racial/ethnic and SES groups would benefit all, but especially the poorer students.

+1

But it shouldn't just be about sending the FARMS students farther from home. It should also be about increasing the number of UMC students at schools like Falls Church, Annandale and Stuart.

I looked at the non-FARMS enrollments at the three schools.

At Falls Church (AP), the non-FARMS enrollment has gone up from 767 in 2010-11 to 985 students this year. At Stuart (IB), the number over the same period has increased from 800 to 854.

Annandale (IB) is a different story, with the non-FARMS enrollment having declined from 1412 students in 2010-11 to 967 this year. This is due to boundary changes and pupil placements. If FCPS wants to turn Annandale around quickly, it needs to send part of Woodson back to Annandale and get rid of IB-enabled pupil placements.

The growth in non-FARMS (in this area, often UMC) enrollments at schools like Falls Church and Stuart is obscured by the fact that the FARMS population may be growing faster, so the overall FARMS percentages may increase even when the number of non-FARMS students is growing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Test scores at most IB schools remain lower because they're located in lower-income areas with more apartment complexes and poorer housing stock. The installation of AP or IB in the HS is never going to substantially change that issue. People who want out of a given pyramid badly enough will still find a way to transfer (foreign language, for instance). Sure there are some who actually prefer a certain program, but it's crazy to assume transfers from schools like Annandale to Woodson are all about the desire for AP.

Which is why FCPS should put an effort into redistricting school boundaries to reduce high concentrations of FARMs students and spread them throughout the system. More mixing of racial/ethnic and SES groups would benefit all, but especially the poorer students.

+1

But it shouldn't just be about sending the FARMS students farther from home. It should also be about increasing the number of UMC students at schools like Falls Church, Annandale and Stuart.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Test scores at most IB schools remain lower because they're located in lower-income areas with more apartment complexes and poorer housing stock. The installation of AP or IB in the HS is never going to substantially change that issue. People who want out of a given pyramid badly enough will still find a way to transfer (foreign language, for instance). Sure there are some who actually prefer a certain program, but it's crazy to assume transfers from schools like Annandale to Woodson are all about the desire for AP.

Which is why FCPS should put an effort into redistricting school boundaries to reduce high concentrations of FARMs students and spread them throughout the system. More mixing of racial/ethnic and SES groups would benefit all, but especially the poorer students.

What if the FARMS students prefer to attend schools closer to their homes? The bulk of the FARMS students at Marshall either live very close to Marshall (the area off Pimmit Drive) or closer to Marshall or a higher FARMS school (Falls Church) than to Madison (the areas off Lee Highway).

Anonymous wrote:Test scores at most IB schools remain lower because they're located in lower-income areas with more apartment complexes and poorer housing stock. The installation of AP or IB in the HS is never going to substantially change that issue. People who want out of a given pyramid badly enough will still find a way to transfer (foreign language, for instance). Sure there are some who actually prefer a certain program, but it's crazy to assume transfers from schools like Annandale to Woodson are all about the desire for AP.

Which is why FCPS should put an effort into redistricting school boundaries to reduce high concentrations of FARMs students and spread them throughout the system. More mixing of racial/ethnic and SES groups would benefit all, but especially the poorer students.

Anonymous wrote:Test scores at most IB schools remain lower because they're located in lower-income areas with more apartment complexes and poorer housing stock. The installation of AP or IB in the HS is never going to substantially change that issue. People who want out of a given pyramid badly enough will still find a way to transfer (foreign language, for instance). Sure there are some who actually prefer a certain program, but it's crazy to assume transfers from schools like Annandale to Woodson are all about the desire for AP.

This is essentially an argument against the decision to put IB in eight schools and a concession that it hasn't met its original goals. That being the case, there is certainly no reason to pay more for a program that has not delivered, at schools where student achievement, objectively measured, remains below the achievement levels at AP schools and where the number of pupil placements per school for AP is almost twice as high as the number of pupil placements per school for IB.

And, of course, there is nothing unique about IB that helps students acquire the "Portrait of a Graduate" skills, as underscored by the fact the related FCPS web page features Kilmer MS, which fortunately has not been saddled with the IB MYP, which the parents of the 15-20% of Kilmer students heading to Madison likely would not tolerate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Test scores at most IB schools remain lower because they're located in lower-income areas with more apartment complexes and poorer housing stock. The installation of AP or IB in the HS is never going to substantially change that issue. People who want out of a given pyramid badly enough will still find a way to transfer (foreign language, for instance). Sure there are some who actually prefer a certain program, but it's crazy to assume transfers from schools like Annandale to Woodson are all about the desire for AP.

Nope its all about keeping away from the poors and the browns.

Exactly why DCUM claims Madison > Marshall. It's just a little bit richer and a little bit whiter...

Anonymous wrote:Test scores at most IB schools remain lower because they're located in lower-income areas with more apartment complexes and poorer housing stock. The installation of AP or IB in the HS is never going to substantially change that issue. People who want out of a given pyramid badly enough will still find a way to transfer (foreign language, for instance). Sure there are some who actually prefer a certain program, but it's crazy to assume transfers from schools like Annandale to Woodson are all about the desire for AP.

Nope its all about keeping away from the poors and the browns.

We live in Marshall area and I personally know a kid who went to Madison this year for AP. Couldn't have been that closed for transfer.