Anonymous
Post 05/22/2017 10:16     Subject: HGC Appeal result is out
They will probably need to stick with some sort of hybrid approach between home school and center. Maybe they can make centers smaller and serve fewer schools to avoid some of the logistical stuff that truly is a barrier to entry. The largest schools can support one pull-out class without a huge brain drain from the remainder, but smaller schools would not be able to pull it off - either because parents would complain vociferously about the 10-student class - or because too many kids would be siphoned off and it would leave difficult classes. And what would they do at a school like Monocacy that only has 1 class to start with and the "gifted" population may be 2 or 3 students?
Anonymous
Post 05/22/2017 10:11     Subject: HGC Appeal result is out
Anonymous wrote:Seems like they are moving towards a pullout in every school..that is what the pilot is. No bus ride required but a scaled down program.


Well if that is the case -- I'm glad my kid will be out of ES in 2 years. If they pull all the smartest kids out into one class in ES - that leaves ALL the kids who struggle in one class. Not a great idea in my opinion. I think it should be balanced.
Anonymous
Post 05/22/2017 07:08     Subject: Re:HGC Appeal result is out
Anonymous wrote:I had to look up the recommendations.
* Recommendation 3a: Implement modifications to the selection process used for academically competitive programs in MCPS, comprising elementary centers for highly gifted students and secondary magnet programs, to focus these programs on selecting equitably from among those applicants that demonstrate a capacity to thrive in the program, that include use of [b]non-cognitive criteria[/b], group-specific norms that benchmark student performance against school peers with comparable backgrounds, and/or a process that offers automatic admissions to the programs for students in the top 5-10% of sending elementary or middle schools in the district. ?
* Recommendation 3b: Invest resources to expand and enhance early talent development programs for students of underrepresented groups in order to bolster participation of a broader segment of the MCPS student population in academically selective programs.

Don't mind (b) as much as (a).

Why not just pick the smartest [b]regardless of race, location, or background? [/b] Pretty sure that's the Japanese educational system.


How are you going to determine who is the smartest?
Anonymous
Post 05/21/2017 20:49     Subject: HGC Appeal result is out
Anonymous wrote:This is all such BS.

I got into it with a colleague the other day who said that MCPS schools were better than privates.

If our schools were SO good, we wouldn't have a need for magnets. And the magnets can't even compete with some of the instructional programs in the private schools who aren't held hostage by state-mandated testing.



Then you should leave for private school and stop lurking here?
Anonymous
Post 05/21/2017 20:40     Subject: Re:HGC Appeal result is out
I had to look up the recommendations.
* Recommendation 3a: Implement modifications to the selection process used for academically competitive programs in MCPS, comprising elementary centers for highly gifted students and secondary magnet programs, to focus these programs on selecting equitably from among those applicants that demonstrate a capacity to thrive in the program, that include use of [b]non-cognitive criteria[/b], group-specific norms that benchmark student performance against school peers with comparable backgrounds, and/or a process that offers automatic admissions to the programs for students in the top 5-10% of sending elementary or middle schools in the district. ?
* Recommendation 3b: Invest resources to expand and enhance early talent development programs for students of underrepresented groups in order to bolster participation of a broader segment of the MCPS student population in academically selective programs.

Don't mind (b) as much as (a).

Why not just pick the smartest regardless of race, location, or background? Pretty sure that's the Japanese educational system.
Anonymous
Post 05/20/2017 21:15     Subject: HGC Appeal result is out
Anonymous wrote:This is all such BS.

I got into it with a colleague the other day who said that MCPS schools were better than privates.

If our schools were SO good, we wouldn't have a need for magnets. And the magnets can't even compete with some of the instructional programs in the private schools who aren't held hostage by state-mandated testing.



?

Would you also say, if our schools were SO good, we wouldn't have a need for the separate special ed schools? Or for a separate vocational school? It seems an unreasonable expectation to me that each zoned home school should be able to meet the individual needs of each and every one of the students who live within the school's boundary area.
Anonymous
Post 05/20/2017 17:27     Subject: HGC Appeal result is out
This is all such BS.

I got into it with a colleague the other day who said that MCPS schools were better than privates.

If our schools were SO good, we wouldn't have a need for magnets. And the magnets can't even compete with some of the instructional programs in the private schools who aren't held hostage by state-mandated testing.

Anonymous
Post 05/20/2017 17:04     Subject: HGC Appeal result is out
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote::08, we don't all have special snowflakes. Teachers tend to favor well-behaved, high achieving girls.


Except for when they don't, of course.

+1 There have been several years where HGC heavily leaned boys.
Anonymous
Post 05/20/2017 14:50     Subject: HGC Appeal result is out
Anonymous wrote::08, we don't all have special snowflakes. Teachers tend to favor well-behaved, high achieving girls.


Except for when they don't, of course.
Anonymous
Post 05/20/2017 09:08     Subject: HGC Appeal result is out
:08, we don't all have special snowflakes. Teachers tend to favor well-behaved, high achieving girls.
Anonymous
Post 05/20/2017 00:08     Subject: HGC Appeal result is out
Anonymous wrote:Neither should teacher recommendations which are inherently biased.


Yes, let's go by what all you helicopter mommies think of your snowflakes. Definitely not the teachers!!
Anonymous
Post 05/19/2017 21:46     Subject: HGC Appeal result is out
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My DC remains in the wait pool. The letter does reveal the median SAS score of the selected students in the Center. My son's score is exactly the same as the median score... However, " the score is not determinative of selection and is one of the multiple factors reviewed".

I know a kid whose SAS score is much higher than median score got successful appeal and now is accepted in HGC.


My kids'S score was higher than the median and he was rejected. On appeal, we learned his teacher's recommendation sank his application. She had told us during a p/t conference that she "didn't believe" in gifted education.


Screener is much shorter - only 10 minutes per section; 30 minutes total.
A few years ago when my DC went, the letter we got showed the median scores in three catgories -- verbal, nonverbal and quantitative -- along with my DC's scores in those categories.

Is it still like that, or do they only show the overall median score for the accepted group?

If it no only shows one median score, I wonder why they changed it?


It was a different test this year - Cogat screener instead of the full Cogat. So there are no category scores, just a composite score. This makes it harder to know if a child did poorly overall or just in 1 section that brought down the entire score...

What is the difference?
Anonymous
Post 05/19/2017 20:19     Subject: HGC Appeal result is out
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My DC remains in the wait pool. The letter does reveal the median SAS score of the selected students in the Center. My son's score is exactly the same as the median score... However, " the score is not determinative of selection and is one of the multiple factors reviewed".

I know a kid whose SAS score is much higher than median score got successful appeal and now is accepted in HGC.


My kids'S score was higher than the median and he was rejected. On appeal, we learned his teacher's recommendation sank his application. She had told us during a p/t conference that she "didn't believe" in gifted education.

So, did no kid from her class ever get selected to HGC?

Seems to me that the test scores are not given much weight anymore.


Correct. Until a group of parents organized and went to the principal to complain.
Anonymous
Post 05/19/2017 18:57     Subject: HGC Appeal result is out
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My DC remains in the wait pool. The letter does reveal the median SAS score of the selected students in the Center. My son's score is exactly the same as the median score... However, " the score is not determinative of selection and is one of the multiple factors reviewed".

I know a kid whose SAS score is much higher than median score got successful appeal and now is accepted in HGC.


My kids'S score was higher than the median and he was rejected. On appeal, we learned his teacher's recommendation sank his application. She had told us during a p/t conference that she "didn't believe" in gifted education.

A few years ago when my DC went, the letter we got showed the median scores in three catgories -- verbal, nonverbal and quantitative -- along with my DC's scores in those categories.

Is it still like that, or do they only show the overall median score for the accepted group?

If it no only shows one median score, I wonder why they changed it?


It was a different test this year - Cogat screener instead of the full Cogat. So there are no category scores, just a composite score. This makes it harder to know if a child did poorly overall or just in 1 section that brought down the entire score...

What is the difference?
Anonymous
Post 05/19/2017 18:27     Subject: HGC Appeal result is out
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My DC remains in the wait pool. The letter does reveal the median SAS score of the selected students in the Center. My son's score is exactly the same as the median score... However, " the score is not determinative of selection and is one of the multiple factors reviewed".

I know a kid whose SAS score is much higher than median score got successful appeal and now is accepted in HGC.


My kids'S score was higher than the median and he was rejected. On appeal, we learned his teacher's recommendation sank his application. She had told us during a p/t conference that she "didn't believe" in gifted education.

A few years ago when my DC went, the letter we got showed the median scores in three catgories -- verbal, nonverbal and quantitative -- along with my DC's scores in those categories.

Is it still like that, or do they only show the overall median score for the accepted group?

If it no only shows one median score, I wonder why they changed it?


It was a different test this year - Cogat screener instead of the full Cogat. So there are no category scores, just a composite score. This makes it harder to know if a child did poorly overall or just in 1 section that brought down the entire score...