Does cohort at the local MS matter as it used to? Or are they basically taking everyone who gets As in Math or English plus 85% on the appropriate MAP test and putting their names in a hat?

Anonymous wrote:The considered numbers for previous years were the "highly able" students who were reviewed for admission as part of the applicant pool although you didn't actually have to apply.

I don't think that's true. The considered numbers for 2019 and 2020 are more than 50 percent of 2021. For instance, Takoma:
2019: 4446
2020: 4890
2021: 7747

The 7747 number probably means the number of all 6th graders in downcounty and therefore considered in the universal review. The question is why similar numbers weren't considered in 2019 and 2020 when universal review was also supposed to be taking place.
Also, 4446 is too high a number to be considered "highly able." That's like saying more than 50% of the student population is highly able.

Anonymous wrote:The considered numbers for previous years were the "highly able" students who were reviewed for admission as part of the applicant pool although you didn't actually have to apply.

Right, but we know they didn't put everybody in the lottery this year, so for some reason they've changed their language and are using "considered" to mean the total population that they looked at before creating the lottery. The numbers listed as considered are the total populations for those grades (see the CIP Appendix).

The considered numbers for previous years were the "highly able" students who were reviewed for admission as part of the applicant pool although you didn't actually have to apply.

It implies ALL of them were in the lottery.

Anonymous wrote:The huge difference here seems to be in attachment B which is students considered.
What was the criteria for being in the lottery in 2021 and how did that differ from when they were using more of a ranked selection process?
Asians were 20% of the total considered in 2019-20 but only 14.5% in 2021.
Hispanic students were 22% in 2019-20 but then 34% in 2021! That is a huge difference. Are they awarding a lot of points to students who are ever FARMS or ESOL which boosted those numbers and did they increase the minimum scores for all others? Did they put certain areas at an advantage that are less Asian?

I think MCPS needs to release the data for how the lottery was formed.

Considered seems to be the entire grade population -- see Appendix A of the CIP here, where Asians make up ~14% of the school population. I don't think there's a way to see how many kids were then placed in the lottery.

Anonymous wrote:The huge difference here seems to be in attachment B which is students considered.
What was the criteria for being in the lottery in 2021 and how did that differ from when they were using more of a ranked selection process?
Asians were 20% of the total considered in 2019-20 but only 14.5% in 2021.
Hispanic students were 22% in 2019-20 but then 34% in 2021! That is a huge difference. Are they awarding a lot of points to students who are ever FARMS or ESOL which boosted those numbers and did they increase the minimum scores for all others? Did they put certain areas at an advantage that are less Asian?

I think MCPS needs to release the data for how the lottery was formed.

My thoughts, too. I suspect it wasn't a straight lottery where kids were put in a pool and picked out at random, but a behind-the-scenes points or weighted-numbers system. I also would like the county to divulge more info.

Anonymous wrote:Meh. In terms of URM, 4 fewer students were invited in the "Black" category in 2020 and 5 more in the "Hispanic" category. It's a wash on terms of equity. Read PP.

But the Asian American students were halved under the lottery system. That's incredibly significant! After their numbers were already reduced by previous criteria.

The huge difference here seems to be in attachment B which is students considered.
What was the criteria for being in the lottery in 2021 and how did that differ from when they were using more of a ranked selection process?
Asians were 20% of the total considered in 2019-20 but only 14.5% in 2021.
Hispanic students were 22% in 2019-20 but then 34% in 2021! That is a huge difference. Are they awarding a lot of points to students who are ever FARMS or ESOL which boosted those numbers and did they increase the minimum scores for all others? Did they put certain areas at an advantage that are less Asian?

I think MCPS needs to release the data for how the lottery was formed.

Thanks to the PP for posting that admissions data; I hadn't seen it before.

The "considered" number appears to be the entire population (11,466 3rd graders for CES, ~12,000 5th graders between the upcounty and downcounty magnets).

What really strikes me is how few middle school magnet spots there are, which I knew but hadn't seen spelled out quite this way before. 6% of 3rd graders were placed in the CES, but only ~3% in the middle school magnets (~1.5% each at the math and humanities magnets in each part of the county). Those spots were filled through a lottery of the top 15% (roughly) at each magnet, meaning that only 1 out of 10 kids that the school system identified as qualified through their process this year were placed in a given magnet. If the county says that the other 9 out of 10 kids can be served at their local schools, why even bother having the magnet for that small percentage of kids?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Meh. In terms of URM, 4 fewer students were invited in the "Black" category in 2020 and 5 more in the "Hispanic" category. It's a wash on terms of equity. Read PP.

These numbers are very low so it is a significant percentage increase. Seems like the lottery approach is a win.

For all the bitter parents who feel like their kids were "cheated" out of spots. It has always been hard to get a spot. Now at least they are offering enriched programming in MS. Keep on advocating for a stronger MS curriculum with meaningful enrichment. That is really what will help all our kids.

Not really - at our MS the enriched program is offered to everyone os it's basically regular old English and social studies. Math is different but it's still very basic.

Anonymous wrote:Meh. In terms of URM, 4 fewer students were invited in the "Black" category in 2020 and 5 more in the "Hispanic" category. It's a wash on terms of equity. Read PP.

These numbers are very low so it is a significant percentage increase. Seems like the lottery approach is a win.

For all the bitter parents who feel like their kids were "cheated" out of spots. It has always been hard to get a spot. Now at least they are offering enriched programming in MS. Keep on advocating for a stronger MS curriculum with meaningful enrichment. That is really what will help all our kids.

Where are you seeing number "invited"? I just see "considered", which I assume is the total number of kids who made the cutoff and were entered into the lottery, and then number "placed" which I assume is the final number that took actual spots. This doesn't seem to tell us how many were offered a spot (some number of which turned it down).

Meh. In terms of URM, 4 fewer students were invited in the "Black" category in 2020 and 5 more in the "Hispanic" category. It's a wash on terms of equity. Read PP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I agree with you that the lottery process is likely here to stay. Did MCPS publish demographic information about this year's MS magnet classes? If # of URMs stayed the same or increased, this process is a done deal. If the lottery means more enriched programming at home schools than I am all for it.

Admissions data:
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/departments/schoolchoice/210818%20CES%20Secondary%20App%20Prog%20Admission%20Results.pdf

Takoma Park placed:
Asian 26
Black 26
Hispanic 20
Two or More Races 5
White 47

Does this mean there is no achievement gap anymore?

The breakdown isn't that different compared to previous years.

Not true.

2020
Asian 52
Black 18
Hispanic 16
Two or More 10
White 61

2019
Asian 44
Black 22
Hispanic 11
Two or More <=10
White 69