Anonymous wrote:If you look at Algebra 1 for middle school it gets even stranger. Algebra 1 in middle school should be kids working at grade level. The kids who are struggling should be in Math 8 not Algebra 1. If you look at where the schools fell in % of students that showed proficiency is really bad. The schools on the bottom list do not all have more than 50% FARMS kids. Many schools in the middle have FARMS rate that are pretty low.

Where is Silver Creek? This school outscored the Ws in Algebra 1.

Top Schools - over 85%
Silver Creek 93.2
Cabin John 92.7
Westland 92.7
Pyle 91.3
Hoover 87.9
Takoma Park 89.9
Frost 86.6

Middle 84.9-50
North Bethesda 84.5
Lakelands 76.6
Julius West 72.3
Rosa Parks 71.7
Rocky Hills 69
Tilden 65.4
Kingsview 54.3
Hallie Wells 52
Poole 60.9
Martin Luther King 57.6

Bottom - lower than 50% pass
Parkland 39.9
Silver Spring International 46
Clemente 43.5
Eastern 43
Briggs Chaney 42.4
Baker 46.7
Ridgeview 45.5
Newport Middle 37.9
Forest Oak 35.3
Francis Scott Key 29.3
Gaithersburg 21.3
Montgomery Middle 18.3
Neelsville 12.2
White Oak 18.3
Sligo 39.3
Banneker 20.8
Argule 31.4
Loiderman 20.3

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/k-12/bs-md-maryland-parcc-scores-20180828-htmlstory.html

You can look up schools here. I just looked up Rachel Carson/Quince Orchard which is an area that we are considering.

It doesn't make sense why the % of kids failing to reach proficiency is so high. RC is in the 60s (E 57-69 and M 52-70)but the FARMS rate is very low. QO is 64 for English and 13 for Algebra. NW which has many more FARMS students is almost identical.

Piney Branch is in the 40s BUT there are at least 4 times more FARMS students at PB. Blair is 54 for English and 5.0 for Algebra but again there are lots of FARMS students.

My understanding is that the Algebra scores are jacked because they are only looking at kids who take Algebra in HS. I think the "on grade level" curriculum currently has students taking Algebra in 8th grade, and many take it in 7th. They are not counted in a HS's Algebra pass rate. I'm not sure exactly how it works, just that the kids taking algebra in middle school mess up the numbers in some way.

Yes, this is a big problem for math but doesn't explain ELA. I think it is a curriculum problem. Mcps doesn't align with PARCC expectations. My child consistently gets high 4/low 5 on Math in ES. Always high 3 on ELA. Always has trouble with the writing part according to the report. Reads above level but can't write. I plan to get a tutor this year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some posters constantly want to dismiss performance scores because they believe they only reflect SES. The PARCC scores don't align with this view and many schools with lower rates of students achieving proficiency are doing so at percentages much higher than their FARMS rates.

I’m sorry, but I don’t really understand what you are saying? Do you mean that there are schools with, for example, 40% FARMS rate that are achieving 50%proficiency? I don’t really see that as surprising.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some posters constantly want to dismiss performance scores because they believe they only reflect SES. The PARCC scores don't align with this view and many schools with lower rates of students achieving proficiency are doing so at percentages much higher than their FARMS rates.

THank you central office and BOE!! You have solved achievement gap.

Anonymous wrote:

Income = dollars

SES = Combination of education, income, professional prestige, and some nebulous stuff about values and expectations

School systems do not collect data on nebulous stuff about values, they collect data on who opts into or out of FARMS. The Phd artist with a low temporary income is probably not filing for assistance. If she is then she's rare and not enough to screw the data and if anything would serve to falsely raise the scores of the FARMS category not lower it.

FARMS data is regularly and appropriately used as a proxy measure for low SES.

There is research that shows a correlation between poverty and poor school performance. Poverty is consistently shown to be a stronger factor than any other influencer. Whites living in poverty score low. Wealthy whites score high. AA living in poverty score low. Wealthy AA score higher on tests. Asian immigrants are the only ethnic group that breaks this pattern.

The discrepancy comes in by assuming that anyone not living in poverty will do just fine in the MCPS school system. The PARCC scores break this myth by showing large failure rates above FARMS rate in many schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Income = dollars

SES = Combination of education, income, professional prestige, and some nebulous stuff about values and expectations

School systems do not collect data on nebulous stuff about values, they collect data on who opts into or out of FARMS. The Phd artist with a low temporary income is probably not filing for assistance. If she is then she's rare and not enough to screw the data and if anything would serve to falsely raise the scores of the FARMS category not lower it.

FARMS data is regularly and appropriately used as a proxy measure for low SES.

There is research that shows a correlation between poverty and poor school performance. Poverty is consistently shown to be a stronger factor than any other influencer. Whites living in poverty score low. Wealthy whites score high. AA living in poverty score low. Wealthy AA score higher on tests. Asian immigrants are the only ethnic group that breaks this pattern.

The discrepancy comes in by assuming that anyone not living in poverty will do just fine in the MCPS school system. The PARCC scores break this myth by showing large failure rates above FARMS rate in many schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


I bet those kids go to schools with lower FARMS rates. Once you hit a tipping point, those kids aren't doing well. A school full of poor kids isn't going to do well.

FARMs is a measure of household income, not socioeconomic status. I wish that people would stop conflating the two. I'm talking to the OP, not to you, PP.

What's the difference between income and SES?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socioeconomic_status

Income is one factor but not the only one used to determine SES. A PhD student or medical resident might have low income but higher SES based on occupation and education.

Great example. In our Silver Spring neighborhood, there are a fair number of recent immigrants and refugees from East Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. These are often folks who were well-educated back home, and some are here are special visas for individuals who worked with US troops. So, they are low income because their specific skills aren't in particularly high demand in the United States in 2018, but they expect a lot from their kids, create a stable home, and in all other ways "share the values" of any other family in the area.

Income = dollars

SES = Combination of education, income, professional prestige, and some nebulous stuff about values and expectations

Anonymous wrote:

DP. SES is socioeconomic status. So yes, SES by definition is not based solely in income.

Either share what criteria YOU include in SES or stop posting on the thread.