I think that you are going to have a hard time persuading the rest of the county about how it's so unfair that Whitman, Wootton, Churchill, and Walter Johnson don't have a test-in middle-school magnet program located in their clusters.

Isn't this reverse social-economic discrimination? I don't know the data on who applies and qualifies for the magnets but assuming those schools have an equal or number of students then why wouldn't you place a magnet or IB program in those schools? Why waste the money busing them across the county? It certainly is counter to health policies to have them go even earlier because of an extra long bus ride.

Montgomery is very fucked up and has suffered from terrible leadership. There should be more integrated housing options but the county council is one of the most idiotic groups in the country when it comes to planning and development. They create so many barriers that Virginia and Howard have stepped in to grab all the growing industries. When a developer does get through the red tape and decides to build something here, Montgomery County ends up being completely shafted on funds for schools or community development because they aren't competent negotiators and don't enforce their own polices that frighten other developers away. . Its really the worst of both ends.

We've ended up with a declining tax revenue base while other areas around us are growing. We have segregation in housing that affects the schools. We try to address this by spending money busing kids around so we don't have enough money to start schools at a legitimate time.

Anonymous wrote:
Why not? The kids who come to Silver spring from these school districts to attend a magnet programs have really long commutes and have a tough time managing extra currics. as a result. The curriculum in the magnet programs is much better than the curriculum you find at Westland or North Bethesda for example. You also have a much larger peer group in the magnet program. In the middle school magnets for example you have 100 kids who are working at your level, whereas in the aforementioned schools you might have a dozen in the entire grade and these children are not grouped together in one class (except for Math - if you take Algebra in 6th grade for example). They are spread out and are frequently lucky to have a couple of kids working at their level in their classes. So their needs are not met in the "W" schools. Remember we are talking about the top 5% of students. Most of these kids love learning - it is what makes them tick, and they really need the stimulation and challenge of an advanced and accelerated curriculum and a robust group of peers.

I don't understand. Are you talking about students in Bethesda/Potomac being able to go to the middle school magnets? They are able to go to the middle school magnets, if they apply and accepted, just like any other students in any other cluster.

Or are you talking about actually locating a middle-school test-in magnet program in a Bethesda/Potomac cluster? There are 38 middle schools in MCPS. 35 of them do not host a middle-school test-in magnet program.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I don't know about the others but Cold Spring ES has HGC.

But I think we are talking about MS and HS, not ES. For MS, there are no magnets in the W clusters. For HS, there is the IB program in RM, but again, I don't think the W schools have any magnet programs, although I think Whitman has an IB program but it is not a test-in program, and it only serves the Whitman cluster, unlike the IB program in RM.

I think that you are going to have a hard time persuading the rest of the county about how it's so unfair that Whitman, Wootton, Churchill, and Walter Johnson don't have a test-in middle-school magnet program located in their clusters.

Unless by "W" clusters, you meant Watkins Mill, Wheaton, Whitman, and Wootton?

Why not? The kids who come to Silver spring from these school districts to attend a magnet programs have really long commutes and have a tough time managing extra currics. as a result. The curriculum in the magnet programs is much better than the curriculum you find at Westland or North Bethesda for example. You also have a much larger peer group in the magnet program. In the middle school magnets for example you have 100 kids who are working at your level, whereas in the aforementioned schools you might have a dozen in the entire grade and these children are not grouped together in one class (except for Math - if you take Algebra in 6th grade for example). They are spread out and are frequently lucky to have a couple of kids working at their level in their classes. So their needs are not met in the "W" schools. Remember we are talking about the top 5% of students. Most of these kids love learning - it is what makes them tick, and they really need the stimulation and challenge of an advanced and accelerated curriculum and a robust group of peers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought that when there were many high scorers at a school they were less likely to pull kids for the magnet because they have a peer group at the home school and can be accomodated there.

+1 this is why you don't have as many kids from "W" schools applying or accepting spots at the middle school magnets in particular.

Also is the crap early bus ride around the beltway during rush hours each way. no after school activities for you!

That'd be the day MoCo put a magnet program west of 270 or Connecticut Ave..

Poolesville HS is west of 270. So is Roberto Clemente MS. So is Cold Spring ES. So is Potomac ES. So is Hoover MS.

what HGT or programs are those? what exit on 270? (just curious, still live in DC).

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/specialprograms/

Anonymous wrote:

I don't know about the others but Cold Spring ES has HGC.

But I think we are talking about MS and HS, not ES. For MS, there are no magnets in the W clusters. For HS, there is the IB program in RM, but again, I don't think the W schools have any magnet programs, although I think Whitman has an IB program but it is not a test-in program, and it only serves the Whitman cluster, unlike the IB program in RM.

I think that you are going to have a hard time persuading the rest of the county about how it's so unfair that Whitman, Wootton, Churchill, and Walter Johnson don't have a test-in middle-school magnet program located in their clusters.

Unless by "W" clusters, you meant Watkins Mill, Wheaton, Whitman, and Wootton?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought that when there were many high scorers at a school they were less likely to pull kids for the magnet because they have a peer group at the home school and can be accomodated there.

+1 this is why you don't have as many kids from "W" schools applying or accepting spots at the middle school magnets in particular.

Also is the crap early bus ride around the beltway during rush hours each way. no after school activities for you!

That'd be the day MoCo put a magnet program west of 270 or Connecticut Ave..

Poolesville HS is west of 270. So is Roberto Clemente MS. So is Cold Spring ES. So is Potomac ES. So is Hoover MS.

what HGT or programs are those? what exit on 270? (just curious, still live in DC).

I don't know about the others but Cold Spring ES has HGC.

But I think we are talking about MS and HS, not ES. For MS, there are no magnets in the W clusters. For HS, there is the IB program in RM, but again, I don't think the W schools have any magnet programs, although I think Whitman has an IB program but it is not a test-in program, and it only serves the Whitman cluster, unlike the IB program in RM.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought that when there were many high scorers at a school they were less likely to pull kids for the magnet because they have a peer group at the home school and can be accomodated there.

+1 this is why you don't have as many kids from "W" schools applying or accepting spots at the middle school magnets in particular.

Also is the crap early bus ride around the beltway during rush hours each way. no after school activities for you!

That'd be the day MoCo put a magnet program west of 270 or Connecticut Ave..

Poolesville HS is west of 270. So is Roberto Clemente MS. So is Cold Spring ES. So is Potomac ES. So is Hoover MS.

what HGT or programs are those? what exit on 270? (just curious, still live in DC).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

So how can 'gifted' children or children who quickly master material be better supported in their home schools -- in spite of 2.0?

You have to seek outside instruction and activities. Our school pays lots of lip service to acceleration and enrichment in 2.0 but its non-existent and a joke. The 2.0 writing are open enough that a kid could do more but the teachers only teach to the "proficient" expectations. There is absolutely no feedback and guidance on improving your writing if you've already hit the magic P of mediocre work. Since most of the work is done in class and there is no writing composition homework you can't really supplement at home by guiding your child to improve their writing either.

For writing, you can look for writing workshops or even just writing based projects and assignments on the web. For math, there are math classes offered by Kumon, Mathnasium, private tutors, Singapore books are available at Amazon, IXL is an on-line program that offers practice exercises, Khan academy etc. Johns Hopkins has a talented youth on-line program.

Great idea! Let's pay $1000s of property tax dollars for a subpar MCPS education, let them off the hook and turn around and pay $1000s to tutors and workshops! Sounds like utopia.

If I were you, I would move to somewhere where I thought the schools were better.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought that when there were many high scorers at a school they were less likely to pull kids for the magnet because they have a peer group at the home school and can be accomodated there.

+1 this is why you don't have as many kids from "W" schools applying or accepting spots at the middle school magnets in particular.

Also is the crap early bus ride around the beltway during rush hours each way. no after school activities for you!

That'd be the day MoCo put a magnet program west of 270 or Connecticut Ave..

Poolesville HS is west of 270. So is Roberto Clemente MS. So is Cold Spring ES. So is Potomac ES. So is Hoover MS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought that when there were many high scorers at a school they were less likely to pull kids for the magnet because they have a peer group at the home school and can be accomodated there.

+1 this is why you don't have as many kids from "W" schools applying or accepting spots at the middle school magnets in particular.

Also is the crap early bus ride around the beltway during rush hours each way. no after school activities for you!

That'd be the day MoCo put a magnet program west of 270 or Connecticut Ave..

This must be the "entitlement" a previous poster was referring to when they talked about how magnet kids are so privileged.

Anonymous wrote:

So how can 'gifted' children or children who quickly master material be better supported in their home schools -- in spite of 2.0?

You have to seek outside instruction and activities. Our school pays lots of lip service to acceleration and enrichment in 2.0 but its non-existent and a joke. The 2.0 writing are open enough that a kid could do more but the teachers only teach to the "proficient" expectations. There is absolutely no feedback and guidance on improving your writing if you've already hit the magic P of mediocre work. Since most of the work is done in class and there is no writing composition homework you can't really supplement at home by guiding your child to improve their writing either.

For writing, you can look for writing workshops or even just writing based projects and assignments on the web. For math, there are math classes offered by Kumon, Mathnasium, private tutors, Singapore books are available at Amazon, IXL is an on-line program that offers practice exercises, Khan academy etc. Johns Hopkins has a talented youth on-line program.

Great idea! Let's pay $1000s of property tax dollars for a subpar MCPS education, let them off the hook and turn around and pay $1000s to tutors and workshops! Sounds like utopia.

Anonymous wrote:So how can 'gifted' children or children who quickly master material be better supported in their home schools -- in spite of 2.0?

I keep hearing conflicting things about 2.0--ranging from how convoluted it is to how it's supposed to allow for different levels of learning. Is this happening? Do teachers need to be better trained? Should outside material be brought in? Is there such a thing as an honors track for middle school courses? Sorry for all the questions!!

I've never heard a teacher or principal speak recently about "allowing for different levels of learning." You mean sit by yourself in the classroom with a book while those behind get the one-on-one attention?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought that when there were many high scorers at a school they were less likely to pull kids for the magnet because they have a peer group at the home school and can be accomodated there.

+1 this is why you don't have as many kids from "W" schools applying or accepting spots at the middle school magnets in particular.

Also is the crap early bus ride around the beltway during rush hours each way. no after school activities for you!

That'd be the day MoCo put a magnet program west of 270 or Connecticut Ave..

Anonymous wrote:I think MCPS is already backing away from HGC and magnet support. Our former elementary school is one of the top scoring schools in the county yet I heard that only 1 3rd grader was accepted to the HGC program this year. Its not that the kids didn't score high enough but that there are so many more kids in our cluster that qualify now that the competition is much higher. HGC was a wonderful program and I'm happy that my child was able to go. If he was several years younger, he probably would not have gotten in.

For the kids that need this type of program and can work at that level with peers, its really a shame that MCPS stopped growing the program. I wouldn't advocate for lowing the standard but if they see a growing trend in students who qualify they should open more centers.

Correct, huge 200+ schools and $$$$100ms budgeted MCPS cannot and will not service more than a teeny tiny fraction of gifted students, and decreasing. THey would rather focus on illegal immigrants, grant money, and hiring more union teachers and multi-levels of admin.

Anonymous wrote:

This is not a standard. This is one of the math practices underlying the individual math standards, along with "Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them" and "Reason abstractly and quantitatively". Do you disagree with these principles? It sounds like you agree with them.

What the previous poster is pointing out is that a traditional "PROOF" does exactly this. Identifying the error state and providing a mathematical proof is a far more accurate and correct manner to express understanding and mastery of the concept. It also builds the foundation for higher level math.

Translating this into words and paragraph form to provide a written, english assignment type response to explain your reasoning is beyond ridiculous and flat out wrong. MCPS has embraced this idea that math needs to become a verbal art form to the point where they are now teaching kids incorrect concepts and accepting wrong answers. There is a reason why math developed a different set of symbols, numbers and equations to express the concepts instead of just using oral and written verbiage!! Its not only cumbersome but translating mathematical concepts into english prose often yields the wrong result. We see this again and again on all the poorly worded word problems from MCPS. Now, they are teaching the students to screw up math.

Which Common Core standard requires you to write paragraph-length essays to identify math errors? Please find it for me, because I can't find it for myself.

(For what it's worth, MCPS has also not yet required my child to write paragraph-length essays to identify math errors, but maybe MCPS has required other children to do so.)

And if the argument is that the Common Core is bad because it calls for students to construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others, which people were already doing that before the Common Core -- well, I don't understand that argument. Would the Common Core be better if it didn't call for students to construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others?