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I don't think having a magnet for middle school programs in the Ann Arbor area would have that much of a negative effect on the other schools mainly because at that level, does it matter that much?
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<p>I meant a high school magnet. A high school magnet has the side effect of stepping up middle school curriculum, because the middle schools and parents want their kids to attend the magnet.</p>
<p>Also, are there even middle school magnets?</p>
<p>Regarding the MEAP: moving to the ACT is a blessing. The previous test was moronic.</p>
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I think getting the word out about programs like PROMYS and Mathcamp or even showing students that math comopetition <em>exists</em> can be enough to get more competitive ARML teams.
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<p>Michigan is, more or less, proof that really isn't true, or, rather, that it is too slow of a change.</p>
<p>Oh, and why is there so much hype around PROMYS and Math Camp? Where is the love for HCSSiM and Ross [and SUMAC]?! ;)</p>
<p>--</p>
<p>A clarification to a previous post:</p>
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The principal at Thomas Jefferson attests the school's success to its extremely strong middle school program.
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<p>The principal at Thomas Jefferson attests the school's success to Fairfax's extremely strong middle school program.</p>
<p>I thought that ICAE was a kind of middle school magnet. I'm pretty sure a few of my friends said they all went there for middle school, but maybe it was just for some special program on the side.</p>
<p>High school magnet would've been very nice...assuming I could've still played sports for my home school. Stupid block scheduling at my school limited the number of AP classes I could do in one year.</p>
<p>A decent amount of people in Michigan don't do PROMYS, Mathcamp, Ross, etc because OUSMI is just a much better option. You get actual transferrable college credit, a pretty good educational experience, and it costs nothing. I commuted to Oakland from Saline for 2 summers because I enjoyed it that much.</p>
<p>Boy, things don't change. I can remember in high school (think Mesozoic Era) there weren't many of us who actually pursued French past the first two years. Those of us who did tended to be fairly smart, got good grades, and were definitely college bound. We developed a play to present at our regional foregin language conference, and it went over so well, we were invited to go to State. </p>
<p>Our principal said no, with the excuse that we'd miss a day of school.</p>
<p>Our parents about freaked out. My mom was a teacher so she knew good and well much school the athletes regularly missed, and how there would never be ANY hesitation about a day missed from school if one of the athletic teams made it to a state tournament.</p>
<p>I don't know if they just didn't care, or if they didn't want to spend the money on the van and the sub to cover our teacher's other classes. Either way it was a rotten call, and it sent a pretty strong message to us about priorities. It's not that we resented the athletes--we just didn't understand why an academic activity wouldn't be held in the same regard!</p>
<p>This wasn't in Michigan, but these stories are all over. It's depressing to know it still goes on.</p>
<p>I don't really know what it's going to take for schools to start caring more about their top students. Maybe our parents just aren't as loud as those of the slower kids or something, so we quietly get the shaft. This has been the only worthwhile whinefest I've seen on the Michigan forum, so let's keep it going, haha. True injustices deserve to be complained about, but I say we do something about it. I'm really not sure what or where to start. Maybe kb can get somethin goin. Maybe we should just go with the voucher system, I dunno. But if the you US doesn't want to be left in the dust economically in the next 20 years, they're REALLY going to have to reconsider how public schools treat talented students. I liked the poster that the Art of Problem Solving brought to the NCTM national convention: "No SMART child left behind." To be honest, they're the only ones we can't afford to leave behind.</p>
<p>There was an article in the Detroit Free Press recently about gifted education across the state, basically about hoe those programs tend to not get funding because there aren't state and federal mandates for those programs like there are for special ed and kids at the margins academically (Leave No Child Behind, etc). </p>
<p>So when funding is limited, you know what goes on the chopping block. Some people don't think this is a big deal because they assume smart kids can "find their own way" and seek their own enrichment, but the article pointed out it doesn't necessarily work that way. </p>
<p>Many kids do fine (witness the students in this thread) but it's a shame to deny them the resources that would allow them to go as far as they want to take their intellect and ambition in high school. And you raise a good point--your best and brightest young people will be the future economic drivers of the state and nation. It's short-sighted to not place some emphasis on their advancement.</p>
<p>Also hoedown, the kids on this thread aren't necessarily success cases, at least I don't consider myself one. Intellectually, I'm at one of the worst places I could possibly be because I simply wasn't given the resources to foster that intellect growing up (and most kids had even fewer resources than me). Smart kids will have trouble "finding their own way" if they don't even know what's out there, as was the case for me. You somehow get to thinking that the best your high school has to offer is the best that's out there, which is far from the truth. Basically, if I had known there were such cool programs out there that I could actually access, I would have gone for it, but lack of communication just kept me down.</p>
<p>Well, I guess I was thinking about students here as successes in contrast to dropouts--the article said a suprising number of high school dropouts would probably chart as highly intelligent.</p>