I don’t think the best answer to a broken system is to learn how to navigate the broken system. The preferred option is to improve the system.
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I think this was a response to my post where I indicated that my belief is that the US needs to stay at the front of technological advancement. It seems that one way of doing that is to challenge the kids that have the ability, but perhaps some disagree.
From our experience, there is little challenge to top kids and it is left to parents to supplement. Ultimately this is not fair as there are some kids that cannot afford this for various reasons. But, I do not think the answer is to not challenge anyone.
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Bcos race and ethnicity represent legallly-protected classes, and parental education is not.
I agree but perhaps we have different conceptions of what’s broken.
My main query was how can we help Black, Latino and White students do better on these tests, because I personally want to see more diverse representation in elite STEM programs. At the same time, just because Asian students do exceedingly well on these tests doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a broken system. It may mean that other groups require more support or need to alter their focus (e.g., choose math enrichment over travel sports, using the example cited above) so that they will perform better on these entrance tests.
As @DadOfJerseyGirl mentioned above, “When middle school kids spend hours each weekend honing their soccer skills it’s laudable. But kids who spend their time honing their academic skills are “gaming the system”.” Why don’t we celebrate the commitment shown by Asians to academic achievement?
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That’s been Ed Blum’s and his financial supporters’ plan all along, and the Brett-Amy court has made it perfectly clear where it stands on stare decisis.
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Thanks for this. But I don’t think the other 98% are PhDs or highly-skilled workers (not suggesting that you’re saying this). Also, “working class” in my mind doesn’t necessarily mean you are qualified for free or reduced price lunch (but perhaps my definition is at odds with conventional understanding of the term).
I find it beyond ridiculous that we apparently
can celebrate those who train hard for many years starting at very young ages for the Olympics or NBA or Carnegie Hall music recitals, but apparently not for something like math or science.
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If the money that TJ receives, from public and private and corporate sources, were instead distributed to all public high schools in the district in order to establish advanced STEM programs in all the high schools, it would be money well spent and be more accessible to everyone.
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Maybe when TJ started they sought out the truly gifted kids but these schools find out it’s easier to seek out the highest achievers instead and have a smoother running school.
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I would rather see them focus on the high-achievers than gifted…give me a hard-working, gifted kid any day over a smart one that has done little with their ability
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I find it beyond ridiculous that very, very smart people persist in analogizing aspects of compulsory public K-12 education with private elective activities.
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Maybe in a very large area like Fairfax that could work, I cannot say, but I have my doubts.
In smaller areas, there are typically not the numbers (students or teachers) to provide Calc to 8th/9th graders, etc…and then the advanced courses following…
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Taking resources away from schools that are already great isn’t the right way to improve public education. We wouldn’t be better off as a society if these schools became just like other schools.
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There is no guarantee that the “private and corporate” money would continue to exist in such a situation.
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I would suggest the opposite: why should one of the wealthiest public school districts in the country NOT offer a STEM-magnet with “private [school] elective activities”?
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It is very possible for a working-class family, especially one with multiple children or a single parent, to qualify: reduced price starts at household incomes =< 185% of the federal poverty level, which for next year for a family of 4 is about 50,000.
In a district where 35% qualify and in a nation where about 50% do, a 2% rate doesn’t necessarily mean that TJHSST is as wealthy as the small number of suburbs with a rate that low, but it does make it unlikely there are a lot of truly working class students there.
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Advanced math study is most certainly NOT a part of compulsory K12 education. Never has been, never will be. Same with elite sports or music training in public schools-basic levels offered to students; few have the interest or ability for elite participation. Fairfax offers all sorts of specialized programs to those interested-Foreign language immersion in Japanese was one of the options offered to us years ago there. Why not offer advanced math too?
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There is an argument, seen in some replies on this thread, that TJHSST adds a significant amount of value for its high achievers, far beyond what they would find at a regular FCPS high school. This propels them into leadership and innovation roles that makes the nation more competitive globally.
Even assuming that’s true, a look at TJHSST’s test score profile + college destinations suggests that for a large grouping of students, it is not leaving them better off and may even be harming their college prospects. So it isn’t obvious that the net “global competitiveness effect” is positive.
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Moreover, the “compulsory” state law requires that local education districts meet the needs of ALL students, with “appropriately differentiated curriculum and instruction.”
For the advanced students, this includes: “advanced content”; “original research”; “problem finding and solving”; “higher level thinking”; “focus on themes…” “and support necessary for these students to work at increasing levels of complexity that differ significantly from those of their age-level peers.”
(Viriginia Ed code)
Fairfax County chooses to meet its legal compulsory obligation by offering a magnet school.
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I am glad to say other districts do not follow the animosity towards academic achievement that some display here. Our local public school district offers several choices-regular high school with APs, a science/math magnet, a pre-health career magnet, an IB school. Having choices to accomodate students’ different interests and abilities is viewed positively here. I did not utilize the public schools, but when I briefly considered the public math/science magnet for one of my kids, the administration was beyond helpful. Although they had not had a freshman take BC Calculus before, they were willing to try hard to accomodate the need. Candidly, not what I expected from Texas public schools.
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