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I am going to echo what another poster wrote. There has been one week of traditional school and your child is in elementary school. They typically get kids accustomed to the building and routines the first week. The real teaching has not begun yet.
After 11 years of WCPSS you better believe it. And if you're thinking everything is grand you are not paying attention.
And no this has nothing - NOTHING - to do with politics.
But I am not the one who created waiting lists at every charter and private school in the area. PS - dirty little secret - a lot of those seats are taken by kids of WCPSS teachers!
I'm not gonna say anymore. It bugs people that my sister has over a dozen years in WCPSS and I post what really goes on - they'd rather drop their kids off in the morning and pretend all is well. That's fine.
So what is the issue with WCPSS again? I went to school in rural TN and my wife in rural GA, both of the crappiest school systems in the state most likely. Worked hard and things turned out just fine. What is the problem in an area where there's actually money to go around?
At the end of the day, it really does nothing for the students that it’s intended to help. If you don’t have parental involvement, you don’t have parental involvement.:..period. That’s not something that you can force or fake.
But the board loves magnets because they give the illusion that they’re being “equitable” and “helping” those that need it. Raises up those average test scores, and helps to fill under-enrolled schools.
Can you provide any data to back that up? I've known a number of people that have been very positive on their magnet school experience, and that includes students and their parents that "it's intended to help."
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink!
An old saying that blends nicely with the public schools efforts to make learning available to all.
Many of us on here that talk of the deficiencies of public schools are successful products of those very public schools.
Those I have known to "take a drink" at the public school fountain have lead very successful lives.
It really is a "you get out of it what you put into it" situation.
I went Private International School 6th-12th grade. My sister went Private 4th-10th grade. Finished HS in a public HS in MA affectionately referred to as "Silver Mistake" and she was both an infinitely better student than I was (I am the more "naturally smart" sibling where she had to work at it. If I could get f'd up the night before an IB Economics exam and get a C, well that was good enough for me. She worked her ass off HS and College and finished both with 4.0 GPAs, and is doing quite well for herself career wise (lead in Executive Comp for an Electronics manufacturer.)
I went to HS with basically upper crust Expats, Diplomats kids and kids of Indonesian Oligarchs who could bribe the school to the look the other way and enroll their kids there (was against the law for Indonesian citizens to go to International schools when I lived there). People with more money than god. Everyone was "well to do" with good home lives and invested parents. One of my friends in HS little sister ended up on the FBI Most Wanted lists for Bank Robbery.
One of my best friends in RI grew up in a broken home, went to meh public schools and owns his own auto repair shop and has been doing his thing for 25 years there.
Can you provide any data to back that up? I've known a number of people that have been very positive on their magnet school experience, and that includes students and their parents that "it's intended to help."
I'm not aware of any data outside of test scores, and test scores don't really help if it's just "look test scores went up when we brought in less-poor kids!" If there are studies on individual students, I'd like to see them, but your anecdotal experiences don't really mean a whole lot.
Can you provide any data to back up your assumption that bringing in "more well off" kids is helping kids succeed who otherwise would not? I just have a hard time believing that bringing in white, Indian, Asian kids from western Wake is going to make kids in these struggling base zones say "wow! I really want to succeed more in school now, even though I have very little help or motivation from my parents!".
I'm not aware of any data outside of test scores, and test scores don't really help if it's just "look test scores went up when we brought in less-poor kids!" If there are studies on individual students, I'd like to see them, but your anecdotal experiences don't really mean a whole lot.
Can you provide any data to back up your assumption that bringing in "more well off" kids is helping kids succeed who otherwise would not?
Great response. Answer a question with a question, based on a premise that YOU made, not me. I made no such assumption.
Quote:
Originally Posted by m378
I just have a hard time believing that bringing in white, Indian, Asian kids from western Wake is going to make kids in these struggling base zones say "wow! I really want to succeed more in school now, even though I have very little help or motivation from my parents!".
And who says that the purpose is to motivate students by comparing them to kids from different backgrounds?
There are lots of very valid criticisms of WCPSS; but the magnet schools seem to well regarded by most stakeholders.
Great response. Answer a question with a question, based on a premise that YOU made, not me. I made no such assumption.
Uh you asked me for data to back up my position, which I assume is because you disagree with it. I explained why I believe the data we're provided isn't necessarily accurate. I can't ask you the question in return?
Quote:
And who says that the purpose is to motivate students by comparing them to kids from different backgrounds?
What is the purpose of a magnet school? You tell me.
Quote:
There are lots of very valid criticisms of WCPSS; but the magnet schools seem to well regarded by most stakeholders.
Yes, magnet schools are great for those kids moving into the lower-rated base zone that already have the support necessary from their parents to succeed and are looking to specialize. It also gives a great optic since it makes a school more diverse and raises test scores, which lots of people get excited over. But again, is it really helping the people that they set out to help in the first place, or does it just give people warm fuzzies?
Yes it is early. We moved here 9 months ago and this school year has just started, so my post is more about having places to research this fall and if we decide to make a change have applications in on time this winter for the following year. I would love nothing more than for him to have a great year and stay at Joyner.
Uh you asked me for data to back up my position, which I assume is because you disagree with it. I explained why I believe the data we're provided isn't necessarily accurate. I can't ask you the question in return?
What is the purpose of a magnet school? You tell me.
From the website: To create well-rounded students by challenging them with programs tailored to their strengths and exposing them to new experiences. Innovative and pioneering programs challenge students to think creatively and analytically to solve problems, while diverse student body populations enable students to learn and see things from a different perspective.
My personal .02: They allow kids to have a better chance at a good education both for specifically interested parents as well as for kids who might not have as much going for them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by m378
Yes, magnet schools are great for those kids moving into the lower-rated base zone that already have the support necessary from their parents to succeed and are looking to specialize. It also gives a great optic since it makes a school more diverse and raises test scores, which lots of people get excited over. But again, is it really helping the people that they set out to help in the first place, or does it just give people warm fuzzies?
You continue to make it an either/or. Who says that all students from modest means have parents that are uninvolved or are unsupportive? Just because they have fewer resources at their disposal doesn't mean they don't care.
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