The "More" Child

MCPS has wasted no time in putting the results of the 2008 Newsweek High School Challenge Index up on its homepage (it was there when I visited this morning at 8:00 a.m.):

MCPS High Schools are Among Top in the Nation

Newsweek magazine has ranked six MCPS high schools in the top 100 in the nation – more than any other U.S. school district. The schools are Richard Montgomery, Thomas S. Wootton, Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Walt Whitman, Walter Johnson, and Winston Churchill. All of the county’s eligible schools are counted among the top 3 percent in the country for their rigorous academic program. The ranking highlights MCPS efforts over eight years to encourage more students from every background to take challenging courses.

According to the Newsweek site, “NEWSWEEK’s Challenge Index is designed to recognize schools that challenge average students, and not magnet or charter schools that draw only the best students in their areas.”

All the MCPS schools mentioned happen to be in the more affluent, left hand side of the county, hardly “average.” And the highest ranking MCPS school, Richard Montgomery, houses the county wide IB magnet program, which fudges the results a bit. And this says nothing about the pass rate. But whatever…this is the kind of stuff that the county just eats up. Not touted is Kennedy High School, coming in at #837, or Wheaton at #816, or Magruder at #552 or Paint Branch at #418… If MCPS and the state of Maryland want to look at what the real models for excellence are, it should look at this.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post has a front page story today about the disappearance of Honors Courses. I’ve blogged about this issue before…it’s been a topic of concern on several parent listservs for some time and only now emerging in the media. It’s sad. For years I’ve been told by other parents of highly gifted students to just hang on until high school, that that’s finally where highly gifted kids can get their needs met because of the varying levels of classes offered. But as it turns out, there are just two: “regular” classes and AP. Pity the good, average student. He/she faces the choice of being in classes with struggling or unmotivated kids or AP classes that might be too rigorous. As for the kids who are fully able and ready to handle an AP class, they now have their “college level” experience diluted in MCPS’ drive to push everyone into AP’s so as to improve the system’s Challenge Index ranking (see above).

But don’t listen to me…here’s a comment from a veteran teacher responding to Jay Mathews:

Richmond, Va.: I have read the criticisms of the methodology used to calculate the Challenge Index, and I have read your defense. As an AP Calculus teacher in the Richmond (Va.) suburbs, I think you need a cold dose of reality splashed in your face. Every year, fully half of the students in my AP class have no business being there. These students are in my class because of a horrible combination of parental and student over-estimation of their abilities and a school (and school district) policy designed to boost our ranking in your index. Rather than being challenged by college-level coursework, these students would be much better served in a class that either reinforced concepts from earlier classes or moved a much slower pace. Instead, these students will struggle mightily, get a 2 or 3 on the AP test, be no better prepared for college, and become disenchanted with higher math. But we scored higher in your rankings this year, so I guess all is okay.