seven keys to college readiness

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Montgomery County Public Schools has issued a booklet, Seven Keys to College Readiness. The first key is, "Advanced reading in Grades K-2." The third key is, "Advanced math in Grade 5." Every few weeks, some vexed parent pops up on one of the listservs on which I lurk,* worried that her kindergartner is not yet reading Harry Potter or her third grader is not yet doing Algebra.

Not to worry - in MoCo, forty percent of  children qualify for the GT tag or "gifted and talented." Most live in the green zone, another term for snoburbia, where college is a birthright and it is assumed one's child is GT. On one listserv, a commenter said a more accurate moniker would be AA: "Advanced and Advantaged."

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* because "lurk" is a funny word, that's why

Comments

[Domestic Dad]

So glad I stumbled on this tonight, it's refreshing to find someone who knows MoCo people take themselves too seriously. Speaking as the spouse of one of those public school teachers you speak of, they have also been making fun of the "7 keys" since that came out. More of a headache for people who really don't need one.

[McLean]

thank goodness I saw this post! Fairfax County doesn't provide us with this information, and my kindergartner's chances at Ivy league were almost ruined!

[Doris]

My daughter's first/second grade teacher didn't consider her gifted & talented, so she didn't make the first cut. In third grade she was chosen for the pullout program (where gt kids are sent to another school once a week for enrichment). In fourth grade she was selected to go to the gt school, but I wanted to keep her in her neighborhood school, so I turned it down. She graduated valedictorian from a MoCo school (not beginning with W or BC-C and not even in the south of the county), went to a prestigious university (graduated magna cum laude) and law school, and earned $250,000 including salary & bonus before she was 30. So first/second grade teacher was WRONG!

[James]

Doris, clearly you're proud of your daughter and should be. However, you're falling into the same trap that this blog parodies. You've defined success by your daughter's acceptance at a prestigious university, law degree, and material earning. That's the problem around here, that's how success is defined. A kind, loving individual who works hard and cares about others but went to Montgomery College is still successful. An unethical, uncaring individual who went to a prestigious university and earns $1 million is still a failure.

[jcalex]

James, well put!!!

[Kbow]

We have the Advanced Placement Program or APP in our public schools. You'd think they would test every kid for this by default but a child's parents have to request the child be tested pretty much making the kids who attend to be vastly the same socio-economic class. So...APP really stands for Association of Pushy Parents.

[mistah charley, ph.d.]

I agree with James - hard work, socially responsible achievement, and altruism will get you rewarded in the next life, or the one after that.

In the meantime, I recall a Randy Newman song (earlier in his career, before he was doing Disney soundtracks):

They say that money won't get you love in this world
But it does buy half a pound of cocaine
And two fifteen year old girls
And an air-conditioned limousine
On a hot September night
And that may not be love
But it's alright

[Doris]

James, my daughter is a loving, caring individual who is close to her family and her in-laws and has adopted several animals. She also left her position, taking a huge pay cut, so she could have a life. Immediately thereafter she met the man who became her husband. So she is a very happy woman.

[Larry I. Bellman]

I'm having a Snoburbia identity crisis. I quit a six-digit career I generally disliked to pursue a Ph.D. and work at a well-under-six-digit job I really like. After the Ph.D., I may be a lowly paid assistant professor, but I will be a prestigious Academic, I'll wear a tweed jacket with patches at the elbows, and I'll go to all the functions at the faculty club. So will I be a success or a failure by Snoburbia standards?

[Mark]

Doris, my reaction to your first post about your daughter was, How nice for you.

To your second: How nice for HER.

[mistah charley, ph.d.]

Larry, speaking as a former assistant professor, with the elbow-patched jacket to prove it (although in my case it's corduroy, not tweed) I wish you luck, especially in avoiding the adjunct trap and making it over that tenure hurdle (it's a doozy). A couple of things surprised me about the academic life - how stupid and narrow-minded many of one's colleagues are, and how very depressing reading the students' exams and papers can be.

Surely you know already that you will be NOT be a success by Snoburbian standards. You will be the functional equivalent of a cleric - not to be sneered at, perhaps, but more to be pitied than admired.

[James]

Doris, a great story. From my perspective, your second post is the only thing I need to see to know your daughter is a success.