Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Dumbing Down the Thomas Jefferson School

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by

James A. Bacon
in ,

Well, that didn’t take long!

After loosening up its admissions requirements in order to rebalance the demographic make-up of the student body, the Thomas Jefferson School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County, is dealing with a problem never experienced there before — many of its students now require math tutoring.

The image at left is a screenshot of an email disseminated by the TJ administration. The school is offering after-school algebra review sessions for up to 30 students to “remediate the pandemic learning gap.”

Thomas Jefferson is widely regarded as the best public school in the nation. This year, the school jettisoned its admissions system based on rigorous tests in favor of one designed to draw students from a wider cross-section of schools, especially where enrollment was dominated by underrepresented minorities. Applicants must be enrolled in honors math classes and have a Grade Point Average of 3.5. The problem is that academic standards and grades vary from school to school. Sadly, earning an A at some schools is no longer a guarantee that a student excels in a subject.

Although Fairfax County officials have maintained the pretense that the new admissions criteria do not discriminate on the basis of race, the new criteria had the effect that they clearly were intended to — driving down the percentage of Asian students from about 70% of the student body to roughly 50%, while admitting more Whites, Blacks and Hispanics.

“Never in the history of TJ has the school needed to offer grade-wide free math tutoring,” says Marissa Fallon, a spokesperson for Parents Defending Education. “Free scheduled math tutoring is not being offered to any other students — just this freshman class. All kids suffer pandemic learning gaps. only some are getting special tutoring sessions — up to 30 kids per session, 2x a week.”

— JAB

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25 responses to “Dumbing Down the Thomas Jefferson School”

  1. kls Avatar
    kls

    Equity means the lowest common denominator for all……… it’s like offering remedial English classes for college freshmen [Welcome to VT/UVA/JMU/CNU/NSU/HU — you don’t really have the skills to be here, so we’re going to give you some additional 11th grade classes]

  2. VaNavVet Avatar
    VaNavVet

    So now it is wrong to offer tutoring to high school students. Well damn, I did that for many years both during lunch and after school. Any and all were welcome. I was always glad to try and help a student to succeed.

    1. kls Avatar
      kls

      But these students are supposedly the ‘best of the best’ — why was this NOT NEEDED when admission was merit based, not race based?

      Tutoring is fine for regular students who are need help and/or failing – that’s not the issue.

      1. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
        Dick Hall-Sizemore

        How do you know it was not needed? As I comment elsewhere, I would be that a lot did need it and their parents could afford to hire those tutors.

        1. Matt Adams Avatar
          Matt Adams

          “Dick Hall-Sizemore kls • an hour ago
          How do you know it was not needed? As I comment elsewhere, I would be that a lot did need it and their parents could afford to hire those tutors.”

          As you typically say, provide proof for your statement, don’t make assumptions.

        2. tmtfairfax Avatar
          tmtfairfax

          FCPS provides support services to kids with strong math and science who come from lower-income families. These kids already master the basic of algebra and geometry. The new TJ program is for kids who don’t already master the basics. They don’t belong at TJ.

    2. Nancy Naive Avatar
      Nancy Naive

      Yeah, what she said! Some are able to pull a 2.78 without a tutor.

    3. tmtfairfax Avatar
      tmtfairfax

      This statement makes no sense. TJ students are supposed to have mastered the math offerings, including advanced classes, at their elementary and middle schools. They are supposed to be ready to dig much deeper into extremely high-level math and science courses at TJ from the first day of school. A child who needs remedial help with middle school math courses is not qualified to be at TJ.

      This would be like adding kids to a high school varsity basketball or soccer team that need coaching on the fundamentals of the sport. A kid who needs special coaching on the fundamentals of dribbling a basketball or soccer ball is not qualified to be on the varsity team.

      This is so absurd that it could only make sense to Joe Biden. The folks peddling this crap know it’s fraud but need to maintain their woke credentials.

      1. VaNavVet Avatar
        VaNavVet

        The upper classmen at TJ have had the benefit of years of tutoring and test prep paid for by their parents, and this is most likely still continuing for them. So lets criticize those whose parents could not afford this outside help by saying that they do not deserve tutoring by the school. There is a lot of lip-service about helping underprivileged children herein but very little support for those actually trying to advance themselves.

        1. Matt Adams Avatar
          Matt Adams

          “VaNavVet tmtfairfax • an hour ago
          The upper classmen at TJ have had the benefit of years of tutoring and test prep paid for by their parents, and this is most likely still continuing for them. So lets criticize those whose parents could not afford this outside help by saying that they do not deserve tutoring by the school. There is a lot of lip-service about helping underprivileged children herein but very little support for those actually trying to advance themselves”

          Please feel free to proved proof of your statement regarding previous students tutoring and the like.

          1. VaNavVet Avatar
            VaNavVet

            The parents supporting TJ group has previously posted about and acknowledged all the money that their members have spent on tutoring and test prep. to gain access to the school. It is only reasonable that they would continue with tutoring when it is needed.

          2. Matt Adams Avatar
            Matt Adams

            So in essence you’ve just admitted that you have no proof of your statement, that you’re rather predicating it upon and assumption.

        2. tmtfairfax Avatar
          tmtfairfax

          But if a TJ student doesn’t grasp the basics of algebra or geometry, the kid does not belong at TJ. And FCPS has offered support services for lower-income kids who show exceptional talent for math and science.

          1. VaNavVet Avatar
            VaNavVet

            These new students to TJ were not expecting a walk in the park when they applied and were accepted. They knew the challenge and were ready to take it on. So I say good for them and I hope that ultimately all of them will be successful.

          2. tmtfairfax Avatar
            tmtfairfax

            The kids that don’t a mastery of lower levels of math comparable to the kids who do, will not be successful at TJ or in college. It’s just like putting kids who haven’t master dribbling a basketball or soccer ball on the high school varsity team. They too will not be successful.

            There is nothing wrong with giving top-level (by their grade point average) students from each Fairfax County Middle School admission to TJ so long as they also pass the match skills admission test. That is one fair way to allocate scarce resources (admission to TJ). But that test is gone, and what we see now are some kids being admitted without the basic level of math skills. The school board has set up these kids to fail so that the members can signal their virtue.

            What’s next? Allowing people who fail flight training to be airline pilots or who cannot pass their tests in medical school to be licensed to practice medicine?

            Wokeness assumes that lower-income and certain minority students cannot succeed academically or career-wise without the intervention of progressive white people.

          3. VaNavVet Avatar
            VaNavVet

            Sounds like “wokeness” on the right which borders on bigotry by white folks. Keep the “others” down and the white folks in a superior position.

    4. Matt Adams Avatar
      Matt Adams

      “VaNavVet • an hour ago
      So now it is wrong to offer tutoring to high school students. Well damn, I did that for many years both during lunch and after school. Any and all were welcome. I was always glad to try and help a student to succeed.”

      I think what is being addressed is that prior to the modification on TJ’s enrollment, that this wasn’t the case. Now, an apt question would be if this is a result of COVID disruptions vs enrollment criteria.

      Reflexing dumping on someone’s article because you don’t politically align with them, is in a word pointless.

      1. James A. Bacon Avatar
        James A. Bacon

        Excuse me, who said it’s “wrong to offer tutoring to high school students?”

        I would argue that if you admit the students, you’d darn well better tutor them to keep them from falling hopelessly behind.

        The post makes an entirely different point: that the new admissions standards results in less academically qualified students attending the school.

        1. Matt Adams Avatar
          Matt Adams

          Mr. Bacon you’ll find that your reply was not to myself. I made no statement it was wrong to tutor.

    5. disqus_VYLI8FviCA Avatar
      disqus_VYLI8FviCA

      The testing used previously weeded out kids who had not mastered math skills – that was kind of the point. Tutoring is fine for those who can’t do the work. It’s not fine when those students could slow down the education of the rest of the school. If you don’t have the skills you shouldn’t be there. Who didn’t see this coming?

      1. VaNavVet Avatar
        VaNavVet

        Seems like some students are having trouble doing the work and are being offered that “fine” tutoring you mentioned. It is very doubtful that at this point the rest of the school is being slowed down as this is about the freshmen class.

  3. Stephen Haner Avatar
    Stephen Haner

    Non story. Next?

  4. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
    James Wyatt Whitehead

    I have had a long line of students pass thru my class over the years. The one thing I remember about the TJ kids and Acadamy of Loudoun kids is this: the special grease that made it work was how those students tutored and taught each other. Makes sense. The best and the brightest help each other along and it was done entirely on their own. FCPS would be wise to harness that enormous asset.

  5. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Nope, it sure did not take long for some to begin piling on. First. I note this statement: “The problem is that academic standards and grades vary from school to
    school. Sadly, earning an A at some schools is no longer a guarantee
    that a student excels in a subject.” So, those kids who attended the “less elite” middle schools are to be punished because their schools did not have rigorous classes?

    Second, the assumption here is that “in the good old days” TJ students never needed additional help or tutoring. I would be willing to bet that a lot of them got some tutoring on the side. In their cases, however, their parents were able to afford to hire those special tutors. And, as James Whitehead pointed out, there actually was a lot of tutoring, only it was done by peers. “The best and brightest” helped others along. Perhaps some students from formerly underrepresented schools have not yet built up the necessary networks to get this help from their peers. It would be more responsible to wait a couple of years and examine the standardized test scores before making judgments.

    1. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
      James Wyatt Whitehead

      A great deal of mental and emotional coaching by the student peers to help manage the stress that comes with those schools. I was always impressed with how they cheered each other onwards.

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