Thursday, September 13, 2018

2019 National Merit Semifinalists

This years national merit semifinalists were announced and the numbers are much higher this year. Congratulations to all the winners.


Ballard: 3
Garfield: 13
Ingraham:  8


Seattle Times Link with more regional numbers: Seattle Times Link

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great news for Seattle Public Schools this year to have a much better representation than last. Anyone with thoughts on the increase? It doesn't appear that the cutoff number has changed. Congratulations to the students!

RF

Anonymous said...

Those numbers also likely reflect last year's senior HC student enrollment at the various schools. I would also estimate that as there has been surge in HC enrollment at RHS & BHS in only past two years, in a couple of years the future numbers at those schools will be even higher. This year and last the north end's HC population of HC was majority split between IHS,RHS & BHS with a record number attending neighborhood schools over Garfield.
Parent

Anonymous said...

I believe Garfield just had 3 students last year, so even huge boom at that school. Am I reading the previous blog incorrectly?

RF

Anonymous said...

It's all relative (i.e., how a school's students perform relative to other schools' students that particular year), and it's hard to say anything about trends or what's behind the numbers based on a comparison of two years of data. If you look more years' worth, you'll see that Garfield, and more recently Ingraham, tend to produce the most NMSF's in SPS. Lakeside usually does the best in Seattle, and several Eastside schools do well, too.

But the numbers fluctuate, often quite dramatically. It might have to do with changes in who goes where, changes in school admission policies (e.g., Nikola Tesla HS did really well last year, but not so well this year, and I think there were some changes not long ago in which it became an open lottery system rather than a more competitive application process, so that may be behind their significant decline this year); changes in specific teachers (e.g., a great math teacher the year before might have a big impact on how many kids do well at a particular school that year, and if they end up leaving, or teaching a different level, things might be different the following year. It would be great to have access to more detailed data to try to understand who does well and why, as this type of information could be useful beyond simply understanding advanced students--the impacts of effective teaching, program placement, etc. are relevant for all students.

Anonymous said...

"If you look more years' worth, you'll see that Garfield, and more recently Ingraham, tend to produce the most NMSF's in SPS. Lakeside usually does the best in Seattle, and several Eastside schools do well, too."

Yes, but only in very recent years has HC been choosing RHS & BHS over Garfield or Ingraham in large numbers. The number of HC kids at those schools have grown tremendously only in past two years. The senior class from last year still had majority HC attending Garfield or Ingraham. I know many who have older kids at Garfield and sent incoming 9th grader to neighborhood. Huge shift now which will most likely also impact future merit scholars from those school. However, also true that Garfield & Ingraham had lower numbers despite majority of HC in recent years, so only part of story.
Parent

Anonymous said...

@Parent, yes. That's similar to the "who goes where" and "program placement" issues I mentioned. My point wasn't that trends will continue as they are, but rather that for any trend you need to look over time--not just 2 years. I expect you're right that we'll see some shifting from RHS and BHS soon, since NMSF trends lag enrollment patterns by several years. That said, that first year of "seeing" an uptick at either/both could be the start of something real, or could be a fluke. It'll take multiple years of data to confirm the trend. :)

Anonymous said...

To add to this conversation, don't forget Lincoln opening and whether or not it will remain a pathway beyond 2019-2020 would also have an impact , over time, where NMSF might be chosen. Same goes if HC high school pathway schools are eliminated.
MC

Anonymous said...

you'll see that Garfield, and more recently Ingraham, tend to produce the most NMSF's in SPS.

...or "collect" and concentrate students likely to do well on the PSAT. The tested math doesn't require much beyond Algebra 2 proficiency, which HCC students may take as early as 8th grade. I'm curious how many NMSF are in Running Start. Anecdotally, we're hearing of HC students leaving for Running Start.

Anonymous said...

" I'm curious how many NMSF are in Running Start. Anecdotally, we're hearing of HC students leaving for Running Start."

Yes that would be interesting to learn as I also have heard schools have sent alot of kids to running start in recent years, but probably would be hard to find out.
HS

Anonymous said...

I am tired of hearing that schools are sending kids to Running Start. Maybe some are encouraged to do so, but all the students I know that are in the program have chosen it for different reasons. One of them, they claim, is that it makes a lot of sense financially.

Regarding NMSF, I thought you were no longer eligible if you had started taking college classes, anyone know whether that's true?

Ti-Red

Anonymous said...

@ Ti-Red, a quick check of the NMSF eligibility shows a student IS eligible if they are taking both HS and college classes simultaneously.

As for being forced in Running Start, I suppose it depends on your definition of “forced.” Sure, nobody can make a student do that. However, if a student can’t get a full and/or appropriately challenging schedule at school, they are essentially forced into RS or a similar option. RS is the easiest and most affordable option. Have you compared the number of Garfield students who do RS to other high schools? Last I saw it was much higher, and that was also around the time many were complaining about their students not getting access to rigorous courses, not getting assigned more than four periods per day, filling gaps in schedules with TA positions they didn’t want, etc.

FYI, we’re ALL tired of hearing about it. The solution? Offer students the classes they need to continue their academic growth and college preparedness.

All types

Anonymous said...

@ All types, I see your point, and agree with the need to offer appropriate classes. But let's be honest and accept that not all students are doing RS because they don't have rigorous courses. My children have had (at Garfield) great, challenging classes with amazing teachers. Have all the classes been like that? Nope, but my point is that some (maybe many) choose RS because it is convenient for them (saving money, starting a postgraduate degree sooner, entering the workforce sooner). This point seems to be overlooked constantly. An interesting link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_enrollment

Ti-Red

Anonymous said...

These numbers don't seem good to me. Lakeside had 37 alone, Interlake had 27, Redmond HS and Skyline each had 15. I assume Seattle is the biggest district. Why are we happy about the numbers above? Am I missing something?

-Should I be concerned?

Anonymous said...

For the Class of 2018, the selection index score needed for WA State NMSF rose from 220 to 222. There was a significant drop in SPS NMSF that year. The index score seems to have held steady for the Class of 2019 (index score of 222).

As an aside, some of the recent SAT tests have almost been too easy, making it more difficult to distinguish among the top scorers. The equating process can be brutal, where making one or two careless mistakes can really drop the overall score (compared to some harder test administrations where the scoring provides more of a cushion). The June test and the most recent October test seem to have been especially brutal (as in almost too easy), meaning missing x number on those tests would equate to a lower score than missing the same number on another, harder test administration. Students who felt burned by the June test, who then retook the test this October in hopes of increasing their scores, were kind of burned twice. Then there are accusations that the College Board used a recycled SAT test for the August administration (the same test had apparently been given in Asia in fall of 2017, so test questions had made their way to social media through organized cheating).

https://blog.collegeboard.org/june-2018-sat-score-release-faq

Unfortunately, SAT and ACT scores will become more important for college admission if SPS moves toward limiting AP courses and eliminating class rank reporting. For what it's worth, our child preferred the ACT (took both, but preferred the more straightforward ACT).