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At Magnet School, An Asian Plurality
Washington Post ^ | July 8, 2008 | Michael Alison Chandler

Posted on 07/07/2008 6:33:25 AM PDT by liberallarry

Asian American students will outnumber white classmates for the first time in the freshman class at the region's most prestigious public magnet school this fall, a milestone reached as the number of African Americans and Hispanics has remained low and the Fairfax County School Board prepares to review the school's admission policy.

The rising concentration of Asian Americans at T.J. mirrors demographic trends in other elite math and science magnet schools. In New York, the selective and specialized Stuyvesant High School, Bronx High School of Science and Brooklyn Technical High School have Asian American majorities, although about 10 percent of the metropolitan population is of Asian descent. In San Francisco, Asian Americans make up more than 60 percent of the students at selective Lowell High School and about a third of the city's population.

The demographic imbalance in top public magnet schools has become a sensitive issue, however. Black and Hispanic students often are vastly under-represented. Many of the schools struggle to reflect the diversity of the wider population while maintaining a transparent admissions process with uniformly high standards.

Jenny Tsai, a recent Harvard University graduate, wrote her thesis about what she perceived as a growing sentiment that "too many Asians" were at top magnet schools. She attended the selective Hunter College High School in New York, where she sensed "a certain level of anxiety" as the portion of Asian American students in the entering class grew from less than a third to more than half between 1997 and 2003. Tsai said some students felt a need to justify their admission or their contributions.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: asianamericans; diversity; education; fairfaxcounty; genetics; giftededucation; iq; magnetschools; schoolboard
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To: liberallarry
And your contention is that “Asians and Jews got more of dem good genes” or something? What genes do you think are involved? Why would any gene that unambiguously conferred greater intelligence not reach 100% penetrance in human populations?
41 posted on 07/07/2008 7:26:46 AM PDT by allmendream
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To: MrB

Good for you! I have 4 and it’s really not that big of a deal. Movies and TV shows always try to make it seem as if it’s a mad house but it’s not. A house with only 2 kids seems so empty to me.


42 posted on 07/07/2008 7:27:58 AM PDT by Transformers
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To: Question_Assumptions

Hard not to do well when you are afforded MBE status, ‘consideration’ in acceptance to the best schools and other perks.


43 posted on 07/07/2008 7:29:39 AM PDT by xDGx
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To: ASA Vet

Showoff.


44 posted on 07/07/2008 7:31:17 AM PDT by angkor (Conservatism is not now and never has been a religious movement.)
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To: Question_Assumptions

Wait ... you’ve got to remember ... “white” has been DECONSTRUCTED.

In other words, you have a bunch of whites kids drifting through the schools with parents who feel ashamed of their identity and don’t really know who they are. Why? Because Hollywood, academia and diversity seminars in corporate America have DECONSTRUCTED people from the European tribe.

They’re taught to feel guilt, they’re taught to have misplaced compassion, to not do their best so the other kids can get ahead, etc.

I know exactly what I’m talking about. I have a B.S. in Psychology, still study Psych and I’m involved with the advertising industry.

If you don’t know who you are or feel guilty about who you are YOU WILL NOT PERFORM WELL.

It’s like psyching a boxer out - if he’s psyched out he’s not going to perform well.


45 posted on 07/07/2008 7:31:56 AM PDT by Transformers
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To: Question_Assumptions
It's not genetics, it's culture.

Exactly.

Especially when people forget that Asia itself is racially diverse.

46 posted on 07/07/2008 7:32:39 AM PDT by CarrotAndStick (The articles posted by me needn't necessarily reflect my opinion.)
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To: Transformers; ASA Vet

>>>>>Might just be me but that girl seems awfully young - too young to have pics posted of her on a website.<<<<<

Nope, ASA Vet is posting pics of his wife again.

ASA, you are one fortunate man.


47 posted on 07/07/2008 7:35:31 AM PDT by angkor (Conservatism is not now and never has been a religious movement.)
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To: Transformers

Look at present day America today.

White kids are taught their ancestors were drooling, evil, ignorant savages. How can you perform with that nonsense being drilled into your head?

Here in 2008 America, look at all of the negative Italian sterotypes. And if your kids have any Eastern European blood in them, there’s bad sterotypes about them too. Lots of these video games for example involve shooting at Germans and Eastern Europeans. They involve Italian thugs killing people.


48 posted on 07/07/2008 7:36:01 AM PDT by Transformers
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To: allmendream
People with higher IQs create cultures that inspire hard work and accomplishment.
49 posted on 07/07/2008 7:38:21 AM PDT by puroresu (Enjoy ASIAN CINEMA? See my Freeper page for recommendations (updated!).)
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To: liberallarry
What are the chances that genetics DON'T play a major role here? Zero, in my opinion.

I suspect culture has more to do with it.

50 posted on 07/07/2008 7:39:46 AM PDT by A_perfect_lady
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To: Transformers

>>>All of this “diversity is strength” nonsense doesn’t benefit my Italian/Czech American kids in any way.<<<

Obviously the root of “diversity” is “to divide”, and that’s what we’re seeing promoted among all ethnic groups in today’s USA.


51 posted on 07/07/2008 7:40:20 AM PDT by angkor (Conservatism is not now and never has been a religious movement.)
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To: allmendream; liberallarry
culture that values work and academic accomplishment

There are various academic sub-disciplines which are exploring how genetics shape cultures. That is, how heritable traits effect community development & regulation.

Every generation has its PC; in Galileo's time, it was Copernicus. Today, we have race. In each era, there are legitimate reasons to cling to dogma simply to avoid societal collapse ie the illusion must be maintained.

We can't afford to have 1/3 of our population (Black+Hispanic) simply say they can't compete and quit. Well, a significant percentage do, but it's hardly ever articulated in that fashion.

We must soldier on until a solution is developed.

52 posted on 07/07/2008 7:40:32 AM PDT by semantic
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To: CarrotAndStick
If you want to get technical about it, you can break down specific Asian cultures as having generally higher IQ's - last time I looked I believe Korea was top of the heap, followed by Japan
53 posted on 07/07/2008 7:40:38 AM PDT by xDGx
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To: angkor

One small correction:

Promoted by all ethnic groups minus one that represents MY KIDS. Thus frustrates me to no end that my family members went out into malaria ladden jungles, doged bullets, and for what? My kids unless they live in Montanna won’t get to benefit from the sacrifice my family’s vets made.


54 posted on 07/07/2008 7:43:39 AM PDT by Transformers
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To: CarrotAndStick

>>>Especially when people forget that Asia itself is racially diverse. <<<<

Indeed it is. The Malay, Javanese, Thai, Khmer, Vietnamese, and Southern Chinese ethnicities all have distinct racial characteristics.


55 posted on 07/07/2008 7:44:17 AM PDT by angkor (Conservatism is not now and never has been a religious movement.)
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To: ASA Vet

Oooooh, what an angel!


56 posted on 07/07/2008 7:44:30 AM PDT by puroresu (Enjoy ASIAN CINEMA? See my Freeper page for recommendations (updated!).)
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To: Transformers
It’s just another indicator that my kid’s inheritance is being handed over to someone else’s kids.

Your kids were supposed to inherit a place in a prestigious school? Really?

57 posted on 07/07/2008 7:44:39 AM PDT by A_perfect_lady
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To: liberallarry

No, I wouldn’t say genetics. Instead I’d say family and drive. Asian kids are often pushed, or push themselves without mercy. They bring home a B and are asked why it isn’t an A. They bring home 95% and are asked why not 100%. The entire family has high expectations and the time and effort is put into ensuring results.

It takes a family unit to push this way.


58 posted on 07/07/2008 7:47:16 AM PDT by zek157
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To: liberallarry

I don’t think it is genetics that is at play here . All the Asian Americans that I personally know (mostly of Chinese heritage ) did not rely on the school system to educate their children ( I didn’t either and mine is also at the top of her class and is hispanic )

If you allow the system to teach your children they will never be more than average or just slightly above average students .

It takes a huge personal effort by the parents at a very early age to really make children excel academically . Quite frankly most Hispanics and most black Americans (many white Americans too ) are more interested in teaching their children about fashion and fancy sneakers than they are teaching them algebra at an early age .

Next year is my daughters senior year and by the time she finished she will only need around 6 months worth of college classes to complete her second year .

I didn’t let her hang out , she doesn’t date , she has never worn “ name brand “ clothes or shoes . Instead of spending my money on high priced “fashion items “ I bought software to tutor her or did it myself. Instead of spending money on summer camps that teach art , sports etc. I spent my money on academic and leadership camps .


59 posted on 07/07/2008 7:47:39 AM PDT by Lera
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To: A_perfect_lady

Where does it say that in my posts? I’m talking Macro concepts not micro.


60 posted on 07/07/2008 7:52:38 AM PDT by Transformers
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