Question About DCPS And Elementary School Ratings

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

If enough of the well-off and middle-class families leave, you don't want to be the last one left behind as it feels like the appeal of the class is shrinking, the level of teaching will be falling, and many of your child's friends are gone.

This is curious; why would the quality of the teachers be diminished if the middle-class families leave? Do they pack the good teachers in their duffles as they head off to greener pastures?

Let's say a school has 3 classes of 20 students in Pre-K. (I'm playing with the numbers to make the changes in percentages easier to explain). They are evenly distributed so that in each class 25% are advanced, 25% are proficient, 25% are basic, and 25% are below basic. That's 5 at each level in each class. (Of course, DC-CAS measures don't apply in Pre-K, but what we mean here is that in each class: 5 of these hypothetical students is starting to read basic words or can write their names, 5 know all of their letters and sounds, 5 know a few letters, and 5 don't know that text is read left to right or the difference between text that is right-side up or upside down.)

The teachers in these hypothetical classes will have mini-groups for teaching literacy and pre-literacy skills, but the majority of group instruction will be aimed in the middle of widely-distributed skills - some of which are quite advanced for 4 year olds. Most of these high-performing 4 year olds will be modeling good behavior for their peers. This is a fairly happy scenario for a DCPS school.

Now, in K let's say 5 students per class leave for private or charter schools. These 5 are a combination of the advanced and proficient students, 4:1 or at least 3:2. 5 new students come in, but instead of being either advanced or proficient, they are proficient/basic/below basic, maybe 1:3:1. NOW each class of 20 has 1 or 2 advanced students, 3 to 5 proficient students, 5 to 8 basic students, and 6 below basic students. The percentages have changed from 25/25/25/25 to 5-10%/15-25%/25-40%/30%. The teacher still creates reading groups based on ability, but the amount of time she spends with each shifts to focusing on the larger groups. The children at the top get less individualized instruction, rationalizing that "they don't really need it." The majority of group instruction will be aimed at the median, but the level of the median has dropped since Pre-K.

In 1st, another 5 students per class leave for privates and charters. These are the rest of the advanced students and some proficient students. 2 more join in, but they are 1:1 proficient/basic. The school doesn't yet drop from 3 classes per grade down to 2. Now in each class: we have 0 advanced students, 3 or 4 proficient, 7 or 8 basic, and 6 below basic. Our balance of percentages has shifted again: 0%/15-20%/35-40%/30%. Once again, the teacher uses mini-groups for reading, and her energies are further focused on her mid-level and low-level students. The principal is going to start breathing down her neck about the 30% below basic, so the 15-20% who are proficient will get even less time. The parents of these will have become increasingly unhappy. They see the skills in the class shifting. They don't like it that their children aren't receiving as much personalized instruction, nor that their above-average skills are not being appreciated. They talk to their friends and hear what their friends' children are doing in 1st grade and they decide to make the leap.

By 2nd, another 5 students leave. This time it is the 3 or 4 remaining proficient students and 1 or 2 basic students. The principal can no longer justify 3 classes in that grade, and they are combined to 2 classes of 18 students. None of them are advanced. None of them are proficient. 9 are basic and 9 are below basic. Now we're at 0/0/50/50. All instruction is at the basic or remedial level. We have now arrived at the stasis point for the average DCPS school until the below basic students begin dropping out in H.S.

The level of teaching has changed. Not because the quality of teachers has changed, but because the median they have to teach to has changed (not to mention that the school-wide anxiety of the DC-CAS on the horizon has changed).

Now do you see?

[Anonymous]

Not the PP, but my experience is similar at Shepherd elementary. The school gets much less diverse by 3rd grade (almost 100% AA, only 2 or 3 white kids in testing grades). I don't know why, but the teachers at the 3rd and 4th grade level by reputation are not as strong as the preK, K, 1st, 2nd. We didn't stay stay for those grades, but that was the "playground chatter" two years ago. By reputation, 5th grade teachers are again stronger. (Again, this is 2 year old info and there may have been turnover.) I think with IMPACT teachers with a choice will gravitate to lower grades where 50% of there evaluation does not depend on DC-CAS. The "level of teaching" comment above likely refers to the overall learning level in the classroom. If everyone is at or below grade level, there are not peers for an above grade level student, not does the teacher have time to teach at a more accelerated pace.

[Anonymous]

06:43 describes the experience very well. Two other more subtle things. One, when all of your kids close friends and the parents that you relate to are leaving, it's hard to stay. Two, with the number of options available, it's easy to think that the grass is greener somewhere else. I find my kid needs to be in a school for almost six months before I understand / uncover the real problems. So, to me, all schools look better at the open house than they do 6 months later. Dissatisfaction at the actual school, on to the next round of open houses for the next year. Many children change schools multiple multiple times. After the last move, I decided my kids would stay at least 3 years.

[Anonymous]

PP - you made my point exactly - it's not just a matter of the more well-to-do leaving the school and therefore reducing the test scores, it's also a matter of parents realizing that their brief foray into DCPS has shown them that the reality is that these schools don't always change just because parents are involved. These parents want their children to have the best possible education, and don't want them to be held back by a lack of learning opportunties.

I have been through this myself, and was fortunate enough to get a spot in a very good charter.

[Anonymous]

7:55 here - my comment was directed at 6:43

[Anonymous]

DCPS classroom teacher here:

These observations and analyses are significant and should be addressed by DCPS leadership and the principals at these schools.

Here are some of the strategies I've used to keep my proficient and advanced students challenged:

• Reading and Writing Workshop: allows students to read and write about books at their own level.

• Read-aloud novels and other whole books that are above-level. I introduce loads of high-level vocabulary.

• Core Knowledge Sequence: High achieving and gifted students thrive on this rich content. Take a look at the sequence.

http://books.coreknowledge.org/home.php?cat=314

• Increasingly, I've been teaching math at three different grade levels using different texts.

[Anonymous]

Another program that fosters inquiry and high-level thinking and reading:

Junior Great Books

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCPS classroom teacher here:

These observations and analyses are significant and should be addressed by DCPS leadership and the principals at these schools.

Here are some of the strategies I've used to keep my proficient and advanced students challenged:

• Reading and Writing Workshop: allows students to read and write about books at their own level.

• Read-aloud novels and other whole books that are above-level. I introduce loads of high-level vocabulary.

• Core Knowledge Sequence: High achieving and gifted students thrive on this rich content. Take a look at the sequence.

http://books.coreknowledge.org/home.php?cat=314

• Increasingly, I've been teaching math at three different grade levels using different texts.

That's fantastic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP - you made my point exactly - it's not just a matter of the more well-to-do leaving the school and therefore reducing the test scores, it's also a matter of parents realizing that their brief foray into DCPS has shown them that the reality is that these schools don't always change just because parents are involved. These parents want their children to have the best possible education, and don't want them to be held back by a lack of learning opportunties.

I have been through this myself, and was fortunate enough to get a spot in a very good charter.

Excellent point.

There is only so much parents can do to improve a neighborhood school. We can serve on the LSRT/PTA. We can raise money and start a community garden. We can plant shrubs and help beautify the school. But we can't improve the quality of educational opportunities at the building level. Our chancellor's single-minded focus on raising test scores does nothing to improve the DCPS curriculum or address the needs of children who are already performing at or above grade level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:7:55 here - my comment was directed at 6:43

6:43 here. 7:55, is sounds like we're on the same page. With a lot of company.

[Anonymous]

6:43, you explained in a nutshell exactly what is happening at Maury...

[Anonymous]

Truly, this is more nuanced and thoughtful analysis than I've seen coming out of DCPS headquarters.

We had some great luck at an up and coming school in terms of differentiation and flat out GT offerings. The principal was really committed to addressing each child where they were and moving them on to the next level. She also pushed lots of arts offerings, language, etc... all which helps keep children engaged. Sadly though, this leader left the system. I can't say that I'm looking forward to nonstop test prep as a curriculum for upcoming school year.

Does Peggy O'Brien's office monitor these boards? They really should take a peek occasionally.

[Anonymous]

Brookland resident here, ( who also briefly looked at Noyes). I think that the dynamics in Brookland are a little different than what is going on in Capital Hill. Some of the broad themes are the same--neighborhood is getting whiter, and more gentrified by both black and white upper income households. But in Brookland, 2 of our neighborhood DCPS schools were closed--Brookland Elementary (merged into Bunker Hill), and Slowe. Burroughs, Noyes, and Bunker Hill still exist, with Noyes being the best as I can tell in terms of test scores. At the same time that they were closing the Brookland DCPS schools for low enrollment, a couple of attractive charter schools moved into Brookland--EW Stokes and Yu Ying. this all occurred in 2007, 2008. Thus a lot of Brookland parents with 3, 4 year olds jumped into new charters. LAMB is also not too far from Brookland, nor is Two Rivers.

I know in my case, I was able to get a spot in a good charter and my thinking went like this: I want a diverse (not like Noyes) environment for my children. Charters x, y, and z offer this. My local Brookland DCPS options do not. I'm going to try the charters out. I think that Brookland will have a slower time that Capital Hill in getting inbound children to enroll in DCPS schools because of the heavier concentration of charter schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

If enough of the well-off and middle-class families leave, you don't want to be the last one left behind as it feels like the appeal of the class is shrinking, the level of teaching will be falling, and many of your child's friends are gone.

This is curious; why would the quality of the teachers be diminished if the middle-class families leave? Do they pack the good teachers in their duffles as they head off to greener pastures?

Let's say a school has 3 classes of 20 students in Pre-K. (I'm playing with the numbers to make the changes in percentages easier to explain). They are evenly distributed so that in each class 25% are advanced, 25% are proficient, 25% are basic, and 25% are below basic. That's 5 at each level in each class. (Of course, DC-CAS measures don't apply in Pre-K, but what we mean here is that in each class: 5 of these hypothetical students is starting to read basic words or can write their names, 5 know all of their letters and sounds, 5 know a few letters, and 5 don't know that text is read left to right or the difference between text that is right-side up or upside down.)

The teachers in these hypothetical classes will have mini-groups for teaching literacy and pre-literacy skills, but the majority of group instruction will be aimed in the middle of widely-distributed skills - some of which are quite advanced for 4 year olds. Most of these high-performing 4 year olds will be modeling good behavior for their peers. This is a fairly happy scenario for a DCPS school.

Now, in K let's say 5 students per class leave for private or charter schools. These 5 are a combination of the advanced and proficient students, 4:1 or at least 3:2. 5 new students come in, but instead of being either advanced or proficient, they are proficient/basic/below basic, maybe 1:3:1. NOW each class of 20 has 1 or 2 advanced students, 3 to 5 proficient students, 5 to 8 basic students, and 6 below basic students. The percentages have changed from 25/25/25/25 to 5-10%/15-25%/25-40%/30%. The teacher still creates reading groups based on ability, but the amount of time she spends with each shifts to focusing on the larger groups. The children at the top get less individualized instruction, rationalizing that "they don't really need it." The majority of group instruction will be aimed at the median, but the level of the median has dropped since Pre-K.

In 1st, another 5 students per class leave for privates and charters. These are the rest of the advanced students and some proficient students. 2 more join in, but they are 1:1 proficient/basic. The school doesn't yet drop from 3 classes per grade down to 2. Now in each class: we have 0 advanced students, 3 or 4 proficient, 7 or 8 basic, and 6 below basic. Our balance of percentages has shifted again: 0%/15-20%/35-40%/30%. Once again, the teacher uses mini-groups for reading, and her energies are further focused on her mid-level and low-level students. The principal is going to start breathing down her neck about the 30% below basic, so the 15-20% who are proficient will get even less time. The parents of these will have become increasingly unhappy. They see the skills in the class shifting. They don't like it that their children aren't receiving as much personalized instruction, nor that their above-average skills are not being appreciated. They talk to their friends and hear what their friends' children are doing in 1st grade and they decide to make the leap.

By 2nd, another 5 students leave. This time it is the 3 or 4 remaining proficient students and 1 or 2 basic students. The principal can no longer justify 3 classes in that grade, and they are combined to 2 classes of 18 students. None of them are advanced. None of them are proficient. 9 are basic and 9 are below basic. Now we're at 0/0/50/50. All instruction is at the basic or remedial level. We have now arrived at the stasis point for the average DCPS school until the below basic students begin dropping out in H.S.

The level of teaching has changed. Not because the quality of teachers has changed, but because the median they have to teach to has changed (not to mention that the school-wide anxiety of the DC-CAS on the horizon has changed).

Now do you see?

For the record, I realized my percentages were off here. I was calculating as though there were 20 students in the hypothetical 1st grade when in fact there were 17. This changes the percentages to 0%/18% to 24%/41% - 47%/35%. All else, including my overall point, should remain the same.

[Anonymous]

6:43, thank you for the elaboration. I understand what you meant now and the problem was mine because I erroneously substituted the word "quality" [teacher] for "level" [of teaching]. I agree these are two different things but I didn't get your meaning in your 1st post.

FWIW, it's not just east-of-the-park schools where this phenomenon occurs. Take a careful look at the OSSE data for Murch, for example.