Basis 8th grade to Walls-vent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:If 4.0 BASIS kids aren’t even being considered for Walls, I’m not sure Walls is as great of a school as people make it seem. It’s a flawed admissions process when it doesn’t account for what it takes to get all As at BASIS, including in class subjects other middle schoolers haven’t even yet taken. It wouldn’t surprise me if the BASIS students who end up at Walls for high school are some of the most prepared students that school has.

As a parent of a former BASIS kid who switched to Walls (mainly for social reasons) I just want to tell any disappointed BASIS parents that IMO academics are much stronger at BASIS than they are at Walls (so far). My guess is that because BASIS has a relatively uniform curriculum that must be taught across the network, this keeps the academics/material learned at a high level. Many (not all!) Walls/DCPS teachers just seem to phone it in/do whatever they want (in some cases not much!) with no oversight. (I am still generally happy with switch given kid's overall happiness, but do lament the loss of rigor - which is somewhat made up for by the fact that the Walls cohort is almost uniformly diligent and high performing)

This has long been the case. And probably has not been helped with the removal of the Walls test.

The teaching ability/curriculum (or lack thereof) at Walls has nothing to do with the removal of the Walls test. And as far as I can tell, the cohort admitted post-test seems very motivated/high performing.

Really because I heard almost 1/3rd of the kids are not even getting 4 on PARCC

67% 4+ makes SWW the highest performing HS in the city for 4+ math. So your statement is true but there are no other high school students doing better.

Getting a 4 simply means that you have met expectations. How does a selective academic high school in DC have 33% of its student body not even meeting expectations in math? How did these students make the grade cut off?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If 4.0 BASIS kids aren’t even being considered for Walls, I’m not sure Walls is as great of a school as people make it seem. It’s a flawed admissions process when it doesn’t account for what it takes to get all As at BASIS, including in class subjects other middle schoolers haven’t even yet taken. It wouldn’t surprise me if the BASIS students who end up at Walls for high school are some of the most prepared students that school has.

As a parent of a former BASIS kid who switched to Walls (mainly for social reasons) I just want to tell any disappointed BASIS parents that IMO academics are much stronger at BASIS than they are at Walls (so far). My guess is that because BASIS has a relatively uniform curriculum that must be taught across the network, this keeps the academics/material learned at a high level. Many (not all!) Walls/DCPS teachers just seem to phone it in/do whatever they want (in some cases not much!) with no oversight. (I am still generally happy with switch given kid's overall happiness, but do lament the loss of rigor - which is somewhat made up for by the fact that the Walls cohort is almost uniformly diligent and high performing)

This has long been the case. And probably has not been helped with the removal of the Walls test.

The teaching ability/curriculum (or lack thereof) at Walls has nothing to do with the removal of the Walls test. And as far as I can tell, the cohort admitted post-test seems very motivated/high performing.

Really because I heard almost 1/3rd of the kids are not even getting 4 on PARCC

67% 4+ makes SWW the highest performing HS in the city for 4+ math. So your statement is true but there are no other high school students doing better.

Getting a 4 simply means that you have met expectations. How does a selective academic high school in DC have 33% of its student body not even meeting expectations in math? How did these students make the grade cut off?

Teacher here (not at Walls)- you do realize that this test has absolutely no impact on hs student grades or course placement right. Students have no reason to try hard on these tests. We do our best to motivate them but sometimes I’m amazed that more than half the students try hard enough to show their true knowledge. My 9th graders will take CAPE (former PARCC) across 7 days for a total of about 12 hours of pointless testing. Every year I see a number of capable students who I need to repeatedly wake up or who I see hit submit 20 minutes into a 80 minute testing session. I’m not saying this explains schools with single digit 4+ but don’t assume that all 33% of those non-4’s at walls represent students who can’t do the math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there any former BASIS kids who made the switch to Walls and came to regret it?

I believe I heard from HS parents that two begged to come back and couldn't.

I know people are going to say it's because of how the school is structured but it's also asinine. Latin allows kids to transfer back which speaks to its embrace of its students and why its praises are sung so consistently. It also speaks to BASIS rigidity.

BASIS parent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there any former BASIS kids who made the switch to Walls and came to regret it?

I believe I heard from HS parents that two begged to come back and couldn't.

I know people are going to say it's because of how the school is structured but it's also asinine. Latin allows kids to transfer back which speaks to its embrace of its students and why its praises are sung so consistently. It also speaks to BASIS rigidity.

BASIS parent

Yes BASIS is incredibly rigid. In a way that makes it difficult to switch to a different school successfully (the way they write the MS and HS transcripts makes getting credit in some classes incredibly difficult) and not letting students return. It’s not that many who ask in a given year so they could support and absorb those kids. They sort of are ‘done with them’ as soon as they leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If 4.0 BASIS kids aren’t even being considered for Walls, I’m not sure Walls is as great of a school as people make it seem. It’s a flawed admissions process when it doesn’t account for what it takes to get all As at BASIS, including in class subjects other middle schoolers haven’t even yet taken. It wouldn’t surprise me if the BASIS students who end up at Walls for high school are some of the most prepared students that school has.

As a parent of a former BASIS kid who switched to Walls (mainly for social reasons) I just want to tell any disappointed BASIS parents that IMO academics are much stronger at BASIS than they are at Walls (so far). My guess is that because BASIS has a relatively uniform curriculum that must be taught across the network, this keeps the academics/material learned at a high level. Many (not all!) Walls/DCPS teachers just seem to phone it in/do whatever they want (in some cases not much!) with no oversight. (I am still generally happy with switch given kid's overall happiness, but do lament the loss of rigor - which is somewhat made up for by the fact that the Walls cohort is almost uniformly diligent and high performing)

This has long been the case. And probably has not been helped with the removal of the Walls test.

The teaching ability/curriculum (or lack thereof) at Walls has nothing to do with the removal of the Walls test. And as far as I can tell, the cohort admitted post-test seems very motivated/high performing.

Really because I heard almost 1/3rd of the kids are not even getting 4 on PARCC

67% 4+ makes SWW the highest performing HS in the city for 4+ math. So your statement is true but there are no other high school students doing better.

Getting a 4 simply means that you have met expectations. How does a selective academic high school in DC have 33% of its student body not even meeting expectations in math? How did these students make the grade cut off?

Teacher here (not at Walls)- you do realize that this test has absolutely no impact on hs student grades or course placement right. Students have no reason to try hard on these tests. We do our best to motivate them but sometimes I’m amazed that more than half the students try hard enough to show their true knowledge. My 9th graders will take CAPE (former PARCC) across 7 days for a total of about 12 hours of pointless testing. Every year I see a number of capable students who I need to repeatedly wake up or who I see hit submit 20 minutes into a 80 minute testing session. I’m not saying this explains schools with single digit 4+ but don’t assume that all 33% of those non-4’s at walls represent students who can’t do the math.

+1. 9th grade parent who attended SWW. I don't know that there's ever been standardized testing that I haven't fallen asleep on during HS, including the SAT. Looking back, it was because I managed my own schedule and often worked the night before and ate crap the morning of. I believe this is not uncommon for FGLIs. By comparison, my kid is doing math prep and I'll ensure they're in bed at a decent hour and have a high protein breakfast the morning of.

[Anonymous]

Stop all the whining...Your kid is at a good school NOT a perfect one. There are plenty of high performing kids that don't have the option. All the conspiracy and sabotage theories are just sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If 4.0 BASIS kids aren’t even being considered for Walls, I’m not sure Walls is as great of a school as people make it seem. It’s a flawed admissions process when it doesn’t account for what it takes to get all As at BASIS, including in class subjects other middle schoolers haven’t even yet taken. It wouldn’t surprise me if the BASIS students who end up at Walls for high school are some of the most prepared students that school has.

As a parent of a former BASIS kid who switched to Walls (mainly for social reasons) I just want to tell any disappointed BASIS parents that IMO academics are much stronger at BASIS than they are at Walls (so far). My guess is that because BASIS has a relatively uniform curriculum that must be taught across the network, this keeps the academics/material learned at a high level. Many (not all!) Walls/DCPS teachers just seem to phone it in/do whatever they want (in some cases not much!) with no oversight. (I am still generally happy with switch given kid's overall happiness, but do lament the loss of rigor - which is somewhat made up for by the fact that the Walls cohort is almost uniformly diligent and high performing)

This has long been the case. And probably has not been helped with the removal of the Walls test.

The teaching ability/curriculum (or lack thereof) at Walls has nothing to do with the removal of the Walls test. And as far as I can tell, the cohort admitted post-test seems very motivated/high performing.

Really because I heard almost 1/3rd of the kids are not even getting 4 on PARCC

67% 4+ makes SWW the highest performing HS in the city for 4+ math. So your statement is true but there are no other high school students doing better.

Getting a 4 simply means that you have met expectations. How does a selective academic high school in DC have 33% of its student body not even meeting expectations in math? How did these students make the grade cut off?

+1

Walls is supposedly the best magnet HS in DC but a 1/3 of the kids are below grade-level in math.

If you compare it to the best magnet HS in NYC, that school doesn't admit anyone who is below grade-level in math.

That certainly suggests that maybe the Walls admission system where GPA counts for 10%, 2 subjective teacher recommendation letters count for 30%, and a 10-minute interview with a high school student/teacher and 1 paragraph essay count for 60% may not be the best way to admit kids.

[Anonymous]

Actually, it doesn’t suggest that at all since none of the current students there were admitted based on that set of criteria.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually, it doesn’t suggest that at all since none of the current students there were admitted based on that set of criteria.

You missed the point there…

You really think the currently admissions process is going to increase math proficiency from last year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, it doesn’t suggest that at all since none of the current students there were admitted based on that set of criteria.

You missed the point there…

You really think the currently admissions process is going to increase math proficiency from last year?

+1. Weird how some posters defend this absurd process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If 4.0 BASIS kids aren’t even being considered for Walls, I’m not sure Walls is as great of a school as people make it seem. It’s a flawed admissions process when it doesn’t account for what it takes to get all As at BASIS, including in class subjects other middle schoolers haven’t even yet taken. It wouldn’t surprise me if the BASIS students who end up at Walls for high school are some of the most prepared students that school has.

As a parent of a former BASIS kid who switched to Walls (mainly for social reasons) I just want to tell any disappointed BASIS parents that IMO academics are much stronger at BASIS than they are at Walls (so far). My guess is that because BASIS has a relatively uniform curriculum that must be taught across the network, this keeps the academics/material learned at a high level. Many (not all!) Walls/DCPS teachers just seem to phone it in/do whatever they want (in some cases not much!) with no oversight. (I am still generally happy with switch given kid's overall happiness, but do lament the loss of rigor - which is somewhat made up for by the fact that the Walls cohort is almost uniformly diligent and high performing)

This has long been the case. And probably has not been helped with the removal of the Walls test.

The teaching ability/curriculum (or lack thereof) at Walls has nothing to do with the removal of the Walls test. And as far as I can tell, the cohort admitted post-test seems very motivated/high performing.

Really because I heard almost 1/3rd of the kids are not even getting 4 on PARCC

67% 4+ makes SWW the highest performing HS in the city for 4+ math. So your statement is true but there are no other high school students doing better.

Getting a 4 simply means that you have met expectations. How does a selective academic high school in DC have 33% of its student body not even meeting expectations in math? How did these students make the grade cut off?

+1

Walls is supposedly the best magnet HS in DC but a 1/3 of the kids are below grade-level in math.

If you compare it to the best magnet HS in NYC, that school doesn't admit anyone who is below grade-level in math.

That certainly suggests that maybe the Walls admission system where GPA counts for 10%, 2 subjective teacher recommendation letters count for 30%, and a 10-minute interview with a high school student/teacher and 1 paragraph essay count for 60% may not be the best way to admit kids.

I agree that the Walls admission system is seriously flawed (especially the 2 subjective teacher recommendations). The process you outline, though, is new this year. It's not the way it was done pre-pandemic and not what's been done the past few years.

Admissions aside, in order to compare magnet high schools in NYC and DC, you'd need to compare outcomes on the same tests. Students in NYC do not take PARCC (now DC CAPE) and they don't have the same state standards.

[Anonymous]

The thing about PARCC is kids have no skin in the game. The only people who are affected by PARCC scores are teachers who teach those grade levels/courses and the school profile. If DCPS wanted to get an actual measure of student readiness in math and reading then they’d make scoring a 3 on parcc a requirement for graduation. I guarantee PARCC scores would increase citywide in HS. But of course DCPS won’t actually make the test worth anything so instead kids focus on AP tests or coursework that affects their grades. How hard would you all try on a test that means nothing? Versus how hard would you try on a test that had some incentive (money, getting into grad school, etc.?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stop all the whining...Your kid is at a good school NOT a perfect one. There are plenty of high performing kids that don't have the option. All the conspiracy and sabotage theories are just sad.

Spoken like someone who is unfamiliar with the BASIS administration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there any former BASIS kids who made the switch to Walls and came to regret it?

I believe I heard from HS parents that two begged to come back and couldn't.

I know people are going to say it's because of how the school is structured but it's also asinine. Latin allows kids to transfer back which speaks to its embrace of its students and why its praises are sung so consistently. It also speaks to BASIS rigidity.

BASIS parent

Do you mean students who leave Latin and enroll in and then attend a different school can be re-admitted to Latin without going through the lottery? Or donthey have to lottery in but BASIS doesn’t let former students lottery in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The thing about PARCC is kids have no skin in the game. The only people who are affected by PARCC scores are teachers who teach those grade levels/courses and the school profile. If DCPS wanted to get an actual measure of student readiness in math and reading then they’d make scoring a 3 on parcc a requirement for graduation. I guarantee PARCC scores would increase citywide in HS. But of course DCPS won’t actually make the test worth anything so instead kids focus on AP tests or coursework that affects their grades. How hard would you all try on a test that means nothing? Versus how hard would you try on a test that had some incentive (money, getting into grad school, etc.?

But a Walls student wouldn't need to try at all to get a 4 on the PARCC! It's testing stuff they already know well. You're not supposed to study. Just show up and take a test.