Experience with Macfarland?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an idea who 17:32 is and can’t believe they are still at MacFarland; our kids attended elementary school together until we left after 3rd grade. Their child is really bright and I’m surprised they are sticking it out for whatever reason.

hint: it’s called “grandma is paying for private high school and college, so we aren’t worried about MS.”

If that’s the reason then I think there are very compelling arguments for putting your child in an environment like MacFarland before they go to a private school bubble. You can supplement at home for a few years.

Who wants to supplement all subjects for 3 years in addition to trying to fit in sports and extracurriculars? There is only so much time in the day.

Lastly, how many kids are going to buy into that? A full day of wasted school and then coming home to a few hours of more work?

I feel sorry for OP’s kid because of some abstract values he holds to send his kid there. His kid is not only not meeting his full potential academically but is missing out on all the extras like OP said with clubs, sports, etc…

DP. Since these schools have no homework there’s plenty of time to supplement. Also using the IB school often means a much shorter commute. We were considering MCPS with a long bus ride … instead DS will just have a 10 min walk. I wish the school was better but I’m not worried about the time spent in tutoring. Especially since 1:1 tutoring is so effective, you don’t have to spend that much time on it.

So let me see here. You are saying your kid is going to a school like MacFarland which means you are supplementing in all subjects - math, English, science, social studies, and maybe languages.

So unless you are supplementing that every single day, your kid is not getting an equivalent education as someone who goes to a good school and are getting the coursework they need at their level. 1-2 hours a week isn’t cutting it by a long shot. If you think they are then you are in denial.

DP, but... why do you care? What's it to you if this poster sends their kid to McFarland and is "in denial" about it? Is there some reason you think trying to persuade strangers on the Internet that they should make different choices than they already have is a good idea?

Why do you care if others point out something that is a fact?

I have to say, lots of posters on here are really, really defensive about anything negative or negative data presented on the school. Also some of these people are actually saying that parents should consider sending their kid here?? At a school where 6 6th graders are in grade level in math over hundreds? Seriously, how is a school like this even allowed to continue operating?

I won’t even go into the issues of lack of enriching extracurricular, sports, and clubs. I won’t go into the issue how someone found thought it was dangerous.

Standards are so damn low in DCPS. And people who are defending this just enable it to continue and DCPS can just continue chugging along failing the majority of the kids in this city.

Just more rhetoric without solutions.

There should be meaningful, test-in differentiation for core academic subjects by middle school, and if that can't be provided at every middle school, it should be offered somewhere in DC to eligible students, along with busing to get there. Kids who are on grade level should be able to access an appropriate education. Kids who need remediation should have easy access to that as well, instead of putting a kid in algebra who doesn't understand multiplication.

In the absence of that, don't send your kid to a falling school.

This would be great! Can you explain how we would staff a building to provide all of this differentiation?

Above poster hit it on the mail.

You are missing the point which is that the kids should have been identified and given support early on starting in elementary and offered after school tutoring, offer remedial summer school, etc….so many ways you can support. If the kid is in middle school and can’t even do multiplication, you already lost the game and there is no way to win. This is all exacerbated by the widespread social promotion in DCPS. Pass kids no matter what year after year after year and this is what you get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an idea who 17:32 is and can’t believe they are still at MacFarland; our kids attended elementary school together until we left after 3rd grade. Their child is really bright and I’m surprised they are sticking it out for whatever reason.

hint: it’s called “grandma is paying for private high school and college, so we aren’t worried about MS.”

If that’s the reason then I think there are very compelling arguments for putting your child in an environment like MacFarland before they go to a private school bubble. You can supplement at home for a few years.

Who wants to supplement all subjects for 3 years in addition to trying to fit in sports and extracurriculars? There is only so much time in the day.

Lastly, how many kids are going to buy into that? A full day of wasted school and then coming home to a few hours of more work?

I feel sorry for OP’s kid because of some abstract values he holds to send his kid there. His kid is not only not meeting his full potential academically but is missing out on all the extras like OP said with clubs, sports, etc…

DP. Since these schools have no homework there’s plenty of time to supplement. Also using the IB school often means a much shorter commute. We were considering MCPS with a long bus ride … instead DS will just have a 10 min walk. I wish the school was better but I’m not worried about the time spent in tutoring. Especially since 1:1 tutoring is so effective, you don’t have to spend that much time on it.

So let me see here. You are saying your kid is going to a school like MacFarland which means you are supplementing in all subjects - math, English, science, social studies, and maybe languages.

So unless you are supplementing that every single day, your kid is not getting an equivalent education as someone who goes to a good school and are getting the coursework they need at their level. 1-2 hours a week isn’t cutting it by a long shot. If you think they are then you are in denial.

DP, but... why do you care? What's it to you if this poster sends their kid to McFarland and is "in denial" about it? Is there some reason you think trying to persuade strangers on the Internet that they should make different choices than they already have is a good idea?

Why do you care if others point out something that is a fact?

I have to say, lots of posters on here are really, really defensive about anything negative or negative data presented on the school. Also some of these people are actually saying that parents should consider sending their kid here?? At a school where 6 6th graders are in grade level in math over hundreds? Seriously, how is a school like this even allowed to continue operating?

I won’t even go into the issues of lack of enriching extracurricular, sports, and clubs. I won’t go into the issue how someone found thought it was dangerous.

Standards are so damn low in DCPS. And people who are defending this just enable it to continue and DCPS can just continue chugging along failing the majority of the kids in this city.

Just more rhetoric without solutions.

There should be meaningful, test-in differentiation for core academic subjects by middle school, and if that can't be provided at every middle school, it should be offered somewhere in DC to eligible students, along with busing to get there. Kids who are on grade level should be able to access an appropriate education. Kids who need remediation should have easy access to that as well, instead of putting a kid in algebra who doesn't understand multiplication.

In the absence of that, don't send your kid to a falling school.

This would be great! Can you explain how we would staff a building to provide all of this differentiation?

How do you think DCPS does IB curricula, early college programs, and selective admissions high schools? DCPS doesn't fail to do middle school differentiation because the logistics are difficult, they're not doing it because they don't want to.

DCPS is fine with running separate programs at existing schools that are more academic - what they're increasingly not fine with is test-in differentiation, which is how you get theoretically accelerated programs where the kids aren't on grade level. Heck, Deal has extensive differentiation because they have the student body to do it. Well, so would an EOTP middle school that committed to doing this.

As for remediation, there are so many kids in need of that that you can do that in existing schools. Again, it's a lack of will, because you'd have to face the scope of the problem.

I can't begin to combat this because there is so much ignorance in your comment. You just use a lot of ed buzzwords, but not in a coherent way.

I'll try to help you with some prompting questions:

In my school we have about 70% of our student population that needs remediation. Which members of the staff should be employed to deliver this remediation?

Test - in differentiation is being phased out by even selective high schools and colleges. Why do you think that it is appropriate for middle school in DC?

You say Deal has extensive differentiation. What do you mean by that and how is it staffed?

As for the bolded, I don't have a question, I just completely disagree. Differentiation for a 20 student classroom is difficult. Differentiation for a hundreds large student body coming from multiple feeders is obviously logistically challenging. It requires staffing models that include program coordinators, project managers and on site interventionists. These positions are not adequately staffed in DCPS due to funding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an idea who 17:32 is and can’t believe they are still at MacFarland; our kids attended elementary school together until we left after 3rd grade. Their child is really bright and I’m surprised they are sticking it out for whatever reason.

hint: it’s called “grandma is paying for private high school and college, so we aren’t worried about MS.”

If that’s the reason then I think there are very compelling arguments for putting your child in an environment like MacFarland before they go to a private school bubble. You can supplement at home for a few years.

Who wants to supplement all subjects for 3 years in addition to trying to fit in sports and extracurriculars? There is only so much time in the day.

Lastly, how many kids are going to buy into that? A full day of wasted school and then coming home to a few hours of more work?

I feel sorry for OP’s kid because of some abstract values he holds to send his kid there. His kid is not only not meeting his full potential academically but is missing out on all the extras like OP said with clubs, sports, etc…

DP. Since these schools have no homework there’s plenty of time to supplement. Also using the IB school often means a much shorter commute. We were considering MCPS with a long bus ride … instead DS will just have a 10 min walk. I wish the school was better but I’m not worried about the time spent in tutoring. Especially since 1:1 tutoring is so effective, you don’t have to spend that much time on it.

So let me see here. You are saying your kid is going to a school like MacFarland which means you are supplementing in all subjects - math, English, science, social studies, and maybe languages.

So unless you are supplementing that every single day, your kid is not getting an equivalent education as someone who goes to a good school and are getting the coursework they need at their level. 1-2 hours a week isn’t cutting it by a long shot. If you think they are then you are in denial.

DP, but... why do you care? What's it to you if this poster sends their kid to McFarland and is "in denial" about it? Is there some reason you think trying to persuade strangers on the Internet that they should make different choices than they already have is a good idea?

Why do you care if others point out something that is a fact?

I have to say, lots of posters on here are really, really defensive about anything negative or negative data presented on the school. Also some of these people are actually saying that parents should consider sending their kid here?? At a school where 6 6th graders are in grade level in math over hundreds? Seriously, how is a school like this even allowed to continue operating?

I won’t even go into the issues of lack of enriching extracurricular, sports, and clubs. I won’t go into the issue how someone found thought it was dangerous.

Standards are so damn low in DCPS. And people who are defending this just enable it to continue and DCPS can just continue chugging along failing the majority of the kids in this city.

Just more rhetoric without solutions.

There should be meaningful, test-in differentiation for core academic subjects by middle school, and if that can't be provided at every middle school, it should be offered somewhere in DC to eligible students, along with busing to get there. Kids who are on grade level should be able to access an appropriate education. Kids who need remediation should have easy access to that as well, instead of putting a kid in algebra who doesn't understand multiplication.

In the absence of that, don't send your kid to a falling school.

This would be great! Can you explain how we would staff a building to provide all of this differentiation?

Above poster hit it on the mail.

You are missing the point which is that the kids should have been identified and given support early on starting in elementary and offered after school tutoring, offer remedial summer school, etc….so many ways you can support. If the kid is in middle school and can’t even do multiplication, you already lost the game and there is no way to win. This is all exacerbated by the widespread social promotion in DCPS. Pass kids no matter what year after year after year and this is what you get.

DCPS does all of this.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have an idea who 17:32 is and can’t believe they are still at MacFarland; our kids attended elementary school together until we left after 3rd grade. Their child is really bright and I’m surprised they are sticking it out for whatever reason. [/quote]

hint: it’s called “grandma is paying for private high school and college, so we aren’t worried about MS.”[/quote]

If that’s the reason then I think there are very compelling arguments for putting your child in an environment like MacFarland before they go to a private school bubble. You can supplement at home for a few years. [/quote]

Who wants to supplement all subjects for 3 years in addition to trying to fit in sports and extracurriculars? There is only so much time in the day.

Lastly, how many kids are going to buy into that? A full day of wasted school and then coming home to a few hours of more work?

I feel sorry for OP’s kid because of some abstract values he holds to send his kid there. His kid is not only not meeting his full potential academically but is missing out on all the extras like OP said with clubs, sports, etc… [/quote]

DP. Since these schools have no homework there’s plenty of time to supplement. Also using the IB school often means a much shorter commute. We were considering MCPS with a long bus ride … instead DS will just have a 10 min walk. I wish the school was better but I’m not worried about the time spent in tutoring. Especially since 1:1 tutoring is so effective, you don’t have to spend that much time on it. [/quote]

So let me see here. You are saying your kid is going to a school like MacFarland which means you are supplementing in all subjects - math, English, science, social studies, and maybe languages.

So unless you are supplementing that every single day, your kid is not getting an equivalent education as someone who goes to a good school and are getting the coursework they need at their level. 1-2 hours a week isn’t cutting it by a long shot. If you think they are then you are in denial.

[/quote]

DP, but... why do you care? What's it to you if this poster sends their kid to McFarland and is "in denial" about it? Is there some reason you think trying to persuade strangers on the Internet that they should make different choices than they already have is a good idea?[/quote]

Why do you care if others point out something that is a fact?

I have to say, lots of posters on here are really, really defensive about anything negative or negative data presented on the school. Also some of these people are actually saying that parents should consider sending their kid here?? At a school where 6 6th graders are in grade level in math over hundreds? Seriously, how is a school like this even allowed to continue operating?

I won’t even go into the issues of lack of enriching extracurricular, sports, and clubs. I won’t go into the issue how someone found thought it was dangerous.

Standards are so damn low in DCPS. And people who are defending this just enable it to continue and DCPS can just continue chugging along failing the majority of the kids in this city.

[/quote]

Just more rhetoric without solutions.[/quote]

There should be meaningful, test-in differentiation for core academic subjects by middle school, and if that can't be provided at every middle school, it should be offered somewhere in DC to eligible students, along with busing to get there. Kids who are on grade level should be able to access an appropriate education. Kids who need remediation should have easy access to that as well, instead of putting a kid in algebra who doesn't understand multiplication.

In the absence of that, don't send your kid to a falling school. [/quote]

This would be great! Can you explain how we would staff a building to provide all of this differentiation?[/quote]

How do you think DCPS does IB curricula, early college programs, and selective admissions high schools?[b] DCPS doesn't fail to do middle school differentiation because the logistics are difficult, they're not doing it because they don't want to.
[/b]
DCPS is fine with running separate programs at existing schools that are more academic - what they're increasingly not fine with is test-in differentiation, which is how you get theoretically accelerated programs where the kids aren't on grade level. Heck, Deal has extensive differentiation because they have the student body to do it. Well, so would an EOTP middle school that committed to doing this.

As for remediation, there are so many kids in need of that that you can do that in existing schools. Again, it's a lack of will, because you'd have to face the scope of the problem. [/quote]

I can't begin to combat this because there is so much ignorance in your comment. You just use a lot of ed buzzwords, but not in a coherent way.

I'll try to help you with some prompting questions:

In my school we have about 70% of our student population that needs remediation. Which members of the staff should be employed to deliver this remediation?

Test - in differentiation is being phased out by even selective high schools and colleges. Why do you think that it is appropriate for middle school in DC?

You say Deal has extensive differentiation. What do you mean by that and how is it staffed?

As for the bolded, I don't have a question, I just completely disagree. Differentiation for a 20 student classroom is difficult. Differentiation for a hundreds large student body coming from multiple feeders is obviously logistically challenging. It requires staffing models that include program coordinators, project managers and on site interventionists. These positions are not adequately staffed in DCPS due to funding. [/quote]
Cool, questions. I can do questions.

Phasing out testing for selective high schools gets you a more academically heterogeneous population with a broader set of academic needs. Where are your staffing concerns for that?

Why do you think it would be a school with hundreds of kids and not a program at an existing school with a much smaller number? If you're that deeply unfamiliar with PARCC data at EOTP schools and what numbers we're talking about, are you sure you should be talking about this?

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have an idea who 17:32 is and can’t believe they are still at MacFarland; our kids attended elementary school together until we left after 3rd grade. Their child is really bright and I’m surprised they are sticking it out for whatever reason. [/quote]

hint: it’s called “grandma is paying for private high school and college, so we aren’t worried about MS.”[/quote]

If that’s the reason then I think there are very compelling arguments for putting your child in an environment like MacFarland before they go to a private school bubble. You can supplement at home for a few years. [/quote]

Who wants to supplement all subjects for 3 years in addition to trying to fit in sports and extracurriculars? There is only so much time in the day.

Lastly, how many kids are going to buy into that? A full day of wasted school and then coming home to a few hours of more work?

I feel sorry for OP’s kid because of some abstract values he holds to send his kid there. His kid is not only not meeting his full potential academically but is missing out on all the extras like OP said with clubs, sports, etc… [/quote]

DP. Since these schools have no homework there’s plenty of time to supplement. Also using the IB school often means a much shorter commute. We were considering MCPS with a long bus ride … instead DS will just have a 10 min walk. I wish the school was better but I’m not worried about the time spent in tutoring. Especially since 1:1 tutoring is so effective, you don’t have to spend that much time on it. [/quote]

So let me see here. You are saying your kid is going to a school like MacFarland which means you are supplementing in all subjects - math, English, science, social studies, and maybe languages.

So unless you are supplementing that every single day, your kid is not getting an equivalent education as someone who goes to a good school and are getting the coursework they need at their level. 1-2 hours a week isn’t cutting it by a long shot. If you think they are then you are in denial.

[/quote]

DP, but... why do you care? What's it to you if this poster sends their kid to McFarland and is "in denial" about it? Is there some reason you think trying to persuade strangers on the Internet that they should make different choices than they already have is a good idea?[/quote]

Why do you care if others point out something that is a fact?

I have to say, lots of posters on here are really, really defensive about anything negative or negative data presented on the school. Also some of these people are actually saying that parents should consider sending their kid here?? At a school where 6 6th graders are in grade level in math over hundreds? Seriously, how is a school like this even allowed to continue operating?

I won’t even go into the issues of lack of enriching extracurricular, sports, and clubs. I won’t go into the issue how someone found thought it was dangerous.

Standards are so damn low in DCPS. And people who are defending this just enable it to continue and DCPS can just continue chugging along failing the majority of the kids in this city.

[/quote]

Just more rhetoric without solutions.[/quote]

There should be meaningful, test-in differentiation for core academic subjects by middle school, and if that can't be provided at every middle school, it should be offered somewhere in DC to eligible students, along with busing to get there. Kids who are on grade level should be able to access an appropriate education. Kids who need remediation should have easy access to that as well, instead of putting a kid in algebra who doesn't understand multiplication.

In the absence of that, don't send your kid to a falling school. [/quote]

This would be great! Can you explain how we would staff a building to provide all of this differentiation?[/quote]

How do you think DCPS does IB curricula, early college programs, and selective admissions high schools?[b] DCPS doesn't fail to do middle school differentiation because the logistics are difficult, they're not doing it because they don't want to.
[/b]
DCPS is fine with running separate programs at existing schools that are more academic - what they're increasingly not fine with is test-in differentiation, which is how you get theoretically accelerated programs where the kids aren't on grade level. Heck, Deal has extensive differentiation because they have the student body to do it. Well, so would an EOTP middle school that committed to doing this.

As for remediation, there are so many kids in need of that that you can do that in existing schools. Again, it's a lack of will, because you'd have to face the scope of the problem. [/quote]

I can't begin to combat this because there is so much ignorance in your comment. You just use a lot of ed buzzwords, but not in a coherent way.

I'll try to help you with some prompting questions:

In my school we have about 70% of our student population that needs remediation. Which members of the staff should be employed to deliver this remediation?

Test - in differentiation is being phased out by even selective high schools and colleges. Why do you think that it is appropriate for middle school in DC?

You say Deal has extensive differentiation. What do you mean by that and how is it staffed?

As for the bolded, I don't have a question, I just completely disagree. Differentiation for a 20 student classroom is difficult. Differentiation for a hundreds large student body coming from multiple feeders is obviously logistically challenging. It requires staffing models that include program coordinators, project managers and on site interventionists. These positions are not adequately staffed in DCPS due to funding. [/quote]
Cool, questions. I can do questions.

Phasing out testing for selective high schools gets you a more academically heterogeneous population with a broader set of academic needs. Where are your staffing concerns for that?

Why do you think it would be a school with hundreds of kids and not a program at an existing school with a much smaller number? If you're that deeply unfamiliar with PARCC data at EOTP schools and what numbers we're talking about, are you sure you should be talking about this? [/quote]

"Phasing out testing for selective high schools gets you a more academically heterogeneous population with a broader set of academic needs. Where are your staffing concerns for that?"

I've never been one to promote selective high schools, so I don't really ccare about that.

"Why do you think it would be a school with hundreds of kids and [b]not a program at an existing school with a much smaller number?[/b] If you're that deeply unfamiliar with PARCC data at EOTP schools and what numbers we're talking about, are you sure you should be talking about this?"

What does the bolded mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an idea who 17:32 is and can’t believe they are still at MacFarland; our kids attended elementary school together until we left after 3rd grade. Their child is really bright and I’m surprised they are sticking it out for whatever reason.

hint: it’s called “grandma is paying for private high school and college, so we aren’t worried about MS.”

If that’s the reason then I think there are very compelling arguments for putting your child in an environment like MacFarland before they go to a private school bubble. You can supplement at home for a few years.

Who wants to supplement all subjects for 3 years in addition to trying to fit in sports and extracurriculars? There is only so much time in the day.

Lastly, how many kids are going to buy into that? A full day of wasted school and then coming home to a few hours of more work?

I feel sorry for OP’s kid because of some abstract values he holds to send his kid there. His kid is not only not meeting his full potential academically but is missing out on all the extras like OP said with clubs, sports, etc…

DP. Since these schools have no homework there’s plenty of time to supplement. Also using the IB school often means a much shorter commute. We were considering MCPS with a long bus ride … instead DS will just have a 10 min walk. I wish the school was better but I’m not worried about the time spent in tutoring. Especially since 1:1 tutoring is so effective, you don’t have to spend that much time on it.

So let me see here. You are saying your kid is going to a school like MacFarland which means you are supplementing in all subjects - math, English, science, social studies, and maybe languages.

So unless you are supplementing that every single day, your kid is not getting an equivalent education as someone who goes to a good school and are getting the coursework they need at their level. 1-2 hours a week isn’t cutting it by a long shot. If you think they are then you are in denial.

DP, but... why do you care? What's it to you if this poster sends their kid to McFarland and is "in denial" about it? Is there some reason you think trying to persuade strangers on the Internet that they should make different choices than they already have is a good idea?

Why do you care if others point out something that is a fact?

I have to say, lots of posters on here are really, really defensive about anything negative or negative data presented on the school. Also some of these people are actually saying that parents should consider sending their kid here?? At a school where 6 6th graders are in grade level in math over hundreds? Seriously, how is a school like this even allowed to continue operating?

I won’t even go into the issues of lack of enriching extracurricular, sports, and clubs. I won’t go into the issue how someone found thought it was dangerous.

Standards are so damn low in DCPS. And people who are defending this just enable it to continue and DCPS can just continue chugging along failing the majority of the kids in this city.

Just more rhetoric without solutions.

There should be meaningful, test-in differentiation for core academic subjects by middle school, and if that can't be provided at every middle school, it should be offered somewhere in DC to eligible students, along with busing to get there. Kids who are on grade level should be able to access an appropriate education. Kids who need remediation should have easy access to that as well, instead of putting a kid in algebra who doesn't understand multiplication.

In the absence of that, don't send your kid to a falling school.

This would be great! Can you explain how we would staff a building to provide all of this differentiation?

How do you think DCPS does IB curricula, early college programs, and selective admissions high schools? DCPS doesn't fail to do middle school differentiation because the logistics are difficult, they're not doing it because they don't want to.

DCPS is fine with running separate programs at existing schools that are more academic - what they're increasingly not fine with is test-in differentiation, which is how you get theoretically accelerated programs where the kids aren't on grade level. Heck, Deal has extensive differentiation because they have the student body to do it. Well, so would an EOTP middle school that committed to doing this.

As for remediation, there are so many kids in need of that that you can do that in existing schools. Again, it's a lack of will, because you'd have to face the scope of the problem.

I can't begin to combat this because there is so much ignorance in your comment. You just use a lot of ed buzzwords, but not in a coherent way.

I'll try to help you with some prompting questions:

In my school we have about 70% of our student population that needs remediation. Which members of the staff should be employed to deliver this remediation?

Test - in differentiation is being phased out by even selective high schools and colleges. Why do you think that it is appropriate for middle school in DC?

You say Deal has extensive differentiation. What do you mean by that and how is it staffed?

As for the bolded, I don't have a question, I just completely disagree. Differentiation for a 20 student classroom is difficult. Differentiation for a hundreds large student body coming from multiple feeders is obviously logistically challenging. It requires staffing models that include program coordinators, project managers and on site interventionists. These positions are not adequately staffed in DCPS due to funding.

No you can’t differentiate with hundreds of students. That is why in the overwhelming majority of schools in this country there are 2-3 different levels for every single subject starting in middle school.

It’s tracking that is subject specific so a kid who excels in ELA can be in the highest English track but who struggles more with math can be on the lower math track. This meets all kids in all subjects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an idea who 17:32 is and can’t believe they are still at MacFarland; our kids attended elementary school together until we left after 3rd grade. Their child is really bright and I’m surprised they are sticking it out for whatever reason.

hint: it’s called “grandma is paying for private high school and college, so we aren’t worried about MS.”

If that’s the reason then I think there are very compelling arguments for putting your child in an environment like MacFarland before they go to a private school bubble. You can supplement at home for a few years.

Who wants to supplement all subjects for 3 years in addition to trying to fit in sports and extracurriculars? There is only so much time in the day.

Lastly, how many kids are going to buy into that? A full day of wasted school and then coming home to a few hours of more work?

I feel sorry for OP’s kid because of some abstract values he holds to send his kid there. His kid is not only not meeting his full potential academically but is missing out on all the extras like OP said with clubs, sports, etc…

DP. Since these schools have no homework there’s plenty of time to supplement. Also using the IB school often means a much shorter commute. We were considering MCPS with a long bus ride … instead DS will just have a 10 min walk. I wish the school was better but I’m not worried about the time spent in tutoring. Especially since 1:1 tutoring is so effective, you don’t have to spend that much time on it.

So let me see here. You are saying your kid is going to a school like MacFarland which means you are supplementing in all subjects - math, English, science, social studies, and maybe languages.

So unless you are supplementing that every single day, your kid is not getting an equivalent education as someone who goes to a good school and are getting the coursework they need at their level. 1-2 hours a week isn’t cutting it by a long shot. If you think they are then you are in denial.

DP, but... why do you care? What's it to you if this poster sends their kid to McFarland and is "in denial" about it? Is there some reason you think trying to persuade strangers on the Internet that they should make different choices than they already have is a good idea?

Why do you care if others point out something that is a fact?

I have to say, lots of posters on here are really, really defensive about anything negative or negative data presented on the school. Also some of these people are actually saying that parents should consider sending their kid here?? At a school where 6 6th graders are in grade level in math over hundreds? Seriously, how is a school like this even allowed to continue operating?

I won’t even go into the issues of lack of enriching extracurricular, sports, and clubs. I won’t go into the issue how someone found thought it was dangerous.

Standards are so damn low in DCPS. And people who are defending this just enable it to continue and DCPS can just continue chugging along failing the majority of the kids in this city.

Just more rhetoric without solutions.

There should be meaningful, test-in differentiation for core academic subjects by middle school, and if that can't be provided at every middle school, it should be offered somewhere in DC to eligible students, along with busing to get there. Kids who are on grade level should be able to access an appropriate education. Kids who need remediation should have easy access to that as well, instead of putting a kid in algebra who doesn't understand multiplication.

In the absence of that, don't send your kid to a falling school.

This would be great! Can you explain how we would staff a building to provide all of this differentiation?

Above poster hit it on the mail.

You are missing the point which is that the kids should have been identified and given support early on starting in elementary and offered after school tutoring, offer remedial summer school, etc….so many ways you can support. If the kid is in middle school and can’t even do multiplication, you already lost the game and there is no way to win. This is all exacerbated by the widespread social promotion in DCPS. Pass kids no matter what year after year after year and this is what you get.

DCPS does all of this.

No they don’t at every school, not even the majority of schools. Some isolated programs here and there and not all students who need it can access it.

[Anonymous]

"Differentiation" happens in middle and high schools by putting kids at different levels in different classes. This looks different from differentiation in a traditional elementary school, where a teacher is expected to meet kids at different levels simultaneously. Obviously elementary schools, theoretically, could sort students within a grade level by ability as well, but I don't think that happens anywhere in the country anymore, and reflects a general policy position that the balance should tip toward mixing kids in elementary, both for the social reasons and so that a kid doesn't get stuck on the wrong "track" at an early age. Most schools, outside of DCPS, still do differentiate at the MS and HS levels, however (which makes sense if you believe the balance should tip toward academics by HS) by offering various levels of classes (remedial, basic, honors, AP, etc). But DCPS does not do this as a general rule at the MS level and does so in HS only to the extent you are up for AP. It is not because they can't-- they do plenty of standardized testing and could easily sort kids that way. It is because they don't want to.

So, when your kid is in Middle School, expect them to have most of their classes with the general population. It is just logical that if the average kid is at a higher level at your school, the teacher is going to be able to teach the class to a higher level. And when I say "higher level," I basically mean not below grade level. I would not expect anywhere close to grade level instruction at a school where the majority of kids are performing well below grade level.

At Deal, I would say that the classes seem to be taught at "grade level," with an added level of rigor because of the IB requirements, which is nice. Deal also offers math up to Algebra II, and kids who are on this advanced path will obviously not physically be in math classes with students on the standard Math 6, 7, 8 track. Deal also allows you to pick your foreign language (required for grades 6-8), with certain languages having a reputation for attracting more serious students. But ELA, social studies, science, and specials will all be "gen ed."

I understand that SH used to offer some "honors" (ie, not below grade level) classes in various subjects but now offers only an advanced math class and the option to select a foreign language starting in 7th. I understand that Hardy is similar to Deal. It seems like EH and Jefferson have a non-transparent way of sorting kids, which they can do because they barely have a critical mass who can perform at or above grade level. I'm not sure a school could or would do this sort of sorting for only a small handful of grade-level or above kids.

Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Differentiation" happens in middle and high schools by putting kids at different levels in different classes. This looks different from differentiation in a traditional elementary school, where a teacher is expected to meet kids at different levels simultaneously. Obviously elementary schools, theoretically, could sort students within a grade level by ability as well, but I don't think that happens anywhere in the country anymore, and reflects a general policy position that the balance should tip toward mixing kids in elementary, both for the social reasons and so that a kid doesn't get stuck on the wrong "track" at an early age. Most schools, outside of DCPS, still do differentiate at the MS and HS levels, however (which makes sense if you believe the balance should tip toward academics by HS) by offering various levels of classes (remedial, basic, honors, AP, etc). But DCPS does not do this as a general rule at the MS level and does so in HS only to the extent you are up for AP. It is not because they can't-- they do plenty of standardized testing and could easily sort kids that way. It is because they don't want to.

So, when your kid is in Middle School, expect them to have most of their classes with the general population. It is just logical that if the average kid is at a higher level at your school, the teacher is going to be able to teach the class to a higher level. And when I say "higher level," I basically mean not below grade level. I would not expect anywhere close to grade level instruction at a school where the majority of kids are performing well below grade level.

At Deal, I would say that the classes seem to be taught at "grade level," with an added level of rigor because of the IB requirements, which is nice. Deal also offers math up to Algebra II, and kids who are on this advanced path will obviously not physically be in math classes with students on the standard Math 6, 7, 8 track. Deal also allows you to pick your foreign language (required for grades 6-8), with certain languages having a reputation for attracting more serious students. But ELA, social studies, science, and specials will all be "gen ed."

I understand that SH used to offer some "honors" (ie, not below grade level) classes in various subjects but now offers only an advanced math class and the option to select a foreign language starting in 7th. I understand that Hardy is similar to Deal. It seems like EH and Jefferson have a non-transparent way of sorting kids, which they can do because they barely have a critical mass who can perform at or above grade level. I'm not sure a school could or would do this sort of sorting for only a small handful of grade-level or above kids.

Hope this helps.

I would add that some elementary schools in DC do try to differentiate within the class and meet the kids where they are.

DS is in an immersion charter in 3rd grade. The advanced math kids get pulled out to 4th grade math. This is a pull out.

There are reading groups in English and Spanish and in both a wide variation where kids are. I know because DS is in the highest group. So for instance in Spanish, they have someone come in and do more of a book club to his group with reading. This is called a push in. His group also did a project where they went and read a book/story time to the lower grades and answered any questions the kids had.

Is above effective and how do I assess that? I look at MAP scores which is a really good adaptive test. And his scores show that he is doing well against other kids in the country. If he was not doing well, his scores would go down or stagnate. Now once you score really high, then there is not much room to improve and if he consistently scores high as he goes up in the grades, then that tells me he is learning higher material going up in the grades.

Now if you don’t have a critical number of kids above grade level, at grade level, and below grade level, you cannot divide into ability groups. Also if there is only 1 or 2 kids performing outside of majority lower performing groups, I suspect some schools just put them on the computer which I don’t agree with. That is not an adequate substitute. But logistically, it’s the easiest.

I’m sure some other elementariness in the city does above too. The key is finding schools with a critical number of kids at and above grade level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Differentiation" happens in middle and high schools by putting kids at different levels in different classes. This looks different from differentiation in a traditional elementary school, where a teacher is expected to meet kids at different levels simultaneously. Obviously elementary schools, theoretically, could sort students within a grade level by ability as well, but I don't think that happens anywhere in the country anymore, and reflects a general policy position that the balance should tip toward mixing kids in elementary, both for the social reasons and so that a kid doesn't get stuck on the wrong "track" at an early age. Most schools, outside of DCPS, still do differentiate at the MS and HS levels, however (which makes sense if you believe the balance should tip toward academics by HS) by offering various levels of classes (remedial, basic, honors, AP, etc). But DCPS does not do this as a general rule at the MS level and does so in HS only to the extent you are up for AP. It is not because they can't-- they do plenty of standardized testing and could easily sort kids that way. It is because they don't want to.

So, when your kid is in Middle School, expect them to have most of their classes with the general population. It is just logical that if the average kid is at a higher level at your school, the teacher is going to be able to teach the class to a higher level. And when I say "higher level," I basically mean not below grade level. I would not expect anywhere close to grade level instruction at a school where the majority of kids are performing well below grade level.

At Deal, I would say that the classes seem to be taught at "grade level," with an added level of rigor because of the IB requirements, which is nice. Deal also offers math up to Algebra II, and kids who are on this advanced path will obviously not physically be in math classes with students on the standard Math 6, 7, 8 track. Deal also allows you to pick your foreign language (required for grades 6-8), with certain languages having a reputation for attracting more serious students. But ELA, social studies, science, and specials will all be "gen ed."

I understand that SH used to offer some "honors" (ie, not below grade level) classes in various subjects but now offers only an advanced math class and the option to select a foreign language starting in 7th. I understand that Hardy is similar to Deal. It seems like EH and Jefferson have a non-transparent way of sorting kids, which they can do because they barely have a critical mass who can perform at or above grade level. I'm not sure a school could or would do this sort of sorting for only a small handful of grade-level or above kids.

Hope this helps.

I would add that some elementary schools in DC do try to differentiate within the class and meet the kids where they are.

DS is in an immersion charter in 3rd grade. The advanced math kids get pulled out to 4th grade math. This is a pull out.

There are reading groups in English and Spanish and in both a wide variation where kids are. I know because DS is in the highest group. So for instance in Spanish, they have someone come in and do more of a book club to his group with reading. This is called a push in. His group also did a project where they went and read a book/story time to the lower grades and answered any questions the kids had.

Is above effective and how do I assess that? I look at MAP scores which is a really good adaptive test. And his scores show that he is doing well against other kids in the country. If he was not doing well, his scores would go down or stagnate. Now once you score really high, then there is not much room to improve and if he consistently scores high as he goes up in the grades, then that tells me he is learning higher material going up in the grades.

Now if you don’t have a critical number of kids above grade level, at grade level, and below grade level, you cannot divide into ability groups. Also if there is only 1 or 2 kids performing outside of majority lower performing groups, I suspect some schools just put them on the computer which I don’t agree with. That is not an adequate substitute. But logistically, it’s the easiest.

I’m sure some other elementariness in the city does above too. The key is finding schools with a critical number of kids at and above grade level.

And that is why PARCC scores or standardized scores are important regardless of what some posters on here say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Idk, this is a great case study in how schools stay segregated. Posters are actively trying to convince someone who they've never met and know nothing about to not attend a school.

Oh please. DCPS MS and HS stay segregated specifically because parents who ask for reasonable things (like appropriate curriculum and challenge, and basic safety) are called “Karens” and “Nice White Parents.” (Let’s leave aside for the moment that POC parents with resources generally don’t even entertain the idea of the poorly performing schools.) Look at schools like Hardy and Deal, where the IB parents bought in because school leadership acknowledged their kids needs and showed they were willing to meet them. That’s how you get white parents to attend. (Meanwhile most wealthy/educated POC depart for privates or the burbs, but I digress.)

So what specifically does Hardy offer that other DCPS middle schools don’t?

Classes with the majority of kids at or above grade level, which means teachers can teach accordingly. Much smaller proportion of kids completely failing, meaning resources can be distributed more evenly. I believe they also offer geometry.

That’s circular logic. The post above suggested that Hardy did something to attract IB parents to the school in the first place. What exactly did it do that other schools are not doing?

Hopefully a Hardy/Deal parent will chime in. My understanding was that the principals did a lot of outreach about ensuring that the school would offer appropriate classes.

Really? So Hardy offers classes that are different from the standard DCPS middle school curriculum?

Well yes, they offer geometry that most EOTP MS do not. And they used to offer more tracked classes. More to the point is that principals like Melissa Kim made sure the teachers were doing what they should be.

Melissa Kim is gone from DCPS, primarily bc she abused staff

Honestly would prefer that over a principal who encourages lazy teachers under the guise of “homework is inequitable.”

Thanks for being honest. We already know that there are many parents like you who openly support workplace abuse. They infect this place daily

Give my kid challenging homework and *actually give them feedback on it* and you'll get all my support!

Giving feedback on challenging homework is often giving a grade to the amount of help that child got from their parent. Still doesn't excuse the fact that you condone workplace abuse

Thanks for reinforcing why MS need principals that actually believe in having standards for kids and teachers.

Here's a scenario: Teacher gives out a challenging assignment on two step equations with word problems to students in an advanced pre - algebra class

Student A: Tries the assignment on their own, gets 6-7/10 right teacher gives feedback

Student B: Meets with their math tutor or gets help from a parent, gets 10/10

How did this homework raise expectations or standards? And please don't tell me this doesn't happen as I've been tutoring students at Deal now for over a decade and more than 90% of what we do is their hw

Sure it’s unfair Student A cannot get a tutor. But it’s MORE unfair for a school to give up on homework because of it. That hurts student A more than Student B.

It’s really disturbing that your POV is ascendant. And you wonder why parents with options take them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an idea who 17:32 is and can’t believe they are still at MacFarland; our kids attended elementary school together until we left after 3rd grade. Their child is really bright and I’m surprised they are sticking it out for whatever reason.

hint: it’s called “grandma is paying for private high school and college, so we aren’t worried about MS.”

If that’s the reason then I think there are very compelling arguments for putting your child in an environment like MacFarland before they go to a private school bubble. You can supplement at home for a few years.

Who wants to supplement all subjects for 3 years in addition to trying to fit in sports and extracurriculars? There is only so much time in the day.

Lastly, how many kids are going to buy into that? A full day of wasted school and then coming home to a few hours of more work?

I feel sorry for OP’s kid because of some abstract values he holds to send his kid there. His kid is not only not meeting his full potential academically but is missing out on all the extras like OP said with clubs, sports, etc…

DP. Since these schools have no homework there’s plenty of time to supplement. Also using the IB school often means a much shorter commute. We were considering MCPS with a long bus ride … instead DS will just have a 10 min walk. I wish the school was better but I’m not worried about the time spent in tutoring. Especially since 1:1 tutoring is so effective, you don’t have to spend that much time on it.

So let me see here. You are saying your kid is going to a school like MacFarland which means you are supplementing in all subjects - math, English, science, social studies, and maybe languages.

So unless you are supplementing that every single day, your kid is not getting an equivalent education as someone who goes to a good school and are getting the coursework they need at their level. 1-2 hours a week isn’t cutting it by a long shot. If you think they are then you are in denial.

DP, but... why do you care? What's it to you if this poster sends their kid to McFarland and is "in denial" about it? Is there some reason you think trying to persuade strangers on the Internet that they should make different choices than they already have is a good idea?

Why do you care if others point out something that is a fact?

I have to say, lots of posters on here are really, really defensive about anything negative or negative data presented on the school. Also some of these people are actually saying that parents should consider sending their kid here?? At a school where 6 6th graders are in grade level in math over hundreds? Seriously, how is a school like this even allowed to continue operating?

I won’t even go into the issues of lack of enriching extracurricular, sports, and clubs. I won’t go into the issue how someone found thought it was dangerous.

Standards are so damn low in DCPS. And people who are defending this just enable it to continue and DCPS can just continue chugging along failing the majority of the kids in this city.

Just more rhetoric without solutions.

There should be meaningful, test-in differentiation for core academic subjects by middle school, and if that can't be provided at every middle school, it should be offered somewhere in DC to eligible students, along with busing to get there. Kids who are on grade level should be able to access an appropriate education. Kids who need remediation should have easy access to that as well, instead of putting a kid in algebra who doesn't understand multiplication.

In the absence of that, don't send your kid to a falling school.

This would be great! Can you explain how we would staff a building to provide all of this differentiation?

DP. You don’t have to staff differently. You track the kids and put them together in the advanced class. Or in the case of MacFarland, the grade-level class.

The kids hurt most by the godawful “progressive” campaign to get rid of advanced classes are those without the means to get tutoring or move. At MacFarland that means that 1/5th of kids who got 4s and 5s on ELA, and 3s and 4s on math. Those kids are not privileged UMC white kids. They are neighborhood latino and black kids. Numerically, there’s enough of them to make up two advanced classes in each grade. Neglecting those kids in the name of “equity” is ABSOLUTELY criminal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Differentiation" happens in middle and high schools by putting kids at different levels in different classes. This looks different from differentiation in a traditional elementary school, where a teacher is expected to meet kids at different levels simultaneously. Obviously elementary schools, theoretically, could sort students within a grade level by ability as well, but I don't think that happens anywhere in the country anymore, and reflects a general policy position that the balance should tip toward mixing kids in elementary, both for the social reasons and so that a kid doesn't get stuck on the wrong "track" at an early age. Most schools, outside of DCPS, still do differentiate at the MS and HS levels, however (which makes sense if you believe the balance should tip toward academics by HS) by offering various levels of classes (remedial, basic, honors, AP, etc). But DCPS does not do this as a general rule at the MS level and does so in HS only to the extent you are up for AP. It is not because they can't-- they do plenty of standardized testing and could easily sort kids that way. It is because they don't want to.

So, when your kid is in Middle School, expect them to have most of their classes with the general population. It is just logical that if the average kid is at a higher level at your school, the teacher is going to be able to teach the class to a higher level. And when I say "higher level," I basically mean not below grade level. I would not expect anywhere close to grade level instruction at a school where the majority of kids are performing well below grade level.

At Deal, I would say that the classes seem to be taught at "grade level," with an added level of rigor because of the IB requirements, which is nice. Deal also offers math up to Algebra II, and kids who are on this advanced path will obviously not physically be in math classes with students on the standard Math 6, 7, 8 track. Deal also allows you to pick your foreign language (required for grades 6-8), with certain languages having a reputation for attracting more serious students. But ELA, social studies, science, and specials will all be "gen ed."

I understand that SH used to offer some "honors" (ie, not below grade level) classes in various subjects but now offers only an advanced math class and the option to select a foreign language starting in 7th. I understand that Hardy is similar to Deal. It seems like EH and Jefferson have a non-transparent way of sorting kids, which they can do because they barely have a critical mass who can perform at or above grade level. I'm not sure a school could or would do this sort of sorting for only a small handful of grade-level or above kids.

Hope this helps.

I would add that some elementary schools in DC do try to differentiate within the class and meet the kids where they are.

DS is in an immersion charter in 3rd grade. The advanced math kids get pulled out to 4th grade math. This is a pull out.

There are reading groups in English and Spanish and in both a wide variation where kids are. I know because DS is in the highest group. So for instance in Spanish, they have someone come in and do more of a book club to his group with reading. This is called a push in. His group also did a project where they went and read a book/story time to the lower grades and answered any questions the kids had.

Is above effective and how do I assess that? I look at MAP scores which is a really good adaptive test. And his scores show that he is doing well against other kids in the country. If he was not doing well, his scores would go down or stagnate. Now once you score really high, then there is not much room to improve and if he consistently scores high as he goes up in the grades, then that tells me he is learning higher material going up in the grades.

Now if you don’t have a critical number of kids above grade level, at grade level, and below grade level, you cannot divide into ability groups. Also if there is only 1 or 2 kids performing outside of majority lower performing groups, I suspect some schools just put them on the computer which I don’t agree with. That is not an adequate substitute. But logistically, it’s the easiest.

I’m sure some other elementariness in the city does above too. The key is finding schools with a critical number of kids at and above grade level.

And that is why PARCC scores or standardized scores are important regardless of what some posters on here say.

Actually, this is a great point about ES. Although they aren't going to separate the students into different classrooms based on ability, there often are pull-outs for kids who are above or below grade level (this happened at our DCPS elementary, including for the advanced kids). DC middle schools do not offer pull outs. So in some ways DCPS is offering LESS differentiation to the MS kids than they did when they were in Elementary! (Although I would guess that any advanced pull-outs happening in Elementary are happening under the radar of central office).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an idea who 17:32 is and can’t believe they are still at MacFarland; our kids attended elementary school together until we left after 3rd grade. Their child is really bright and I’m surprised they are sticking it out for whatever reason.

hint: it’s called “grandma is paying for private high school and college, so we aren’t worried about MS.”

If that’s the reason then I think there are very compelling arguments for putting your child in an environment like MacFarland before they go to a private school bubble. You can supplement at home for a few years.

Who wants to supplement all subjects for 3 years in addition to trying to fit in sports and extracurriculars? There is only so much time in the day.

Lastly, how many kids are going to buy into that? A full day of wasted school and then coming home to a few hours of more work?

I feel sorry for OP’s kid because of some abstract values he holds to send his kid there. His kid is not only not meeting his full potential academically but is missing out on all the extras like OP said with clubs, sports, etc…

DP. Since these schools have no homework there’s plenty of time to supplement. Also using the IB school often means a much shorter commute. We were considering MCPS with a long bus ride … instead DS will just have a 10 min walk. I wish the school was better but I’m not worried about the time spent in tutoring. Especially since 1:1 tutoring is so effective, you don’t have to spend that much time on it.

So let me see here. You are saying your kid is going to a school like MacFarland which means you are supplementing in all subjects - math, English, science, social studies, and maybe languages.

So unless you are supplementing that every single day, your kid is not getting an equivalent education as someone who goes to a good school and are getting the coursework they need at their level. 1-2 hours a week isn’t cutting it by a long shot. If you think they are then you are in denial.

DP, but... why do you care? What's it to you if this poster sends their kid to McFarland and is "in denial" about it? Is there some reason you think trying to persuade strangers on the Internet that they should make different choices than they already have is a good idea?

Why do you care if others point out something that is a fact?

I have to say, lots of posters on here are really, really defensive about anything negative or negative data presented on the school. Also some of these people are actually saying that parents should consider sending their kid here?? At a school where 6 6th graders are in grade level in math over hundreds? Seriously, how is a school like this even allowed to continue operating?

I won’t even go into the issues of lack of enriching extracurricular, sports, and clubs. I won’t go into the issue how someone found thought it was dangerous.

Standards are so damn low in DCPS. And people who are defending this just enable it to continue and DCPS can just continue chugging along failing the majority of the kids in this city.

Just more rhetoric without solutions.

There should be meaningful, test-in differentiation for core academic subjects by middle school, and if that can't be provided at every middle school, it should be offered somewhere in DC to eligible students, along with busing to get there. Kids who are on grade level should be able to access an appropriate education. Kids who need remediation should have easy access to that as well, instead of putting a kid in algebra who doesn't understand multiplication.

In the absence of that, don't send your kid to a falling school.

This would be great! Can you explain how we would staff a building to provide all of this differentiation?

How do you think DCPS does IB curricula, early college programs, and selective admissions high schools? DCPS doesn't fail to do middle school differentiation because the logistics are difficult, they're not doing it because they don't want to.

DCPS is fine with running separate programs at existing schools that are more academic - what they're increasingly not fine with is test-in differentiation, which is how you get theoretically accelerated programs where the kids aren't on grade level. Heck, Deal has extensive differentiation because they have the student body to do it. Well, so would an EOTP middle school that committed to doing this.

As for remediation, there are so many kids in need of that that you can do that in existing schools. Again, it's a lack of will, because you'd have to face the scope of the problem.

I can't begin to combat this because there is so much ignorance in your comment. You just use a lot of ed buzzwords, but not in a coherent way.

I'll try to help you with some prompting questions:

In my school we have about 70% of our student population that needs remediation. Which members of the staff should be employed to deliver this remediation?

Test - in differentiation is being phased out by even selective high schools and colleges. Why do you think that it is appropriate for middle school in DC?

You say Deal has extensive differentiation. What do you mean by that and how is it staffed?

As for the bolded, I don't have a question, I just completely disagree. Differentiation for a 20 student classroom is difficult. Differentiation for a hundreds large student body coming from multiple feeders is obviously logistically challenging. It requires staffing models that include program coordinators, project managers and on site interventionists. These positions are not adequately staffed in DCPS due to funding.

Huh? College may not have “test in differentiation” but you have to successfully proceed through a sequence of courses for many subjects. And of course, if you cannot hack it, you will get an F. I wouldn’t be opposed to having open enrollment in advanced MS classes but this cannot water down the expectations. Kids who can’t keep up get transferred out or fail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Idk, this is a great case study in how schools stay segregated. Posters are actively trying to convince someone who they've never met and know nothing about to not attend a school.

Oh please. DCPS MS and HS stay segregated specifically because parents who ask for reasonable things (like appropriate curriculum and challenge, and basic safety) are called “Karens” and “Nice White Parents.” (Let’s leave aside for the moment that POC parents with resources generally don’t even entertain the idea of the poorly performing schools.) Look at schools like Hardy and Deal, where the IB parents bought in because school leadership acknowledged their kids needs and showed they were willing to meet them. That’s how you get white parents to attend. (Meanwhile most wealthy/educated POC depart for privates or the burbs, but I digress.)

So what specifically does Hardy offer that other DCPS middle schools don’t?

Classes with the majority of kids at or above grade level, which means teachers can teach accordingly. Much smaller proportion of kids completely failing, meaning resources can be distributed more evenly. I believe they also offer geometry.

That’s circular logic. The post above suggested that Hardy did something to attract IB parents to the school in the first place. What exactly did it do that other schools are not doing?

Hopefully a Hardy/Deal parent will chime in. My understanding was that the principals did a lot of outreach about ensuring that the school would offer appropriate classes.

The current principal at MacFarland - who is new this school year - was the principal at Hardy last school year.