Any Walls boosters / haters these days?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My younger child is more capable than my older where STEM work goes and would undoubtedly have done well on the Walls entrance exam. Younger scored in 700s on the SAT freshman year for CTY. Older never qualified for CTY. Falling standards are obvious if you have your eyes open. There aren't as many Walls students who can handle the most advanced math taught as there were pre-Covid. From what we hear, kids don't score as high on APs overall or take as many on average. There aren't as many seniors cracking Ivies and top SLACs. There are (minor) discipline issues in classes that we didn't hear about before. Humanities assignments get dumbed down a bit comparatively, because there aren't as many advanced humanities students. If you don't want to believe it, fine, but this is what's happening. Hint: Yale, MIT, Dartmouth, Brown etc. haven't brought back the SAT post Covid for no reason.

Thanks for confirming that you don't have evidence. I also think it's pretty gross to call children "not as sharp" but even worse when you have nothing but a feeling and hearsay to back that up.

The proportion of students failing to pass the Geometry and Algebra II PARCC rose significantly from 2018-2019 to 2023-2023. The figures were 17% and 15% and now they're 33% and 26%. (Algebra I numbers weren't reported in 2018-2019.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which doesn't alter the fact that many if not most current Walls students would not have been admitted via the pre-Covid admissions process because they weren't adequately prepared and are insufficiently academic.

WTF dude - talk about lack of evidence for these emphatic statements! "Fact"?? "Many, if not most"? You have no clue if this is true or not, and no way to possibly measure it. My kid is a 9th grader there under the new admission standards and scored 99th percentile on 9th grade PSAT and is acing all classes (now, I don't think the classes at Walls have been particularly challenging in 9th grade, but that is another topic for discussion). I assume kid would have also gotten in under old admission process as well (but of course could never know that for sure).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My younger child is more capable than my older where STEM work goes and would undoubtedly have done well on the Walls entrance exam. Younger scored in 700s on the SAT freshman year for CTY. Older never qualified for CTY. Falling standards are obvious if you have your eyes open. There aren't as many Walls students who can handle the most advanced math taught as there were pre-Covid. From what we hear, kids don't score as high on APs overall or take as many on average. There aren't as many seniors cracking Ivies and top SLACs. There are (minor) discipline issues in classes that we didn't hear about before. Humanities assignments get dumbed down a bit comparatively, because there aren't as many advanced humanities students. If you don't want to believe it, fine, but this is what's happening. Hint: Yale, MIT, Dartmouth, Brown etc. haven't brought back the SAT post Covid for no reason.

What's this mean "Younger scored in 700s on the SAT freshman year for CTY"? 700+ in both math and verbal, so 1400+ overall? Seems like quite a score for a freshman anywhere

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which doesn't alter the fact that many if not most current Walls students would not have been admitted via the pre-Covid admissions process because they weren't adequately prepared and are insufficiently academic.

WTF dude - talk about lack of evidence for these emphatic statements! "Fact"?? "Many, if not most"? You have no clue if this is true or not, and no way to possibly measure it. My kid is a 9th grader there under the new admission standards and scored 99th percentile on 9th grade PSAT and is acing all classes (now, I don't think the classes at Walls have been particularly challenging in 9th grade, but that is another topic for discussion). I assume kid would have also gotten in under old admission process as well (but of course could never know that for sure).

+1. Walls obviously still has lots of kids who would have gotten in under the previous admissions process. The applicant pool is doing a lot of the work here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which doesn't alter the fact that many if not most current Walls students would not have been admitted via the pre-Covid admissions process because they weren't adequately prepared and are insufficiently academic.

WTF dude - talk about lack of evidence for these emphatic statements! "Fact"?? "Many, if not most"? You have no clue if this is true or not, and no way to possibly measure it. My kid is a 9th grader there under the new admission standards and scored 99th percentile on 9th grade PSAT and is acing all classes (now, I don't think the classes at Walls have been particularly challenging in 9th grade, but that is another topic for discussion). I assume kid would have also gotten in under old admission process as well (but of course could never know that for sure).

Fact is, for every kid like your at Walls there's a B+ student who sailed in for reasons unknown. The current admissions process doesn't separate the sheep from the goats. That's why New York City has stuck with the brutal SHSAT high school admissions exam for decades, Boston Latin and Cambridge Rindge and Latin given an equally tough homegrown exam, and many high school magnets around the country go with the PSAT 8/9 in admissions.

[Anonymous]

There are also kids with A averages from failing DCPS middle schools who lack basic skills. Only a standardized admissions test would reveal such inadequacies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which doesn't alter the fact that many if not most current Walls students would not have been admitted via the pre-Covid admissions process because they weren't adequately prepared and are insufficiently academic.

WTF dude - talk about lack of evidence for these emphatic statements! "Fact"?? "Many, if not most"? You have no clue if this is true or not, and no way to possibly measure it. My kid is a 9th grader there under the new admission standards and scored 99th percentile on 9th grade PSAT and is acing all classes (now, I don't think the classes at Walls have been particularly challenging in 9th grade, but that is another topic for discussion). I assume kid would have also gotten in under old admission process as well (but of course could never know that for sure).

+1. Walls obviously still has lots of kids who would have gotten in under the previous admissions process. The applicant pool is doing a lot of the work here.

Right, so why would a standardized test be problem for the highfliers? Bring the test back without harming them. Those who defend ditching the tests are missing a simple truth. Getting rid of the tests has alleviated pressure on District ed leaders to ensure that the brightest and hardest-working poor kids can crack Walls and Banneker on their merits with the academic skills they need to thrive learning alongside better prepared UMC classmates. In Boston and NYC, an investment in admissions test prep centers for poor kids (open to all, free) helps keep poor kids in the magnet school admissions game. Bowser with rather go for low-cost shortcuts to increasing diversity, thereby short-changing the most capable low ses URMS. Voters have let her get away with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which doesn't alter the fact that many if not most current Walls students would not have been admitted via the pre-Covid admissions process because they weren't adequately prepared and are insufficiently academic.

WTF dude - talk about lack of evidence for these emphatic statements! "Fact"?? "Many, if not most"? You have no clue if this is true or not, and no way to possibly measure it. My kid is a 9th grader there under the new admission standards and scored 99th percentile on 9th grade PSAT and is acing all classes (now, I don't think the classes at Walls have been particularly challenging in 9th grade, but that is another topic for discussion). I assume kid would have also gotten in under old admission process as well (but of course could never know that for sure).

Fact is, for every kid like your at Walls there's a B+ student who sailed in for reasons unknown. The current admissions process doesn't separate the sheep from the goats. That's why New York City has stuck with the brutal SHSAT high school admissions exam for decades, Boston Latin and Cambridge Rindge and Latin given an equally tough homegrown exam, and many high school magnets around the country go with the PSAT 8/9 in admissions.

What? I'm pretty off topic here, but: Cambridge Rindge and Latin is just a public school that anyone can go to so long as you live in Cambridge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My younger child is more capable than my older where STEM work goes and would undoubtedly have done well on the Walls entrance exam. Younger scored in 700s on the SAT freshman year for CTY. Older never qualified for CTY. Falling standards are obvious if you have your eyes open. There aren't as many Walls students who can handle the most advanced math taught as there were pre-Covid. From what we hear, kids don't score as high on APs overall or take as many on average. There aren't as many seniors cracking Ivies and top SLACs. There are (minor) discipline issues in classes that we didn't hear about before. Humanities assignments get dumbed down a bit comparatively, because there aren't as many advanced humanities students. If you don't want to believe it, fine, but this is what's happening. Hint: Yale, MIT, Dartmouth, Brown etc. haven't brought back the SAT post Covid for no reason.

Thanks for confirming that you don't have evidence. I also think it's pretty gross to call children "not as sharp" but even worse when you have nothing but a feeling and hearsay to back that up.

The proportion of students failing to pass the Geometry and Algebra II PARCC rose significantly from 2018-2019 to 2023-2023. The figures were 17% and 15% and now they're 33% and 26%. (Algebra I numbers weren't reported in 2018-2019.)

It's called The Pandemic! These kids will wear that label. It has been devastating for them. This is a nation wide issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which doesn't alter the fact that many if not most current Walls students would not have been admitted via the pre-Covid admissions process because they weren't adequately prepared and are insufficiently academic.

WTF dude - talk about lack of evidence for these emphatic statements! "Fact"?? "Many, if not most"? You have no clue if this is true or not, and no way to possibly measure it. My kid is a 9th grader there under the new admission standards and scored 99th percentile on 9th grade PSAT and is acing all classes (now, I don't think the classes at Walls have been particularly challenging in 9th grade, but that is another topic for discussion). I assume kid would have also gotten in under old admission process as well (but of course could never know that for sure).

Fact is, for every kid like your at Walls there's a B+ student who sailed in for reasons unknown. The current admissions process doesn't separate the sheep from the goats. That's why New York City has stuck with the brutal SHSAT high school admissions exam for decades, Boston Latin and Cambridge Rindge and Latin given an equally tough homegrown exam, and many high school magnets around the country go with the PSAT 8/9 in admissions.

Another "fact" that is NOT a fact - the admission cut off last year was approx 3.9. So the "fact is" there were no B+ students admitted! I wish posters would be a little more careful with their assertions. (Also - my understanding is that cut off this year was 3.7 - so still no B+ students admitted)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which doesn't alter the fact that many if not most current Walls students would not have been admitted via the pre-Covid admissions process because they weren't adequately prepared and are insufficiently academic.

If not most? This site really is the best. (Parent of Walls class of '24 -- who took the test -- and another who decided this week to go next year, who obviously didn't).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which doesn't alter the fact that many if not most current Walls students would not have been admitted via the pre-Covid admissions process because they weren't adequately prepared and are insufficiently academic.

If not most? This site really is the best. (Parent of Walls class of '24 -- who took the test -- and another who decided this week to go next year, who obviously didn't).

Isn't it..LOL.....Congrats on one down! Really proud of the kiddos and parents yesterday for fighting....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My younger child is more capable than my older where STEM work goes and would undoubtedly have done well on the Walls entrance exam. Younger scored in 700s on the SAT freshman year for CTY. Older never qualified for CTY. Falling standards are obvious if you have your eyes open. There aren't as many Walls students who can handle the most advanced math taught as there were pre-Covid. From what we hear, kids don't score as high on APs overall or take as many on average. There aren't as many seniors cracking Ivies and top SLACs. There are (minor) discipline issues in classes that we didn't hear about before. Humanities assignments get dumbed down a bit comparatively, because there aren't as many advanced humanities students. If you don't want to believe it, fine, but this is what's happening. Hint: Yale, MIT, Dartmouth, Brown etc. haven't brought back the SAT post Covid for no reason.

Thanks for confirming that you don't have evidence. I also think it's pretty gross to call children "not as sharp" but even worse when you have nothing but a feeling and hearsay to back that up.

The proportion of students failing to pass the Geometry and Algebra II PARCC rose significantly from 2018-2019 to 2023-2023. The figures were 17% and 15% and now they're 33% and 26%. (Algebra I numbers weren't reported in 2018-2019.)

It's called The Pandemic! These kids will wear that label. It has been devastating for them. This is a nation wide issue.

Deal, which sends the most students of any middle school to SWW, has nearly identical algebra I and geometry pass rates before and after the pandemic. Same with Hardy, which is the second. The schools with the big drops aren't the schools which send kid to SWW. This is about selection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My younger child is more capable than my older where STEM work goes and would undoubtedly have done well on the Walls entrance exam. Younger scored in 700s on the SAT freshman year for CTY. Older never qualified for CTY. Falling standards are obvious if you have your eyes open. There aren't as many Walls students who can handle the most advanced math taught as there were pre-Covid. From what we hear, kids don't score as high on APs overall or take as many on average. There aren't as many seniors cracking Ivies and top SLACs. There are (minor) discipline issues in classes that we didn't hear about before. Humanities assignments get dumbed down a bit comparatively, because there aren't as many advanced humanities students. If you don't want to believe it, fine, but this is what's happening. Hint: Yale, MIT, Dartmouth, Brown etc. haven't brought back the SAT post Covid for no reason.

Thanks for confirming that you don't have evidence. I also think it's pretty gross to call children "not as sharp" but even worse when you have nothing but a feeling and hearsay to back that up.

The proportion of students failing to pass the Geometry and Algebra II PARCC rose significantly from 2018-2019 to 2023-2023. The figures were 17% and 15% and now they're 33% and 26%. (Algebra I numbers weren't reported in 2018-2019.)

It's called The Pandemic! These kids will wear that label. It has been devastating for them. This is a nation wide issue.

Deal, which sends the most students of any middle school to SWW, has nearly identical algebra I and geometry pass rates before and after the pandemic. Same with Hardy, which is the second. The schools with the big drops aren't the schools which send kid to SWW. This is about selection.

Sigh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at college admissions so far this year, walls is doing great! @sww2024decisions

I just saw! Wow! I wonder what’s the percentage of students who get in a college they want and how many get scholarships. We got into SWW this year and we definitely would need the financial help.

I’m confused. Just saw what? Where? Is someone keeping a tally of college admissions decisions or something?