Benefits of being a high school graduate in DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Make the most of unique opportunities this town provides, volunteer at and intimately explore history and art at museums, intern at congress or think tanks, work for a congressman or an ambassador or a judge, put your experiences and insight into your essays and interviews.

Obviously it’s impossible to do any of these before returning home to Silver Spring or Alexandria.

Obviously, the overwhelming majority of kids in DC are not doing the above either. Reality is there is not enough time when your kid is at a poorly performing school and has to supplement so much after school and during the summer in addition to going outside of school for any serious sports and extracurriculars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Got it. Thank you. So is the $10,000 through DcTag the only advantage of being a DC graduate vs a graduate in another state?

It's not really an advantage and yes, it is the only one.

The only guaranteed one. My DC also got a "diversity" scholarship out West for being from DC (scholarship specifically includes geographic diversity and nothing else would have applied to my kid).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is motivated and has parental support, he is already ahead of the median here, supplement your needs where schools lack and you can get very different outcomes than ones not trying or doesn't have support.

This is extremely accurate! This is true of every school system as well as privates. We can accept supplenting for public schools BUT not for privates. We had the convo with our MS HoS a few years ago. He was shocked it wasn't acceptable to us to supplement for an ineffective teacher. If all the kids in a class are confused, the teacher is the problem. Just acknowledge what you can live with and act accordingly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DcTag also has an income threshold so make sure you'll actually eligible for it.

Second, the education in the burbs will be superior to the education you get in DC.

I dispute your second point if we are talking about college prep kids taking APs.

Get out of DC public schools as quickly as you can. DCPS is dismal.

Students in third through eighth grades, as well as high school students, took assessments in the spring for the first time in two years. The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) on Friday released the results, which show declines in math and reading across the board.

"We saw declines across all eight wards, and we saw more declines in the elementary school grades than we did in the higher grades," D.C. Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Christina Grant said.

Grant said math scores dropped significantly from 31% of students testing at grade level in 2019 to 19% testing at grade level in 2022.

Reading scores were slightly better with 31% of students testing at grade level this year. In 2019, 37% of students tested at grade level.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/dc-students-show-major-decline-in-math-reading-since-pandemic-began/3148351/

[Anonymous]

I know at least ten high performing kids who left DC school system during that time. Do these scores account for Judd who left the school system?

Also, my child’s scores dropped during that time but it was because I stopped supplementing. Seems like parents supplement whether in private or suburbs. It is very difficult for me to do that these days and can’t afford tutors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DcTag also has an income threshold so make sure you'll actually eligible for it.

Second, the education in the burbs will be superior to the education you get in DC.

I dispute your second point if we are talking about college prep kids taking APs.

Get out of DC public schools as quickly as you can. DCPS is dismal.

Students in third through eighth grades, as well as high school students, took assessments in the spring for the first time in two years. The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) on Friday released the results, which show declines in math and reading across the board.

"We saw declines across all eight wards, and we saw more declines in the elementary school grades than we did in the higher grades," D.C. Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Christina Grant said.

Grant said math scores dropped significantly from 31% of students testing at grade level in 2019 to 19% testing at grade level in 2022.

Reading scores were slightly better with 31% of students testing at grade level this year. In 2019, 37% of students tested at grade level.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/dc-students-show-major-decline-in-math-reading-since-pandemic-began/3148351/

HS PARCC scores are notoriously hard to interpret. Only 10th graders take PARCC, but only 10th graders in Algebra II or below. Many of the advanced kids are done with Algebra II in 9th, so they aren't taking the test. So, Walls has a 95% English rate of a 4 or 5, but it drops to 73% in Math...only because everyone is taking the English, but only the less advanced Math kids take the Math. Add to that the genius of administering PARCC (which is meaningless to the student) when AP tests happen (which are meaningful to the student), and you have some kids skipping PARCC or just randomly completing it because they are focused on AP tests.

If PARCC is irrelevant to the student (no awards or $$$s for scoring high...no impact on their grades, etc.)...then they need to figure out a better way of gauging HS progress.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DcTag also has an income threshold so make sure you'll actually eligible for it.

Second, the education in the burbs will be superior to the education you get in DC.

I dispute your second point if we are talking about college prep kids taking APs.

Get out of DC public schools as quickly as you can. DCPS is dismal.

Students in third through eighth grades, as well as high school students, took assessments in the spring for the first time in two years. The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) on Friday released the results, which show declines in math and reading across the board.

"We saw declines across all eight wards, and we saw more declines in the elementary school grades than we did in the higher grades," D.C. Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Christina Grant said.

Grant said math scores dropped significantly from 31% of students testing at grade level in 2019 to 19% testing at grade level in 2022.

Reading scores were slightly better with 31% of students testing at grade level this year. In 2019, 37% of students tested at grade level.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/dc-students-show-major-decline-in-math-reading-since-pandemic-began/3148351/

HS PARCC scores are notoriously hard to interpret. Only 10th graders take PARCC, but only 10th graders in Algebra II or below. Many of the advanced kids are done with Algebra II in 9th, so they aren't taking the test. So, Walls has a 95% English rate of a 4 or 5, but it drops to 73% in Math...only because everyone is taking the English, but only the less advanced Math kids take the Math. Add to that the genius of administering PARCC (which is meaningless to the student) when AP tests happen (which are meaningful to the student), and you have some kids skipping PARCC or just randomly completing it because they are focused on AP tests.

If PARCC is irrelevant to the student (no awards or $$$s for scoring high...no impact on their grades, etc.)...then they need to figure out a better way of gauging HS progress.

This comment may have been accurate before COVID, but for the last two years all 9th and 10th graders have taken ELA, and this past year (2023) DCPS had all 9th graders take math. Students enrolled in math beyond Algebra II were supposed to take the Algebra II PARCC.

For Walls specifically, there were 147 9th graders who took math PARCCs and 150 who took the ELA PARCC, so the 20 point drop off from ELA scores to math scores cannot be explained by some imagined group of high-scoring students not captured in the data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DcTag also has an income threshold so make sure you'll actually eligible for it.

Second, the education in the burbs will be superior to the education you get in DC.

I dispute your second point if we are talking about college prep kids taking APs.

Get out of DC public schools as quickly as you can. DCPS is dismal.

Students in third through eighth grades, as well as high school students, took assessments in the spring for the first time in two years. The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) on Friday released the results, which show declines in math and reading across the board.

"We saw declines across all eight wards, and we saw more declines in the elementary school grades than we did in the higher grades," D.C. Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Christina Grant said.

Grant said math scores dropped significantly from 31% of students testing at grade level in 2019 to 19% testing at grade level in 2022.

Reading scores were slightly better with 31% of students testing at grade level this year. In 2019, 37% of students tested at grade level.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/dc-students-show-major-decline-in-math-reading-since-pandemic-began/3148351/

HS PARCC scores are notoriously hard to interpret. Only 10th graders take PARCC, but only 10th graders in Algebra II or below. Many of the advanced kids are done with Algebra II in 9th, so they aren't taking the test. So, Walls has a 95% English rate of a 4 or 5, but it drops to 73% in Math...only because everyone is taking the English, but only the less advanced Math kids take the Math. Add to that the genius of administering PARCC (which is meaningless to the student) when AP tests happen (which are meaningful to the student), and you have some kids skipping PARCC or just randomly completing it because they are focused on AP tests.

If PARCC is irrelevant to the student (no awards or $$$s for scoring high...no impact on their grades, etc.)...then they need to figure out a better way of gauging HS progress.

This comment neatly sidesteps the fact that the biggest declines were at the elementary level, and will have ripple effects up to HS as those cohorts age. DCPS is getting worse, and it wasn't great to begin with.

If you are a parent making longterm plans about where to live and where to send your child to school, quibbling over whether PARCC math scores are accurate because some kids at Walls (a HS you truly have to win a lottery to attending the first place) have advanced beyond the subject being tested is just rearranging deck chairs.

Even if you can assume that a higher percentage of Walls students are at or above grade level in math than PARCC results show, the truth is that the vast majority of DCPS high school students area below grade level in reading and in math. And those that are at or above generally have parents who supplement considerably because DCPS does very little to meet on-grade-level or advanced students where they are at, as their focus is and will always be on the many, many students who are below grade level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DcTag also has an income threshold so make sure you'll actually eligible for it.

Second, the education in the burbs will be superior to the education you get in DC.

I dispute your second point if we are talking about college prep kids taking APs.

Get out of DC public schools as quickly as you can. DCPS is dismal.

Students in third through eighth grades, as well as high school students, took assessments in the spring for the first time in two years. The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) on Friday released the results, which show declines in math and reading across the board.

"We saw declines across all eight wards, and we saw more declines in the elementary school grades than we did in the higher grades," D.C. Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Christina Grant said.

Grant said math scores dropped significantly from 31% of students testing at grade level in 2019 to 19% testing at grade level in 2022.

Reading scores were slightly better with 31% of students testing at grade level this year. In 2019, 37% of students tested at grade level.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/dc-students-show-major-decline-in-math-reading-since-pandemic-began/3148351/

HS PARCC scores are notoriously hard to interpret. Only 10th graders take PARCC, but only 10th graders in Algebra II or below. Many of the advanced kids are done with Algebra II in 9th, so they aren't taking the test. So, Walls has a 95% English rate of a 4 or 5, but it drops to 73% in Math...only because everyone is taking the English, but only the less advanced Math kids take the Math. Add to that the genius of administering PARCC (which is meaningless to the student) when AP tests happen (which are meaningful to the student), and you have some kids skipping PARCC or just randomly completing it because they are focused on AP tests.

If PARCC is irrelevant to the student (no awards or $$$s for scoring high...no impact on their grades, etc.)...then they need to figure out a better way of gauging HS progress.

This comment neatly sidesteps the fact that the biggest declines were at the elementary level, and will have ripple effects up to HS as those cohorts age. DCPS is getting worse, and it wasn't great to begin with.

If you are a parent making longterm plans about where to live and where to send your child to school, quibbling over whether PARCC math scores are accurate because some kids at Walls (a HS you truly have to win a lottery to attending the first place) have advanced beyond the subject being tested is just rearranging deck chairs.

Even if you can assume that a higher percentage of Walls students are at or above grade level in math than PARCC results show, the truth is that the vast majority of DCPS high school students area below grade level in reading and in math. And those that are at or above generally have parents who supplement considerably because DCPS does very little to meet on-grade-level or advanced students where they are at, as their focus is and will always be on the many, many students who are below grade level.

Still don't understand why the overall results of DCPS as a whole are relevant. If you are in a position to leave DC for HS, then you are not choosing Einstein or Blair or Alexandria Public Schools...you are choosing to move to get in-bounds for a specific school such as Whitman or Langley.

Without a doubt someone could be making the decision that I will wait and see if I get into Walls, and if not then I will move to Whitman or Langley.

OP specifically asks about HS. In general, the families that are seriously considering Walls usually have high performing kids.

[Anonymous]

We decided to get out after reading the revised Social Studies Standards.

[Anonymous]

This discussion is nauseating. I have a high schooler in DCPS that is doing great and is getting a good education that will ensure a successful future. This “get your kid out of DCPS” while you can talk is unbelievable and demoralizing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We decided to get out after reading the revised Social Studies Standards.

What is the issue with the revised Social Studies Standards?

[Anonymous]

Its not that suburban schools are educating them better, they get majority kids from families with resources to do Kumon, tutoring, SAT prep academies, sports coaching, et etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This discussion is nauseating. I have a high schooler in DCPS that is doing great and is getting a good education that will ensure a successful future. This “get your kid out of DCPS” while you can talk is unbelievable and demoralizing.

Same. And to have that in a forum called "DC Urban Moms and Dads?" This is supposed to be where DC parents can actually have discussions, right? Not to be shamed by suburbanites?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DcTag also has an income threshold so make sure you'll actually eligible for it.

Second, the education in the burbs will be superior to the education you get in DC.

I dispute your second point if we are talking about college prep kids taking APs.

Get out of DC public schools as quickly as you can. DCPS is dismal.

Students in third through eighth grades, as well as high school students, took assessments in the spring for the first time in two years. The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) on Friday released the results, which show declines in math and reading across the board.

"We saw declines across all eight wards, and we saw more declines in the elementary school grades than we did in the higher grades," D.C. Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Christina Grant said.

Grant said math scores dropped significantly from 31% of students testing at grade level in 2019 to 19% testing at grade level in 2022.

Reading scores were slightly better with 31% of students testing at grade level this year. In 2019, 37% of students tested at grade level.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/dc-students-show-major-decline-in-math-reading-since-pandemic-began/3148351/

HS PARCC scores are notoriously hard to interpret. Only 10th graders take PARCC, but only 10th graders in Algebra II or below. Many of the advanced kids are done with Algebra II in 9th, so they aren't taking the test. So, Walls has a 95% English rate of a 4 or 5, but it drops to 73% in Math...only because everyone is taking the English, but only the less advanced Math kids take the Math. Add to that the genius of administering PARCC (which is meaningless to the student) when AP tests happen (which are meaningful to the student), and you have some kids skipping PARCC or just randomly completing it because they are focused on AP tests.

If PARCC is irrelevant to the student (no awards or $$$s for scoring high...no impact on their grades, etc.)...then they need to figure out a better way of gauging HS progress.

This comment neatly sidesteps the fact that the biggest declines were at the elementary level, and will have ripple effects up to HS as those cohorts age. DCPS is getting worse, and it wasn't great to begin with.

If you are a parent making longterm plans about where to live and where to send your child to school, quibbling over whether PARCC math scores are accurate because some kids at Walls (a HS you truly have to win a lottery to attending the first place) have advanced beyond the subject being tested is just rearranging deck chairs.

Even if you can assume that a higher percentage of Walls students are at or above grade level in math than PARCC results show, the truth is that the vast majority of DCPS high school students area below grade level in reading and in math. And those that are at or above generally have parents who supplement considerably because DCPS does very little to meet on-grade-level or advanced students where they are at, as their focus is and will always be on the many, many students who are below grade level.

Our kid was always above grade level. We paid for weekly math tutoring in middle and high school, but I’m pretty sure we’d have done that anywhere.

Other than speaking Spanish at home and traveling to Spanish speaking countries to support our kid learning Spanish, we did no other supplementing.

Honestly we spent a LOT more time and money supporting sports.