Parent Essay critical of DCI

[Anonymous]

It's very difficult for US secondary schools, public or private, to hire admissions counselors with extensive Intl Baccalaureate Diploma academics experience. There are so few out there.

Taking 2 or 3 Diploma subject exams early/junior year is indeed an option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's very difficult for US secondary schools, public or private, to hire admissions counselors with extensive Intl Baccalaureate Diploma academics experience. There are so few out there.

Taking 2 or 3 Diploma subject exams early/junior year is indeed an option.

True. But they could have hired someone with ANY experience on the student side.

[Anonymous]

+100. Another lame move on the part of the glad-handing, low capacity DCI admins.

[Anonymous]

Good for parents for speaking up for more rigor in DC public middle schools. It's brave to put yourself out there publicly.

I don't necessarily expect summer reading to be rigorous. I just looked at DCI's list, and it doesn't seem so bad (but my kids are younger, at a feeder). But handing middle school kids chrome books necessitates standards and technological blocks. I can't imagine how challenging it must be for teachers to compete with the internet as readily available entertainment.

I'd love to hear a response from DCI admins. Do they think it's okay for students to just watch videos if they finish their work early?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The expectation at any new IB school is that the first few classes will have a pretty small group of students passing the IB exam.

In a way it doesn’t matter because the results come out after college acceptances. Once a class or two of kids go all the way through DCI will probably tweak its program as they will know what the students struggled with in the exam.

Your info on IB testing is seriously dated. For the last decade, IB students have been able to take up to 4 of their 6 subject exams in May of junior year, with the results available for college applications in the fall. It does matter if the college bound in IBD programs are on track to earn the full diploma or not. Moreover strong American IB students commonly double up on the AP exams that overlap with their IB subject exam to have more standardized test results to submit with college applications, This is standard practice in established IBD programs.

Unfortunately, DCI's admins don't seem to have a clue about any of this. The school has never even employed a college counselor.

It's amazing that there's so much misinformation on the board! The college counselor has been full-time since the oldest students started 10th grade. (https://dcinternationalschool.org/teacher/shannon-jeffries/) And for the previous poster, students can't take 4 out of 6 subject exams in May of their junior year -- that's nonsense. For those who want accurate information, dive in here: https://www.ibo.org/programmes/diploma-programme/assessment-and-exams/understanding-ib-assessment/

Thanks for setting the record straight. That didn't sound right to me either, although my experience with the IB diploma tests dates back to 1996.

The nonsense is from you, PP. High-powered IBD schools routinely allow student to take exams junior year all around the world and have for some time. My nephew, who's attends a top 10 liberal arts college, took several IBD subject exams junior from his test-in IBD school in FL. He took the remaining three exams in the spring of senior year. The school-within-a-school IBD program he attended has a pass rate of close to 90%. DCI admins just don't the tricks. Geneva IB doesn't get in the way of experience IBD coordinators who make these asks.

Get a grip OK. His school is not new and trying to implement an IB curriculum in middle and high school. Talk to us your nephews whatever school standard in 10 years or so.

[Anonymous]

This thread is ridiculous.

For those who don’t like where DCI is now as a new middle and high school, noted. Move on.

It’s not perfect. It’s in its infancy stages. There will be growing pains and they will learn from it. There will be bad and good teachers just like any other school.

But there are lots of us UMC parents EOTP with young children who see the potential of the school in a few years. This is especially true compared to the terrible options of IB DCPS middle and high school EOTP. Lots of us also like the IB curriculum and continuity of it from middle to high school.

So say what you will but demand is not going to decrease but will continue to increase.

[Anonymous]

Sure, but why not be better now? What is the barrier? Why can’t current parents advocate for more for their kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The expectation at any new IB school is that the first few classes will have a pretty small group of students passing the IB exam.

In a way it doesn’t matter because the results come out after college acceptances. Once a class or two of kids go all the way through DCI will probably tweak its program as they will know what the students struggled with in the exam.

Your info on IB testing is seriously dated. For the last decade, IB students have been able to take up to 4 of their 6 subject exams in May of junior year, with the results available for college applications in the fall. It does matter if the college bound in IBD programs are on track to earn the full diploma or not. Moreover strong American IB students commonly double up on the AP exams that overlap with their IB subject exam to have more standardized test results to submit with college applications, This is standard practice in established IBD programs.

Unfortunately, DCI's admins don't seem to have a clue about any of this. The school has never even employed a college counselor.

It's amazing that there's so much misinformation on the board! The college counselor has been full-time since the oldest students started 10th grade. (https://dcinternationalschool.org/teacher/shannon-jeffries/) And for the previous poster, students can't take 4 out of 6 subject exams in May of their junior year -- that's nonsense. For those who want accurate information, dive in here: https://www.ibo.org/programmes/diploma-programme/assessment-and-exams/understanding-ib-assessment/

Thanks for setting the record straight. That didn't sound right to me either, although my experience with the IB diploma tests dates back to 1996.

The nonsense is from you, PP. High-powered IBD schools routinely allow student to take exams junior year all around the world and have for some time. My nephew, who's attends a top 10 liberal arts college, took several IBD subject exams junior from his test-in IBD school in FL. He took the remaining three exams in the spring of senior year. The school-within-a-school IBD program he attended has a pass rate of close to 90%. DCI admins just don't the tricks. Geneva IB doesn't get in the way of experience IBD coordinators who make these asks.

There's no need to get snarky. I dont think anyone reffered to you or your post as "nonsense". I'm the poster who took it in the 90s and honestly just can't imagine that it would be possible to take the exam a whole year early having gone through the program. I went to a top IB program in Europe that has been doing the program for decades. I don't know my schools pass rate but I believe those who went for the diploma all passed and passed with very high scores. Again, not saying it's not possible (although I haven't read the link the poster posted showing it may not be possible). I can't imagine my previous high school allowing anyone to do it and we had kids that went to all the top programs all over the world including mamy of the ivies here in the US. As others who've been through the program have stated, it's incredibly rigorous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel sorry for any parent who has to send their kids there. Move if you cant afford private.

I feel sorry for you that you’re so easily swayed by a poorly written article.

Also not all private schools are equal.

The article could have been summarized in one paragraph. Also, to use "cooking dinner" as a reason not to challenge your kid is not acceptable and could have been left out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The expectation at any new IB school is that the first few classes will have a pretty small group of students passing the IB exam.

In a way it doesn’t matter because the results come out after college acceptances. Once a class or two of kids go all the way through DCI will probably tweak its program as they will know what the students struggled with in the exam.

Your info on IB testing is seriously dated. For the last decade, IB students have been able to take up to 4 of their 6 subject exams in May of junior year, with the results available for college applications in the fall. It does matter if the college bound in IBD programs are on track to earn the full diploma or not. Moreover strong American IB students commonly double up on the AP exams that overlap with their IB subject exam to have more standardized test results to submit with college applications, This is standard practice in established IBD programs.

DCPS doesn't have any true IB schools, even Deal is IB-lite, diluted with DCPS curricula, cornerstones, and other criteria and learning objectives they have to meet.

[Anonymous]

It's pretty easy to predict who is going to achieve an IB diploma, particularly in the first few years; it will a subset of last year's 10th-grade students who got a 4+ on PARCC (48% on ELA; 33% on Math). If you drill into the demographic subgroups, the vast number of students who were proficient or advanced were Asian or white.

I think this is why the DCI administration would not answer the question at the PCSB meeting about how many would achieve an IB diploma, and how many underserved students were in that group (he kept saying -- "I don't have the exact number right here and I don't want to speculate.' The Board member who asked the question was the same person who grilled Latin about why at-risk, disadvantaged and minority students were lagging.

DCI is going to be scrutinized by how well a wide cross-section of students do at achieving an IB diploma and/or scoring well on IB exams, and how well it delivers on its fundamental promise of IB for all. Not IB for gifted and talented, or high SES students. They have these students, with few new ones coming into the mix for 7 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sure, but why not be better now? What is the barrier? Why can’t current parents advocate for more for their kids?

No one is saying parents can’t advocate. But come on, if you don’t think a ton of parents supplement at Deal and Wilson because it’s not rigorous enough then you are living in an alternate reality. And how long have they been around??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The expectation at any new IB school is that the first few classes will have a pretty small group of students passing the IB exam.

In a way it doesn’t matter because the results come out after college acceptances. Once a class or two of kids go all the way through DCI will probably tweak its program as they will know what the students struggled with in the exam.

Your info on IB testing is seriously dated. For the last decade, IB students have been able to take up to 4 of their 6 subject exams in May of junior year, with the results available for college applications in the fall. It does matter if the college bound in IBD programs are on track to earn the full diploma or not. Moreover strong American IB students commonly double up on the AP exams that overlap with their IB subject exam to have more standardized test results to submit with college applications, This is standard practice in established IBD programs.

Unfortunately, DCI's admins don't seem to have a clue about any of this. The school has never even employed a college counselor.

It's amazing that there's so much misinformation on the board! The college counselor has been full-time since the oldest students started 10th grade. (https://dcinternationalschool.org/teacher/shannon-jeffries/) And for the previous poster, students can't take 4 out of 6 subject exams in May of their junior year -- that's nonsense. For those who want accurate information, dive in here: https://www.ibo.org/programmes/diploma-programme/assessment-and-exams/understanding-ib-assessment/

Thanks for setting the record straight. That didn't sound right to me either, although my experience with the IB diploma tests dates back to 1996.

The nonsense is from you, PP. High-powered IBD schools routinely allow student to take exams junior year all around the world and have for some time. My nephew, who's attends a top 10 liberal arts college, took several IBD subject exams junior from his test-in IBD school in FL. He took the remaining three exams in the spring of senior year. The school-within-a-school IBD program he attended has a pass rate of close to 90%. DCI admins just don't the tricks. Geneva IB doesn't get in the way of experience IBD coordinators who make these asks.

Get a grip OK. His school is not new and trying to implement an IB curriculum in middle and high school. Talk to us your nephews whatever school standard in 10 years or so.

To the poster with the nephew, why don’t you please share the name of the school, public or private, how old is it, percentage of students who are at risk or below grade level, etc... Pointless to be on your high horse when you are not comparing apples to apples. Feel free to share......

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have read up about it extensively. I think it’s a great diploma for top students.

My high school offered AP classes of which I took many, got college credit, and got a full 4 year academic scholarship for college.

I would take the IB diploma over just taking AP courses any day. It’s going to take time but if DCI can successfully implement a good IB curriculum from middle to high school, that is a major accomplishment to offer students in DC.

And for the rest of them?

For Christ sakes, if you have not even peruse their webpage to know the different diplomas they offer, don’t post such a simplistic question that has also been answered previously on this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have read up about it extensively. I think it’s a great diploma for top students.

My high school offered AP classes of which I took many, got college credit, and got a full 4 year academic scholarship for college.

I would take the IB diploma over just taking AP courses any day. It’s going to take time but if DCI can successfully implement a good IB curriculum from middle to high school, that is a major accomplishment to offer students in DC.

And for the rest of them?

For Christ sakes, if you have not even peruse their webpage to know the different diplomas they offer, don’t post such a simplistic question that has also been answered previously on this thread.

A pertinent question was posted up thread with no answers. Of the ~70-75 rising seniors, how many are pursuing each degree option.