BASIS charter expansion is up for public comment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised by the number of people who sent their kid to BASIS and seemingly had no idea what their kid was in for. The building is a prison with no fields. The crazy curriculum is openly shared. The lack of gym, etc., is obvious. Why would you have lotteried there in the first place? Were you dumb? Did you really not have a Plan B if you couldn't get into Latin? What kind of idiots are you people?

They're not effective teachers and can't produce a happy well-balanced successful kid to save their lives, but as a for-profit they know how to market to rubes—and taxpayer pick up the bill!

Found the WTA rep. Maybe move to North Korea--you would be happier there.

USNW&R ranks 11 BASIS schools in the top 100 in the United States out of nearly 25,000 schools, and a BASIS school is ranked #1 in the whole country (with TJ in Fairfax ranked #14). So, yeah, I think that the people running BASIS know a lot more than you than running a school network. But you certainly know how to run your mouth off.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/national-rankings

DP. Couple things about BASIS in the rankings. All other BASIS schools are test-in, so that already makes their situation much different than all other schools except other test ins. But more importantly, BASIS structures their policies to affect their ranking. For example, US News gives a lot of weight to how many seniors have taken and passed at least one AP. BASIS does not allow their students to advance to senior year if they have not met this metric, so they always have 100/100, because they don’t allow kids to get to senior year if they don’t meet this.


Also, from my perspective, the people running *BASIS DC* are the problem. BASIS DC has actually dropped in the rankings year over year. They plummeted another 200 down this year and their PARCC scores have gotten worse. BASIS’s reaction to this was to cancel all electives for two weeks so they could do extensive test prep. This is the kind of thing that people are talking about when they say BASIS cares more about BASIS looking good than they do about student happiness/mental health/well-being.

In the current USN&WR rankings, BASIS DC is currently the #1 public middle school in DC, #1 charter school in DC, and #1 non-selective public high school in DC.

They seem to be doing fine.

https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/middle-schools/district-of-columbia
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/district-of-columbia/rankings

And, btw, requiring a 3 on a single AP test in high school is not "gaming" the rankings. Any kid that can't pull a 3 on a single AP test shouldn't be there.

Requiring a 3 and not allowing a student to advance if they don't achieve it is absolutely "gaming" the rankings. It ensures that on one of the most important metrics, you are guaranteed 100% of the points, not because you actually taught the students to the point that they all got a 3, but because you prevented those who got a 3 from being counted in your stats.

Here, because you love US News so much, the national rankings:

TJ: #14
School Without Walls: #68
Benjamin Banneker: #96
Walt Whitman: #139
Langley: #148
Wootton: #196
Oakton: #199
McLean: #218
...
BASIS DC: #400

Note that none of those other schools are playing games with the US News stats.

I’m certainly not invested in defending the merits/utility of USNWR rankings, but this isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. Basis DC is open to anyone through the lottery, which means its population looks a lot different than selective schools like TJ and SWW and Banneker and also a lot different than uber wealthy districts like those listed here.

I think it makes more sense to have a test or something to select for academically advanced students at the outset, but failing that wholeheartedly support whatever measures they want to use to maintain some minimum academic standard (and a 3 on a single AP test is an extremely low bar).

Wrong. BASIS (like the suburban schools on that list) has single digit at-risk numbers, which are mostly from the lower grades before at-risk kids drop out. Both SWW and Banneker have higher at-risk numbers - with Banneker having almost triple the number of at-risk kids that BASIS does.

You (and many others) confuse at risk with poor performers. It is at once offensive and telling. We don't have standards in DC. We teach to the bottom. We argue that academic excellence and holding kids to expectations in racist or classist or something else-ist. That argument is ginned up by a vocal minority and then repeated by faux liberals like you who don't actually care about at-risk or minority kids, you just find it a convenient talking point. One of the things many of us love about BASIS is that they do not care about your pretend activism. If a black kid or white kid or poor kid or rich kid can't hack it, they repeat or leave. BASIS doesn't means test math outcomes to decide if it is unfair for kids to fail math, or get Cs or Bs or As. They teach. They test. You earn your grade. So many of you spend so much time on DCUM whining about these things without considering for a moment the educational opportunities afforded to those at -risk kids who you pretend to care about that are at BASIS. I am certain this thread will continue forever.

What amuses me is that you seem to think BASIS gives a damn what you think. They don't. It is one of the things I love about the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised by the number of people who sent their kid to BASIS and seemingly had no idea what their kid was in for. The building is a prison with no fields. The crazy curriculum is openly shared. The lack of gym, etc., is obvious. Why would you have lotteried there in the first place? Were you dumb? Did you really not have a Plan B if you couldn't get into Latin? What kind of idiots are you people?

They're not effective teachers and can't produce a happy well-balanced successful kid to save their lives, but as a for-profit they know how to market to rubes—and taxpayer pick up the bill!

Found the WTA rep. Maybe move to North Korea--you would be happier there.

USNW&R ranks 11 BASIS schools in the top 100 in the United States out of nearly 25,000 schools, and a BASIS school is ranked #1 in the whole country (with TJ in Fairfax ranked #14). So, yeah, I think that the people running BASIS know a lot more than you than running a school network. But you certainly know how to run your mouth off.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/national-rankings

DP. Couple things about BASIS in the rankings. All other BASIS schools are test-in, so that already makes their situation much different than all other schools except other test ins. But more importantly, BASIS structures their policies to affect their ranking. For example, US News gives a lot of weight to how many seniors have taken and passed at least one AP. BASIS does not allow their students to advance to senior year if they have not met this metric, so they always have 100/100, because they don’t allow kids to get to senior year if they don’t meet this.


Also, from my perspective, the people running *BASIS DC* are the problem. BASIS DC has actually dropped in the rankings year over year. They plummeted another 200 down this year and their PARCC scores have gotten worse. BASIS’s reaction to this was to cancel all electives for two weeks so they could do extensive test prep. This is the kind of thing that people are talking about when they say BASIS cares more about BASIS looking good than they do about student happiness/mental health/well-being.

In the current USN&WR rankings, BASIS DC is currently the #1 public middle school in DC, #1 charter school in DC, and #1 non-selective public high school in DC.

They seem to be doing fine.

https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/middle-schools/district-of-columbia
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/district-of-columbia/rankings

And, btw, requiring a 3 on a single AP test in high school is not "gaming" the rankings. Any kid that can't pull a 3 on a single AP test shouldn't be there.

Requiring a 3 and not allowing a student to advance if they don't achieve it is absolutely "gaming" the rankings. It ensures that on one of the most important metrics, you are guaranteed 100% of the points, not because you actually taught the students to the point that they all got a 3, but because you prevented those who got a 3 from being counted in your stats.

Here, because you love US News so much, the national rankings:

TJ: #14
School Without Walls: #68
Benjamin Banneker: #96
Walt Whitman: #139
Langley: #148
Wootton: #196
Oakton: #199
McLean: #218
...
BASIS DC: #400

Note that none of those other schools are playing games with the US News stats.

I’m certainly not invested in defending the merits/utility of USNWR rankings, but this isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. Basis DC is open to anyone through the lottery, which means its population looks a lot different than selective schools like TJ and SWW and Banneker and also a lot different than uber wealthy districts like those listed here.

I think it makes more sense to have a test or something to select for academically advanced students at the outset, but failing that wholeheartedly support whatever measures they want to use to maintain some minimum academic standard (and a 3 on a single AP test is an extremely low bar).

Wrong. BASIS (like the suburban schools on that list) has single digit at-risk numbers, which are mostly from the lower grades before at-risk kids drop out. Both SWW and Banneker have higher at-risk numbers - with Banneker having almost triple the number of at-risk kids that BASIS does.

You (and many others) confuse at risk with poor performers. It is at once offensive and telling. We don't have standards in DC. We teach to the bottom. We argue that academic excellence and holding kids to expectations in racist or classist or something else-ist. That argument is ginned up by a vocal minority and then repeated by faux liberals like you who don't actually care about at-risk or minority kids, you just find it a convenient talking point. One of the things many of us love about BASIS is that they do not care about your pretend activism. If a black kid or white kid or poor kid or rich kid can't hack it, they repeat or leave. BASIS doesn't means test math outcomes to decide if it is unfair for kids to fail math, or get Cs or Bs or As. They teach. They test. You earn your grade. So many of you spend so much time on DCUM whining about these things without considering for a moment the educational opportunities afforded to those at -risk kids who you pretend to care about that are at BASIS. I am certain this thread will continue forever.

What amuses me is that you seem to think BASIS gives a damn what you think. They don't. It is one of the things I love about the school.

Hi word salad. I was responding to the statement the PP made that BASIS doesn’t “look like” top performing suburban schools or top DC test-in schools. Thanks for proving my point in your crazy rant that BASIS does actually “look like” those schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised by the number of people who sent their kid to BASIS and seemingly had no idea what their kid was in for. The building is a prison with no fields. The crazy curriculum is openly shared. The lack of gym, etc., is obvious. Why would you have lotteried there in the first place? Were you dumb? Did you really not have a Plan B if you couldn't get into Latin? What kind of idiots are you people?

They're not effective teachers and can't produce a happy well-balanced successful kid to save their lives, but as a for-profit they know how to market to rubes—and taxpayer pick up the bill!

Found the WTA rep. Maybe move to North Korea--you would be happier there.

USNW&R ranks 11 BASIS schools in the top 100 in the United States out of nearly 25,000 schools, and a BASIS school is ranked #1 in the whole country (with TJ in Fairfax ranked #14). So, yeah, I think that the people running BASIS know a lot more than you than running a school network. But you certainly know how to run your mouth off.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/national-rankings

DP. Couple things about BASIS in the rankings. All other BASIS schools are test-in, so that already makes their situation much different than all other schools except other test ins. But more importantly, BASIS structures their policies to affect their ranking. For example, US News gives a lot of weight to how many seniors have taken and passed at least one AP. BASIS does not allow their students to advance to senior year if they have not met this metric, so they always have 100/100, because they don’t allow kids to get to senior year if they don’t meet this.


Also, from my perspective, the people running *BASIS DC* are the problem. BASIS DC has actually dropped in the rankings year over year. They plummeted another 200 down this year and their PARCC scores have gotten worse. BASIS’s reaction to this was to cancel all electives for two weeks so they could do extensive test prep. This is the kind of thing that people are talking about when they say BASIS cares more about BASIS looking good than they do about student happiness/mental health/well-being.

In the current USN&WR rankings, BASIS DC is currently the #1 public middle school in DC, #1 charter school in DC, and #1 non-selective public high school in DC.

They seem to be doing fine.

https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/middle-schools/district-of-columbia
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/district-of-columbia/rankings

And, btw, requiring a 3 on a single AP test in high school is not "gaming" the rankings. Any kid that can't pull a 3 on a single AP test shouldn't be there.

Requiring a 3 and not allowing a student to advance if they don't achieve it is absolutely "gaming" the rankings. It ensures that on one of the most important metrics, you are guaranteed 100% of the points, not because you actually taught the students to the point that they all got a 3, but because you prevented those who got a 3 from being counted in your stats.

Here, because you love US News so much, the national rankings:

TJ: #14
School Without Walls: #68
Benjamin Banneker: #96
Walt Whitman: #139
Langley: #148
Wootton: #196
Oakton: #199
McLean: #218
...
BASIS DC: #400

Note that none of those other schools are playing games with the US News stats.

I’m certainly not invested in defending the merits/utility of USNWR rankings, but this isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. Basis DC is open to anyone through the lottery, which means its population looks a lot different than selective schools like TJ and SWW and Banneker and also a lot different than uber wealthy districts like those listed here.

I think it makes more sense to have a test or something to select for academically advanced students at the outset, but failing that wholeheartedly support whatever measures they want to use to maintain some minimum academic standard (and a 3 on a single AP test is an extremely low bar).

Wrong. BASIS (like the suburban schools on that list) has single digit at-risk numbers, which are mostly from the lower grades before at-risk kids drop out. Both SWW and Banneker have higher at-risk numbers - with Banneker having almost triple the number of at-risk kids that BASIS does.

You (and many others) confuse at risk with poor performers. It is at once offensive and telling. We don't have standards in DC. We teach to the bottom. We argue that academic excellence and holding kids to expectations in racist or classist or something else-ist. That argument is ginned up by a vocal minority and then repeated by faux liberals like you who don't actually care about at-risk or minority kids, you just find it a convenient talking point. One of the things many of us love about BASIS is that they do not care about your pretend activism. If a black kid or white kid or poor kid or rich kid can't hack it, they repeat or leave. BASIS doesn't means test math outcomes to decide if it is unfair for kids to fail math, or get Cs or Bs or As. They teach. They test. You earn your grade. So many of you spend so much time on DCUM whining about these things without considering for a moment the educational opportunities afforded to those at -risk kids who you pretend to care about that are at BASIS. I am certain this thread will continue forever.

What amuses me is that you seem to think BASIS gives a damn what you think. They don't. It is one of the things I love about the school.

Hi word salad. I was responding to the statement the PP made that BASIS doesn’t “look like” top performing suburban schools or top DC test-in schools. Thanks for proving my point in your crazy rant that BASIS does actually “look like” those schools.

But not being at risk doesn’t make you smart. So the at-risk numbers aren’t really an important point of comparison with selective schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised by the number of people who sent their kid to BASIS and seemingly had no idea what their kid was in for. The building is a prison with no fields. The crazy curriculum is openly shared. The lack of gym, etc., is obvious. Why would you have lotteried there in the first place? Were you dumb? Did you really not have a Plan B if you couldn't get into Latin? What kind of idiots are you people?

They're not effective teachers and can't produce a happy well-balanced successful kid to save their lives, but as a for-profit they know how to market to rubes—and taxpayer pick up the bill!

Found the WTA rep. Maybe move to North Korea--you would be happier there.

USNW&R ranks 11 BASIS schools in the top 100 in the United States out of nearly 25,000 schools, and a BASIS school is ranked #1 in the whole country (with TJ in Fairfax ranked #14). So, yeah, I think that the people running BASIS know a lot more than you than running a school network. But you certainly know how to run your mouth off.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/national-rankings

DP. Couple things about BASIS in the rankings. All other BASIS schools are test-in, so that already makes their situation much different than all other schools except other test ins. But more importantly, BASIS structures their policies to affect their ranking. For example, US News gives a lot of weight to how many seniors have taken and passed at least one AP. BASIS does not allow their students to advance to senior year if they have not met this metric, so they always have 100/100, because they don’t allow kids to get to senior year if they don’t meet this.


Also, from my perspective, the people running *BASIS DC* are the problem. BASIS DC has actually dropped in the rankings year over year. They plummeted another 200 down this year and their PARCC scores have gotten worse. BASIS’s reaction to this was to cancel all electives for two weeks so they could do extensive test prep. This is the kind of thing that people are talking about when they say BASIS cares more about BASIS looking good than they do about student happiness/mental health/well-being.

In the current USN&WR rankings, BASIS DC is currently the #1 public middle school in DC, #1 charter school in DC, and #1 non-selective public high school in DC.

They seem to be doing fine.

https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/middle-schools/district-of-columbia
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/district-of-columbia/rankings

And, btw, requiring a 3 on a single AP test in high school is not "gaming" the rankings. Any kid that can't pull a 3 on a single AP test shouldn't be there.

Requiring a 3 and not allowing a student to advance if they don't achieve it is absolutely "gaming" the rankings. It ensures that on one of the most important metrics, you are guaranteed 100% of the points, not because you actually taught the students to the point that they all got a 3, but because you prevented those who got a 3 from being counted in your stats.

Here, because you love US News so much, the national rankings:

TJ: #14
School Without Walls: #68
Benjamin Banneker: #96
Walt Whitman: #139
Langley: #148
Wootton: #196
Oakton: #199
McLean: #218
...
BASIS DC: #400

Note that none of those other schools are playing games with the US News stats.

I’m certainly not invested in defending the merits/utility of USNWR rankings, but this isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. Basis DC is open to anyone through the lottery, which means its population looks a lot different than selective schools like TJ and SWW and Banneker and also a lot different than uber wealthy districts like those listed here.

I think it makes more sense to have a test or something to select for academically advanced students at the outset, but failing that wholeheartedly support whatever measures they want to use to maintain some minimum academic standard (and a 3 on a single AP test is an extremely low bar).

Wrong. BASIS (like the suburban schools on that list) has single digit at-risk numbers, which are mostly from the lower grades before at-risk kids drop out. Both SWW and Banneker have higher at-risk numbers - with Banneker having almost triple the number of at-risk kids that BASIS does.

You (and many others) confuse at risk with poor performers. It is at once offensive and telling. We don't have standards in DC. We teach to the bottom. We argue that academic excellence and holding kids to expectations in racist or classist or something else-ist. That argument is ginned up by a vocal minority and then repeated by faux liberals like you who don't actually care about at-risk or minority kids, you just find it a convenient talking point. One of the things many of us love about BASIS is that they do not care about your pretend activism. If a black kid or white kid or poor kid or rich kid can't hack it, they repeat or leave. BASIS doesn't means test math outcomes to decide if it is unfair for kids to fail math, or get Cs or Bs or As. They teach. They test. You earn your grade. So many of you spend so much time on DCUM whining about these things without considering for a moment the educational opportunities afforded to those at -risk kids who you pretend to care about that are at BASIS. I am certain this thread will continue forever.

What amuses me is that you seem to think BASIS gives a damn what you think. They don't. It is one of the things I love about the school.

Hi word salad. I was responding to the statement the PP made that BASIS doesn’t “look like” top performing suburban schools or top DC test-in schools. Thanks for proving my point in your crazy rant that BASIS does actually “look like” those schools.

I think you don't know what "word salad" means. It doesn't mean something which which you disagree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised by the number of people who sent their kid to BASIS and seemingly had no idea what their kid was in for. The building is a prison with no fields. The crazy curriculum is openly shared. The lack of gym, etc., is obvious. Why would you have lotteried there in the first place? Were you dumb? Did you really not have a Plan B if you couldn't get into Latin? What kind of idiots are you people?

They're not effective teachers and can't produce a happy well-balanced successful kid to save their lives, but as a for-profit they know how to market to rubes—and taxpayer pick up the bill!

Found the WTA rep. Maybe move to North Korea--you would be happier there.

USNW&R ranks 11 BASIS schools in the top 100 in the United States out of nearly 25,000 schools, and a BASIS school is ranked #1 in the whole country (with TJ in Fairfax ranked #14). So, yeah, I think that the people running BASIS know a lot more than you than running a school network. But you certainly know how to run your mouth off.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/national-rankings

DP. Couple things about BASIS in the rankings. All other BASIS schools are test-in, so that already makes their situation much different than all other schools except other test ins. But more importantly, BASIS structures their policies to affect their ranking. For example, US News gives a lot of weight to how many seniors have taken and passed at least one AP. BASIS does not allow their students to advance to senior year if they have not met this metric, so they always have 100/100, because they don’t allow kids to get to senior year if they don’t meet this.


Also, from my perspective, the people running *BASIS DC* are the problem. BASIS DC has actually dropped in the rankings year over year. They plummeted another 200 down this year and their PARCC scores have gotten worse. BASIS’s reaction to this was to cancel all electives for two weeks so they could do extensive test prep. This is the kind of thing that people are talking about when they say BASIS cares more about BASIS looking good than they do about student happiness/mental health/well-being.

In the current USN&WR rankings, BASIS DC is currently the #1 public middle school in DC, #1 charter school in DC, and #1 non-selective public high school in DC.

They seem to be doing fine.

https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/middle-schools/district-of-columbia
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/district-of-columbia/rankings

And, btw, requiring a 3 on a single AP test in high school is not "gaming" the rankings. Any kid that can't pull a 3 on a single AP test shouldn't be there.

Requiring a 3 and not allowing a student to advance if they don't achieve it is absolutely "gaming" the rankings. It ensures that on one of the most important metrics, you are guaranteed 100% of the points, not because you actually taught the students to the point that they all got a 3, but because you prevented those who got a 3 from being counted in your stats.

Here, because you love US News so much, the national rankings:

TJ: #14
School Without Walls: #68
Benjamin Banneker: #96
Walt Whitman: #139
Langley: #148
Wootton: #196
Oakton: #199
McLean: #218
...
BASIS DC: #400

Note that none of those other schools are playing games with the US News stats.

I’m certainly not invested in defending the merits/utility of USNWR rankings, but this isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. Basis DC is open to anyone through the lottery, which means its population looks a lot different than selective schools like TJ and SWW and Banneker and also a lot different than uber wealthy districts like those listed here.

I think it makes more sense to have a test or something to select for academically advanced students at the outset, but failing that wholeheartedly support whatever measures they want to use to maintain some minimum academic standard (and a 3 on a single AP test is an extremely low bar).

Wrong. BASIS (like the suburban schools on that list) has single digit at-risk numbers, which are mostly from the lower grades before at-risk kids drop out. Both SWW and Banneker have higher at-risk numbers - with Banneker having almost triple the number of at-risk kids that BASIS does.

You (and many others) confuse at risk with poor performers. It is at once offensive and telling. We don't have standards in DC. We teach to the bottom. We argue that academic excellence and holding kids to expectations in racist or classist or something else-ist. That argument is ginned up by a vocal minority and then repeated by faux liberals like you who don't actually care about at-risk or minority kids, you just find it a convenient talking point. One of the things many of us love about BASIS is that they do not care about your pretend activism. If a black kid or white kid or poor kid or rich kid can't hack it, they repeat or leave. BASIS doesn't means test math outcomes to decide if it is unfair for kids to fail math, or get Cs or Bs or As. They teach. They test. You earn your grade. So many of you spend so much time on DCUM whining about these things without considering for a moment the educational opportunities afforded to those at -risk kids who you pretend to care about that are at BASIS. I am certain this thread will continue forever.

What amuses me is that you seem to think BASIS gives a damn what you think. They don't. It is one of the things I love about the school.

Hi word salad. I was responding to the statement the PP made that BASIS doesn’t “look like” top performing suburban schools or top DC test-in schools. Thanks for proving my point in your crazy rant that BASIS does actually “look like” those schools.

You completely miss the point. Your focus on what it "looks like" is misplaced. You seem to think the student body of a test in school in one of the wealthiest suburbs in America is the same as an open lottery in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised by the number of people who sent their kid to BASIS and seemingly had no idea what their kid was in for. The building is a prison with no fields. The crazy curriculum is openly shared. The lack of gym, etc., is obvious. Why would you have lotteried there in the first place? Were you dumb? Did you really not have a Plan B if you couldn't get into Latin? What kind of idiots are you people?

They're not effective teachers and can't produce a happy well-balanced successful kid to save their lives, but as a for-profit they know how to market to rubes—and taxpayer pick up the bill!

Found the WTA rep. Maybe move to North Korea--you would be happier there.

USNW&R ranks 11 BASIS schools in the top 100 in the United States out of nearly 25,000 schools, and a BASIS school is ranked #1 in the whole country (with TJ in Fairfax ranked #14). So, yeah, I think that the people running BASIS know a lot more than you than running a school network. But you certainly know how to run your mouth off.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/national-rankings

DP. Couple things about BASIS in the rankings. All other BASIS schools are test-in, so that already makes their situation much different than all other schools except other test ins. But more importantly, BASIS structures their policies to affect their ranking. For example, US News gives a lot of weight to how many seniors have taken and passed at least one AP. BASIS does not allow their students to advance to senior year if they have not met this metric, so they always have 100/100, because they don’t allow kids to get to senior year if they don’t meet this.


Also, from my perspective, the people running *BASIS DC* are the problem. BASIS DC has actually dropped in the rankings year over year. They plummeted another 200 down this year and their PARCC scores have gotten worse. BASIS’s reaction to this was to cancel all electives for two weeks so they could do extensive test prep. This is the kind of thing that people are talking about when they say BASIS cares more about BASIS looking good than they do about student happiness/mental health/well-being.

In the current USN&WR rankings, BASIS DC is currently the #1 public middle school in DC, #1 charter school in DC, and #1 non-selective public high school in DC.

They seem to be doing fine.

https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/middle-schools/district-of-columbia
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/district-of-columbia/rankings

And, btw, requiring a 3 on a single AP test in high school is not "gaming" the rankings. Any kid that can't pull a 3 on a single AP test shouldn't be there.

Requiring a 3 and not allowing a student to advance if they don't achieve it is absolutely "gaming" the rankings. It ensures that on one of the most important metrics, you are guaranteed 100% of the points, not because you actually taught the students to the point that they all got a 3, but because you prevented those who got a 3 from being counted in your stats.

Here, because you love US News so much, the national rankings:

TJ: #14
School Without Walls: #68
Benjamin Banneker: #96
Walt Whitman: #139
Langley: #148
Wootton: #196
Oakton: #199
McLean: #218
...
BASIS DC: #400

Note that none of those other schools are playing games with the US News stats.

I’m certainly not invested in defending the merits/utility of USNWR rankings, but this isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. Basis DC is open to anyone through the lottery, which means its population looks a lot different than selective schools like TJ and SWW and Banneker and also a lot different than uber wealthy districts like those listed here.

I think it makes more sense to have a test or something to select for academically advanced students at the outset, but failing that wholeheartedly support whatever measures they want to use to maintain some minimum academic standard (and a 3 on a single AP test is an extremely low bar).

Wrong. BASIS (like the suburban schools on that list) has single digit at-risk numbers, which are mostly from the lower grades before at-risk kids drop out. Both SWW and Banneker have higher at-risk numbers - with Banneker having almost triple the number of at-risk kids that BASIS does.

You (and many others) confuse at risk with poor performers. It is at once offensive and telling. We don't have standards in DC. We teach to the bottom. We argue that academic excellence and holding kids to expectations in racist or classist or something else-ist. That argument is ginned up by a vocal minority and then repeated by faux liberals like you who don't actually care about at-risk or minority kids, you just find it a convenient talking point. One of the things many of us love about BASIS is that they do not care about your pretend activism. If a black kid or white kid or poor kid or rich kid can't hack it, they repeat or leave. BASIS doesn't means test math outcomes to decide if it is unfair for kids to fail math, or get Cs or Bs or As. They teach. They test. You earn your grade. So many of you spend so much time on DCUM whining about these things without considering for a moment the educational opportunities afforded to those at -risk kids who you pretend to care about that are at BASIS. I am certain this thread will continue forever.

What amuses me is that you seem to think BASIS gives a damn what you think. They don't. It is one of the things I love about the school.

Hi word salad. I was responding to the statement the PP made that BASIS doesn’t “look like” top performing suburban schools or top DC test-in schools. Thanks for proving my point in your crazy rant that BASIS does actually “look like” those schools.

You completely miss the point. Your focus on what it "looks like" is misplaced. You seem to think the student body of a test in school in one of the wealthiest suburbs in America is the same as an open lottery in DC.

You completely miss the point. BASIS has a similar student body to all of those schools (test in or not). BASIS is filled with wealthy Ward 6 residents.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it does. My kids’ BASIS cohorts have looked and felt an awful like those they were part of at Brent ES. Hint there are hardly any low SES kids at Brent. I’d wager that the new BASIS ES will be another Brent demographic look-alike.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised by the number of people who sent their kid to BASIS and seemingly had no idea what their kid was in for. The building is a prison with no fields. The crazy curriculum is openly shared. The lack of gym, etc., is obvious. Why would you have lotteried there in the first place? Were you dumb? Did you really not have a Plan B if you couldn't get into Latin? What kind of idiots are you people?

They're not effective teachers and can't produce a happy well-balanced successful kid to save their lives, but as a for-profit they know how to market to rubes—and taxpayer pick up the bill!

Found the WTA rep. Maybe move to North Korea--you would be happier there.

USNW&R ranks 11 BASIS schools in the top 100 in the United States out of nearly 25,000 schools, and a BASIS school is ranked #1 in the whole country (with TJ in Fairfax ranked #14). So, yeah, I think that the people running BASIS know a lot more than you than running a school network. But you certainly know how to run your mouth off.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/national-rankings

DP. Couple things about BASIS in the rankings. All other BASIS schools are test-in, so that already makes their situation much different than all other schools except other test ins. But more importantly, BASIS structures their policies to affect their ranking. For example, US News gives a lot of weight to how many seniors have taken and passed at least one AP. BASIS does not allow their students to advance to senior year if they have not met this metric, so they always have 100/100, because they don’t allow kids to get to senior year if they don’t meet this.


Also, from my perspective, the people running *BASIS DC* are the problem. BASIS DC has actually dropped in the rankings year over year. They plummeted another 200 down this year and their PARCC scores have gotten worse. BASIS’s reaction to this was to cancel all electives for two weeks so they could do extensive test prep. This is the kind of thing that people are talking about when they say BASIS cares more about BASIS looking good than they do about student happiness/mental health/well-being.

In the current USN&WR rankings, BASIS DC is currently the #1 public middle school in DC, #1 charter school in DC, and #1 non-selective public high school in DC.

They seem to be doing fine.

https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/middle-schools/district-of-columbia
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/district-of-columbia/rankings

And, btw, requiring a 3 on a single AP test in high school is not "gaming" the rankings. Any kid that can't pull a 3 on a single AP test shouldn't be there.

Requiring a 3 and not allowing a student to advance if they don't achieve it is absolutely "gaming" the rankings. It ensures that on one of the most important metrics, you are guaranteed 100% of the points, not because you actually taught the students to the point that they all got a 3, but because you prevented those who got a 3 from being counted in your stats.

Here, because you love US News so much, the national rankings:

TJ: #14
School Without Walls: #68
Benjamin Banneker: #96
Walt Whitman: #139
Langley: #148
Wootton: #196
Oakton: #199
McLean: #218
...
BASIS DC: #400

Note that none of those other schools are playing games with the US News stats.

I’m certainly not invested in defending the merits/utility of USNWR rankings, but this isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. Basis DC is open to anyone through the lottery, which means its population looks a lot different than selective schools like TJ and SWW and Banneker and also a lot different than uber wealthy districts like those listed here.

I think it makes more sense to have a test or something to select for academically advanced students at the outset, but failing that wholeheartedly support whatever measures they want to use to maintain some minimum academic standard (and a 3 on a single AP test is an extremely low bar).

Wrong. BASIS (like the suburban schools on that list) has single digit at-risk numbers, which are mostly from the lower grades before at-risk kids drop out. Both SWW and Banneker have higher at-risk numbers - with Banneker having almost triple the number of at-risk kids that BASIS does.

You (and many others) confuse at risk with poor performers. It is at once offensive and telling. We don't have standards in DC. We teach to the bottom. We argue that academic excellence and holding kids to expectations in racist or classist or something else-ist. That argument is ginned up by a vocal minority and then repeated by faux liberals like you who don't actually care about at-risk or minority kids, you just find it a convenient talking point. One of the things many of us love about BASIS is that they do not care about your pretend activism. If a black kid or white kid or poor kid or rich kid can't hack it, they repeat or leave. BASIS doesn't means test math outcomes to decide if it is unfair for kids to fail math, or get Cs or Bs or As. They teach. They test. You earn your grade. So many of you spend so much time on DCUM whining about these things without considering for a moment the educational opportunities afforded to those at -risk kids who you pretend to care about that are at BASIS. I am certain this thread will continue forever.

What amuses me is that you seem to think BASIS gives a damn what you think. They don't. It is one of the things I love about the school.

Hi word salad. I was responding to the statement the PP made that BASIS doesn’t “look like” top performing suburban schools or top DC test-in schools. Thanks for proving my point in your crazy rant that BASIS does actually “look like” those schools.

You completely miss the point. Your focus on what it "looks like" is misplaced. You seem to think the student body of a test in school in one of the wealthiest suburbs in America is the same as an open lottery in DC.

You completely miss the point. BASIS has a similar student body to all of those schools (test in or not). BASIS is filled with wealthy Ward 6 residents.

Nope. The school draws from all wards in DC.

[Anonymous]

Our years at BASIS have taught me that it draws a whole bunch of high SES kids from all wards in DC. Mostly it draws UMC Ward 6 students. Stop pretending otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our years at BASIS have taught me that it draws a whole bunch of high SES kids from all wards in DC. Mostly it draws UMC Ward 6 students. Stop pretending otherwise.

DP. You said before that "BASIS is filled with wealthy Ward 6 residents" and now you are saying it "[m]ostly draws UMC Ward 6 students."

Not sure how you know the income level of all BASIS families in Ward 6 but, in any event, your "analysis" is wrong.

https://dcpcsb.org/basis-dc-pcs-student-location-map

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised by the number of people who sent their kid to BASIS and seemingly had no idea what their kid was in for. The building is a prison with no fields. The crazy curriculum is openly shared. The lack of gym, etc., is obvious. Why would you have lotteried there in the first place? Were you dumb? Did you really not have a Plan B if you couldn't get into Latin? What kind of idiots are you people?

They're not effective teachers and can't produce a happy well-balanced successful kid to save their lives, but as a for-profit they know how to market to rubes—and taxpayer pick up the bill!

Found the WTA rep. Maybe move to North Korea--you would be happier there.

USNW&R ranks 11 BASIS schools in the top 100 in the United States out of nearly 25,000 schools, and a BASIS school is ranked #1 in the whole country (with TJ in Fairfax ranked #14). So, yeah, I think that the people running BASIS know a lot more than you than running a school network. But you certainly know how to run your mouth off.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/national-rankings

DP. Couple things about BASIS in the rankings. All other BASIS schools are test-in, so that already makes their situation much different than all other schools except other test ins. But more importantly, BASIS structures their policies to affect their ranking. For example, US News gives a lot of weight to how many seniors have taken and passed at least one AP. BASIS does not allow their students to advance to senior year if they have not met this metric, so they always have 100/100, because they don’t allow kids to get to senior year if they don’t meet this.


Also, from my perspective, the people running *BASIS DC* are the problem. BASIS DC has actually dropped in the rankings year over year. They plummeted another 200 down this year and their PARCC scores have gotten worse. BASIS’s reaction to this was to cancel all electives for two weeks so they could do extensive test prep. This is the kind of thing that people are talking about when they say BASIS cares more about BASIS looking good than they do about student happiness/mental health/well-being.

In the current USN&WR rankings, BASIS DC is currently the #1 public middle school in DC, #1 charter school in DC, and #1 non-selective public high school in DC.

They seem to be doing fine.

https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/middle-schools/district-of-columbia
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/district-of-columbia/rankings

And, btw, requiring a 3 on a single AP test in high school is not "gaming" the rankings. Any kid that can't pull a 3 on a single AP test shouldn't be there.

Requiring a 3 and not allowing a student to advance if they don't achieve it is absolutely "gaming" the rankings. It ensures that on one of the most important metrics, you are guaranteed 100% of the points, not because you actually taught the students to the point that they all got a 3, but because you prevented those who got a 3 from being counted in your stats.

Here, because you love US News so much, the national rankings:

TJ: #14
School Without Walls: #68
Benjamin Banneker: #96
Walt Whitman: #139
Langley: #148
Wootton: #196
Oakton: #199
McLean: #218
...
BASIS DC: #400

Note that none of those other schools are playing games with the US News stats.

Incorrect.

1) BASIS students start taking AP exams in 8th grade and many take over a dozen AP exams; plus they are taking annual comprehensive exams in school starting in 6th grade. Getting a 3 on one AP exam is not difficult. No one fails to graduate from BASIS DC because they didn’t get a 3 on a single exam. If you think kids are being told that they can’t graduate because they failed to get a 3 on an AP exam, you are dead wrong. You realize that for many AP exams, around 50% of test takers get at least a 3? This is a very low bar.

2) You are contradicting your own argument. If requiring a 3 on a single AP is “gaming” the system, then why does USN&WR rank BASIS DC below the schools you list? Obviously, that is not a significant factor.

3) DCPS doesn’t even require a single AP test. Yet 100 % of students at Walls take at least one AP exam and 99% of students there get at least a 3. In fact, you can’t graduate from Walls without taking a least a couple of AP exams. Is Walls “gaming” the system? Ridiculous. Similarly, 100% of BASIS students take an exam and 100% get at least a 3. Even if Basis followed the DCPS/Walls system, you would see similar numbers.

4) At Banneker, 100% of students take an AP exam and only 73% get at least a 3. Yet USN&WR ranks Banneker above BASIS DC. So, again, obviously the AP factor is not that significant.

5) At some of the schools you mention, a significant chunk of students don’t take any AP exam or if they do they don’t get a 3 on at least one. At McLean High, for example, a quarter of students don’t take any AP exams at all and, of those that do, about 30% never get a 3. Yet, for some reason, McLean is ranked above BASIS DC. So, obviously, the AP factor is not that significant.

6) Finally, you are comparing a 100%, all-DC lottery school to high schools that select their students such as Walls and Banneker and schools in the burbs that just draw from their wealthy neighborhoods. Using your twisted logic, you could argue that Walls and Banneker “prevented” low-scoring kids from being counted in their stats by cherry picking the best students they could or rich suburban schools similarly “prevented” low-scoring kids from being counted in their stats by not letting in out-of-bounds kids. So, you are not really making an apples-to-apples comparison. And, in any event, you are ignoring the fact that the only two schools you listed where 100% of the students took an AP test and scored at least a 3 are TJ (a selective school in a high-performing area) and BASIS DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised by the number of people who sent their kid to BASIS and seemingly had no idea what their kid was in for. The building is a prison with no fields. The crazy curriculum is openly shared. The lack of gym, etc., is obvious. Why would you have lotteried there in the first place? Were you dumb? Did you really not have a Plan B if you couldn't get into Latin? What kind of idiots are you people?

They're not effective teachers and can't produce a happy well-balanced successful kid to save their lives, but as a for-profit they know how to market to rubes—and taxpayer pick up the bill!

Found the WTA rep. Maybe move to North Korea--you would be happier there.

USNW&R ranks 11 BASIS schools in the top 100 in the United States out of nearly 25,000 schools, and a BASIS school is ranked #1 in the whole country (with TJ in Fairfax ranked #14). So, yeah, I think that the people running BASIS know a lot more than you than running a school network. But you certainly know how to run your mouth off.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/national-rankings

DP. Couple things about BASIS in the rankings. All other BASIS schools are test-in, so that already makes their situation much different than all other schools except other test ins. But more importantly, BASIS structures their policies to affect their ranking. For example, US News gives a lot of weight to how many seniors have taken and passed at least one AP. BASIS does not allow their students to advance to senior year if they have not met this metric, so they always have 100/100, because they don’t allow kids to get to senior year if they don’t meet this.


Also, from my perspective, the people running *BASIS DC* are the problem. BASIS DC has actually dropped in the rankings year over year. They plummeted another 200 down this year and their PARCC scores have gotten worse. BASIS’s reaction to this was to cancel all electives for two weeks so they could do extensive test prep. This is the kind of thing that people are talking about when they say BASIS cares more about BASIS looking good than they do about student happiness/mental health/well-being.

In the current USN&WR rankings, BASIS DC is currently the #1 public middle school in DC, #1 charter school in DC, and #1 non-selective public high school in DC.

They seem to be doing fine.

https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/middle-schools/district-of-columbia
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/district-of-columbia/rankings

And, btw, requiring a 3 on a single AP test in high school is not "gaming" the rankings. Any kid that can't pull a 3 on a single AP test shouldn't be there.

Requiring a 3 and not allowing a student to advance if they don't achieve it is absolutely "gaming" the rankings. It ensures that on one of the most important metrics, you are guaranteed 100% of the points, not because you actually taught the students to the point that they all got a 3, but because you prevented those who got a 3 from being counted in your stats.

Here, because you love US News so much, the national rankings:

TJ: #14
School Without Walls: #68
Benjamin Banneker: #96
Walt Whitman: #139
Langley: #148
Wootton: #196
Oakton: #199
McLean: #218
...
BASIS DC: #400

Note that none of those other schools are playing games with the US News stats.

Incorrect.

1) BASIS students start taking AP exams in 8th grade and many take over a dozen AP exams; plus they are taking annual comprehensive exams in school starting in 6th grade. Getting a 3 on one AP exam is not difficult. No one fails to graduate from BASIS DC because they didn’t get a 3 on a single exam. If you think kids are being told that they can’t graduate because they failed to get a 3 on an AP exam, you are dead wrong. You realize that for many AP exams, around 50% of test takers get at least a 3? This is a very low bar.

2) You are contradicting your own argument. If requiring a 3 on a single AP is “gaming” the system, then why does USN&WR rank BASIS DC below the schools you list? Obviously, that is not a significant factor.

3) DCPS doesn’t even require a single AP test. Yet 100 % of students at Walls take at least one AP exam and 99% of students there get at least a 3. In fact, you can’t graduate from Walls without taking a least a couple of AP exams. Is Walls “gaming” the system? Ridiculous. Similarly, 100% of BASIS students take an exam and 100% get at least a 3. Even if Basis followed the DCPS/Walls system, you would see similar numbers.

4) At Banneker, 100% of students take an AP exam and only 73% get at least a 3. Yet USN&WR ranks Banneker above BASIS DC. So, again, obviously the AP factor is not that significant.

5) At some of the schools you mention, a significant chunk of students don’t take any AP exam or if they do they don’t get a 3 on at least one. At McLean High, for example, a quarter of students don’t take any AP exams at all and, of those that do, about 30% never get a 3. Yet, for some reason, McLean is ranked above BASIS DC. So, obviously, the AP factor is not that significant.

6) Finally, you are comparing a 100%, all-DC lottery school to high schools that select their students such as Walls and Banneker and schools in the burbs that just draw from their wealthy neighborhoods. Using your twisted logic, you could argue that Walls and Banneker “prevented” low-scoring kids from being counted in their stats by cherry picking the best students they could or rich suburban schools similarly “prevented” low-scoring kids from being counted in their stats by not letting in out-of-bounds kids. So, you are not really making an apples-to-apples comparison. And, in any event, you are ignoring the fact that the only two schools you listed where 100% of the students took an AP test and scored at least a 3 are TJ (a selective school in a high-performing area) and BASIS DC.

+1.

Since BASIS DC and Latin are both 100% lottery and draw from the same populations, it seems like these 2 schools would be a better comparison.

BASIS DC: 100% take at least one AP test and 100% get at least a 3
Latin: 75% take at least one AP test and 57% get at least a 3

If you like AP tests and think college-level rigor is important, it seems like a no-brainer to send your kid to BASIS DC.

[Anonymous]

DC has such low standards. A 3 on a single AP is expecting too much? Pathetic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our years at BASIS have taught me that it draws a whole bunch of high SES kids from all wards in DC. Mostly it draws UMC Ward 6 students. Stop pretending otherwise.

No, it doesn't. My guess is your kids are high SES from W6. Since that's what you know and who your kids friends are you assume that's all that is at BASIS. This is a standard human response. As is the fact that you will read this and be incapable of feeling shame or embarrassment. The data on where BASIS kids come from is publish. It isn't mostly W6. You also have no idea what anyone else's financial situation is. Guessing you see white folks who remind you of you and Larla and just assume they are also high SES.

[Anonymous]

This BASIS thread has deteriorated into the usual bilge. Too bad, there have been some smart critical comments that seem to come from new voices inside the school community.