Can "bad" schools get better?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People want W schools for a reason, better test scores, more involved parents and stronger PTA and less of a chance your kid will get stabbed in the hallway or have their designer jacket stolen.

... access to lots of designer drugs, nice cars in the parking lot, spoiled kids. Yep, I want to live in the W cluster.

Hey, at least those kids can pass standardized tests and will go to college!

Between 2001 and 2010, 47% of MCPS graduates went to four-year colleges in the fall after graduation. Do the high schools in Bethesda and Potomac account for 47% of MCPS enrollment?

http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/reports/2012/College%20Enrollment%20Persistence%20and%20Degree%20Attainment%20final.pdf

Graduates implies you graduated. Start there. Then worry about the community college or (gasp) a 4 year university stats.

What is your point? But ok. Between 2001 and 2010, there were 94,232 high school graduates. Did the high schools in Bethesda and Potomac produce 94,232 graduates in 10 years, for an average of 9,423.2 graduates per year.
The total current school capacity of Whitman, Wootton, Walter Johnson, and Churchill combined is 8,385.

Plus also I personally know several people who graduated from non-Bethesda, non-Potomac MCPS high schools during that time period!

Not the PP but I think they meant many SES and hispanics do not even finish school so you have to think about the amount of kids in a school and if they even graduate. 20+% of Hispanics drop out of high school.

And that would be relevant, if you were a Hispanic parent in the demographic groups where many Hispanic kids drop out of high school. But I think it's unlikely that the OP is a Hispanic parent in the demographic groups where many Hispanic kids drop out of high school. For one thing, parents in those groups typically don't have time to post on DCUM at 8:26 am.

Also, there is no such thing as "an SES" student. SES stands for socioeconomic status. Everybody has an SES. Some people have a high SES. Some people have a medium SES. Some people have a low SES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WJ has 700 more students and a lot less safety issues and suspensions rate. No weapons at WJ but quite a few at Einstein

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/SafetyGlance/currentyear/schools/04424.pdf

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/SafetyGlance/currentyear/schools/04789.pdf

Are you worried about your student getting suspended, if they go to the same school as students who get suspended?

Don't be dense

Then please explain the concern about suspensions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:great post, totally agree.
also demonstrates the reality of SES "diversity" in practice.

It actually does demonstrate the reality of SES diversity in practice. I doubt that students at Whitman are having similar experiences. Their range of experiences is much more limited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is doing very well in what is probably the worst high school in the county.

The school has a lot of fights and "bad" kids from poor, broken homes. Plenty of under-achievers...BUT...

No one has ever bothered her - she has found her niche and has some really good friends who have similar values as she does. Seriously - the last thing on those kids' radar is the smart girl - there are many other things that can pull you into the wrong crowd or put you at risk, but good grades isn't one of them.

We were dreading when it was time for her to go to high school but didn't want to spend the money on private unless we had to. We montiored her like a hawk to make sure she didn't go down the wrong path or end up with a sketchy group of friends. That was never an issue and outside of some of the fascinating (and scary) stories she tells us sometimes, she is in her own bubble, meeting challenges and qualifying for a lot of opportunities she probably wouldn't have in the better schools.

Yes, I wished more of the kids wanted to succeed - currently, she is competing against a small group of achievers, but the high farms and poor grades of the other kids have not impacted her, as far as I can tell. The experience has opened our eyes to how shitty some people have it but also to how there are a lot of people out there who have given up and are at the point where they just don't care. It's sad.

My kid also goes to a bad school and we also were dreading it. The few times we drop her off makes me so nervous - so many loud, obnoxious kids running around, but she assures me that everyone leaves the smart kids alone (so PP - I agree with you on that point). The school is primarily AA with many kids bussed in from a low income development. The few times I volunteered, I really had to wonder why these kids are being taught in a public school. Why is the county trying so hard to diversify across SES lines? It doesn't work. The teachers my daughter has are generally very good. But they are teaching maybe 3 kids out of a classroom of 24. Most of the kids are completely disengaged. What this means is that most teachers ignore the bad kids and focus on the ones that are interested in learning. My daughter is getting a really good education but it would probably be better if she could hear the opinions of the rest of her class and not just the same 3 kids. Interestingly enough, though, some of the better performing kids live in the low income apartments and you can tell that their parents value education and want a better life for their child. So if these people "get it" why don't the others?

Lots of fights and suspensions but like the PP, none of this has impacted my daughter or her friends. I just wish she didn't have to see all of this. On a good note, she has won many obsure awards, alot of them cash, by virtue of attending an under performing school. And according to her counselor, the fact that she is attending this school can be asset when applying to colleges. We'll see...

We are in Montgomery County and I really wish they would bus the unachievers somewhere else - there own school perhaps?

I do not think the county is trying to diversify across SES lines-it they were they would bus these "animals" over to Whitman or Wooten. Those schools are protected at all costs-Whitman is akin to a private school, it is far superior than any MCPS that is located within lower SES areas. Officials at the BOE as well as the wealthy parents in that cluster will make sure to keep it that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I do not think the county is trying to diversify across SES lines-it they were they would bus these "animals" over to Whitman or Wooten. Those schools are protected at all costs-Whitman is akin to a private school, it is far superior than any MCPS that is located within lower SES areas. Officials at the BOE as well as the wealthy parents in that cluster will make sure to keep it that way.

By what standards?

[Anonymous]

http://edexcellence.net/commentary/education-gadfly-daily/flypaper/2013/proud-to-be-a-private-public-school-parent.html


The test scores, ranking, SES of the students, safety, general educational offerings etc....

[Anonymous]

See when you use the term animals to describe children I have to ignore everything else you say and hope that your a W family so I will likely never meet you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://edexcellence.net/commentary/education-gadfly-daily/flypaper/2013/proud-to-be-a-private-public-school-parent.html

The test scores, ranking, SES of the students, safety, general educational offerings etc....

I agree with the general educational offerings. But the test scores, ranking, SES of the students, and safety are all a function of the student body, not of the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://edexcellence.net/commentary/education-gadfly-daily/flypaper/2013/proud-to-be-a-private-public-school-parent.html

The test scores, ranking, SES of the students, safety, general educational offerings etc....

I agree with the general educational offerings. But the test scores, ranking, SES of the students, and safety are all a function of the student body, not of the school.

isn't student body basically the school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do know that RM and Blair were once considered no so good and their reputations are much better now.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:See when you use the term animals to describe children I have to ignore everything else you say and hope that your a W family so I will likely never meet you.

They are not "children"-they are 18 year old rapists, drug dealers and gun toting thugs-behaving worse than animals! Let us know how you like Kennedy for your snowflake!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://edexcellence.net/commentary/education-gadfly-daily/flypaper/2013/proud-to-be-a-private-public-school-parent.html

The test scores, ranking, SES of the students, safety, general educational offerings etc....

I agree with the general educational offerings. But the test scores, ranking, SES of the students, and safety are all a function of the student body, not of the school.

isn't student body basically the school?

No. The school is the school -- teachers, administration, facilities, course offerings, etc. The student body is the students who go to the school.

[Anonymous]

Went to one of the "bad" schools book fairs-parents were stealing books, kids were tering books off the shelves and throwing them around-not a pleasant experience at all.

Went to one of the"good" schools book fairs-total opposite.
No stealing, no unruly behavior-lost and found loaded with designer kids clothing-no one stealing them-you may get stabbed for your Northface jacket at a bad school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://edexcellence.net/commentary/education-gadfly-daily/flypaper/2013/proud-to-be-a-private-public-school-parent.html


The test scores, ranking, SES of the students, safety, general educational offerings etc....

God, I hate that guy. He's such a fraud.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://edexcellence.net/commentary/education-gadfly-daily/flypaper/2013/proud-to-be-a-private-public-school-parent.html

The test scores, ranking, SES of the students, safety, general educational offerings etc....

I agree with the general educational offerings. But the test scores, ranking, SES of the students, and safety are all a function of the student body, not of the school.

isn't student body basically the school?

No. The school is the school -- teachers, administration, facilities, course offerings, etc. The student body is the students who go to the school.

Sorry, I don't mean to be rude but I think you are making a silly (frankly stupid IMHO) distinction between school and student body. When people talk "good" schools or "bad" schools, they are talking about the quality of student body. So, in that sense, those two are the same.