BASIS: PCSB staff recommends conditional continuance due to SWD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you seen the other middle schools in DC? If the PCSB even remotely hints that BASIS is anything other than obviously one of the best handful of options in DC anyway you slice it, it is pure posturing. Should they do better with SPED and IEP compliance? Absolutely. Would it actually help kids with IEPs to shut it down? Obviously not. And it would hurt a lot of other kids who are doing great.

There is no move to shut down BASIS FFS. The proposal is a conditional continuance where they have to do better and report annually.

This is a silly response. Obviously the implicit threat is not continuing the school — i.e., shutting it down. Otherwise, what happens if they just keep on keeping on exactly as they are? Obviously, as the PP before you noted, they are not going to shut it down, this is just posturing. Which was the point.

[Anonymous]

As the mom of a kid with SN getting close to MS, I think all MS should be much more proactive and welcoming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The materials for tonight's meeting is here. BASIS isn't looking too good when it comes to attracting and retaining students with disabilities, middle school re-enrollment, and some of the academic performance metrics of certain subgroups. SPED/IDEA compliance is also an issue.

Is anyone even slightly surprised by this?

https://www.livebinders.com/b/2891815

Au contraire. These are really impressive results for a school that is only a decade old. Maybe PCSB should be looking to replicate these results with other charters?

“BASIS DC PCS earned high ratings on the PMF throughout the review period. In SY 2018 –19, the LEA’s high school program earned a 97.7% on the PMF; this is the highest score any school has achieved since DC PCSB began producing the PMF. That same year, the LEA’s middle school program had the highest proficiency rates in English language arts among all PK – 8 DC public charter schools.”

“The QSR [Qualitative Site Review] team observed strong evidence that BASIS DC PCS’s academic program is achieving its mission. Teachers provided academically rigorous instruction to middle and high school students. In all classes, students worked on sophisticated and challenging content. ... In the instruction domain, observers noted high-quality instruction and academically rigorous content across subjects and grade levels. Teachers engaged students in challenging work in a variety of ways, asking them to complete complex math problems, work as groups to analyze historical events, and discuss characters in a high-quality, complex text.”

You're missing the point, dear. That "success" comes from having far fewer students with special needs and disabilities.

No, hon, you are missing the point.

One in four DC adults struggles with basic reading, and one in three adults in DC cannot do basic math. The D.C. illiteracy rate about 20 percent higher than the national average.

Let's fix our broken educational system in DC.

That will benefit everyone, including students with special needs and disabilities.

Fixing the broken educational system means not calling schools successful when actually they're failing and avoiding students with disabilities.

Wrong.

Here is what the report says:

"While the school’s special education enrollment rates are comparatively low, BASIS DC PCS’s students with disabilities outperform their peers across the charter sector in academic growth and proficiency"

they select a small group of kids with SN who don’t need many supports, probably

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My impression from outside is that BASIS is harder and does not adapt itself down to “meet students where they are.”

Obviously that is good for some students who are already hard workers or smart or have parent assistance. Some students can be brought up or catch up. Others cannot. And those who have disabilities that basically don’t really allow them to catch up without slowing down the whole ship are not brought along, and as a result they either fail or leave or both.

I assume that boosters will either agree with the above or dispute it only so they don’t get in trouble or quibble with the details so as to not have to admit it.

On one hand I have respect for a school that will operate along these lines without compromise and on another hand it’s pretty heartless, isn’t it?

But love it or hate it that’s basically BASIS.

Right?

It's just tacky to praise BASIS for it's good test scores when this is a big part of how they achieve it. Good scores on non-SPED, non-at-risk kids is not some impressive pedagogical breakthrough. And BASIS refusing to make changes to retain SWD just means other schools have to take more.

Maybe parents with kids with IEPS choose other schools? That is not the fault of BASIS.

For those that stick with BASIS, the results are clear:

"While the school’s special education enrollment rates are comparatively low, BASIS DC PCS’s students with disabilities outperform their peers across the charter sector in academic growth and proficiency"

SN mom here. Of course we avoid schools that are known to be hostile to SN. that hardly proves your point…

[Anonymous]

Even the worst performing DCPS would have high test scores if allowed to only serve the easiest students. Basis is a public school: if they want public money, they need to serve all students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even the worst performing DCPS would have high test scores if allowed to only serve the easiest students. Basis is a public school: if they want public money, they need to serve all students.

This. They self select though attrition and outright hostility to certain groups and then end up with the high scoring group they wanted to start with.

[Anonymous]

And who's going to stop them? Nobody. Best to move on.

[Anonymous]

Just one data point, but my IEP kid with autism is presently thriving at BASIS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you seen the other middle schools in DC? If the PCSB even remotely hints that BASIS is anything other than obviously one of the best handful of options in DC anyway you slice it, it is pure posturing. Should they do better with SPED and IEP compliance? Absolutely. Would it actually help kids with IEPs to shut it down? Obviously not. And it would hurt a lot of other kids who are doing great.

There is no move to shut down BASIS FFS. The proposal is a conditional continuance where they have to do better and report annually.

This is a silly response. Obviously the implicit threat is not continuing the school — i.e., shutting it down. Otherwise, what happens if they just keep on keeping on exactly as they are? Obviously, as the PP before you noted, they are not going to shut it down, this is just posturing. Which was the point.

BASIS wants to open an elementary school here. They know they will never get permission unless they improve their stats. That is the point. And it is a message to other schools that the PCSB might not be able to shut you down but they can put you on a plan of improvement and publicly scold you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even the worst performing DCPS would have high test scores if allowed to only serve the easiest students. Basis is a public school: if they want public money, they need to serve all students.

There is a cohort of people who send their kids to Basis in order to escape the "serve all students" trope which held their kids back in DCPS elementary schools.

[Anonymous]

They can't shut down BASIS right now because its finances are in order and its PMF scores are high. But this is a serious warning, because after what is apparently several years' discussion the stats still aren't very good. And the PCSB is changing how it evaluates schools so that a school can no longer score high while not serving very many SWD or at-risk students. So essentially BASIS has to figure this out or they will no longer be Tier 1 or whatever replaces Tier 1 in the new rating system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even the worst performing DCPS would have high test scores if allowed to only serve the easiest students. Basis is a public school: if they want public money, they need to serve all students.

There is a cohort of people who send their kids to Basis in order to escape the "serve all students" trope which held their kids back in DCPS elementary schools.

This. I would argue that DC middle schools fail to serve all students because they don’t offer tracking of all subjects which is standard in most schools in this country including our neighbors next door in VA and MD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My impression from outside is that BASIS is harder and does not adapt itself down to “meet students where they are.”

Obviously that is good for some students who are already hard workers or smart or have parent assistance. Some students can be brought up or catch up. Others cannot. And those who have disabilities that basically don’t really allow them to catch up without slowing down the whole ship are not brought along, and as a result they either fail or leave or both.

I assume that boosters will either agree with the above or dispute it only so they don’t get in trouble or quibble with the details so as to not have to admit it.

On one hand I have respect for a school that will operate along these lines without compromise and on another hand it’s pretty heartless, isn’t it?

But love it or hate it that’s basically BASIS.

Right?

It's just tacky to praise BASIS for it's good test scores when this is a big part of how they achieve it. Good scores on non-SPED, non-at-risk kids is not some impressive pedagogical breakthrough. And BASIS refusing to make changes to retain SWD just means other schools have to take more.

I'm OK with schools offering different things to different kids. There are plenty of schools that offer full inclusion and a mainstream curriculum. Basis is specialized and you make a choice to go there. My understanding is it's not a good fit for lots of kids (including without disability and SPED) and a very good fit for some kids (likely including some with disability and SPED).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even the worst performing DCPS would have high test scores if allowed to only serve the easiest students. Basis is a public school: if they want public money, they need to serve all students.

There is a cohort of people who send their kids to Basis in order to escape the "serve all students" trope which held their kids back in DCPS elementary schools.

This. I would argue that DC middle schools fail to serve all students because they don’t offer tracking of all subjects which is standard in most schools in this country including our neighbors next door in VA and MD

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My impression from outside is that BASIS is harder and does not adapt itself down to “meet students where they are.”

Obviously that is good for some students who are already hard workers or smart or have parent assistance. Some students can be brought up or catch up. Others cannot. And those who have disabilities that basically don’t really allow them to catch up without slowing down the whole ship are not brought along, and as a result they either fail or leave or both.

I assume that boosters will either agree with the above or dispute it only so they don’t get in trouble or quibble with the details so as to not have to admit it.

On one hand I have respect for a school that will operate along these lines without compromise and on another hand it’s pretty heartless, isn’t it?

But love it or hate it that’s basically BASIS.

Right?

It's just tacky to praise BASIS for it's good test scores when this is a big part of how they achieve it. Good scores on non-SPED, non-at-risk kids is not some impressive pedagogical breakthrough. And BASIS refusing to make changes to retain SWD just means other schools have to take more.

I'm OK with schools offering different things to different kids. There are plenty of schools that offer full inclusion and a mainstream curriculum. Basis is specialized and you make a choice to go there. My understanding is it's not a good fit for lots of kids (including without disability and SPED) and a very good fit for some kids (likely including some with disability and SPED).

That's like saying "it's just tacky" to praise TJ for high scores b/c they screen/accept only top notch students . . . .