Outplacement from Beauvoir

[Anonymous]

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Could you post the link to the 2008 State of the School address with the 2007 placement data? I know that's on the website as well.

[Anonymous]

To interpet the placement data it is useful to remember that their outplacement has two stages. Many families apply to STA/NCS early in the school year. They hear from STA/NCS in January. Those who are accepted and for wnom these schools are their first choice (the majority) stop there and withdraw applications to other schools. The others continue till March and make their decision when they hear from other schools.

[Anonymous]

To the poster who wanted to know about Sidwell placement, in fact Beauvoir does manage to outplace 1-2 students each year, but they do the switch after 2nd grade (you are correct, there are exceedingly few slots for 4th grade, so those who know they are interested in Sidwell apply for 3rd grade).

I do not think Beauvoir has a disadvantage with other schools, in terms of them being distrustful of Beauvoir parents. From my experience, parents DO pull their applications if they know STA or NCS are their first choice (we did). As a matter of fact, this is something strongly encouraged by the outplacement director (it was to us...we were sort of on the fence and wanted to wait it out, but the outplacement director called us to find out why we had not pulled the other application). So I think if this was an issue in the past, this is something that is being corrected conscienciously.

In sum, I think strictly from the point of view of outplacement that Beauvoir is a great school (but obviously, that alone is not the reason to send a child to an elementary school). But if you actually liked Beauvoir and if you think STA or NCS MIGHT be a school choice later then it is a great school because of the obvious advantages for Beauvoir students in those schools' admissions. And you do not lose any chances with regard to other schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The website isn't very helpful when it comes to outplacement. We have no idea how many kids went to each school, and of course the school is going to say it offers support. It doesn't look like anyone here has said that the school doesn't offer support. One poster just said that the school was supportive but that there was room for improvement or something like that.

I recently spoke with a Beauvoir parent about the Outplacement process. She spoke very highly about the guidance counselor and discussed how she guides parents through the admissions process beginning the summer of second grade. The school writes recs and makes sure the paper work is submitted to schools in a timely manner. Also during a visit to the school our guide who has gone through the outplacement process twice spoke about how the children even play a key role in determining their next steps. Some students have no desire to attend the other Cathedral schools and choose GDS, Maret, Potomac and other schools.

Can someone please discuss the importance of the ERB scores for second grade for outplacement from Beauvior to STA/NCS? I understand those scores are not shared by Beauvoir. But will that affect what the outplacement director will recommend?

Also, is their usually a correlation between second and third grade ERB scores? My child has been off the charts on WPPSI, so I was surprised at how average the ERB scores were for the most part.

[Anonymous]

You should not hesitate to discuss your concern with the outplacement director and/or teachers. However, my sense, having participagted in the process, is that the outplacement director gets to know each child very well over the years they are there, and that any single test result will have almost no effect on her recommendation.

[Anonymous]

My child's 2nd grade ERBs were much lower than the 3rd grade ones. But I must admit, I did use the summer to do some test preparation (not intense, but at least some).

As you say they are not seen by anyone, BUT they are seen by the school. And both the teachers (2nd grade AND 3rd grade) and the outplacement director are forming opinions based on those scores. If I could go back in time, I would have made sure my child was a little prepared for them.

[Anonymous]

how do you 'prepare' for the erb? i remember taking them when i was young, and didn't think there was really a way to prepare for them...

[Anonymous]

I'm the poster who did "prepare" for the 3rd grade ERBs. I know the ERBs are closely guarded and indeed I DON'T know what was on them. But, in the end they are a standardized test. They cannot be THAT much different from other standardized tests (even if the ERB associates will have you thinking otherwise). In my child's case, I simply used these generic standardized test books for reading and math but I just bought ones that were a grade or two above the grade in which my child was testing. My child was tested in 3rd grade. So I used standardized tests for 4th and sometimes 5th grade. I did one-three questions a night (not more!) and that was all it took.

And my child went up 1-2 stanines in each category (auditory, reading, math). So it was worth the little work.

[Anonymous]

To the poster who prepared your child for the ERBs, you do know that Beauvoir third grade teachers start a couple of weeks before the ERBs preparing their students with materials that are either from old ERB tests or, at the very least, items which are of a very similar nature and format to those on the tests? I'm willing to bet that's a lot more helpful than any generic test prep materials. Especially in math, it's a waste of time to prepare a child ahead of grade level for the test because the ERB math test does not have anything on it that's any harder than the first half of the third grade math curriculum.

[Anonymous]

I'm just saying what I did and what happened to my child's scores. Maybe it was those 2 weeks they started to prepare them a little. But I think my child was also so prepared for what those reading passages looked like, and so familiar with the 8-9 branches of math he could be asked (graphs, pre-algebra, etc) -- just familiar with looking at questions on a test -- that his scores were probably elevated.

In any event, if I were a parent who was looking at bad 2nd grade ERBs and I wanted to make sure they improved, I would want to know about what other people did whose children had strong improvements on their 2nd to 3rd grade ERB scores. Did your child do about the same on his/her 2nd grade ERBs versus 3rd grade ERBs? If so (unless your child was already at the top in 2nd grade), it may mean that NOT preparing results in NO change in scores.

Anyway, just trying to be helpful!

[Anonymous]

Sorry, my comment came across as snider than I meant it to. I'm a Beauvoir parent, too, and the buzz around ERB time just drives me a bit batty. Nothing at all personal. In the spirit of being helpful, I know some people who hired tutors who were teachers who had administered the test or were otherwise familiar with it.

[Anonymous]

Do all schools, including public, administer the ERB? If you are at a school that does not, would this hurt your child's chances of being admitted to STA?

[Anonymous]

Most private schools administer the ERBs. Some public schools do, but not all. I don't think many around here do. I have no idea what this means for a child's admissions chances to STA. I know STA wants the ERBs from Beauvoir because they don't trust the reports (i.e. report cards) they get from Beauvoir because they're "love fests" or the like in their eyes.

[Anonymous]

Could someone list (and even link) good "standardized test" books I could use to help my child prepare for the ERBs? Where can I find them? Thanks.