Deal alums - writing skills?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have your kid take APUSH in HS. My kid said that class taught her how to write at JR. All her English teachers sucked.

Same for my DC at a different DCPS HS. It's maddening that so many of the ELA teachers are weak!

It's not that they are weak, but the amount of work required to give decent feedback and editing for 100+ students is astronomical. All the other subjects can scale relatively well, but not English. Teaching writing simply demands more teacher hours per kid.

On the plus side, Deal math is decently strong.

Yeah, agree with this. BASIS just started a writing course this year for 6th and 7th graders (writing, separate from English) and it's because one of the veteran teachers realized BASIS students were not learning to write properly and she is willing to put in a tremendous amount of effort to read and make comments for all the students. Sooooooo much more work than scanning a multiple choice test.

So? Somehow teachers were able to do this in the past.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have your kid take APUSH in HS. My kid said that class taught her how to write at JR. All her English teachers sucked.

Same for my DC at a different DCPS HS. It's maddening that so many of the ELA teachers are weak!

It's not that they are weak, but the amount of work required to give decent feedback and editing for 100+ students is astronomical. All the other subjects can scale relatively well, but not English. Teaching writing simply demands more teacher hours per kid.

On the plus side, Deal math is decently strong.

Yeah, agree with this. BASIS just started a writing course this year for 6th and 7th graders (writing, separate from English) and it's because one of the veteran teachers realized BASIS students were not learning to write properly and she is willing to put in a tremendous amount of effort to read and make comments for all the students. Sooooooo much more work than scanning a multiple choice test.

So? Somehow teachers were able to do this in the past.

Yes, I think it's a good thing. private school teachers still do it. Maybe we can all figure out why it's hard to accomplish in DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was told directly by a Deal English teacher that they were told to cut books in favor of short common lit passages. The only book assigned all year in 7th grade was Brown Girl Dreaming. Neal’s been around forever. Why she doesn’t use her position to advocate for strong curriculum is beyond me. The people downtown haven’t taught in years (if they’ve taught at all). We should be pushing back against their nonsense.

They don’t want a strong curriculum. I was told at a Deal open house 4 years ago that they don’t have much homework because “equity.” Writing a paper requires homework as does reading an actual novel.

Yep, this is the problem in DCPS is that standards are lowered instead of equity. They lower the top in the achievement gap instead of more support for the bottom and raising the bottom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was told directly by a Deal English teacher that they were told to cut books in favor of short common lit passages. The only book assigned all year in 7th grade was Brown Girl Dreaming. Neal’s been around forever. Why she doesn’t use her position to advocate for strong curriculum is beyond me. The people downtown haven’t taught in years (if they’ve taught at all). We should be pushing back against their nonsense.

They don’t want a strong curriculum. I was told at a Deal open house 4 years ago that they don’t have much homework because “equity.” Writing a paper requires homework as does reading an actual novel.

Yep, this is the problem in DCPS is that standards are lowered instead of equity. They lower the top in the achievement gap instead of more support for the bottom and raising the bottom.

typo because not instead

[Anonymous]

My dd is at deal in 8th grade and is a very strong reader and writer, but she does all of it on her own since that is her passion. She reads college level books and novels, and has already scored a 730 on the verbal dat. However, she has been extremely frustrated by the weak ELA (and other subjects) at Deal. It’s true that they barely read or write for school, let alone research. You have to do that outside. I understand why people switch to private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids went through Deal and Banneker. They’re now in college and both have remarked that their English professors said they were good writers. I didn’t think they were great writers at Deal but I realized I expected them to write at a higher level (like age inappropriate level). It might be you expecting college level writing from a 7th grader or your kid may not like writing so hasn’t put much effort into it. Every kid is different.

Same experience with my Hardy-Jackson Reed kids. Very well-prepared for college despite the DCPS naysayers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids went through Deal and Banneker. They’re now in college and both have remarked that their English professors said they were good writers. I didn’t think they were great writers at Deal but I realized I expected them to write at a higher level (like age inappropriate level). It might be you expecting college level writing from a 7th grader or your kid may not like writing so hasn’t put much effort into it. Every kid is different.

Same experience with my Hardy-Jackson Reed kids. Very well-prepared for college despite the DCPS naysayers.

Well, to be fair, Hardy/Deal/J-R are not representative of DCPS writ large. But I take your point w/r/t to those particular schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was told directly by a Deal English teacher that they were told to cut books in favor of short common lit passages. The only book assigned all year in 7th grade was Brown Girl Dreaming. Neal’s been around forever. Why she doesn’t use her position to advocate for strong curriculum is beyond me. The people downtown haven’t taught in years (if they’ve taught at all). We should be pushing back against their nonsense.

There are news reports that even college students don’t read entire books anymore. It’s not just Deal.

[Anonymous]

In my experience, Deal has more writing than the private school my other child attends. I think they do a lot of writing and both typed and on paper.

[Anonymous]

Why would any child be inspired to exert effort in this age of stupidity?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids went through Deal and Banneker. They’re now in college and both have remarked that their English professors said they were good writers. I didn’t think they were great writers at Deal but I realized I expected them to write at a higher level (like age inappropriate level). It might be you expecting college level writing from a 7th grader or your kid may not like writing so hasn’t put much effort into it. Every kid is different.

Same experience with my Hardy-Jackson Reed kids. Very well-prepared for college despite the DCPS naysayers.

Well, to be fair, Hardy/Deal/J-R are not representative of DCPS writ large. But I take your point w/r/t to those particular schools.

For what it’s worth, fully 25% of DCPS students in grades 6, 7, and 8 attend Deal or Hardy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids went through Deal and Banneker. They’re now in college and both have remarked that their English professors said they were good writers. I didn’t think they were great writers at Deal but I realized I expected them to write at a higher level (like age inappropriate level). It might be you expecting college level writing from a 7th grader or your kid may not like writing so hasn’t put much effort into it. Every kid is different.

Same experience with my Hardy-Jackson Reed kids. Very well-prepared for college despite the DCPS naysayers.

Well, to be fair, Hardy/Deal/J-R are not representative of DCPS writ large. But I take your point w/r/t to those particular schools.

For what it’s worth, fully 25% of DCPS students in grades 6, 7, and 8 attend Deal or Hardy.

That’s sizable and significant, but still only about 12% overall and thus not representative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have your kid take APUSH in HS. My kid said that class taught her how to write at JR. All her English teachers sucked.

Same for my DC at a different DCPS HS. It's maddening that so many of the ELA teachers are weak!

It's not that they are weak, but the amount of work required to give decent feedback and editing for 100+ students is astronomical. All the other subjects can scale relatively well, but not English. Teaching writing simply demands more teacher hours per kid.

On the plus side, Deal math is decently strong.

Yeah, agree with this. BASIS just started a writing course this year for 6th and 7th graders (writing, separate from English) and it's because one of the veteran teachers realized BASIS students were not learning to write properly and she is willing to put in a tremendous amount of effort to read and make comments for all the students. Sooooooo much more work than scanning a multiple choice test.

So? Somehow teachers were able to do this in the past.

Yes, I think it's a good thing. private school teachers still do it. Maybe we can all figure out why it's hard to accomplish in DCPS.

Most private school teachers probably don't have 100+ students, which is what ELA teachers at Deal have. I have plenty of complaints about the ELA curriculum -- it's absurd that the kids read 4 full-length books last year and only 1 play this year -- but having that many students does pose a real challenge for writing grading and feedback. That said, they seem to do a lot of short answers/paragraph answers, not multiple-choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids went through Deal and Banneker. They’re now in college and both have remarked that their English professors said they were good writers. I didn’t think they were great writers at Deal but I realized I expected them to write at a higher level (like age inappropriate level). It might be you expecting college level writing from a 7th grader or your kid may not like writing so hasn’t put much effort into it. Every kid is different.

Same experience with my Hardy-Jackson Reed kids. Very well-prepared for college despite the DCPS naysayers.

Well, to be fair, Hardy/Deal/J-R are not representative of DCPS writ large. But I take your point w/r/t to those particular schools.

For what it’s worth, fully 25% of DCPS students in grades 6, 7, and 8 attend Deal or Hardy.

That’s sizable and significant, but still only about 12% overall and thus not representative.

Huh? We’re discussing DCPS curriculum. Someone said Deal and Hardy were “not representative of DCPS.” I pointed out they make up 25% of DCPS middle schools. You jump in to say that 25% is only 12% “overall” and “thus not representative.” I assume you’re including charters. But why? Charters have nothing to do with DCPS curriculum decisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was told directly by a Deal English teacher that they were told to cut books in favor of short common lit passages. The only book assigned all year in 7th grade was Brown Girl Dreaming. Neal’s been around forever. Why she doesn’t use her position to advocate for strong curriculum is beyond me. The people downtown haven’t taught in years (if they’ve taught at all). We should be pushing back against their nonsense.

They don’t want a strong curriculum. I was told at a Deal open house 4 years ago that they don’t have much homework because “equity.” Writing a paper requires homework as does reading an actual novel.

Yep, this is the problem in DCPS is that standards are lowered instead of equity. They lower the top in the achievement gap instead of more support for the bottom and raising the bottom.

We are in early years and sadly already noticing a hint of this. Not thrilled about the future.