Given the rigor of Basis, was it ever expected to be for every kid in the District?

[Anonymous]

Some people would rather have equally bad for everyone rather than admit that kids have varying abilities: isn't equality great?!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some people would rather have equally bad for everyone rather than admit that kids have varying abilities: isn't equality great?!?

And yet they have no problem admitting some kids have great athletic or musical talents compared to others. My DC will never make the cut for a sports and that is ok!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I think it's because that's pretty much the basis of the whole charter debate - instead of investing resources into neighborhood schools in order to bring these types of specialized programs to those schools, is it better to pull the resources out and just create specialized schools? When you put the resources into neighborhood schools, there's the idea that a rising tide lifts all boats; when you pull resources out and create specialized schools, it can seem like a quick fix that will help the few who are able to gain access to the school, but ultimately won't help create a stronger school system.

DCPS has more than enough resources and has chosen to squander them and to not offer great educational opportunities for all children. DCPS as it stands now spends more per student than any other district in the country! I am not buying it that charter schools hurt DCPS. It does not take a lot of money to use good curricula which DCPS and many school districts around the country fail to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. If there is not more to this story then what was printed in the WP (and that’s a Big If) then it shouldn’t be taboo to say/think that the school was designed at the outset to be a place for very hard working and/or advanced kids, in a race/class/sex neutral way. Why tip-toe around?

I think it's because that's pretty much the basis of the whole charter debate - instead of investing resources into neighborhood schools in order to bring these types of specialized programs to those schools, is it better to pull the resources out and just create specialized schools? When you put the resources into neighborhood schools, there's the idea that a rising tide lifts all boats; when you pull resources out and create specialized schools, it can seem like a quick fix that will help the few who are able to gain access to the school, but ultimately won't help create a stronger school system.

No, that is a completely revisionist view of the debacle. Other than the JKLM schools in Ward 3, DCPS has been a mess for decades. Seriously, as far back as Brown v. Board of Ed. when the two segregated schools districts in DC had to unite, and white parents abandoned the city in droves - that's how long. And before you get all racist about that, bear in mind that the second wave of middle and upper-middle class families to abandon the city in droves was AA families for wide-open spaces in PG county. The problems in DC in general, and DCPS specifically, have been ignored by a lot of people for a long time.

Occasionally a politician would give lip-service to quality in education, but the well-unionized DCPS work-force would come out screaming. DCPS became a de facto job security nest for people who often didn't actually live in DC.

In any event, what changed the educational climate (and it took about 10 years) was for charter schools to come in and basically say "Fine, you won't educate them. We will." This was never about the city or the community refusing to invest in neighborhood schools. If that were true, there would be some tony charters in Ward 3. More importantly, DCPS wouldn't spend more $$ per student than any district in the entire United States and still have such dismal results. The city's laws became very charter-friendly and more of them developed. It's actually that simple. So charter schools have led the way with innovation. Michelle Rhee tried to respond, maybe it was too much too soon. Maybe she was tone-deaf. It's history now, so I don't know how much it matters, but the bottom line is that the city still spends anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 more to educate students in DCPS, and with weaker results. To suggest that this is some large conspiracy to de-invest from neighborhood schools is untrue and uninformed.

[Anonymous]

DCPS spend 30k per pupil almost on par with Sidwell while the charters get 13-15k per pupil. They'll get better value paying everone's private school tuition and getting rid of DCPS altogether.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:.


It is called differentiation, and anyone in the field of education gets inundated by this concept course after course regardless of the teaching method.
The sad thing however is that it is not being used, or is being used minimally by many teachers.
The same complex concept can be taught to the very advanced and below grade student in the same classroom if the teacher can create different test formats to accommodate all students. This way everyone ( including ESL, learning disabled) is served.
Not too difficult to do. It's just more time consuming but gives every student an equitable chance to grow and succeed.

Differentiation is a joke!! The bottom line is that when advanced learners are mixed with struggling learners, the teacher has no choice but to focus on the struggling learners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. If there is not more to this story then what was printed in the WP (and that’s a Big If) then it shouldn’t be taboo to say/think that the school was designed at the outset to be a place for very hard working and/or advanced kids, in a race/class/sex neutral way. Why tip-toe around?

I think it's because that's pretty much the basis of the whole charter debate - instead of investing resources into neighborhood schools in order to bring these types of specialized programs to those schools, is it better to pull the resources out and just create specialized schools? When you put the resources into neighborhood schools, there's the idea that a rising tide lifts all boats; when you pull resources out and create specialized schools, it can seem like a quick fix that will help the few who are able to gain access to the school, but ultimately won't help create a stronger school system.

No, that is a completely revisionist view of the debacle. Other than the JKLM schools in Ward 3, DCPS has been a mess for decades. Seriously, as far back as Brown v. Board of Ed. when the two segregated schools districts in DC had to unite, and white parents abandoned the city in droves - that's how long. And before you get all racist about that, bear in mind that the second wave of middle and upper-middle class families to abandon the city in droves was AA families for wide-open spaces in PG county. The problems in DC in general, and DCPS specifically, have been ignored by a lot of people for a long time.

Occasionally a politician would give lip-service to quality in education, but the well-unionized DCPS work-force would come out screaming. DCPS became a de facto job security nest for people who often didn't actually live in DC.

In any event, what changed the educational climate (and it took about 10 years) was for charter schools to come in and basically say "Fine, you won't educate them. We will." This was never about the city or the community refusing to invest in neighborhood schools. If that were true, there would be some tony charters in Ward 3. More importantly, DCPS wouldn't spend more $$ per student than any district in the entire United States and still have such dismal results. The city's laws became very charter-friendly and more of them developed. It's actually that simple. So charter schools have led the way with innovation. Michelle Rhee tried to respond, maybe it was too much too soon. Maybe she was tone-deaf. It's history now, so I don't know how much it matters, but the bottom line is that the city still spends anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 more to educate students in DCPS, and with weaker results. To suggest that this is some large conspiracy to de-invest from neighborhood schools is untrue and uninformed.

Whoa, whoa - no one was suggesting a "large conspiracy." I was suggesting why some people dislike charters; maybe not you, but some people. But to give a more practical example, some people might say, "Why open a school like Basis instead of creating more honors and advanced classes in neighborhood schools?" That's not a "large conspiracy" it's a practical school/curriculum question.

And, I'd rather not get into it, but we all know why Ward 3 schools are more successful than other schools and why there's been no charters; that is a different discussion - likely a discussion about income, poverty, and out-of-school experiences, not a discussion about whether charter schools are the best thing for a school system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:.


It is called differentiation, and anyone in the field of education gets inundated by this concept course after course regardless of the teaching method.
The sad thing however is that it is not being used, or is being used minimally by many teachers.
The same complex concept can be taught to the very advanced and below grade student in the same classroom if the teacher can create different test formats to accommodate all students. This way everyone ( including ESL, learning disabled) is served.
Not too difficult to do. It's just more time consuming but gives every student an equitable chance to grow and succeed.

Differentiation is a joke!! The bottom line is that when advanced learners are mixed with struggling learners, the teacher has no choice but to focus on the struggling learners.

^ TRUE THIS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Whoa, whoa - no one was suggesting a "large conspiracy." I was suggesting why some people dislike charters; maybe not you, but some people. But to give a more practical example, some people might say, "Why open a school like Basis instead of creating more honors and advanced classes in neighborhood schools?" That's not a "large conspiracy" it's a practical school/curriculum question.

And, I'd rather not get into it, but we all know why Ward 3 schools are more successful than other schools and why there's been no charters; that is a different discussion - likely a discussion about income, poverty, and out-of-school experiences, not a discussion about whether charter schools are the best thing for a school system.

DCPS is free to offer more honors and advanced course but chooses not too even though DCPS has more money to spend than any other district in the country!!! Heck, DCPS does not even acknowledge the need for gifted education as other states at least give lip service to the same need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Whoa, whoa - no one was suggesting a "large conspiracy." I was suggesting why some people dislike charters; maybe not you, but some people. But to give a more practical example, some people might say, "Why open a school like Basis instead of creating more honors and advanced classes in neighborhood schools?" That's not a "large conspiracy" it's a practical school/curriculum question.

And, I'd rather not get into it, but we all know why Ward 3 schools are more successful than other schools and why there's been no charters; that is a different discussion - likely a discussion about income, poverty, and out-of-school experiences, not a discussion about whether charter schools are the best thing for a school system.

DCPS is free to offer more honors and advanced course but chooses not too even though DCPS has more money to spend than any other district in the country!!! Heck, DCPS does not even acknowledge the need for gifted education as other states at least give lip service to the same need.

That's just not true - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-schools-insider/post/dcps-to-pilot-gifted-and-talented-program/2012/02/06/gIQAZvpFuQ_blog.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:some people might say, "Why open a school like Basis instead of creating more honors and advanced classes in neighborhood schools?" That's not a "large conspiracy" it's a practical school/curriculum question.

Simple: Just like every other innovation, DCPS is just not willing to do it. So, it is left to the charters to do if it is to be done at all. They (DCPS) don't want to create different kinds of schools and different kinds of programs. Maybe it's too complicated, maybe it's politically unpalatable, but that's the bottom line. If you expect something new and special you are not going to get it within the confines of "we treat everyone the same" DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Whoa, whoa - no one was suggesting a "large conspiracy." I was suggesting why some people dislike charters; maybe not you, but some people. But to give a more practical example, some people might say, "Why open a school like Basis instead of creating more honors and advanced classes in neighborhood schools?" That's not a "large conspiracy" it's a practical school/curriculum question.

And, I'd rather not get into it, but we all know why Ward 3 schools are more successful than other schools and why there's been no charters; that is a different discussion - likely a discussion about income, poverty, and out-of-school experiences, not a discussion about whether charter schools are the best thing for a school system.

DCPS is free to offer more honors and advanced course but chooses not too even though DCPS has more money to spend than any other district in the country!!! Heck, DCPS does not even acknowledge the need for gifted education as other states at least give lip service to the same need.

That's just not true - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-schools-insider/post/dcps-to-pilot-gifted-and-talented-program/2012/02/06/gIQAZvpFuQ_blog.html

Oh. A pilot, at one school.
<golfclap>

[Anonymous]

Maybe DC does not offer advanced, gifted, honors b/c more than 1/2 of it's three graders cannot read at grade level same for all their other grades. Kind of looks bad to offer advanced instruction for high SES kids (white, Asian, black) when the majority of the kids (FARMS, AA) cannot read.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Whoa, whoa - no one was suggesting a "large conspiracy." I was suggesting why some people dislike charters; maybe not you, but some people. But to give a more practical example, some people might say, "Why open a school like Basis instead of creating more honors and advanced classes in neighborhood schools?" That's not a "large conspiracy" it's a practical school/curriculum question.

And, I'd rather not get into it, but we all know why Ward 3 schools are more successful than other schools and why there's been no charters; that is a different discussion - likely a discussion about income, poverty, and out-of-school experiences, not a discussion about whether charter schools are the best thing for a school system.

DCPS is free to offer more honors and advanced course but chooses not too even though DCPS has more money to spend than any other district in the country!!! Heck, DCPS does not even acknowledge the need for gifted education as other states at least give lip service to the same need.

That may be, but some other states have Gifted IEPs to specifically meet the needs of gifted children and DC does not do this last I checked.

A Gifted IEP affords the student an individualized plan to meet their needs for gifted education and has great weight legally in ensuring that schools meet these needs.

That's just not true - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-schools-insider/post/dcps-to-pilot-gifted-and-talented-program/2012/02/06/gIQAZvpFuQ_blog.html

[Anonymous]

I meant for my reply to follow quote of giving washington post article:


That may be, but some other states have Gifted IEPs to specifically meet the needs of gifted children and DC does not do this last I checked.

A Gifted IEP affords the student an individualized plan to meet their needs for gifted education and has great weight legally in ensuring that schools meet these needs.