Basis PCS
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Anonymous
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alfie-kohn/homework-research_b_2184918.html
Discussing if homework offers any real benefits to grades/test scores. |
Anonymous
You are right. Homework isn't shorthand for awesome or rigorous. What makes the BASIS curriculum rigorous to me is that starting in 6th grade, the kids begin mastering some high school material. All middle schoolers are exposed to subjects like physics and chemistry starting in 6th grade and economics in 8th grade. Yes, homework comes with the territory at BASIS, but there's more to the school and its students than that. |
Anonymous
| What also makes the school awesome is that it has an additional class period per day more than DCPS and all students from 6th grade on take three separate science classes. And an hour of math and an hour of everything else 4 days a week in 8th grade and up doesn't seem that horrible to me. |
Anonymous
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The studies on homework leave much to be desired. It is difficult research. As mentioned in the Huff Post article, the studies are typically based on self reporting of homework hours which is dubious but unavoidable. From my personnel life experience I find in elementary and junior high the advanced kids getting A's may spend less time to complete homework than the struggling kids getting B's. Thus neutralizing a lot of the possible correlation. Also, come test time does the kid who spent 10 minutes a night make up for it by studying hard for 1 hour? Time which may not be not part of the questionnaire.
Really, if you want to learn something I find you have to sit down outside of class and ponder it. That might mean homework or free study but it rarely means doing nothing. |
Anonymous
| Mere fact of a lot of homework isn't terribly informative or enlightening for any studies - what's more important is what the homework entails - for example is it reinforcing skills (which is important for math) or is it just rote regurgitation and busywork? |
Anonymous
| To the OP, pay attention to the CJ - that is a key organizing tool at BASIS |
Anonymous
We have found BASIS homework not to be busywork at all, and it is clear - a student never has to spend time figuring out what a teacher wants. No one hides the ball. That is not the purpose. In terms of excessive homework, I was relieved to see that in the private school forum most of the top privates complain about high school kids doing up to 4 hours a night - after having to do sports to be well rounded. The most telling comment for me was from a parent who said that staying at the same school and moving from play based relaxed education to rigor was extremely tough on her kids. At BASIS you just hit the ground running. And most kids figure it out. But do help them for a while to make sure they have got it............ |
Anonymous
| A couple of pointers: If HW load seems especially high encourage your student to keep track of the amount of time they spend on each HW assignment (assuming they are not multitasking and are distracted). Armed with this information the student can talk with their teachers and see if the amount of time they are taking matches what the teacher expects. I also need to second the CJ part. I strongly recommend sitting down with your child each day and going over their CJ together. See if there are any notes from the teachers, have your student explain what the entry means and what they need to do, see if any tests are coming up, and make sure they have something filled out in each spot. This will really help you have a good idea of what is going on. If the CJ is a mess or has a lot of blanks help do yourself, your child, and their teachers a favor by encouraging/demanding/incentivizing that they correctly complete it each day so everyone has access to the info about how your child is doing and what they need to do. |
Anonymous
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Where's the hands-on learning at BASIS? Where are the cool research projects? The science competition entries? The self-directed work? The Eureka moments? The visits to museum exhibits and professional exposure (e.g. a NASA research lab or local astronomy tower) related to studies? Performances of middle school musicals and concerts? These forums always make the place sound like a cram school with decent teaching. Ech.
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Anonymous
So sick of these attacks from people who don't know. And responding against my own better judgment. They are coming - capstone projects, which the students build toward with post AP-courses in junior year - will occupy BASIS students' senior years. Not getting into the debate about competitions and field trips. That stuff happens too - but you don't really want to hear about it/and it wouldn't be 'enough' you if someone here listed it anyway. Why do these school debates have to be a zero sum game? If you don't like a school, don't send your kid. Done and done. |
Anonymous
Not sure what you mean... This question is based on what? And, as compared to what other public schools in DC? BASIS does do those things, like hands-on science labs, performances, robotics, art, competing in the National Science Bowl, Certamen, et cetera. |
Anonymous
| Also realize that - just like people lie about how much they are working - they also lie about how much time their kid spend on homework. For some reason, it makes them all feel better to claim that their kid spends X hours on homework when the reality is the spend 0.5X or less. |
Anonymous
We went to nationals at least in some competitions and got a free trip to ........ Washington DC. Last competition had something to do with French and two BASIS DC students placed 4th and 6th in the nation. BASIS also has the Science Bowl teacher (who is awesome) running an extracurricular this year for kids who want to compete in science fairs, etc, to assist them. BASIS kids outside of DC have won Intel and Siemens, so eventually one probably will here. Want to learn computer programming based on Minecraft? That has been offered as well. But we are a young school, and were the first outside of AZ. Our first AP CS course is this year. The oldest kids came in 8th grade from DCPS and will not have the opportunity to do a senior project in T2-3 designed by them with a faculty mentor. The 11th graders rock. By all means come back and do a thorough examination when the kids who started in 5th begin to graduate. Until then, give us some breathing room and stop baiting us. The fact that the only two times the DC CAS was offered we scored #3 and then #2 (after Deal) ought to tell you something about the caliber of kids we are attracting and the education they are getting. We are just beginning to get off the ground here........... we have been open four years this fall. And our AP scores already are quite high (don't have the stats) - but that is here, in DC........... |
Anonymous
| ^ Yes, BASIS is still a very new school - The first full cohorts of kids that started at BASIS in 5th and 6th grade are still only hitting 8th and 9th grade this year, and since BASIS does not accept kids from outside into the upper grades (due to acceleration, et cetera) it will be a couple more years before those first full cohorts populate the high school grades and that will be ripe for even more activities and opportunities for BASIS high schoolers to shine. |
Anonymous
Boost away, but you can't fool all the people all the time. The school doesn't in fact emphasize hands-on learning. Sure, it's a stronger academic MS program than almost all the others in the DC public domain, but you boosters are still mired in relativism. Our new MoCo school has the strongest students working in a green house, building solar powered cars, running an in-school TV station, performing in musicals and jazz concerts etc. It's hard to "shine" without halfway decent HS facilities, or even much in the way of decor or fun, but I hope some of the BASIS DC scholars will. Nice bunch of kids a teachers and some very smart and dedicated educators, too. It's the stifling Arizona model, weak facilities and dearth of cheer and space that aren't so great.... |