new insights into what went wrong with Wilson's PARCC scores

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this shows that schools need to be busting their ass to attract and retain high SES/high achieving families. The schools and teachers are going to depend on those super stars to save their ass. If teachers and schools are going to be judged on PARCC scores they better come up with some incentive to keep these populations. My kid is only in PS and I am already frustrated with our IB lousy test scores and disastrous PTA organization. And my kid is exactly the kind of kid they need to take the PARCC on third grade but we will, along with our counterparts, will all have moved on.

lol, no. sorry dear, there is no market for "high SES" families in DCPS. It does not work that way. If you expect to be catered to, move to MD or VA.

Attract is not the same thing as catered to. Look, in a few years Wilson is going to be filled with IB families who bought during the peak and paid a mint for a tiny 1940s colonial and probably don't have the income to fund several kids in private. These families will have little tolerance for excuses. They value academic rigor and will not tolerate anything less. Go to PTA meetings at the feeder schools, these folks are not shrinking violets. DCPS has about 3 to 4 yards to sort Wilson out before it gets heated.

They don't care about attracting them either. Things may change a little around the margins from year to year but DCPS knows full well that if 2/3 of the families you are referring to vote with their feet they can fill Wilson up tomorrow with OOB students.

High school goes fast and parents will just pay and supplement to get their kids the SAT scores they need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this shows that schools need to be busting their ass to attract and retain high SES/high achieving families. The schools and teachers are going to depend on those super stars to save their ass. If teachers and schools are going to be judged on PARCC scores they better come up with some incentive to keep these populations. My kid is only in PS and I am already frustrated with our IB lousy test scores and disastrous PTA organization. And my kid is exactly the kind of kid they need to take the PARCC on third grade but we will, along with our counterparts, will all have moved on.

And you will be shocked when your kid doesn't get a 5 either.

Yeah, hilarious how her kid is in preschool but she already knows how she will score on the PARCC!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this shows that schools need to be busting their ass to attract and retain high SES/high achieving families. The schools and teachers are going to depend on those super stars to save their ass. If teachers and schools are going to be judged on PARCC scores they better come up with some incentive to keep these populations. My kid is only in PS and I am already frustrated with our IB lousy test scores and disastrous PTA organization. And my kid is exactly the kind of kid they need to take the PARCC on third grade but we will, along with our counterparts, will all have moved on.

lol, no. sorry dear, there is no market for "high SES" families in DCPS. It does not work that way. If you expect to be catered to, move to MD or VA.

Attract is not the same thing as catered to. Look, in a few years Wilson is going to be filled with IB families who bought during the peak and paid a mint for a tiny 1940s colonial and probably don't have the income to fund several kids in private. These families will have little tolerance for excuses. They value academic rigor and will not tolerate anything less. Go to PTA meetings at the feeder schools, these folks are not shrinking violets. DCPS has about 3 to 4 yards to sort Wilson out before it gets heated.

It will always have it's 30% disenfranchised population. Let's not forget the jail contingent of "Yale or Jail"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this shows that schools need to be busting their ass to attract and retain high SES/high achieving families. The schools and teachers are going to depend on those super stars to save their ass. If teachers and schools are going to be judged on PARCC scores they better come up with some incentive to keep these populations. My kid is only in PS and I am already frustrated with our IB lousy test scores and disastrous PTA organization. And my kid is exactly the kind of kid they need to take the PARCC on third grade but we will, along with our counterparts, will all have moved on.

And you will be shocked when your kid doesn't get a 5 either.

Yeah, hilarious how her kid is in preschool but she already knows how she will score on the PARCC!

Well if her kid doesn't get a 5, she will blame the school or the test.

[Anonymous]

I'm a long way off from Wilson (my kids are K and 2) so I'm not really thinking about PARCC scores. This article makes a lot of sense to me - why worry about a test that has no bearing on your future. I would have also focused on my AP classes. Hopefully Wilson will figure out the scheduling so both things can be managed. Lesson learned? We will see.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a long way off from Wilson (my kids are K and 2) so I'm not really thinking about PARCC scores. This article makes a lot of sense to me - why worry about a test that has no bearing on your future. I would have also focused on my AP classes. Hopefully Wilson will figure out the scheduling so both things can be managed. Lesson learned? We will see.....

Not rocket science, but requires a functioning brain or two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this shows that schools need to be busting their ass to attract and retain high SES/high achieving families. The schools and teachers are going to depend on those super stars to save their ass. If teachers and schools are going to be judged on PARCC scores they better come up with some incentive to keep these populations. My kid is only in PS and I am already frustrated with our IB lousy test scores and disastrous PTA organization. And my kid is exactly the kind of kid they need to take the PARCC on third grade but we will, along with our counterparts, will all have moved on.

lol, no. sorry dear, there is no market for "high SES" families in DCPS. It does not work that way. If you expect to be catered to, move to MD or VA.

Attract is not the same thing as catered to. Look, in a few years Wilson is going to be filled with IB families who bought during the peak and paid a mint for a tiny 1940s colonial and probably don't have the income to fund several kids in private. These families will have little tolerance for excuses. They value academic rigor and will not tolerate anything less. Go to PTA meetings at the feeder schools, these folks are not shrinking violets. DCPS has about 3 to 4 yards to sort Wilson out before it gets heated.

If they can't afford private school, they'll have to tolerate Wilson or leave DC.

If they leave DC, Wilson will be fine. Someone else will move into the house they leave behind--either someone who will send their kid to Wilson, or not (and not is fine--the school is overcrowded already, and if that ever changed there are plenty of OOB kids who will take a spot there).

DCPS has no incentive to cater towards high SES families, shrinking violets or not. There are no big foundation grants for helping kids who live in $900,000 homes improve their academic performance. There is mayoral control of the school system and the mayor is not beholden to the rich people of Ward 3. Their support is not enough to get her re-elected. And looking too supportive of the interests of rich (not to mention overwhelmingly white) people doesn't help her in other wards. She'd probably be more popular if people IB for Wilson used it a little less and more OOB kids could attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this shows that schools need to be busting their ass to attract and retain high SES/high achieving families. The schools and teachers are going to depend on those super stars to save their ass. If teachers and schools are going to be judged on PARCC scores they better come up with some incentive to keep these populations. My kid is only in PS and I am already frustrated with our IB lousy test scores and disastrous PTA organization. And my kid is exactly the kind of kid they need to take the PARCC on third grade but we will, along with our counterparts, will all have moved on.

lol, no. sorry dear, there is no market for "high SES" families in DCPS. It does not work that way. If you expect to be catered to, move to MD or VA.

Attract is not the same thing as catered to. Look, in a few years Wilson is going to be filled with IB families who bought during the peak and paid a mint for a tiny 1940s colonial and probably don't have the income to fund several kids in private. These families will have little tolerance for excuses. They value academic rigor and will not tolerate anything less. Go to PTA meetings at the feeder schools, these folks are not shrinking violets. DCPS has about 3 to 4 yards to sort Wilson out before it gets heated.

If they can't afford private school, they'll have to tolerate Wilson or leave DC.

If they leave DC, Wilson will be fine. Someone else will move into the house they leave behind--either someone who will send their kid to Wilson, or not (and not is fine--the school is overcrowded already, and if that ever changed there are plenty of OOB kids who will take a spot there).

DCPS has no incentive to cater towards high SES families, shrinking violets or not. There are no big foundation grants for helping kids who live in $900,000 homes improve their academic performance. There is mayoral control of the school system and the mayor is not beholden to the rich people of Ward 3. Their support is not enough to get her re-elected. And looking too supportive of the interests of rich (not to mention overwhelmingly white) people doesn't help her in other wards. She'd probably be more popular if people IB for Wilson used it a little less and more OOB kids could attend.

Can you name all non-selective public high schools in DC?

If the Mayor allows Wilson to become just another second-rate HS, you can bet parents in all wards are going to resent it.

And not just parents, but everyone, sspecially when they notice the difference between 2016 and 1986 budgets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This reminds me of an article about mcps students a few years ago that said s lot of them were doing pretty precise calculations to figure out which finals were worth their time to study for...if it wasn't going to make a difference in class grade, that final was very low priority.

that sounds like time management.

skipping the PARCC is scoffing that fact that your high school is judged by this test on a national level. it makes DCPS and Wilson look bad no matter how you sell it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This reminds me of an article about mcps students a few years ago that said s lot of them were doing pretty precise calculations to figure out which finals were worth their time to study for...if it wasn't going to make a difference in class grade, that final was very low priority.

that sounds like time management.

skipping the PARCC is scoffing that fact that your high school is judged by this test on a national level. it makes DCPS and Wilson look bad no matter how you sell it.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This reminds me of an article about mcps students a few years ago that said s lot of them were doing pretty precise calculations to figure out which finals were worth their time to study for...if it wasn't going to make a difference in class grade, that final was very low priority.

that sounds like time management.

skipping the PARCC is scoffing that fact that your high school is judged by this test on a national level. it makes DCPS and Wilson look bad no matter how you sell it.

+1.

Really? It's not the kids' job to jeopardize their AP exams because the adults in DCPS couldn't get their act together enough to coordinate schedules. I would have advised my child to do exactly what they did. APs are far more important to college-bound students than PARCC. If DCPS can't see that, they get what they deserve.

[Anonymous]

No ones AP exam was going to be ruined by 3 hrs on PARCC.

They have a year to prepare. Ask teachers to schedule an additional review session.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No ones AP exam was going to be ruined by 3 hrs on PARCC.

They have a year to prepare. Ask teachers to schedule an additional review session.

Not the kids' job. That is an admin SNAFU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No ones AP exam was going to be ruined by 3 hrs on PARCC.

They have a year to prepare. Ask teachers to schedule an additional review session.

Not the kids' job. That is an admin SNAFU.

Nor is it the kids job to give care at all about PARCC results if their time is better spent elsewhere. They deputy mayor said as much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No ones AP exam was going to be ruined by 3 hrs on PARCC.

They have a year to prepare. Ask teachers to schedule an additional review session.

This. The kids could have asked their teacher to reschedule an elective review period. This is not difficult folks.