Yu Ying - Do/Can Non-Native Kids Actually SPEAK Chinese?

[Anonymous]

Yu yings fifth graders scored higher than Oyster and more diverse. Retention is high and most parents are very happy there. Not sure why there are so many YY bashing threads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yu yings fifth graders scored higher than Oyster and more diverse. Retention is high and most parents are very happy there. Not sure why there are so many YY bashing threads.

Oyster has about 3x as many at-risk kids and scored much higher on ELA and about the same on math. Try facts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:How is that tier 1 if they're not learning the language well and the test scores are pretty low for such a wealthy student body?

Read the PMF reports.

Language proficiency isn't a criteria. And you don't get marked up or down for test scores based on the schools SES levels.

So tier 1 can basically mean that you've managed to attract high SES parents, but don't provide a better than average education?

The inputs are:

Proficiency in PARCC
Percentage if students who improve on PARCC year over year
Support / training for teachers
Student retention
Attendance

YY has relatively high PARCC scores for a public charter school in the city and the scores are better than most DCPS schools in the city.

YY has relatively low PARCC scores for a public school in DC with similar demographics.

Which schools are you putting in Yu Ying's "demographic basket"?

Not even the top tier but take Eaton as an example in the 70% range compared to Yu Ying in the 50% range and it has almost double the percentage of at-risk. Are you really OK with sending your kid to a school where they're only 50% likely to be proficient?

That is not what those percentage numbers mean or how they work.

[Anonymous]

Please explain

[Anonymous]

NP. Do we really need another thread bad-mouthing YY? It’s one thing to genuinely seek information but that’s never the intention for these type of threads. Really makes you wonder why some people are so determined to bash this school in particular.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is that tier 1 if they're not learning the language well and the test scores are pretty low for such a wealthy student body?

There are some well-off families at Yu Ying, but it's not a "wealthy student body" in the sense of the upper NW DCPS schools. Most of the YY families are priced out of the JKLM markets and live in relatively poorer parts of the city -- they're closer to "actual middle class" than to "DC middle class." While the school's FARM numbers may be in line with the JKLM schools, the "middle 50%" is not nearly as well off.

So, now we're supposed to accept the fact that a school's student body is upper middle class, but not "DCUM upper middle class" as a reason to adjust our expectations? Like living in Brookland in a home that's only worth 3/4 of a million, and being driven around in a Honda instead of a BMW is such hardship that it impacts kids' learning?

I think PP was simply pointing out that the demographics are not the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. Do we really need another thread bad-mouthing YY? It’s one thing to genuinely seek information but that’s never the intention for these type of threads. Really makes you wonder why some people are so determined to bash this school in particular.

Comparing YY to other similar schools is badmouthing it? It's not like people are bringing up unsubstantiated rumors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Do we really need another thread bad-mouthing YY? It’s one thing to genuinely seek information but that’s never the intention for these type of threads. Really makes you wonder why some people are so determined to bash this school in particular.

Comparing YY to other similar schools is badmouthing it? It's not like people are bringing up unsubstantiated rumors.

What other citywide Chinese charter school are you comparing it to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yu yings fifth graders scored higher than Oyster and more diverse. Retention is high and most parents are very happy there. Not sure why there are so many YY bashing threads.

And Oyster's 3rd and 4th graders scored higher than YY students--and Oyster has a much higher FARMS rate. While we're at it, Oyster's 6th, 7th and 8th graders scored higher than DCI students. What's your point?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yu yings fifth graders scored higher than Oyster and more diverse. Retention is high and most parents are very happy there. Not sure why there are so many YY bashing threads.

And Oyster's 3rd and 4th graders scored higher than YY students--and Oyster has a much higher FARMS rate. While we're at it, Oyster's 6th, 7th and 8th graders scored higher than DCI students. What's your point?

Now you’re using the scores of DCI as evidence against YY?? You’ve lost whatever credibility you may have had, dear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yu yings fifth graders scored higher than Oyster and more diverse. Retention is high and most parents are very happy there. Not sure why there are so many YY bashing threads.

And Oyster's 3rd and 4th graders scored higher than YY students--and Oyster has a much higher FARMS rate. While we're at it, Oyster's 6th, 7th and 8th graders scored higher than DCI students. What's your point?

Now you’re using the scores of DCI as evidence against YY?? You’ve lost whatever credibility you may have had, dear.

[Anonymous]

We mainly speak Chinese at home and require our children (in the upper ES grades at a JKLM) to answer Chinese with Chinese. We tried YY some years back, but only lasted a year. But we've continued to rub shoulders with two dozen YY families, and former families, from our neighborhood, church, civic activities etc. I often speak Mandarin to these kids.

Yes, the "non-native YY kids" (around 99% of them) actually speak Chinese. Do they speak it well? No, not unless there's been at least one native-speaking adult in the home who won't accept English in response to spoken Chinese for years. There are a few YY families who've hosted Mandarin-speaking au pairs for many years, and a few at DCI. Many YY parents hire Mandarin-speaking tutors to speak to kids, for an hour or two a week. The longtime "au pair YY kids" are head and shoulders above others in speaking ability.

Why don't the YY kids speak Chinese decently? Simple - because they don't hear enough Chinese to speak good Chinese, and because parents aren't incentivized to knock themselves out to ensure that the kids hear as much as possible. In our home, Chinese TV is on more than English TV, Chinese-speaking friends and relatives drop by, we travel to China annually to visit family, we visit elderly immigrants in Chinatown as volunteers, we take the kids to a heritage language program in MD each weekend, we seldom allow the kids to watch kids entertainment in English etc. This isn't the story in the homes of the YY kids--the parents have other priorities than pushing spoken Chinese, or can't host au pairs--so the kids don't speak Chinese well. That's the way YY has operated from the get go, it's not changing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is that tier 1 if they're not learning the language well and the test scores are pretty low for such a wealthy student body?

Read the PMF reports.

Language proficiency isn't a criteria. And you don't get marked up or down for test scores based on the schools SES levels.

So tier 1 can basically mean that you've managed to attract high SES parents, but don't provide a better than average education?

The inputs are:

Proficiency in PARCC
Percentage if students who improve on PARCC year over year
Support / training for teachers
Student retention
Attendance

YY has relatively high PARCC scores for a public charter school in the city and the scores are better than most DCPS schools in the city.

YY has relatively low PARCC scores for a public school in DC with similar demographics.

As does Brent DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is that tier 1 if they're not learning the language well and the test scores are pretty low for such a wealthy student body?

Read the PMF reports.

Language proficiency isn't a criteria. And you don't get marked up or down for test scores based on the schools SES levels.

So tier 1 can basically mean that you've managed to attract high SES parents, but don't provide a better than average education?

The inputs are:

Proficiency in PARCC
Percentage if students who improve on PARCC year over year
Support / training for teachers
Student retention
Attendance

YY has relatively high PARCC scores for a public charter school in the city and the scores are better than most DCPS schools in the city.

YY has relatively low PARCC scores for a public school in DC with similar demographics.

As does Brent DCPS.

Brent has 2-3 times as many at-risk kids as YY and still scores about 10% higher. Who are you comparing Brent to?

[Anonymous]

Our child is in third grade and is able to understand simple Chinese spoken as one would to a young child. We do have a weekly tutor who works on conversation through role playing and games. His tones are good and most importantly, he enjoys Chinese and has a particularly good memory for new words. He is eight years old, and we have no desire to spend hours every weekend at a heritage school or flogging Chinese TV. Our goal for elementary school is for him to have a strong foundation in Chinese as well as English and math, and we are on track for that. I guess we will see how PARCC testing goes this year.