If not Basis or Latin, where?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the private school teacher: can you be a bit more specific about what you've seen at your school that isn't working? Will you consider other private schools for your kids?

The school bought a ton of new technology, but did no teacher training on how to use it most effectively in the classroom and the administration has been not willing to discuss the developmental implications of the technology they chose (which cannot be monitored by an outside user, like a parent or teacher, efficiently). The technology is not being used effectively in the classroom by more than a couple of people, but those teachers and those classes are always used as the example for what is going on in the whole school. There are a host of field trips, some multi-day, that do not have a connection to what is being done in the classroom. Follow up or preparation for these trips is minimal and the "service learning" is tangential at best. Schedule changes result in cancellation of classes, often without rescheduling, such that some sections have now met a week and a half less than their peers (but the pictures from the pep rally sure look good in the alumni brochure). Individual educational testing data is no longer shared with the teachers, which makes differentiation and accommodation for students impossible. Also, we are not supposed to discuss discipline issues, even amongst our colleagues. This last one really ties my hands because if something happens outside my classroom and I don't know about it, I cannot be proactive about preventing that from manifesting in my classroom.

Now, most of the time classes run smoothly, so it's not a "problem", but I would like to think that the school where my kids are learning isn't waiting for the problem to happen, but is actively working to put every resource at the hand of their teachers to know them and educate them in the best way possible. Add that I'd be paying a significant amount of money, even with reduced tuition, and the current situation becomes unacceptable to me. I don't feel like I can know *all* my students, so I can't see how other teachers will truly know my kids.

We are doing our research right now with regard to other private schools, but the value added doesn't seem worth the tuition at this point. There are good public options, and although the lottery systems seems not for the faint of heart, we are hearing many very positive stories from friends who have decided to keep their children in DCPS or DCPCS.

I am very sorry about your situation and for the kids at the school. I would not send my kids there either. And if folks are unhappy with Latin and Basis and too nervous about Wilson, moving to Montgomery county or Mclean is just not that impossible. I once had a doctor whose head nurse was renting in that area so that her daughter could go to Pyle/Whitman, and our friends who decided to do that (we now know someone who went thru Pyle and is now a 9th grader at Whitman) have not regretted their decision.

[Anonymous]

My understanding was that kids graduate with closer to 15+AP's under their belts. That assumes starting with the AP History course in 8th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My understanding was that kids graduate with closer to 15+AP's under their belts. That assumes starting with the AP History course in 8th.

That is not what the BASIS brochure says. Go to the BASIS web site and click on their brochure. Perhaps a few kids end up with that many, but from the brochure, it says the average was about 8 off the top of my head.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why can't we have a single well-equipped, "normal" high school, or school-within-a-school program with sky high standards, virtually guaranteeing that the student population would be majority white in the short and medium-term. BASIS will never fit the bill - it doesn't aspire to serve many kids.

OK, great, the odd Latin kid now breaks into an Ivy League school. Congratulations all around. This doesn't change the fact that more kids are admitted to any one elite college, be it MIT or Harvard or Stanford, from TJ or a Blair test-in magnet program every year than ALL DCPS AND DCPC. All we're asking for is one high school program on a par with the best in the burbs. I like how hard Latin and BASIS try, but they're never going to offer TJ academics because they don't have the inputs - money, kids, teachers, facilities, test-in option, or ES and MS GT programs to build on.

BASIS does have a program called LEAP - I don't know what the acronym stands for, to be honest, but I think one requirement is the math - that you take alg 1 in 5th, alg II in 6th. It is a MS GT test-in program for all intents and purposes, because once the kids are admitted they do diagnostic testing and are either placed on a track for LEAP or not, and I assume as the years continue they do more weeding out, but I think it is flying under the radar this year in DC because aside from the fifth graders in Algebra 1 (from what I understand there are several classes) there are only 4 or so who met the bar for Algebra II in 6th. There are also a few in 7th and 8th who are taking Algebra II, but I do not know what that means about their LEAP status as that puts them a year or two behind in math. The math placements were based on the diagnostic testing and for those who participated in the STARS program or maybe from summer school. So in addition to being incredibly rigorous to start off with, it also has a test inMS "school within a school". I think this will become more obvious and better developed once they are effectively starting with fifth graders so that almost everyone has an equal shot.

[Anonymous]

Sorry my confusion, I guess. According to the Jay Matthews Challenge Index, BASIS Tuscon students took an average of 19.5 AP exams in 2012, up from 8 in 2007.

http://apps.washingtonpost.com/local/highschoolchallenge/schools/2012/list/national/basis-tucson-tucson-az/

[Anonymous]

What exactly do all of the BASIS parents think the academic extremes will do for their children? Are we really that crazy now? Someone needs to do a comparative analysis of how many more children are diagnosed with depression, anxiety, eating disorders etc... before they are 18 compared to what it was say, 20 years ago? This whole thread seems to be about pushy parents striving and pushing their offspring to a level of academic perfection we/they never had to face. ISn't it enough to get zits, start your period, have a first dance, separate from your parents a tiny bit and now we're off to the races like it's 21st Century China. My kids are smart and successful but never would I give up a well rounded and healthy MS/HS environment for the insanity of BASIS. Latin in the end sounds way more reasonable.

[Anonymous]

^^BASIS isn't insane in DC at this point. Please calm down and don't waste time worrying about my happy child who is no longer bored in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^BASIS isn't insane in DC at this point. Please calm down and don't waste time worrying about my happy child who is no longer bored in school.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can't we have a single well-equipped, "normal" high school, or school-within-a-school program with sky high standards, virtually guaranteeing that the student population would be majority white in the short and medium-term. BASIS will never fit the bill - it doesn't aspire to serve many kids.

OK, great, the odd Latin kid now breaks into an Ivy League school. Congratulations all around. This doesn't change the fact that more kids are admitted to any one elite college, be it MIT or Harvard or Stanford, from TJ or a Blair test-in magnet program every year than ALL DCPS AND DCPC. All we're asking for is one high school program on a par with the best in the burbs. I like how hard Latin and BASIS try, but they're never going to offer TJ academics because they don't have the inputs - money, kids, teachers, facilities, test-in option, or ES and MS GT programs to build on.

BASIS does have a program called LEAP - I don't know what the acronym stands for, to be honest, but I think one requirement is the math - that you take alg 1 in 5th, alg II in 6th. It is a MS GT test-in program for all intents and purposes, because once the kids are admitted they do diagnostic testing and are either placed on a track for LEAP or not, and I assume as the years continue they do more weeding out, but I think it is flying under the radar this year in DC because aside from the fifth graders in Algebra 1 (from what I understand there are several classes) there are only 4 or so who met the bar for Algebra II in 6th. There are also a few in 7th and 8th who are taking Algebra II, but I do not know what that means about their LEAP status as that puts them a year or two behind in math. The math placements were based on the diagnostic testing and for those who participated in the STARS program or maybe from summer school. So in addition to being incredibly rigorous to start off with, it also has a test inMS "school within a school". I think this will become more obvious and better developed once they are effectively starting with fifth graders so that almost everyone has an equal shot.

LEAP Program: In 8th Grade, the LEAP Science courses can replace either 8th Grade Biology,
Chemistry, or Physics. To be eligible for LEAP Science, a student must apply for entry to the
course, obtain a recommendation from a 7th grade teacher of the same discipline, and
have application accepted by the LEAP Science teacher. The student must maintain at
least a C level on all subjects throughout the first two trimesters of 8th grade year. At the end
of the school year, a LEAP student is eligible to be promoted to AP level course only if he/she
passes the LEAP course with a B grade or higher. At any time, a student may be moved out of LEAP
courses and into standard courses if the criteria above are not fulfilled. (There are also LEAP classes for English)

[Anonymous]

I notice the Challenge Index goes by total number of exams taken divided by final graduates, which is not actually a true or representative metric of how many AP exams the average student actually takes, it's a metric that could be greatly skewed by many different factors. Also, in looking at the Challenge Index site, I am puzzled to not see indices for many other area schools which put a heavy emphasis on AP exams, like TJ which has students taking a comparable number of APs to Basis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I also think the option of leaving half way through 12th grade and doing an internship is an amazing opportunity offered only at BASIS so far as I know, and for the science/computer types it might actually lead to scholarship money and possible summer and permanent employment. In addition, if the spot is obtained before college apps are due, what a great thing to add to your profile. Most kids just slack off after the last grades the colleges see pre-admission decisions, so this may not only broaden their life experiences but keep them from wasting their time. What a great idea!

School without Walls has an internship requirement senior year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What exactly do all of the BASIS parents think the academic extremes will do for their children? Are we really that crazy now? Someone needs to do a comparative analysis of how many more children are diagnosed with depression, anxiety, eating disorders etc... before they are 18 compared to what it was say, 20 years ago? This whole thread seems to be about pushy parents striving and pushing their offspring to a level of academic perfection we/they never had to face. ISn't it enough to get zits, start your period, have a first dance, separate from your parents a tiny bit and now we're off to the races like it's 21st Century China. My kids are smart and successful but never would I give up a well rounded and healthy MS/HS environment for the insanity of BASIS. Latin in the end sounds way more reasonable.

The documentary The Race to Nowhere is an excellent film about this topic. http://www.racetonowhere.com/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What exactly do all of the BASIS parents think the academic extremes will do for their children? Are we really that crazy now? Someone needs to do a comparative analysis of how many more children are diagnosed with depression, anxiety, eating disorders etc... before they are 18 compared to what it was say, 20 years ago? This whole thread seems to be about pushy parents striving and pushing their offspring to a level of academic perfection we/they never had to face. ISn't it enough to get zits, start your period, have a first dance, separate from your parents a tiny bit and now we're off to the races like it's 21st Century China. My kids are smart and successful but never would I give up a well rounded and healthy MS/HS environment for the insanity of BASIS. Latin in the end sounds way more reasonable.

The documentary The Race to Nowhere is an excellent film about this topic. http://www.racetonowhere.com/

Try watching Two Million Minutes for a clear idea of what BASIS does.

http://www.2mminutes.com/films/global-examination.asp

2 Million Minutes: A Global Examination

Regardless of nationality, as soon as a student completes the 8th grade, the clock starts ticking. From that very moment the child has approximately -

…Two Million Minutes until high school graduation…Two Million Minutes to build their intellectual foundation…Two Million Minutes to prepare for college and ultimately career…Two Million Minutes to go from a teenager to an adult.

How a student spends their Two Million Minutes - in class, at home studying, playing sports, working, sleeping, socializing or just goofing off -- will affect their economic prospects for the rest of their lives.

How do most American high school students spend this time? What about students in the rest of the world? How do family, friends and society influence a student's choices for time allocation? What implications do their choices have on their future and on a country's economic future? This film takes a deeper look at how the three superpowers of the 21st Century - China, India and the United States - are preparing their students for the future.

As we follow two students - a boy and a girl - from each of these countries, we compose a global snapshot of education, from the viewpoint of kids preparing for their future. Our goal is to tell the broader story of the universal importance of education today, and address what many are calling a crisis for U.S. schools regarding chronically low scores in math and science indicators.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I notice the Challenge Index goes by total number of exams taken divided by final graduates, which is not actually a true or representative metric of how many AP exams the average student actually takes, it's a metric that could be greatly skewed by many different factors. Also, in looking at the Challenge Index site, I am puzzled to not see indices for many other area schools which put a heavy emphasis on AP exams, like TJ which has students taking a comparable number of APs to Basis.

I recall that TJ is not included because it is an application school. Whereas BASIS is general admission (as long as there is space available, any child that wants to attend may do so without prior screening).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I notice the Challenge Index goes by total number of exams taken divided by final graduates, which is not actually a true or representative metric of how many AP exams the average student actually takes, it's a metric that could be greatly skewed by many different factors. Also, in looking at the Challenge Index site, I am puzzled to not see indices for many other area schools which put a heavy emphasis on AP exams, like TJ which has students taking a comparable number of APs to Basis.

I recall that TJ is not included because it is an application school. Whereas BASIS is general admission (as long as there is space available, any child that wants to attend may do so without prior screening). [/quote

The numbers for Basis are no doubt skewed because a combination of starting APs in lower grades combined with attrition in the higher grades will credit the graduating class with far more APs, given that flawed and simplistic accounting that simply divides the number of APs by the number graduating.

But what about TJ, or even George Mason, Marshall or other schools - is there really a valid reason why they would not show up? It would be far more relevant to include them, but perhaps with a way to filter and sort accordingly?