DCI or Deal

[Anonymous]

No law against subscribing to this point of view although I can't share it.

[Anonymous]

Then don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCI is wrapping up its 5th year, not 6th. It is a fantastic school and our family is so pleased to have our kids there.

See? It is possible to support your kids’ school without ripping apart another school! Thanks, PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in the same position and sending my kid to DCI. She is a great student and will likely do well anywhere and I don't want her to lose her Spanish or her friends if she doesn't have to. Plus since we are in-bounds for Deal, if DCI turns out to be disaster we can just enroll in Deal. We feel lucky to have the choice.

I’m the OP and we made the same decision. The middle school years are tough no matter what school you attend, so we opted for DCI since there was some built in enthusiasm and familiarity there. We can always transfer if it doesn’t work out, but in the meantime we’re one less family contributing to Deal overcrowding!

I posted earlier indicating we are making the same decision, so that’s 3 families!

+1

[Anonymous]

To me it's hard to measure Deal vs. DCI simply because one is a middle school and the other is a MS/HS.

Since DCI offers HS and has pretty low attrition for 8th to 9th, I care about HS outcomes. And of course, there are no graduates form DCI yet, so the jury is still out.

I am watching for the following to determine if the HS is one I would send my DC to, and waiting until there are at least 3 graduating classes before drawing many conclusions:

Four-year graduation rate
Average SAT/ACT scores above the DC average
% of students opting for IB diploma and how those scored on the IB exams
% of students on the IB career track that are employed within 6 months of graduation or headed to the military or other options
How many college-bound students are headed for 2-year vs. 4-year colleges

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To me it's hard to measure Deal vs. DCI simply because one is a middle school and the other is a MS/HS.

Since DCI offers HS and has pretty low attrition for 8th to 9th, I care about HS outcomes. And of course, there are no graduates form DCI yet, so the jury is still out.

I am watching for the following to determine if the HS is one I would send my DC to, and waiting until there are at least 3 graduating classes before drawing many conclusions:

Four-year graduation rate
Average SAT/ACT scores above the DC average
% of students opting for IB diploma and how those scored on the IB exams
% of students on the IB career track that are employed within 6 months of graduation or headed to the military or other options
How many college-bound students are headed for 2-year vs. 4-year colleges

We really like the IB curriculum in middle school and the option of getting the IB diploma in high school. IB programs tend to focus more on analytical skills and more reading/writing than a traditional curriculum.

Plus we like the IB diploma route better than AP route which tend to focus more on standardized testing with AP test. If DCI is able to provide rigor in such a track to graduate with an IB diploma, then we definitely plan on going the DCI route.

[Anonymous]

Deal is an IB MYP school as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Deal is an IB MYP school as well.

Except for the math sequence. But PP said they like the option of an IB HS too. To find that after Deal they'd have to go OOB to Eastern or apply to Banneker.

[Anonymous]

But Wilson does not have the IB program so the Deal kids can't even earn the MYP certificate, never mind move on to the DP. Deal is IB in name only---it's not really doing IB the way it should be done. Research shows that kids who complete the MYP are way more likely to earn the IB diploma.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But Wilson does not have the IB program so the Deal kids can't even earn the MYP certificate, never mind move on to the DP. Deal is IB in name only---it's not really doing IB the way it should be done. Research shows that kids who complete the MYP are way more likely to earn the IB diploma.

Yes it's not really doing an IB curriculum they add some extra projects but still pretty much follow dcps curriculum except letting kids take and retake assessments multiple times and offer lots of tutoring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me it's hard to measure Deal vs. DCI simply because one is a middle school and the other is a MS/HS.

Since DCI offers HS and has pretty low attrition for 8th to 9th, I care about HS outcomes. And of course, there are no graduates form DCI yet, so the jury is still out.

I am watching for the following to determine if the HS is one I would send my DC to, and waiting until there are at least 3 graduating classes before drawing many conclusions:

Four-year graduation rate
Average SAT/ACT scores above the DC average
% of students opting for IB diploma and how those scored on the IB exams
% of students on the IB career track that are employed within 6 months of graduation or headed to the military or other options
How many college-bound students are headed for 2-year vs. 4-year colleges

We really like the IB curriculum in middle school and the option of getting the IB diploma in high school. IB programs tend to focus more on analytical skills and more reading/writing than a traditional curriculum.

Plus we like the IB diploma route better than AP route which tend to focus more on standardized testing with AP test. If DCI is able to provide rigor in such a track to graduate with an IB diploma, then we definitely plan on going the DCI route.

I'm a skeptic who's taught IBD classes in international schools abroad. The lack of academic tracking in the DCI MS looks to me like a real problem on the Diploma work preparation front, particularly for ELA, along with weak or middling one-way language immersion in several of the feeders. Same at DCI itself with tracking and partial immersion.

I don't talk to many DCI parents who are all that familiar with IBD studies- very few pursued them in secondary school. The Higher Level IB subjects and tests are tougher than AP. A minimum of 3 HL subjects is required to earn the Diploma. I won't be surprised if we start seeing average IBD point totals in the 20s at DCI - the pass range is mid 20s to 45. Eastern HS and Banneker both post IBD totals in the 20s. At the stronger suburban programs in this Metro area, pass totals are in the mid to high 30s. IBD curriculum rigor sounds great, but the proof is in the implementation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me it's hard to measure Deal vs. DCI simply because one is a middle school and the other is a MS/HS.

Since DCI offers HS and has pretty low attrition for 8th to 9th, I care about HS outcomes. And of course, there are no graduates form DCI yet, so the jury is still out.

I am watching for the following to determine if the HS is one I would send my DC to, and waiting until there are at least 3 graduating classes before drawing many conclusions:

Four-year graduation rate
Average SAT/ACT scores above the DC average
% of students opting for IB diploma and how those scored on the IB exams
% of students on the IB career track that are employed within 6 months of graduation or headed to the military or other options
How many college-bound students are headed for 2-year vs. 4-year colleges

We really like the IB curriculum in middle school and the option of getting the IB diploma in high school. IB programs tend to focus more on analytical skills and more reading/writing than a traditional curriculum.

Plus we like the IB diploma route better than AP route which tend to focus more on standardized testing with AP test. If DCI is able to provide rigor in such a track to graduate with an IB diploma, then we definitely plan on going the DCI route.

I'm a skeptic who's taught IBD classes in international schools abroad. The lack of academic tracking in the DCI MS looks to me like a real problem on the Diploma work preparation front, particularly for ELA, along with weak or middling one-way language immersion in several of the feeders. Same at DCI itself with tracking and partial immersion.

I don't talk to many DCI parents who are all that familiar with IBD studies- very few pursued them in secondary school. The Higher Level IB subjects and tests are tougher than AP. A minimum of 3 HL subjects is required to earn the Diploma. I won't be surprised if we start seeing average IBD point totals in the 20s at DCI - the pass range is mid 20s to 45. Eastern HS and Banneker both post IBD totals in the 20s. At the stronger suburban programs in this Metro area, pass totals are in the mid to high 30s. IBD curriculum rigor sounds great, but the proof is in the implementation.

Yes I agree with implementation and also rigor. But not all students need to earn the IB diploma. They can take some lower level IB courses, still graduate high school but not with an IB diploma.

The more advanced students can take the higher level IB courses in addition to meeting all the requirements to get the IB diploma. So schools that have both options, there is in theory advanced tracking with the IB diploma.

[Anonymous]

Theory is not practice if the teaching to HL is not done.

[Anonymous]

Also not "practice" when kids come through the DCI MYP with weak or mediocre language and ELA skills. In that case, a bright and hard-working Diploma candidate is likely to scrape by with a pass points total in the mid to high 20s. Not sure where that gets them in terms of college admissions and prep. Right now, the writing is on the wall for few DCI kids, if any, to score in the 30s for at least a few years, maybe five.

The DCI admins and parents I talk to about IB Diploma don't seem to have their heads around how tough it is to score high on IBD examinations (graded in Geneva), particularly language tests at the HL.

What I see is that too many of the strongest DCI feeder students are peeling off for Wash Latin, BASIS, privates, the burbs after 4th of 5th grades in search of more MS rigor for DCI's future pass points totals to impress.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But Wilson does not have the IB program so the Deal kids can't even earn the MYP certificate, never mind move on to the DP. Deal is IB in name only---it's not really doing IB the way it should be done. Research shows that kids who complete the MYP are way more likely to earn the IB diploma.

Yes it's not really doing an IB curriculum they add some extra projects but still pretty much follow dcps curriculum except letting kids take and retake assessments multiple times and offer lots of tutoring.

We're choosing Deal over DCI for the Fall, and the tutoring is a benefit that we prioritize. I'm not sure how well either school really does IB, but after seeing how the sausage is made at our DCI feeder, we're more interested in solid academics and a well-organized school. Deal seems to be more established and supportive. Still, it was a hard decision. The future will tell us if we made the right one . . .