Walls admissions article in the Post

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child applied this year --Deal, 4.0 GPA, had a ten-minute interview with one teacher (no students) that she described as a really fun and interesting conversation. She prepared for the interview and took it seriously. She is waitlisted with a number in the 170s. Looking at the lottery data for this year, they offered 170 spots and put 211 kids on the waitlist. That means she was in the 340s out of a total of 381 students. No idea why!

I'm so sorry. Honestly, I would submit a FOIA request. I wish I had done it last year when the same thing happened to my DC. It is total a total BS process and they will continue to do it until they can't get away with it anymore.

The FOIA process is really simple but they will drag it out as long as they can (up to five weeks or something like that). Keep your request simple. Just ask for all records that contain guidance for interviewers on how they are supposed to rate candidates, all records that provides training for interviewers on how they are supposed to interview candidates, all records that provides the weighting for interviews vs GPA and how candidates are ranked in the event of a tie. Also ask for an example of the interview matrix or rubric that is used for each interview.

They will either have to provide you with these or it will be exposed that they have no guidelines for the process.

This^

Importantly, FOIA is binding...they can't just ignore it. And federal 'records' are broad--it will include emails. So if you request it, they have to comply. Be sure to make your request time bound so that you are only asking for records created through March 31, 2020...you don't want them to create new records based on this request.

I would bet very little turns up, there is almost no guidance, and just write down a number from 0-31 based on how much they like the kid. And it will not look very good when they can't show any records of a more deliberate and fair process. It will make a great follow-up Post story to this one .

[Anonymous]

Walls says that the "ideal" student is independent and self advocates. I'm guessing that what carries the most weight in this process is actually the parent interview. They can easily tell within two minutes the helicopter/snow plow parents that are likely to email the administration/teacher every time their kid gets a B. Guessing from the comments here, sounds like they did a good job weeding those out!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Walls says that the "ideal" student is independent and self advocates. I'm guessing that what carries the most weight in this process is actually the parent interview. They can easily tell within two minutes the helicopter/snow plow parents that are likely to email the administration/teacher every time their kid gets a B. Guessing from the comments here, sounds like they did a good job weeding those out!

If true, they violated their own policy. At least last year they said that parent interview was only used to answer parents' questions and would not be used in rankings.

For the record, the one question I asked during the interview was to the students. I asked what their favorite thing about Walls was. If that raised red flags, I'd love to know why.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Walls says that the "ideal" student is independent and self advocates. I'm guessing that what carries the most weight in this process is actually the parent interview. They can easily tell within two minutes the helicopter/snow plow parents that are likely to email the administration/teacher every time their kid gets a B. Guessing from the comments here, sounds like they did a good job weeding those out!

This is a clever and obnoxious comment, but I know the parents of some of the kids who got in this year, and the parents of some of the kids who were waitlisted with high numbers, so I know your guess is wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Walls says that the "ideal" student is independent and self advocates. I'm guessing that what carries the most weight in this process is actually the parent interview. They can easily tell within two minutes the helicopter/snow plow parents that are likely to email the administration/teacher every time their kid gets a B. Guessing from the comments here, sounds like they did a good job weeding those out!

This is a clever and obnoxious comment, but I know the parents of some of the kids who got in this year, and the parents of some of the kids who were waitlisted with high numbers, so I know your guess is wrong.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child applied this year --Deal, 4.0 GPA, had a ten-minute interview with one teacher (no students) that she described as a really fun and interesting conversation. She prepared for the interview and took it seriously. She is waitlisted with a number in the 170s. Looking at the lottery data for this year, they offered 170 spots and put 211 kids on the waitlist. That means she was in the 340s out of a total of 381 students. No idea why!

I'm so sorry. Honestly, I would submit a FOIA request. I wish I had done it last year when the same thing happened to my DC. It is total a total BS process and they will continue to do it until they can't get away with it anymore.

The FOIA process is really simple but they will drag it out as long as they can (up to five weeks or something like that). Keep your request simple. Just ask for all records that contain guidance for interviewers on how they are supposed to rate candidates, all records that provides training for interviewers on how they are supposed to interview candidates, all records that provides the weighting for interviews vs GPA and how candidates are ranked in the event of a tie. Also ask for an example of the interview matrix or rubric that is used for each interview.

They will either have to provide you with these or it will be exposed that they have no guidelines for the process.

This^

+1
From another parent who was disgusted at the process last year and wishes we submitted a FOIA then...

[Anonymous]

DCUM won’t like my post, but I am a teacher who does the interviews. I’m not defending two questions or three minutes or whatever, but I can tell you that after 10 years of being at the school, it is possible to see within ten minutes who is a good fit. Parent interview portion does not factor into the score except to help students who appear to have strong family support. However, with gpa inflation the past two years due to WS plus the ban on getting parcc scores plus random charter schools who have weird report cards, it is very difficult to assess candidates, honestly.

I would support an application ranking system with no interview, just lottery of qualified students. I hate interview days and would rather be teaching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCUM won’t like my post, but I am a teacher who does the interviews. I’m not defending two questions or three minutes or whatever, but I can tell you that after 10 years of being at the school, it is possible to see within ten minutes who is a good fit. Parent interview portion does not factor into the score except to help students who appear to have strong family support. However, with gpa inflation the past two years due to WS plus the ban on getting parcc scores plus random charter schools who have weird report cards, it is very difficult to assess candidates, honestly.

I would support an application ranking system with no interview, just lottery of qualified students. I hate interview days and would rather be teaching.

Thank you for your insight,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCUM won’t like my post, but I am a teacher who does the interviews. I’m not defending two questions or three minutes or whatever, but I can tell you that after 10 years of being at the school, it is possible to see within ten minutes who is a good fit. Parent interview portion does not factor into the score except to help students who appear to have strong family support. However, with gpa inflation the past two years due to WS plus the ban on getting parcc scores plus random charter schools who have weird report cards, it is very difficult to assess candidates, honestly.

I would support an application ranking system with no interview, just lottery of qualified students. I hate interview days and would rather be teaching.

Why no test?

Why can Banneker include an interview, a personal essay, and teacher recommendations in primary subject?

You don't know anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM won’t like my post, but I am a teacher who does the interviews. I’m not defending two questions or three minutes or whatever, but I can tell you that after 10 years of being at the school, it is possible to see within ten minutes who is a good fit. Parent interview portion does not factor into the score except to help students who appear to have strong family support. However, with gpa inflation the past two years due to WS plus the ban on getting parcc scores plus random charter schools who have weird report cards, it is very difficult to assess candidates, honestly.

I would support an application ranking system with no interview, just lottery of qualified students. I hate interview days and would rather be teaching.

Thank you for your insight,

I appreciate that you agree that a lottery of qualified students would be preferable. But, with all due respect, I am a researcher with over 20 years of qualitative research experience in behavioral psychology. I am dismayed that you think you are able to assess much other than extremely superficial factors from a 10 minute interview with a child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCUM won’t like my post, but I am a teacher who does the interviews. I’m not defending two questions or three minutes or whatever, but I can tell you that after 10 years of being at the school, it is possible to see within ten minutes who is a good fit. Parent interview portion does not factor into the score except to help students who appear to have strong family support. However, with gpa inflation the past two years due to WS plus the ban on getting parcc scores plus random charter schools who have weird report cards, it is very difficult to assess candidates, honestly.

I would support an application ranking system with no interview, just lottery of qualified students. I hate interview days and would rather be teaching.

Interesting...we were told last year that the parent interview had zero bearing on the score. But it appears there may be exceptions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCUM won’t like my post, but I am a teacher who does the interviews. I’m not defending two questions or three minutes or whatever, but I can tell you that after 10 years of being at the school, it is possible to see within ten minutes who is a good fit. Parent interview portion does not factor into the score except to help students who appear to have strong family support. However, with gpa inflation the past two years due to WS plus the ban on getting parcc scores plus random charter schools who have weird report cards, it is very difficult to assess candidates, honestly.

I would support an application ranking system with no interview, just lottery of qualified students. I hate interview days and would rather be teaching.

You said interviews were the most accurate part of the evaluation, but that you wish there were no interviews because you don’t want to spend the time.

Hmm. You want numerical rankings based on fuzzy (though quantitative) input data.

Can’t see the benefit…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM won’t like my post, but I am a teacher who does the interviews. I’m not defending two questions or three minutes or whatever, but I can tell you that after 10 years of being at the school, it is possible to see within ten minutes who is a good fit. Parent interview portion does not factor into the score except to help students who appear to have strong family support. However, with gpa inflation the past two years due to WS plus the ban on getting parcc scores plus random charter schools who have weird report cards, it is very difficult to assess candidates, honestly.

I would support an application ranking system with no interview, just lottery of qualified students. I hate interview days and would rather be teaching.

Interesting...we were told last year that the parent interview had zero bearing on the score. But it appears there may be exceptions.

What does “strong family support” mean and how is it relevant to student qualifications?

[Anonymous]

Sorry, there is no way a 3-10 minute interview can tell you if a child will be a good fit. There are many shy, quiet kids who would thrive at Walls but may not do was well during the interview. And kids can have bad days and not interview well for a number of reasons. That is why most schools don't heavily weight an interview. Banneker asks for teacher recommendations, GPA and has kids complete a writing sample during the interview.

The fact that nobody on this board can say how Walls reached its decisions is telling. Were kids who didn't pass the interview put in a lottery? Were they waitlisted in a particular order? Why did the interviews vary in length and why were some interviews conducted by both teachers and students?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCUM won’t like my post, but I am a teacher who does the interviews. I’m not defending two questions or three minutes or whatever, but I can tell you that after 10 years of being at the school, it is possible to see within ten minutes who is a good fit. Parent interview portion does not factor into the score except to help students who appear to have strong family support. However, with gpa inflation the past two years due to WS plus the ban on getting parcc scores plus random charter schools who have weird report cards, it is very difficult to assess candidates, honestly.

I would support an application ranking system with no interview, just lottery of qualified students. I hate interview days and would rather be teaching.

I had guessed it was this bad, but I didn’t want to believe it. Deprived of the test, Walls has resorted to implicit bias.