Underwhelming appearance by Principal Martin at Wilson HS Open House

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thought this thread was beyond rude last year. Sorry to see it dredged up again.

What I find rude is the sharp decline in Wilson's PARCC.

Some people seem to be treating it as a little joke. I don't.

What I can't find is how the Wilson subgroups - white, black, latino, econ disadvantaged - performed last year compared to this year. OSSE and DCPS suggest the drop was preciptious among white Wilson students year over year and that it was a testing anomaly. Can anyone help me figure that out?

I don't see a way to make those detailed year-on-year comparisons. But I doubt the drop happened only among white students, look at these results:

Blacks: Only 8% met/ exceeded ELA standards; Only 3% met/ exceeded Math standards
Hispanics: Only 12% met/ exceeded ELA standards; Only 8% met/ exceeded Math standards

http://results.osse.dc.gov/school/463

Results like these can only come from entitlement, as everyone knows.

[Anonymous]

Here are the 2015 results - if anyone has time to pull out Wilson so we can compare year over year for subgroups.

http://osse.dc.gov/parcc/2015results

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think open is leading us...she writes principal's name, which. Clearly sounds black and she mentions audience is mostly white.

I think this is setting up an unfair character assassination against the principal.

If anything, the poster is suggesting that the principal was speaking to a sorta' tough crowd (demanding white parents). That's more of a reflection on the audience than the speaker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You referenced race and that seems to be your focus. Wilson, is the 2015 version of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is so sad what DC has become.

This is beside the kind of feedback you are looking for OP, but wish you hadn't mentioned the crowd was almost all white. It makes no difference to your post, what professional is leading Wilson, or anything related to the operation of the school.

I agree, you kind of lost me when I read that sentence. Black parent with a 7th grader at Deal who is still not sold on Wilson. You lost are credibility when you mentioned race so now I am wondering if you are being truly honest in your feedback. Would love to hear from other parents who were there.

White demanding parents is a well-know stereotype in some NW DCPS schools. I am at Hyde ES and Hardy MS and I am very familiar (especially at Hyde, although it looks like we will be receiving a larger injection of such parents in the near future at Hardy ) with that stereotype, which consist of asking questions with a tone and a phrasing which demands not only a reply, but also an endorsement by the school administrator of the instance behind the parent's question. For a new administrator such as Ms Martin, some DCPS parents might sound confrontational or even aggressive. This might require an adjustment or simply getting used to it. So the specification was not useless. Don't be naive.

Yup. Hardy is definitely going to be forced to step up its game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If anything, the lower scores on the PARCC English tests reveal the intelligence of the student body. Many of the students were not persuaded by the school's persistent entreaties that the standardized tests were important (to the students), in terms of grades, college prospects, or well-being. The students simply do not care what the PARCC results may show for teacher or school accountability, or for purposes of comparing Wilson to other schools. So instead they chose to rush through the PARCC so they could return to studying for AP tests, their regular classes, or devote time to their clubs and other extra activities. And the students with other more important classes and projects to work on were more likely to finish the 90 minute test in 10 minutes. Simple as that. It is not a reflection on Ms. Martin (except for her failure to recognize much earlier that the timing of the PARCC tests so close to AP exams was a huge blunder). It is the same old problem with how to measure teacher and school performance with a standardized test that students have zero incentive to try to ace.

But why were Wilson students the only ones to see it that way? It seems to indicate zero love or respect for the school administration

Because the Wilson students were raised by the kind of women who run a principal's speech through a program to see if she is "articulate." Because the Wilson students (the ones in question) were raised in an environment where they were taught that they could be disobedient with no consequence. Because no one is checking their speeches for correct phrasing, or complaining that they just aren't professional "enough." You don't get this? You don't see the double standard? You think of Banneker or McKinley kids walked out of the test after five minutes you'd be applauding their capacity for free thought?

Hah.

YES! Could not agree more.

I want to meet you in real life.

We could start a "we are not assholes like the rest of those dcurbanmom assholes" group. Fwiw, and I bring it up because even now our friends are beginning the poundy drums of the rallying cry they will use to call us both entitled pg residents, I'm the white shepherd-hating mom. I don't actually hate Shepherd and never did, but the moniker is as good as any.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If anything, the lower scores on the PARCC English tests reveal the intelligence of the student body. Many of the students were not persuaded by the school's persistent entreaties that the standardized tests were important (to the students), in terms of grades, college prospects, or well-being. The students simply do not care what the PARCC results may show for teacher or school accountability, or for purposes of comparing Wilson to other schools. So instead they chose to rush through the PARCC so they could return to studying for AP tests, their regular classes, or devote time to their clubs and other extra activities. And the students with other more important classes and projects to work on were more likely to finish the 90 minute test in 10 minutes. Simple as that. It is not a reflection on Ms. Martin (except for her failure to recognize much earlier that the timing of the PARCC tests so close to AP exams was a huge blunder). It is the same old problem with how to measure teacher and school performance with a standardized test that students have zero incentive to try to ace.

Not persuaded and rightly so!

By putting so much emphasis on the PARCC exam and teaching to it, DCPS is setting the example that you should only focus on test scores that matter for you getting judged.

Central Office emphasizes PARCC scores to the exclusion of holistic, effective education and sees the scores as a meaningful way to judge teachers and schools.

Students choosing to focus on AP exams over community participation (ie, making an effort on the PARCC) is just the same thing. Their "achievement" will be judged by AP exams; PARCC is irrelevant to them as individuals.

DCPS told them that test scores are all that matter, right?

[Anonymous]

I really cannot wait to see how the Wilson students did on their AP exams this year. The pass rate has historically been pretty low.

Alas I don't think that data will be available for a year though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm always a little baffled by the battles about Wilson. I'm the parent of a senior this year. I think I have a pretty realistic picture of what Wilson is and is not. I'm underwhelmed by many things that I wish were different or better, but I'm also constantly appreciative of the many dedicated and high quality teachers, counselors and others who go the extra mile and have inspired my teen. My teen's friends and classmates are also really good, smart, talented, but regular kids trying to figure out who they are and what they want to do and be in the world. Mostly they are happy to be in a school that allows them both the structure and freedom to be challenged academically, but also to explore lots of interests and other sides of themselves. That's what you hope for in a school. Is it like a private school? Of course not. Are there kids that are not interested in school, get in trouble or are struggling? Yes, there are and Wilson could do more to engage and support those students. And, we as parents in the school community, could also get engaged to help more than we do. I know I could have been more involved. Wilson is big and diverse and you have to want that in order to find it a good fit for your family. Because we are a multi-racial family, that was really important to us. In our family's experience, Wilson has been a school where a student can be supported to get a quality education that prepares them well for college or other next steps, as well as a school community that helps prepare kids to navigate other aspects of life. But clearly the new test scores show that not all kids are benefiting. However, needing to continue to improve doesn't negate the core of what is good and strong about the school.

Some great insights there, but not sure they are very relevant. This thread is not about the school itself, but about the leadership by Principal Martin. In fact, it is some people who appreciate the school the most, given all those things you say, the ones baffled by her.

Time will well. And I'm sure next year's PARCC results will be amazing compared to this year's -- worse, it's impossible.

This is a slightly rosier picture than we've seen (our oldest is now in 10th at Wilson), although Wilson does have some nice strengths. The email yesterday from the principal about the PARCC scores points was a complete whitewash. According to the email, the awful test results were caused by the 2 factors below. Nothing else was mentioned.

"First, we need to do a better job of helping our community understand the importance of this assessment."

"Second, we need to work on resolving some of the test administration conflicts."

In other words, nothing is wrong with the curriculum, nothing is wrong with the administration or the teaching, and nothing is wrong with Wilson's overall academic standards.

Since this is our first child at Wilson, I can't compare last year to previous years, but I can say that 9th grade at Wilson is...inadequate. Even if your child is in the top classes, there is almost no homework, and there are very few opportunities to write essays or present to a group. My son's biology class had NO labs the entire year and in honors English class, they read a total of 4 books. There is almost no way in which the academics of 9th grade at Wilson resemble 9th grade at a top suburban public school (my niece and nephews are at Fairfax high schools) or at a DC-area private school. This should be the principal's focus, but unfortunately she has made clear in her emails to parents that it is not. Her welcome message stated that her priorities are the following:

1. "We will embark on several important initiatives this year, one of which will be to examine the role of unconscious bias and racism in our school."
2. "Implementation of the new teacher evaluation rubric."

These are both important issues but they don't matter a bit if Wilson's academic standards are levels below other "top" schools in the area, and it's becoming increasingly clear that they may be. This matters for smart, well-prepared kids, and it matters for kids who arrive at Wilson really far behind.

As far as the principal herself goes, she presents (to me) as capable and hard-working, but I think her priorities are all wrong, and I don't see any evidence that she knows it.

That cannot be true. Or perhaps your child was very unlucky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think open is leading us...she writes principal's name, which. Clearly sounds black and she mentions audience is mostly white.

I think this is setting up an unfair character assassination against the principal.

If anything, the poster is suggesting that the principal was speaking to a sorta' tough crowd (demanding white parents). That's more of a reflection on the audience than the speaker.

Martin "clearly sounds black"?

Someone sounds nuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really cannot wait to see how the Wilson students did on their AP exams this year. The pass rate has historically been pretty low.

Alas I don't think that data will be available for a year though.

The pass rate has historically been pretty High -- among the high SES kids. as for the data being available -- schools don't provide it - not even to teachers. You have to ask individual students how they did, or raid the principal's office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really cannot wait to see how the Wilson students did on their AP exams this year. The pass rate has historically been pretty low.

Alas I don't think that data will be available for a year though.

The pass rate has historically been pretty High -- among the high SES kids. as for the data being available -- schools don't provide it - not even to teachers. You have to ask individual students how they did, or raid the principal's office.

Actually College Board gives them to OSSE and they release them. That's how the US News and Washington Post rankings of high schools are done -- but it's a 2-year lag.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really cannot wait to see how the Wilson students did on their AP exams this year. The pass rate has historically been pretty low.

Alas I don't think that data will be available for a year though.

The pass rate has historically been pretty High -- among the high SES kids. as for the data being available -- schools don't provide it - not even to teachers. You have to ask individual students how they did, or raid the principal's office.

How on earth can a teacher who's teaching an AP course improve if they don't know how students did?

FWIW I'm a BASIS parent. Our teachers and admins have access to student scores a couple days before students but cannot tell students or families ahead of the scores going live on the student portal. Really odd that DCPS would restrict teacher access to this information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really cannot wait to see how the Wilson students did on their AP exams this year. The pass rate has historically been pretty low.

Alas I don't think that data will be available for a year though.

The pass rate has historically been pretty High -- among the high SES kids. as for the data being available -- schools don't provide it - not even to teachers. You have to ask individual students how they did, or raid the principal's office.

How on earth can a teacher who's teaching an AP course improve if they don't know how students did?

FWIW I'm a BASIS parent. Our teachers and admins have access to student scores a couple days before students but cannot tell students or families ahead of the scores going live on the student portal. Really odd that DCPS would restrict teacher access to this information.

As far as I know, teachers get the scores and know which student got which score

[Anonymous]

I don't hold Ms Martin accountable for the PARCC scores at this stage, but I think the timing of exams needs to be reworked. Kids sitting AP Calc shouldn't have to stress about Geometry PARCC when they are trying to run through a timed practice AP...Also, I think PARCC should test the student the year they take that class, not 3 yrs later

[Anonymous]

Taking the test has no impact on a student's grade, so why should it matter?

Honest questions, and kids don't care about integrity etc.