Basis fills a gap that shouldn’t exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I don’t think DC public schools should do anything in regards to privileged UMC types. Basis is just ridiculous in concept (and should not exist), but so is the idea of “differentiation” at any other school, which is just segregation by another name. OP is clearly a segregationist, but no worse than the rest of you who can’t stand to see your kids educated next to the poors. Shameful.

If you want public schools to work, then you need to attract the UMC not turn them off. That means we need options for parents that want both academic rigor and don’t mind sharing space with poors.

It would also help if we applied sales tax to private school tuition and better funded schools.

There is no such thing as a poorly funded school in Washington DC.

Just bring back tracking. Neighborhood schools should be able to accommodate kids who want to go to Harvard and kids who want to be plumbers.

Probably a lot of BASIS kids would stay at their local schools if they offered an honors track.

Ironically, Basis doesn’t track. Gives all access to advanced material. The equity folks should love it but still complain.

BASIS *is* the track. Instead of tracking within schools, we have tracking by schools. High performing kids self select themselves out of their neighborhood schools and go to BASIS.

Yes - but no one is turned away on the front end.

[Anonymous]

Deal with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have always found highly educated DC parents to be remarkably blasé about the lack of tracking and differentiation in DCPS. It is a pretty outrageous system that does not come close to meeting the needs of advanced students.

Our Capitol Hill MS has advanced math tracks, but puts all the kids together in every other subject. It is absurd, and it’s not good for the advanced learners to be in class with kids who can’t keep up, nor for kids who need a slower pace or more help to have to share teacher’s time with kids who are way ahead.

Unfortunately, we lost the lotto.

Tracking is a good thing, not a bad thing. It's like not the kids don't know who's smart. When I was their age, all the kids knew who was the smartest kid in class and who was the dumbest and who was pretty smart but would outwork anyone and who was smart but incredibly lazy and who was perfectly average. It's no secret to the students which kids belong where. It's the parent's feelings and political leanings that are the problem.

Underrated comment. I agree with this -- kids don't mind (in our DCPS elementary school, they pull the kids into different groups based on their ability for math and reading, everyone knows the hierarchy, and no one minds). The city is uncomfortable with it, and the parents will bring their insecurities in, too.

Kids may not mind but most parents would throw a fit if their UMC child was in the lower groups. They seem to have a hard time recognizing their kids are average or below average. Thus they either push administration to move their kid up or use outside means. It doesn’t work as well as you think.

The worst part is when that kid gets accelerated and then cannot handle the harder work and the parents are in denial.

I understand this problem. However, it's throwing out the babey with the bath water. Messing up education for all kids because of a few parents are meddlesome is not exactly serving the kids well.

[Anonymous]

anybody knows if Basis's expansion to first grade approved?

[Anonymous]

It’s a great fit for a critical mass of kids. That’s really all that matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:anybody knows if Basis's expansion to first grade approved?

You can look at the transcript for the PCSB meeting September 16, 2024. It's an interesting read. Weirdly, BASIS' application included a growth plan that they weren't actually willing to implement. But that is what was approved. They could try again to get some other growth plan approved, of course.

If they do find a building, that location would also need to be approved by the PCSB.

[Anonymous]

And another Basis booster thread re-started…….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:anybody knows if Basis's expansion to first grade approved?

Actually, the expansion is K-4.

PCSB approved the expansion but Basis still has to figure out if they will agree to staggered expansion as approved. They also need to get a building. So, everything seems on hold for now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And another Basis booster thread re-started…….

Another Basis whiner posts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually think BASIS should just be an application school. Some kind of entrance exam and if you pass it, you can lottery for it. But then require them to backfill when kids leave. Then they can keep their standards but it functions as a real option for kids prepared for academic rigor who want that kind of school.

I am a happy BASIS parent. Bolded is a TERRIBLE idea. The BASIS model (across the country with a large sample size) says that every kid can succeed in a rigorous environment if provided support and early enough intervention. Testing at 5th grade (or earlier) just perpetuates systemic advantages of wealth and 2 family, 2 income households. The solution is not making it test in. The solution is twofold:

1. Let them open an elementary school so more kids from wider swaths of the city and socioeconomic groups develop the background to succeed
2. Let them give placement (NOT admission) tests so matched older kids can be met where they are in their learning and placed in the proper grade for where they are in their academic journey

This is naive because what you seem not to understand is that a BASIS elementary would simply serve as a "test in" substitute because students who don't have enough support would not do well at that elementary school and thus would not advance to the middle school.

The current system already perpetuates systemic advantages of wealthy and 2-parent, 2-income households. It just hides behind the lottery. The reality is that kids who arrive at BASIS in 5th who don't have good support at home and, ideally, educated parents, do poorly and leave. And many kids never even go to BASIS in the first place because of this. Also BASIS asks a lot of parents in terms of financial contributions, and that culture also pushes out families with less money. But because BASIS can say "we're a lottery school, we take all comers," it can pretend it is offering equitable education. It is not.

Also, read the PP. The idea is not to have an entrance exam at 5th, but to have a screening exam for kids joining at any grade. And to force backfill. So not some 5th grade entrance exam, but a proficiency exam for any kid entering at any grade to make sure they could handle the basic coursework. This would offer MORE opportunities to kids from other socioeconomic levels because instead of BASIS entrance depending on having the kind of parent or guardian who (1) knows what BASIS is and is prepared to lottery for 5th, and (2) can manage the commute downtown for a 10 year old, older kids could lottery into BASIS after passing the entrance exam, which would enable MS and HS kids who have the skills and motivation to move to BASIS on their own impetus or via support from other adults. And they can ride the bus or metro and take that on. As it currently stands, teens in DC are essentially locked out of BASIS. Think about what this means for students across the city who don't have the sort of parent/advocate who plans their schooling 5 years in advance and knows how to navigate systems easily.

The placement exam that would put kids in another grade based on their level is a no go because it ignores the fact that public education serves multiple purposes. You can't put a 15 year old in a 6th grade classroom. It would not work for that kid and it wouldn't work for that classroom. Be realistic.

You need to be pragmatic and not operate with pie in the sky ideals about the education system or what life is like for the average public school student in DC. We need real solutions that give kids a chance to get an education that make sense for the life they are actually living and prepares them for the life they will actually lead. I think if you talked to low income families throughout the city, you'd learn there would be a lot of interst/support in the model I'm outlining because there are many families who want more rigorous education for their kids but who are not part of this UMC professional pipeline in the city that funnels mostly certain types of kids into and through schools like BASIS. You need democratizing methods and the way BASIS currently works is the opposite of democratizing. It's self selection.

But the current system does allow for teens who are "locked out of" or rather, choose not to, go to BASIS. There are lots of application high schools in DC -- Walls, Banneker, Duke Ellington, McKinley Tech, Phelps Engineering, etc. Many students take advantage of these schools and receive an excellent education that prepares them for the life they will actually lead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually think BASIS should just be an application school. Some kind of entrance exam and if you pass it, you can lottery for it. But then require them to backfill when kids leave. Then they can keep their standards but it functions as a real option for kids prepared for academic rigor who want that kind of school.

I am a happy BASIS parent. Bolded is a TERRIBLE idea. The BASIS model (across the country with a large sample size) says that every kid can succeed in a rigorous environment if provided support and early enough intervention. Testing at 5th grade (or earlier) just perpetuates systemic advantages of wealth and 2 family, 2 income households. The solution is not making it test in. The solution is twofold:

1. Let them open an elementary school so more kids from wider swaths of the city and socioeconomic groups develop the background to succeed
2. Let them give placement (NOT admission) tests so matched older kids can be met where they are in their learning and placed in the proper grade for where they are in their academic journey

This is naive because what you seem not to understand is that a BASIS elementary would simply serve as a "test in" substitute because students who don't have enough support would not do well at that elementary school and thus would not advance to the middle school.

The current system already perpetuates systemic advantages of wealthy and 2-parent, 2-income households. It just hides behind the lottery. The reality is that kids who arrive at BASIS in 5th who don't have good support at home and, ideally, educated parents, do poorly and leave. And many kids never even go to BASIS in the first place because of this. Also BASIS asks a lot of parents in terms of financial contributions, and that culture also pushes out families with less money. But because BASIS can say "we're a lottery school, we take all comers," it can pretend it is offering equitable education. It is not.

Also, read the PP. The idea is not to have an entrance exam at 5th, but to have a screening exam for kids joining at any grade. And to force backfill. So not some 5th grade entrance exam, but a proficiency exam for any kid entering at any grade to make sure they could handle the basic coursework. This would offer MORE opportunities to kids from other socioeconomic levels because instead of BASIS entrance depending on having the kind of parent or guardian who (1) knows what BASIS is and is prepared to lottery for 5th, and (2) can manage the commute downtown for a 10 year old, older kids could lottery into BASIS after passing the entrance exam, which would enable MS and HS kids who have the skills and motivation to move to BASIS on their own impetus or via support from other adults. And they can ride the bus or metro and take that on. As it currently stands, teens in DC are essentially locked out of BASIS. Think about what this means for students across the city who don't have the sort of parent/advocate who plans their schooling 5 years in advance and knows how to navigate systems easily.

The placement exam that would put kids in another grade based on their level is a no go because it ignores the fact that public education serves multiple purposes. You can't put a 15 year old in a 6th grade classroom. It would not work for that kid and it wouldn't work for that classroom. Be realistic.

You need to be pragmatic and not operate with pie in the sky ideals about the education system or what life is like for the average public school student in DC. We need real solutions that give kids a chance to get an education that make sense for the life they are actually living and prepares them for the life they will actually lead. I think if you talked to low income families throughout the city, you'd learn there would be a lot of interst/support in the model I'm outlining because there are many families who want more rigorous education for their kids but who are not part of this UMC professional pipeline in the city that funnels mostly certain types of kids into and through schools like BASIS. You need democratizing methods and the way BASIS currently works is the opposite of democratizing. It's self selection.

But the current system does allow for teens who are "locked out of" or rather, choose not to, go to BASIS. There are lots of application high schools in DC -- Walls, Banneker, Duke Ellington, McKinley Tech, Phelps Engineering, etc. Many students take advantage of these schools and receive an excellent education that prepares them for the life they will actually lead.

I don't know what PP means by "life they will actually lead" but do agree that these high schools provide a great education and that many students do apply and go to them.

[Anonymous]

I'd add CHEC and Bard Early College to that list, as well as the IB program at Eastern.

[Anonymous]

Basis a chain charter school that just kicks out low performing students whenever they wish, usually after count day. A non-title 1 school, yes they work soooo hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Basis a chain charter school that just kicks out low performing students whenever they wish, usually after count day. A non-title 1 school, yes they work soooo hard.

Of course - for many this is a feature not a bug. It’s not about Basis being so great in the abstract. It’s that a critical mass of families have free access to an academic environment that meets their kids where they are at, albeit imperfectly.

Some of us have experienced the converse of classrooms weighed down by the need to (understandably and rightly) cater to high-need students and accommodate huge ability and behavioral gaps.

Basis isn’t perfect, but it’s a decidedly less chaotic environment for my kid, and oddly much less stress, compared to the HRCS (but still Title 1) we came from. Not for everyone, but it’s been great for our family.

And no, I don’t think than necessarily makes Basis “better” than any other school in the abstract —- just well-suited for my kid (and many others).

[Anonymous]

I was sold on BASIS filling the gap until my eldest switched to a parochial high school. He wasn't nearly as used to giving presentations, or working in groups, or diving deep into topics, or doing research, or reading at least one book a week as most of his classmates. Hint: none of those methods of learning feature heavily in BASIS' AP prep focused curriculum. He also wasn't used to having to play a sport, every day. The other students who'd come out of BASIS at his school were in the same boat. He adjusted, but it took him all of freshman year.

Be careful what you believe about a BASIS education, folks. In our experience, the narrowness of the curriculum and weak facilities create as many gaps as they fill. Denying this only works so well. BASIS trains kids to do well on tests. Not much more.