PARCC results: how will they be communicated to families?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP was pointing out that not only does BASIS compress the PARCC into a couple of days (unlike every other school in DC) but it also does additional, shorter, and more effective standardized testing.

Other schools/DCPS should be looking at this model.

Everyone can and should have shorter and more efficient testing. Nothing will change with DCPS until parents make enough noise. You have a mayor in charge who knows nothing about education. The “chancellor” is her mouthpiece. The central office staff is full of Teach for America alum who taught for 2-3 years (with assistance) and are now the supposed experts in education. Based on what I’ve seen as an educator, I would never enroll my child in DCPS. Teachers aren’t perfect, but many of us are trying. We can only do so much with what we’re given.

It seems crazy to write off an entire school system because you don't like their testing strategy. And while I don't disagree with your assessments of the mayor/chancellor/central office, my experience with DCPS is that the teachers are often phenomenal and that if you find a school with a strong administration, they will successfully mitigate the negatives about district oversight and it can be a wonderful place to educate your child. I'd put many DCPS schools in the district well above most charters in this respect, where it can be extremely hit or miss. The level of teaching across the board in DCPS is very strong, and that's something I value highly.

Pretty much all school systems have flaws, and DCPS is not different. But it's odd to just reject it out of hand because of the testing policy and some of the dysfunction out of central office.

You seem not to understand how the charters are set up. Each one is it's own LEA. By design there are varying approaches, and by extension, levels of success. Your suggestion that "many DCPS schools" are strong but charters are uneven is weird. DCPS is supposed to be one system, charters not.

To be clear, I don't disagree that charters and DCPS have varying degrees of success. I just take issue with the way you selectively allow for individual DCPS schools within the same system to have different outcomes but try and group "charters" together.

No, I understand how charters work. But we’re discussing multiple components of a school’s success (or failure). DCPS has some drawbacks, including the way they do standardized testing and some poor leadership. My point is that, on the plus side is some phenomenal teachers and great administrators, among other features. If you are at a school with a strong staff and administration and a committed community, I’ve found it more than outweighs DCPS’s negatives. We also have experience with charters in DC, and found the teaching and admin inferior to our DCPS experience in some ways.

My general impression is that DCPS does ECE and early elementary very well, and then is uneven across the district once you get to upper elementary, and that issue increases as the grades go up. Meaning there are still great schools, but also some terrible schools. I’m glad DC has school choice for this reason, because it offers options to families who can’t find ways into the better MS/HS options. But I would never write off DCPS as a whole. You’d miss out on some really great schools that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP was pointing out that not only does BASIS compress the PARCC into a couple of days (unlike every other school in DC) but it also does additional, shorter, and more effective standardized testing.

Other schools/DCPS should be looking at this model.

Everyone can and should have shorter and more efficient testing. Nothing will change with DCPS until parents make enough noise. You have a mayor in charge who knows nothing about education. The “chancellor” is her mouthpiece. The central office staff is full of Teach for America alum who taught for 2-3 years (with assistance) and are now the supposed experts in education. Based on what I’ve seen as an educator, I would never enroll my child in DCPS. Teachers aren’t perfect, but many of us are trying. We can only do so much with what we’re given.

It seems crazy to write off an entire school system because you don't like their testing strategy. And while I don't disagree with your assessments of the mayor/chancellor/central office, my experience with DCPS is that the teachers are often phenomenal and that if you find a school with a strong administration, they will successfully mitigate the negatives about district oversight and it can be a wonderful place to educate your child. I'd put many DCPS schools in the district well above most charters in this respect, where it can be extremely hit or miss. The level of teaching across the board in DCPS is very strong, and that's something I value highly.

Pretty much all school systems have flaws, and DCPS is not different. But it's odd to just reject it out of hand because of the testing policy and some of the dysfunction out of central office.

You seem not to understand how the charters are set up. Each one is it's own LEA. By design there are varying approaches, and by extension, levels of success. Your suggestion that "many DCPS schools" are strong but charters are uneven is weird. DCPS is supposed to be one system, charters not.

To be clear, I don't disagree that charters and DCPS have varying degrees of success. I just take issue with the way you selectively allow for individual DCPS schools within the same system to have different outcomes but try and group "charters" together.

No, I understand how charters work. But we’re discussing multiple components of a school’s success (or failure). DCPS has some drawbacks, including the way they do standardized testing and some poor leadership. My point is that, on the plus side is some phenomenal teachers and great administrators, among other features. If you are at a school with a strong staff and administration and a committed community, I’ve found it more than outweighs DCPS’s negatives. We also have experience with charters in DC, and found the teaching and admin inferior to our DCPS experience in some ways.

My general impression is that DCPS does ECE and early elementary very well, and then is uneven across the district once you get to upper elementary, and that issue increases as the grades go up. Meaning there are still great schools, but also some terrible schools. I’m glad DC has school choice for this reason, because it offers options to families who can’t find ways into the better MS/HS options. But I would never write off DCPS as a whole. You’d miss out on some really great schools that way.

Who is doing that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP was pointing out that not only does BASIS compress the PARCC into a couple of days (unlike every other school in DC) but it also does additional, shorter, and more effective standardized testing.

Other schools/DCPS should be looking at this model.

Everyone can and should have shorter and more efficient testing. Nothing will change with DCPS until parents make enough noise. You have a mayor in charge who knows nothing about education. The “chancellor” is her mouthpiece. The central office staff is full of Teach for America alum who taught for 2-3 years (with assistance) and are now the supposed experts in education. Based on what I’ve seen as an educator, I would never enroll my child in DCPS. Teachers aren’t perfect, but many of us are trying. We can only do so much with what we’re given.

It seems crazy to write off an entire school system because you don't like their testing strategy. And while I don't disagree with your assessments of the mayor/chancellor/central office, my experience with DCPS is that the teachers are often phenomenal and that if you find a school with a strong administration, they will successfully mitigate the negatives about district oversight and it can be a wonderful place to educate your child. I'd put many DCPS schools in the district well above most charters in this respect, where it can be extremely hit or miss. The level of teaching across the board in DCPS is very strong, and that's something I value highly.

Pretty much all school systems have flaws, and DCPS is not different. But it's odd to just reject it out of hand because of the testing policy and some of the dysfunction out of central office.

You seem not to understand how the charters are set up. Each one is it's own LEA. By design there are varying approaches, and by extension, levels of success. Your suggestion that "many DCPS schools" are strong but charters are uneven is weird. DCPS is supposed to be one system, charters not.

To be clear, I don't disagree that charters and DCPS have varying degrees of success. I just take issue with the way you selectively allow for individual DCPS schools within the same system to have different outcomes but try and group "charters" together.

No, I understand how charters work. But we’re discussing multiple components of a school’s success (or failure). DCPS has some drawbacks, including the way they do standardized testing and some poor leadership. My point is that, on the plus side is some phenomenal teachers and great administrators, among other features. If you are at a school with a strong staff and administration and a committed community, I’ve found it more than outweighs DCPS’s negatives. We also have experience with charters in DC, and found the teaching and admin inferior to our DCPS experience in some ways.

My general impression is that DCPS does ECE and early elementary very well, and then is uneven across the district once you get to upper elementary, and that issue increases as the grades go up. Meaning there are still great schools, but also some terrible schools. I’m glad DC has school choice for this reason, because it offers options to families who can’t find ways into the better MS/HS options. But I would never write off DCPS as a whole. You’d miss out on some really great schools that way.

This post was about testing, so that’s where I left it as to stay on topic. I stand by what I said. The charter issue in itself is problematic. There are far too many schools in this district. Far too many.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


PP has some serious issues regarding BASIS. BASIS does not control what students come through its doors. Complaining that a school is a great example and has high scores sounds ironic and desperate in a city lacking quality MS and HS. When my in-boundary MS and HS reach BASIS proficiency levels I'll do a rethink. Remember jealousy is a curse.

Actually, if you look at 6th grade scores across schools, Basis doesn't seem all that great, especially for ELA. Our kid was in Basis through 6th, and we decided to leave for a variety of reasons, one of which was the English curriculum (with an extreme focus on grammar and very little writing or reading). It's harder to compare Basis to other schools after 6th, given that many kids get weeded out due to the comps. Kids who are still at Basis by 8th or 9th are probably pretty good at taking tests.

6th grade ELA:
Deal 71
Hardy 67
Oyster 62
Inspired 61
Latin 60
Basis 57

6th grade Math:
Deal 62
Latin 56
Basis 55
Hardy 49
Inspired 43

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP was pointing out that not only does BASIS compress the PARCC into a couple of days (unlike every other school in DC) but it also does additional, shorter, and more effective standardized testing.

Other schools/DCPS should be looking at this model.

Everyone can and should have shorter and more efficient testing. Nothing will change with DCPS until parents make enough noise. You have a mayor in charge who knows nothing about education. The “chancellor” is her mouthpiece. The central office staff is full of Teach for America alum who taught for 2-3 years (with assistance) and are now the supposed experts in education. Based on what I’ve seen as an educator, I would never enroll my child in DCPS. Teachers aren’t perfect, but many of us are trying. We can only do so much with what we’re given.

It seems crazy to write off an entire school system because you don't like their testing strategy. And while I don't disagree with your assessments of the mayor/chancellor/central office, my experience with DCPS is that the teachers are often phenomenal and that if you find a school with a strong administration, they will successfully mitigate the negatives about district oversight and it can be a wonderful place to educate your child. I'd put many DCPS schools in the district well above most charters in this respect, where it can be extremely hit or miss. The level of teaching across the board in DCPS is very strong, and that's something I value highly.

Pretty much all school systems have flaws, and DCPS is not different. But it's odd to just reject it out of hand because of the testing policy and some of the dysfunction out of central office.

You seem not to understand how the charters are set up. Each one is it's own LEA. By design there are varying approaches, and by extension, levels of success. Your suggestion that "many DCPS schools" are strong but charters are uneven is weird. DCPS is supposed to be one system, charters not.

To be clear, I don't disagree that charters and DCPS have varying degrees of success. I just take issue with the way you selectively allow for individual DCPS schools within the same system to have different outcomes but try and group "charters" together.

No, I understand how charters work. But we’re discussing multiple components of a school’s success (or failure). DCPS has some drawbacks, including the way they do standardized testing and some poor leadership. My point is that, on the plus side is some phenomenal teachers and great administrators, among other features. If you are at a school with a strong staff and administration and a committed community, I’ve found it more than outweighs DCPS’s negatives. We also have experience with charters in DC, and found the teaching and admin inferior to our DCPS experience in some ways.

My general impression is that DCPS does ECE and early elementary very well, and then is uneven across the district once you get to upper elementary, and that issue increases as the grades go up. Meaning there are still great schools, but also some terrible schools. I’m glad DC has school choice for this reason, because it offers options to families who can’t find ways into the better MS/HS options. But I would never write off DCPS as a whole. You’d miss out on some really great schools that way.

Who is doing that?

The PP above who said “based on my experience as an educator, I would never enroll my child in DCPS.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP was pointing out that not only does BASIS compress the PARCC into a couple of days (unlike every other school in DC) but it also does additional, shorter, and more effective standardized testing.

Other schools/DCPS should be looking at this model.

Everyone can and should have shorter and more efficient testing. Nothing will change with DCPS until parents make enough noise. You have a mayor in charge who knows nothing about education. The “chancellor” is her mouthpiece. The central office staff is full of Teach for America alum who taught for 2-3 years (with assistance) and are now the supposed experts in education. Based on what I’ve seen as an educator, I would never enroll my child in DCPS. Teachers aren’t perfect, but many of us are trying. We can only do so much with what we’re given.

It seems crazy to write off an entire school system because you don't like their testing strategy. And while I don't disagree with your assessments of the mayor/chancellor/central office, my experience with DCPS is that the teachers are often phenomenal and that if you find a school with a strong administration, they will successfully mitigate the negatives about district oversight and it can be a wonderful place to educate your child. I'd put many DCPS schools in the district well above most charters in this respect, where it can be extremely hit or miss. The level of teaching across the board in DCPS is very strong, and that's something I value highly.

Pretty much all school systems have flaws, and DCPS is not different. But it's odd to just reject it out of hand because of the testing policy and some of the dysfunction out of central office.

You seem not to understand how the charters are set up. Each one is it's own LEA. By design there are varying approaches, and by extension, levels of success. Your suggestion that "many DCPS schools" are strong but charters are uneven is weird. DCPS is supposed to be one system, charters not.

To be clear, I don't disagree that charters and DCPS have varying degrees of success. I just take issue with the way you selectively allow for individual DCPS schools within the same system to have different outcomes but try and group "charters" together.

No, I understand how charters work. But we’re discussing multiple components of a school’s success (or failure). DCPS has some drawbacks, including the way they do standardized testing and some poor leadership. My point is that, on the plus side is some phenomenal teachers and great administrators, among other features. If you are at a school with a strong staff and administration and a committed community, I’ve found it more than outweighs DCPS’s negatives. We also have experience with charters in DC, and found the teaching and admin inferior to our DCPS experience in some ways.

My general impression is that DCPS does ECE and early elementary very well, and then is uneven across the district once you get to upper elementary, and that issue increases as the grades go up. Meaning there are still great schools, but also some terrible schools. I’m glad DC has school choice for this reason, because it offers options to families who can’t find ways into the better MS/HS options. But I would never write off DCPS as a whole. You’d miss out on some really great schools that way.

Who is doing that?

The PP above who said “based on my experience as an educator, I would never enroll my child in DCPS.”

NP. She said she would never enroll her kid in DCPS due to all the people running the show who know nothing about education with very little actual experience in the classroom, in addition to all the focus on standardized testing. As an educator, she knows what is actually going on in the classroom, what teachers are able to do or not, the curriculum, etc…

DCPS is a huge dysfunctional bureaucracy and no, it’s not a good school system. It’s not even mediocre. ECE and early elementary is easy to do anywhere. It’s upper elementary but more important middle and high school where the rubber hits the road and DCPS stinks. No tracking in all subjects, kids 4-5 grade levels apart in the same classroom due to social promotions,, restorative justice BS where class disruptions have absolutely no consequences, etc…. If things were so great, 1/2 the families in the city wouldn’t leave the system.

Some families might have a good experience but really even the best IB middle and high school in the system is mediocre at best.

She is right, nothing will change until parents make enough noise. They don’t because people of PP above. Just like people who use charter as a scapegoat as to why DCPS can’t be better. If only middle and UMC families stayed in the system, then DCPS will be fine. No, they would just move to the burbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


PP has some serious issues regarding BASIS. BASIS does not control what students come through its doors. Complaining that a school is a great example and has high scores sounds ironic and desperate in a city lacking quality MS and HS. When my in-boundary MS and HS reach BASIS proficiency levels I'll do a rethink. Remember jealousy is a curse.

Actually, if you look at 6th grade scores across schools, Basis doesn't seem all that great, especially for ELA. Our kid was in Basis through 6th, and we decided to leave for a variety of reasons, one of which was the English curriculum (with an extreme focus on grammar and very little writing or reading). It's harder to compare Basis to other schools after 6th, given that many kids get weeded out due to the comps. Kids who are still at Basis by 8th or 9th are probably pretty good at taking tests.

6th grade ELA:
Deal 71
Hardy 67
Oyster 62
Inspired 61
Latin 60
Basis 57

6th grade Math:
Deal 62
Latin 56
Basis 55
Hardy 49
Inspired 43

It seems you are implying that kids at BASIS in 8th or 9th are simply good at taking tests rather than having actual subject knowledge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


PP has some serious issues regarding BASIS. BASIS does not control what students come through its doors. Complaining that a school is a great example and has high scores sounds ironic and desperate in a city lacking quality MS and HS. When my in-boundary MS and HS reach BASIS proficiency levels I'll do a rethink. Remember jealousy is a curse.

Actually, if you look at 6th grade scores across schools, Basis doesn't seem all that great, especially for ELA. Our kid was in Basis through 6th, and we decided to leave for a variety of reasons, one of which was the English curriculum (with an extreme focus on grammar and very little writing or reading). It's harder to compare Basis to other schools after 6th, given that many kids get weeded out due to the comps. Kids who are still at Basis by 8th or 9th are probably pretty good at taking tests.

6th grade ELA:
Deal 71
Hardy 67
Oyster 62
Inspired 61
Latin 60
Basis 57

6th grade Math:
Deal 62
Latin 56
Basis 55
Hardy 49
Inspired 43

Just so I understand your position, the scores are indicative of something until they get too high, then they reflect nothing more than "how well one takes a test." I would like to learn more about how test strategies can overcome not knowing material.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


PP has some serious issues regarding BASIS. BASIS does not control what students come through its doors. Complaining that a school is a great example and has high scores sounds ironic and desperate in a city lacking quality MS and HS. When my in-boundary MS and HS reach BASIS proficiency levels I'll do a rethink. Remember jealousy is a curse.

Actually, if you look at 6th grade scores across schools, Basis doesn't seem all that great, especially for ELA. Our kid was in Basis through 6th, and we decided to leave for a variety of reasons, one of which was the English curriculum (with an extreme focus on grammar and very little writing or reading). It's harder to compare Basis to other schools after 6th, given that many kids get weeded out due to the comps. Kids who are still at Basis by 8th or 9th are probably pretty good at taking tests.

6th grade ELA:
Deal 71
Hardy 67
Oyster 62
Inspired 61
Latin 60
Basis 57

6th grade Math:
Deal 62
Latin 56
Basis 55
Hardy 49
Inspired 43

It seems you are implying that kids at BASIS in 8th or 9th are simply good at taking tests rather than having actual subject knowledge.

If it is true that schools could not teach material and just teach "test taking" then it isn't an indictment of BASIS, rather, of every other school for failing to figure this out. Apparently it is just that easy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


PP has some serious issues regarding BASIS. BASIS does not control what students come through its doors. Complaining that a school is a great example and has high scores sounds ironic and desperate in a city lacking quality MS and HS. When my in-boundary MS and HS reach BASIS proficiency levels I'll do a rethink. Remember jealousy is a curse.

Actually, if you look at 6th grade scores across schools, Basis doesn't seem all that great, especially for ELA. Our kid was in Basis through 6th, and we decided to leave for a variety of reasons, one of which was the English curriculum (with an extreme focus on grammar and very little writing or reading). It's harder to compare Basis to other schools after 6th, given that many kids get weeded out due to the comps. Kids who are still at Basis by 8th or 9th are probably pretty good at taking tests.

6th grade ELA:
Deal 71
Hardy 67
Oyster 62
Inspired 61
Latin 60
Basis 57

6th grade Math:
Deal 62
Latin 56
Basis 55
Hardy 49
Inspired 43

Would love to see this data for 8th graders - would give a better picture beginning to end of Middle School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


PP has some serious issues regarding BASIS. BASIS does not control what students come through its doors. Complaining that a school is a great example and has high scores sounds ironic and desperate in a city lacking quality MS and HS. When my in-boundary MS and HS reach BASIS proficiency levels I'll do a rethink. Remember jealousy is a curse.

Actually, if you look at 6th grade scores across schools, Basis doesn't seem all that great, especially for ELA. Our kid was in Basis through 6th, and we decided to leave for a variety of reasons, one of which was the English curriculum (with an extreme focus on grammar and very little writing or reading). It's harder to compare Basis to other schools after 6th, given that many kids get weeded out due to the comps. Kids who are still at Basis by 8th or 9th are probably pretty good at taking tests.

6th grade ELA:
Deal 71
Hardy 67
Oyster 62
Inspired 61
Latin 60
Basis 57

6th grade Math:
Deal 62
Latin 56
Basis 55
Hardy 49
Inspired 43

Basis is a 100% lottery school that draws from all of DC. Deal is mostly in-bounds and draws from wealthy upper NW. And if you look at 6th grade, you are missing the point—the kids haven’t been at middle school that long. Also, you are looking at proficiency rather than looking at what percentage of kids are testing above grade level.

Take a look the 8th grade numbers, which you probably looked at but didn’t bother to cite.

For example, compare Basis to Deal, your top-listed school. This is after most kids have been at both schools for almost 4 years.

8th grade ELA (4 or 5):

Basis 85.22
Deal 71.81

8th grade math (4 or 5):

Basis 73.03
Deal 53.33

As you can see, 8th grade Basis students are far ahead of Deal students in both ELA and math. The fact is that Basis does a far better job teaching advanced English and math than Deal and other schools in DCPS.

If you think that these results are just because older Basis students are “probably pretty good at taking tests,” that is a dumb take. I would also add that there is not much grammar after 6th grade, so your point about English classes is based on an incorrect assumption as well.

The bottom line is that your kid didn’t do well at Basis and dropped out after 6th grade, and is probably at Deal. So, you need to rationalize your decision by citing misleading numbers.

Basis has its faults. But it is by far the best choice for parents in DC with academically minded kids.

[Anonymous]

So funny watching parents waste all this time justifying their self worth. “My kids school is smarter than yours”
Lol I could read 30 pages of this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


PP has some serious issues regarding BASIS. BASIS does not control what students come through its doors. Complaining that a school is a great example and has high scores sounds ironic and desperate in a city lacking quality MS and HS. When my in-boundary MS and HS reach BASIS proficiency levels I'll do a rethink. Remember jealousy is a curse.

Actually, if you look at 6th grade scores across schools, Basis doesn't seem all that great, especially for ELA. Our kid was in Basis through 6th, and we decided to leave for a variety of reasons, one of which was the English curriculum (with an extreme focus on grammar and very little writing or reading). It's harder to compare Basis to other schools after 6th, given that many kids get weeded out due to the comps. Kids who are still at Basis by 8th or 9th are probably pretty good at taking tests.

6th grade ELA:
Deal 71
Hardy 67
Oyster 62
Inspired 61
Latin 60
Basis 57

6th grade Math:
Deal 62
Latin 56
Basis 55
Hardy 49
Inspired 43

Would love to see this data for 8th graders - would give a better picture beginning to end of Middle School

8th grade ELA (4s and 5s only)
Deal 66% (445 students)
Hardy 61% (150 students)
Basis 85% (88 students)

Math seems more complicated as it splits out into tracks (8th graders may be taking 8th grade or Algebra 1 or Geometry PARCCs). So it is not clear whether the 48% of Deal students that scored a 4 or a 5 include the ones from Algebra/Geometry (essentially the entire set of Alg 1/Geo students). If so, then it would imply that essentially none of the kids in 8th grade math scored higher than a 3 but I likely did something wrong in wrangling with the Excel.

8th grade Math (4s and 5s only):
Deal 48% (out of 445 students)
Hardy 40% (out of 150 students)
Basis 72% (out of 89 students)

Algebra 1 (4s and 5s only)
Deal 60% (out of 219 students)
Hardy 74% (out of 55 students)

Geometry (4s and 5s only)
Deal 95% (out of 89 students)
Hardy 66+% (out of 15 students)

Filtering the sheet for Basis students in middle school taking the Alg 1/Geometry PARCC returned no results.

[Anonymous]

Does BASIS take students after fifth grade admittance?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does BASIS take students after fifth grade admittance?

Negative.