Underwhelming appearance by Principal Martin at Wilson HS Open House

[Anonymous]

So the only way Wilson scores could have dropped is because the students purposely threw the test? No chance that the emperor has no clothes?

[Anonymous]

What makes Wilson different? I've said it a million times: Wilson kids are allowed to fail. They're allowed to say, "fuck it, this is stupid." You know what happens to sww and Banneker kids who do that? I suspect theyd be counciled to elsewhere, or pegged as oppositional.

And I take no sides in this: I am a wilson-type person, and I'm raising another one. But I try and see things as they are and the real question I have that I wish to hell Wed all address is: why are we so hard on the sww and Banneker kids? Why are we forcing them into this unnatural rigidity, this confirm or fail, this, you're the best or nothing mentality?

Because it is depressing as hell.

[Anonymous]

Counseled, not counciled. Obviously. Apologies, phone correcting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So the only way Wilson scores could have dropped is because the students purposely threw the test? No chance that the emperor has no clothes?

When the Wilson proctors report significant numbers of students finishing in 5 minutes, it's pretty clear that it isn't about their proficiency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the only way Wilson scores could have dropped is because the students purposely threw the test? No chance that the emperor has no clothes?

When the Wilson proctors report significant numbers of students finishing in 5 minutes, it's pretty clear that it isn't about their proficiency.

I wonder if throwing the test is more about the parents' anxiety and feeling pressure around the test? Particularly the parent in this thread or another related one who said she told her child to finish quickly and to pick answers randomly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the only way Wilson scores could have dropped is because the students purposely threw the test? No chance that the emperor has no clothes?

When the Wilson proctors report significant numbers of students finishing in 5 minutes, it's pretty clear that it isn't about their proficiency.

But the WaPo article says that the rate of participation was not much different than last year. Is that incorrect? I suppose the participation rate doesn't take into account those kids who did participate but only spent 5 minutes taking the test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it reflects all that poorly on the school, unless you choose to only assume the kids didn't take the test because of some silly reason. These kids have been tested constantly, for years. They are told in elementary school, when they take 4 or 5 practice tests throughout the year, that it matter for their teachers, the school, whatever. Then they are tested again multiple times in middle school. Then they finally get to HS, where there are some tests that do matter, and they are still tested like they have been since elementary school. Throughout this entire process, they have seen very little change resulting from all these tests. It's no wonder they question the need for the PARCC. I suppose they should have risen above it all and taken it seriously, but that's expecting an awful lot from teenagers whose entire academic experience has shown them these kinds of tests don't do much more than make their teachers nervous.

I do think DCPS needs a way to assess how well their students are doing; but, once they have done so, they need to actually try to implement some policies that address whatever they feel is lacking as a result of these tests. That's the point. Just administering a different test, or more tests, doesn't do anything unless they are willing to adapt a curriculum in a way that starts to show some kind of real improvement.

Seriously - DCPS kids take WAY more tests throughout the year than kids in other school districts. I was amazed when I heard parents complaining about all their kids' tests when they just had 3 days a year devoted to them. 2 weeks of prep, and 3 days of test taking a year. That's it. And that was considered too much.

If it's not required by OSSE and some charter schools are not giving the same number of tests, parents should really push back. Not just by seeking an opt-out and when that is not granted, have the kids drop the test. Organize and make a stink about it. I would if I had a child in the testing age. I know it's easier said than done, but still...

This would be a great follow up piece to the WaPo article on the PARCC results and how Wilson tanked so badly.

Ask and you'll receive:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/what-went-wrong-at-dcs-high-achieving-wilson-high-school/2016/09/02/c3b3fd9e-704d-11e6-8533-6b0b0ded0253_story.html

When Buzzbee realized that the review session for AP Chemistry at Wilson High was scheduled last spring at the same time as the PARCC, she felt she had little choice. “Chemistry was such a difficult subject for me and the AP exam is very strenuous,” Buzzbee said. “Me and a lot of people in my class decided not to take the exam and go to the review instead. There was never any explicit reason we were given about why we were supposed to take the (PARCC) exam.

Interviews with several Wilson students and parents showed there was confusion at Wilson last spring swirling around the PARCC exam...Sophie ReVeal, a senior at Wilson, said her parents got a school administrator to remove her from the PARCC testing pool so she wouldn’t have to miss two AP English classes. She said the testing process was disorganized and confusing but shouldn’t reflect poorly on the school’s teachers and student body.

On the day the scores were made public, Kimberly Martin, Wilson’s principal, said she was aware that some students rushed through the English test, spending five or 10 minutes on an exam that is designed to last at least 90 minutes...Asked to elaborate, Martin agreed to an interview with the Post but then cancelled it Thursday.

[Anonymous]

Well hopefully the new WaPo article will spur some change. Better coordination with AP testing, doing away with superfluous testing, and explaining the purpose of the tests to the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well hopefully the new WaPo article will spur some change. Better coordination with AP testing, doing away with superfluous testing, and explaining the purpose of the tests to the kids.

We'll see. These problems were obvious and known BEFORE the kids had to take the tests, yet folks chose to push ahead as if nothing was happenning.

Oops.

[Anonymous]

Too many excuses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Too many excuses.

What do you mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the only way Wilson scores could have dropped is because the students purposely threw the test? No chance that the emperor has no clothes?

When the Wilson proctors report significant numbers of students finishing in 5 minutes, it's pretty clear that it isn't about their proficiency.

But the WaPo article says that the rate of participation was not much different than last year. Is that incorrect? I suppose the participation rate doesn't take into account those kids who did participate but only spent 5 minutes taking the test.

ELA II had 317 test takers in 2015 and 411 in 2016, including a 50% increase in the number or SPED students tested and a 32% increase in the number of at risk students tested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the only way Wilson scores could have dropped is because the students purposely threw the test? No chance that the emperor has no clothes?

When the Wilson proctors report significant numbers of students finishing in 5 minutes, it's pretty clear that it isn't about their proficiency.

But the WaPo article says that the rate of participation was not much different than last year. Is that incorrect? I suppose the participation rate doesn't take into account those kids who did participate but only spent 5 minutes taking the test.

ELA II had 317 test takers in 2015 and 411 in 2016, including a 50% increase in the number or SPED students tested and a 32% increase in the number of at risk students tested.

But that was not real "participation."

Many of those kids apparently showed up and finished the test in 5 minutes.

It destroys the whole purpose of testing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't have a dog in this fight anymore (which probably means I will now get snarky comments), but I think everyone's fretting over something that is almost impossible to fix. If a big enough group of kids at Wilson didn't care about the PARCC because they were worried about AP's, thought it was stupid, thought is didn't really matter to them, then DCPS and Wilson need to work together to figure out a way to make it matter, assuming they in fact think it really does. If the test scores reflect the level of academic rigor at Wilson, or the schools that feed into it, then DCPS as a whole needs to take a new look at their curriculum. Either way, DCPS has to think the scores are worth caring about more than just the 5 minutes after they see them.

I think it's worth noting, though, that kids all over the country thought the test was stupid. Call it test fatigue or irritation that no one does (or can do) anything to fix the curriculum or achievement gap, but kids in many schools either opted out or put little effort into it. Wilson has many issues, but they aren't really all that different in this regard.

Beyond that, well done, Banneker.

Whether students and parents think they are dumb, other states, including Maryland, New Jersey, are making PARCC a graduation requirement. Virginia doesn't use PARCC but has its SOLs.

What makes Wilson different is they are the only cohort of high school students in the city to have, apparently, purposefully tanked the test.

It's the wrong message to send. Testing doesn't end when you finish elementary, middle, and high school. There's the LSAT, GMAT, MCAT. Kids better get use to it. Parents may have counseled their children to bomb the PARCC and focus on the AP. But in the real world, I have a lot of competing priorities at my job, and I can't just leave one project because I think another one is more important.

Right - but DCPS is screwing up PARCC by overtesting everyone.

For the reasons you mention, PARCC is only supposed to be given once, in 10th grade for ELA and whenever the student takes Geometry (that could be 8th, 9th, 10th or 11th for some students). Yes, some students are already taking one AP in 10th, but most APs and SAT/ACTs happen junior and senior year.

For whatever reason DCPS is giving PARCC to everyone, over and over. That isn't what OSSE requires. Of course kids and parents are pushing back. Parents should ask why -- because it goes beyond the 'state' mandate and gives more $ to Pearson.

My now 10th grader at a charter took PARCC in 8th, no PARCC in 9th, and will do it again for the last time this coming spring. Both DC and I can live with that. His AP teachers are aware of the schedule and plan study sessions and practice tests well in advance.

I don't have kids in the testing age but that sounds like overkill. Is there a way for parents to raise this issue with the chancellor or someone else rather than have their kids purposely bomb the test?

Sounds like parents already raised the issue, and were ignored.

Essentially, Wilson students and their parents, of every race and ethnicity, gave a Big Middle Finger to DCPS and to the school administration.

Who's right, who's wrong, doesn't matter. Reflects poorly on the school.

Knowing the full story, I don't think it does and I have no personal connection to Wilson.

Well, knowing the full story, can you please share a few details?

[Anonymous]

Agree