2017-2018 PARCC results

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Yes but they are not any less upper income than the AA population at Ross which is the point. What are you trying to contest? That’s Ross has richer black kids and that’s why they perform as well as their white peers? Or that Janney has lower middle class (not low enough to qualify for FARM) AA than Ross and that’s why they suck with the 36 black kids they do have? I know one thing, as a black mom of a black boy, if I had my choice, I would not enroll my kid at Janney. Also, I know about 20 families at Janney. 4 black, 1 interracial, and 5 white. 3 of the 4 Black are head and shoulders more wealthy with more prestigious careers. But you keep assuming all the black kids at Janney come from households making a modest $70k.

PP here and I am simply wondering why Ross in particular has AA scores higher than comparable schools. Do you really think Ross is doing something so specific and impactful and different from Janney etc. that it increases scores that much in AA students compared to other schools? Rather than perhaps a more likely explanation, like SES differences or random fluctuations in scores? If so, all I can say is that you have more faith in the system than I do, from one black parent to another.

Ross is tiny, for one thing. There are like twelve kids in the fifth grade. As kids leave, the school does not backfill, so lots of fifth graders have been there all along vs. entering later.

And my own personal theory--Ross contains an above-average proportion of only/oldest children. It's very common that a family who lives IB sends their first kid there, but when they have a second kid, they want more space, so they move out of the catchment. So small classes full of the oldest children of educated, involved parents -- not really something that can be replicated.

What it does suggest is that physical plant is not the secret sauce. The Ross building is tiny and old, and they are lacking in facilities common at other schools. Not to say that physical plant doesn't matter, but clearly it's not a critical component of academic success.

Maybe it just comes down to really good teacher ratios. My kid was in Janney 5th grade with 24 kids in 5th grade.
If the teacher had exactly 1/2 the kids to teach (12) the experience for all the kids would be entirely different.

[Anonymous]

There was a study released over the summer that what mattered what not class size, but school size (how many students in the building).

On the whole, smaller schools do better than larger ones. That may help explain Ross as well as the fact that some smaller charter schools do better with at-risk kids than DCPSs which are almost always bigger.

I wish that someone would dig in and try to come up with lessons that can be replicated. Every year we don't we lose another group of kids who fail to graduate with basic skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There was a study released over the summer that what mattered what not class size, but school size (how many students in the building).

On the whole, smaller schools do better than larger ones. That may help explain Ross as well as the fact that some smaller charter schools do better with at-risk kids than DCPSs which are almost always bigger.

I wish that someone would dig in and try to come up with lessons that can be replicated. Every year we don't we lose another group of kids who fail to graduate with basic skills.

Here's what I was thinking of. Poor kids in California, West Virginia and Alaska did much better in smaller schools, particularly in middle grades https://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/issues108.shtml

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was a study released over the summer that what mattered what not class size, but school size (how many students in the building).

On the whole, smaller schools do better than larger ones. That may help explain Ross as well as the fact that some smaller charter schools do better with at-risk kids than DCPSs which are almost always bigger.

I wish that someone would dig in and try to come up with lessons that can be replicated. Every year we don't we lose another group of kids who fail to graduate with basic skills.

Here's what I was thinking of. Poor kids in California, West Virginia and Alaska did much better in smaller schools, particularly in middle grades https://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/issues108.shtml

This makes a lot of sense and probably contributes to why Ross does so well.

I'm the Janney parent again. My 5th grade kid was in a class of 24 but her teachers (math, ELA, science, social studies) taught 3 classes so roughly 75 kids total.
It's a lot easier for kids to not get what they need when they're 1 of 75 than 1 of 12. It's no easy for a math teacher to even thoroughly evaluate 75 kids, let alone address the specific learning needs of 75.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was a study released over the summer that what mattered what not class size, but school size (how many students in the building).

On the whole, smaller schools do better than larger ones. That may help explain Ross as well as the fact that some smaller charter schools do better with at-risk kids than DCPSs which are almost always bigger.

I wish that someone would dig in and try to come up with lessons that can be replicated. Every year we don't we lose another group of kids who fail to graduate with basic skills.

Here's what I was thinking of. Poor kids in California, West Virginia and Alaska did much better in smaller schools, particularly in middle grades https://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/issues108.shtml

This makes a lot of sense and probably contributes to why Ross does so well.

I'm the Janney parent again. My 5th grade kid was in a class of 24 but her teachers (math, ELA, science, social studies) taught 3 classes so roughly 75 kids total.
It's a lot easier for kids to not get what they need when they're 1 of 75 than 1 of 12. It's no easy for a math teacher to even thoroughly evaluate 75 kids, let alone address the specific learning needs of 75.

Having a principal who can know every student and their family seems key. It also tends to improve teacher satisfaction.

Of course with DC going all-in on middle schools vs the smaller K-8 we are probably not to be able to replicate this.

[Anonymous]

Bruce Monroe has better scores than Powell and DC Bilingual for parents looking into dual language options!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm wondering if there are differences in faculty demographics between Ross and some of the other schools where similarly affluent black students do well.

Is the principal or APs AA? Are they male/female? What's the diversity mix of the teacher.

All the data shows that students of color do better when at least some of their teachers look like them. The same does not hold true for white students btw.

The principal is a white female. Based on the website, all the teachers are white (there is one whose photo isn't posted, so it's possible she's black, but she's also new to the school), and most are women. They do have some black aides/paraprofessionals.

Whatever. I just got the DCPS calendar, and almost everybody in it was black. Satisfied?

???? Someone asked about the demographics of the Ross administration and teaching staff. All the teachers are white. Some of the aides are AA. That's just a fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was a study released over the summer that what mattered what not class size, but school size (how many students in the building).

On the whole, smaller schools do better than larger ones. That may help explain Ross as well as the fact that some smaller charter schools do better with at-risk kids than DCPSs which are almost always bigger.

I wish that someone would dig in and try to come up with lessons that can be replicated. Every year we don't we lose another group of kids who fail to graduate with basic skills.

Here's what I was thinking of. Poor kids in California, West Virginia and Alaska did much better in smaller schools, particularly in middle grades https://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/issues108.shtml

This makes a lot of sense and probably contributes to why Ross does so well.

I'm the Janney parent again. My 5th grade kid was in a class of 24 but her teachers (math, ELA, science, social studies) taught 3 classes so roughly 75 kids total.
It's a lot easier for kids to not get what they need when they're 1 of 75 than 1 of 12. It's no easy for a math teacher to even thoroughly evaluate 75 kids, let alone address the specific learning needs of 75.

I don't think that is the same thing. I like the model of having teachers with expertise in a subject for older children.

I completely get wanting small schools, and that they could be particularly useful for at risk children. That said, I have been very happy with the Janney model of specialized subject teaching for 4th and fifth graders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There was a study released over the summer that what mattered what not class size, but school size (how many students in the building).

On the whole, smaller schools do better than larger ones. That may help explain Ross as well as the fact that some smaller charter schools do better with at-risk kids than DCPSs which are almost always bigger.

I wish that someone would dig in and try to come up with lessons that can be replicated. Every year we don't we lose another group of kids who fail to graduate with basic skills.

How do you explain Janney?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was a study released over the summer that what mattered what not class size, but school size (how many students in the building).

On the whole, smaller schools do better than larger ones. That may help explain Ross as well as the fact that some smaller charter schools do better with at-risk kids than DCPSs which are almost always bigger.

I wish that someone would dig in and try to come up with lessons that can be replicated. Every year we don't we lose another group of kids who fail to graduate with basic skills.

How do you explain Janney?

Not PP, but I think in the case of a school like Janney, where virtually every family is affluent and highly educated, students will still perform well. The real test would be if you took a school like Janney and compared it to a school half the size, but with the same demographics. I'd imagine the performance would be slightly better at the smaller school (although not massively better performance, given ceiling effects).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was a study released over the summer that what mattered what not class size, but school size (how many students in the building).

On the whole, smaller schools do better than larger ones. That may help explain Ross as well as the fact that some smaller charter schools do better with at-risk kids than DCPSs which are almost always bigger.

I wish that someone would dig in and try to come up with lessons that can be replicated. Every year we don't we lose another group of kids who fail to graduate with basic skills.

How do you explain Janney?

Not PP, but I think in the case of a school like Janney, where virtually every family is affluent and highly educated, students will still perform well. The real test would be if you took a school like Janney and compared it to a school half the size, but with the same demographics. I'd imagine the performance would be slightly better at the smaller school (although not massively better performance, given ceiling effects).

The study was look at whether smaller schools helped POOR kids. And it does seem to make a difference. Researchers aren't spending a lot of time on kids from wealthy families because they are, and always have, had high graduation and achievement rates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was a study released over the summer that what mattered what not class size, but school size (how many students in the building).

On the whole, smaller schools do better than larger ones. That may help explain Ross as well as the fact that some smaller charter schools do better with at-risk kids than DCPSs which are almost always bigger.

I wish that someone would dig in and try to come up with lessons that can be replicated. Every year we don't we lose another group of kids who fail to graduate with basic skills.

How do you explain Janney?

Not PP, but I think in the case of a school like Janney, where virtually every family is affluent and highly educated, students will still perform well. The real test would be if you took a school like Janney and compared it to a school half the size, but with the same demographics. I'd imagine the performance would be slightly better at the smaller school (although not massively better performance, given ceiling effects).

The study was look at whether smaller schools helped POOR kids. And it does seem to make a difference. Researchers aren't spending a lot of time on kids from wealthy families because they are, and always have, had high graduation and achievement rates.

There are things at a small school that cannot be replicated but I feel would have an impact on learning, for example, the principle and teachers know every student by name. It is like that TV show Cheers.

There is also a very strong "teach to the PARCC test" push from the principal who is very stressed each year about getting better and better PARCC scores. The teacher turn over is similar or lower than DCPS poor performing schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, Ludlow seems to have really consolidated its gains! 72 ELA is legit, and 51 Math is a big improvement. Seems like it’s just getting better and better...

Look folks this isn't rocket science the richer/whiter the school the higher the scores..... next

That's why I find all the "wow ITS" stuff a bit disingenuous ... they have so few at risk kids they often can't even report on them.

Richer or upper middle class doesn't always mean white students or families. Same as not all students or color ate In the "at risk" pool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So where is the achievement gap below 40 or 50%?

At Oyster-Adams, the black/white achievement gap in ELA is 12%; however it’s 32% in math.

There is essentially no black/white achievement gap at Ross: 4% in ELA and 0% in Math. DCPS needs to bottle and replicate whatever is going on at Ross!

Maybe you have wealthly, middle class and well educated black children and/or families attending? ? I know such a shocker that all people of color in DC don't fall into the poor uneducated bucket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, Ludlow seems to have really consolidated its gains! 72 ELA is legit, and 51 Math is a big improvement. Seems like it’s just getting better and better...

Proud LT parent here.