How's basis going so far?

[Anonymous]

^^ MY DC at basis has had the first art class that has been inspiring since K, as opposed to the DCPS art teacher for the last 4 years who assigned the same projects EVERY YEAR and saw fit to "correct" student's art by drawing on top of it herself! I really like the mix of studio art and art history, particularly for a creative museum-going child who isn't that visually creative.

The music class has been a downer due to disruptive students and a not strong enough teacher IMO, but DC has still learned more already this year that in the last four with a church-lady-type music teacher.

All that to say that DCPS isn't some hot-bed of great creativity in many elementary schools.

[Anonymous]

Older child at private, younger at Basis. Observation: get the basics (organization, math comfort, a process for studying) done in middle school and then high school will be exploration/challenge.

[Anonymous]

Wow, these last couple of pages suddenly turned into yet another major disinformation campaign. It's not Chinese-style "drill and kill" though there is a big focus on getting the fundamentals down. As PP pointed out, you can't "explore" and "be creative" in any productive sense without first having good core fundamental knowledge.

It's also amusing to see BASIS portrayed as a.) "public private" whatever the hell that's supposed to mean *chuckle* and b.) some kind of cash cow. Remember, they only get HALF as much funding per student as compared to DCPS, so if you consider charters to be such an outrageous waste of taxpayer money, then that makes DCPS DOUBLY as much an outrageous waste of taxpayer money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, these last couple of pages suddenly turned into yet another major disinformation campaign. It's not Chinese-style "drill and kill" though there is a big focus on getting the fundamentals down. As PP pointed out, you can't "explore" and "be creative" in any productive sense without first having good core fundamental knowledge.

It's also amusing to see BASIS portrayed as a.) "public private" whatever the hell that's supposed to mean *chuckle* and b.) some kind of cash cow. Remember, they only get HALF as much funding per student as compared to DCPS, so if you consider charters to be such an outrageous waste of taxpayer money, then that makes DCPS DOUBLY as much an outrageous waste of taxpayer money.

If by "disinformation" you mean observations / reflections made by a parent at the tucson campus about the tucson school, then I think you need a dictionary. While you are at it, look up "charter school" and you'll see one standard definition is "a public-private hybrid" (i.e., a privately run public school).

The degree of drilling and killing ultimately is a subjective judgment. I am curious to learn about the DC program. I and many of my friends with students at BASIS-Tucson feel the curriculum here is over the top (and this from parents with PhD's, ivy league B.A's, etc.) but still better probably overall than the abject lack of rigor at public schools. However, many parents are keeping kids at BASIS for lack of decent alternatives, not for love of the curriculum.

Finally, I brought up the financial success of the owners not to begrudge them their reward... ultimately their salary is dependent on providing a service we parents find desirable. However, BASIS began as a small, dedicated and very organic learning community. On the strength of its success, it has now morphed into a standardized franchise model and I worry about this.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, PP - maybe you are having a different experience in Tucson, and you are certainly welcome and entitled to your perspectives if that's the case...

...but after all the nonstop trolling and attacking that's been going on in these Basis threads with a handful of anti-Basis posters posing as people "in the know", many of the rest of us posters here tend to be skeptical anymore, particularly when our own children are attending Basis in DC and reporting on it, and we as parents are regularly there ourselves, and do not see what is being claimed and can not corroborate what is being claimed in the posts - and we are certainly entitled to our perspectives as well. While there's a lot of work, we definitely aren't seeing "drill and kill" for example.

Also, I agree with PP, that while yes, it's typically a hybrid partnership of private sector and public school - referring to it as "private" doesn't make sense in terminology here, where it comes to the traditional private school millieu and terminology, where there is a financial barrier or other restrictive aspect to entry.

[Anonymous]

I have to agree that calling charter schools private/public is a misnomer and misleading. They are run on public funds and cannot require students to pay private funds for their education. Perhaps they are not run by the government, but they are not "private" in the way that anyone commonly understands the term. Privately-run public school has a very different connotation than a public private school and you know it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have to agree that calling charter schools private/public is a misnomer and misleading. They are run on public funds and cannot require students to pay private funds for their education. Perhaps they are not run by the government, but they are not "private" in the way that anyone commonly understands the term. Privately-run public school has a very different connotation than a public private school and you know it.

Oh I didn't catch that post, that wasn't me (I am now seeing why you call each other by your time stamps). ... I see what you mean about the connotation.

Whatever... Not sure why I posted here... each BASIS experiment is a local affair and BASIS DC is in its infancy... It will generate knee-jerk hostility but that is just sound and fury. If 5% of what I hear about the DC public school system is true, you need choices and hopefully BASIS will deliver. I wish you all the best of luck. Again, my only advice based on experiences at the Tucson campus (which may be utterly inapplicable to the DC campus) would be to stay engaged with the admin, and be a continuing part of defining what BASIS is (within the general parameters of an excelling, academically rigorous model) and to ensure that an appropriate balance is maintained between test/content oriented rigor and other facets of the educational experience.

[Anonymous]

Re: the push for the fastest math acceleration humanly possible, isn't the pendulum pretty much swinging back away from cramming math concepts into too young kids and back towards depth of learning?

I say this having a 7th grader who is taking a second year of pre-algebra (not at Basis). DC has spent the first weeks of school covering fundamental concepts in-depth, with an emphasis on rigorous organization (for example, the homework is done in an exact way, titles, spacing, showing the work, etc.). Points off for forgetting the protractor. For the first time my DC is proud and excited and motivated by the math, coming home to work on homework (a decent amount - not all the problems on the page, but a subset selected by the teacher to make sure all aspects of the subject are covered appropriately but not redundantly).

I choose the above learning option for my child with average math skills, above-average curiosity, creativity and self-discipline and below-average self-esteem re: math ability rather than Basis-style cramming.

[Anonymous]

Again, some incorrect information above, BASIS is not entirely "local", and is not a "franchise". It's not as though anybody just goes to the BASIS equivalent of "Hamburger U", signs up to get the supplies, and then opens their own McDonalds. All BASIS schools are still centrally planned, managed and directed by the same folks, and BASIS DC has a number of staff that came from BASIS Arizona schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Re: the push for the fastest math acceleration humanly possible, isn't the pendulum pretty much swinging back away from cramming math concepts into too young kids and back towards depth of learning?

I say this having a 7th grader who is taking a second year of pre-algebra (not at Basis). DC has spent the first weeks of school covering fundamental concepts in-depth, with an emphasis on rigorous organization (for example, the homework is done in an exact way, titles, spacing, showing the work, etc.). Points off for forgetting the protractor. For the first time my DC is proud and excited and motivated by the math, coming home to work on homework (a decent amount - not all the problems on the page, but a subset selected by the teacher to make sure all aspects of the subject are covered appropriately but not redundantly).

I choose the above learning option for my child with average math skills, above-average curiosity, creativity and self-discipline and below-average self-esteem re: math ability rather than Basis-style cramming.

Your child is cramming?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: isn't the pendulum pretty much swinging back away from cramming math concepts into too young kids and back towards depth of learning?

This is if you believe the hyped theories (you said it, a pendulum. I taught my DC multiplication in first grade by having them 'count-by' on the way to school and quizzing random numbers ("say every fourth one aloud" or "up by fours, back down by threes and whisper the ones in both". It was a hoot, cramming math facts while being funny and silly and having a great time. Who said drill and kill can't be creative? Anything can be creative.

[Anonymous]

Oops, I creatively missed the end-paren's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Again, some incorrect information above, BASIS is not entirely "local", and is not a "franchise". It's not as though anybody just goes to the BASIS equivalent of "Hamburger U", signs up to get the supplies, and then opens their own McDonalds. All BASIS schools are still centrally planned, managed and directed by the same folks, and BASIS DC has a number of staff that came from BASIS Arizona schools.

Sorry, I use the term franchise loosely in reference to the centrally planned, managed and directed nature of the expansion. I didn't think anyone would take the term literally. I use the term "local" in the Tip O'Neil sense that, like politics, perhaps education ultimately is a local affair despite aforementioned central planning and management. I say this because maybe not much can be learned by contrasting the Tucson experience with that of DC. My concern above all of these semantic quibbles, is simply that the central model, at its core, has in my view become perilously close to the Chinese model (as evidenced, for example, in the constant pushing of algebra down into lower levels. The elite 5th graders are taking Algebra I.) I have seen this evolution first hand over the last 5 years in Tucson and I feel it is a shame. That is all. And despite this, my child still is attending BASIS tucson because I believe that flaws notwithstanding, it still offers the best free education in Tucson (although unfortunately that is not saying a lot).

[Anonymous]

Thank you Tucson poster!
To the extent that a child finds math fun (some do) I think algebra could be taught to 3rd graders. Is your concern that too many kids feel pressured to take advanced math who don't particularly enjoy it and find it soul-crushing?

Also, is it your sense that the drift toward the Chinese model is occurring at the Tucson school or at all the Arizona schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you Tucson poster!
To the extent that a child finds math fun (some do) I think algebra could be taught to 3rd graders. Is your concern that too many kids feel pressured to take advanced math who don't particularly enjoy it and find it soul-crushing?

Also, is it your sense that the drift toward the Chinese model is occurring at the Tucson school or at all the Arizona schools?

I agree it is surprising what intrinsic motivation plus culture of achievement plus competent instruction/guidance can accomplish. My child in many respects has risen to the challenge in amazing ways (especially since in public school in 4th grade she really in comparison was in glorified day care), albeit with extreme counseling and support by the parents.

The concern I am trying to express is about the bigger picture, not just any one class. I believe that the cumulative academic load placed on students from day 1 at our campus, especially combined with the day to day speed of coverage, is simply not optimal for all but most gifted and dedicated students. It throws kids and parents out of balance, and causes stress, loss of sleep, loss of play time and out of school activities. Can it be managed? Absolutely. But in my opinion at a needless and sad cost. If a kid is thriving doing calculus in 9th grade then great. But colleges don't want or expect that, and nor is it necessarily in the best long term interests of most children emotionally and intellectually to push as far as possible as fast as possible in all subjects at the same time. So it is a matter of opportunity costs and emotional costs of the extremely rigorous content and test based curriculum that upsets me. I am all for elevated expectations, and AP tests are groovy... but not so damn many and not when taking the tests are seen as an ultimate academic end in and of themselves!!! It is useful to secure our News & World Report ranking but not much else! In high school there should be in my opinion at least the choice to take a balanced course load of several APs and several "light / fun" classes. There are no light / fun classes really at our school. And in middle school sure it is fine to amp up math and maybe science but there really ought to be more focus on creativity and wonder and confidence and exploration.

I cannot really speak with much experience about the other schools. I have been called out perhaps with reason on careless language so I'd also retire "Chinese model" since I actually don't know much about the reality of Chinese education. What we have in Tucson is the Olga Block model. It places virtually all focus on content mastery as evidenced by standardized tests (whether in-house comps or APs). And at its core is simply lacks a soul. The teachers are bitter. The students are fried. There is a heaviness saturating the campus... and again this can often be overlooked because the students and teachers are so amazing and awesome things do happen every day in every classroom.

Also, in terms of accelerated content, maybe math is somewhat unique since it is essentially at their level an abstract mental game. Deficiencies in the accelerated model are much more apparent in science, for example, where content really requires more than memorization and manipulation of facts. Instead of memorizing the definitions of gravity, friction, velocity, etc. for his quiz tomorrow, shouldn't he be exploring / experiencing scientific questions in a meaningful way? Again, pedagogic experts will disagree, and last time I checked I don't own any charter schools so its like it or lump it for me. I just think it is a shame because BASIS Tucson has attracted an awesome student body and faculty. It could be so much more.