DC CAS scores to be released 7/31/14

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

DCPS only cares about performing miracles and providing stepping stones for central office staff to enter the Charter industry. What you suggest above does not fall into their purview

+1000

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Ok let's take Wilson out if the picture here. Why do white families apply and attend SWW but not Banneker?

Maybe one reason is that it's an application school with SAT scores lower than the national average?

Compare the black SAT to nationwide black SAT then show me some stats. Trust me your white angel will do just as well on SATs at Banneker than Walls. If there were more than 25 white students at Bannker you'd be able to do way better comparison but instead people keep throwing out black student SATs and comparing them nationwide when it's a fact that black SATs are lower. If rather have the explanations from others that you don't want to be the only white. Ok I get it. That hasn't stopped white families from being the only white at all Latin schools.

I'm at a loss to understand why anyone cares whether or not there are white kids at Banneker. Clearly the school is doing well without them and I would hope that no one thinks it needs white kids to validate its success.

COMMENTS LIKE THIS are highly irritating. There is a lot of learning going on from 9-3 at Banneker. Please stop comparing Banneker to nationwide stats.

National black student SAT scores are 1273, Black students at Banneker 1466. If that stat doesn't make you look twice (especially if you're not IB at Wilson), then I will certainly call the race card, or at least wonder...

[Anonymous]

I see Hardy got its reading scores above 70% proficient. Not bad. Math still has a little way to go at currently 65%, but it's still miles better than most DCPS schools, and climbing. That school is going to be tough to get into OOB, in a few years, the way those stat lines are increasing.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:At least the scores reinforce our decision to go private by third grade.

Scores (statistics) can always reinforce what you want to hear.

Yeah, especially poor scores like these.

Well, they are not all poor.

It's all relative. Our HRCS scores are not very good and it's actually on the list for top ten. While that kind of scores are acceptable when DC is in the early grades, it's not acceptable when your kid is approaching upper elementary. Much as we love the school and school community, just looking at the scores makes leaving much easier.

These are my thoughts as well, but we can't afford private.

It is all relative, but it makes me feel good, not bad. Our HRCS is at the bottom of the top 10 charters (hello YY!), and I gotta say, given that the students spend 50% of the school year learning in Mandarin, I'm actually really optimistic. Of course I want to see the school's scores go up - up a lot - but it actually feels like quite an accomplishment that even with half of the learning time in a language with a different alphabet and so many families that are not speaking Mandarin at home, and the testing grades are still relatively new (isn't YY only 6 yrs old?), the overall score is still 79% proficient.

For that school it makes me hopeful, not want to leave. I want to stay and keep working as a parent on improving those scores.

The scores are from kids who started at YY in preK so we've been waiting for that big "bump up" from previous years where the "excuse" was that the kids started in K, 1st, etc. Looks like this is about the best the school can achieve and frankly it's a disappointment since we chose YY over private schools for the Mandarin. Also, getting tired of all the turnover in staff: Wouldn't be surprise if the coming yrs scores actually fell due to staff turnover. Compared to other Mandarin immersion schools in other parts of the country, YY's scores in English and Math are not impressive.

You chose a public Mandarin school over a private and you're surprised at the result? *rolls eyes*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"If the charters are pulling from the same crowd that KIPP is pulling from, why can't they bring to a similar proficiency as a KIPP. How well-rounded do you need to be in elementary school and exactly what are you teaching that is so inefficient and taking away time from learning the basics? Honestly, I want to know."

Agree. I'm all for a progressive approach to education, but if that means the percentage of proficiency is below 85%, that is just not acceptable to me. I like the idea of a lot of these other charters and agree that KIPP or DC Prep might not be a match for my child, but I can't imagine sending him to a school with such low scores, even if I do like the concept of the approach.

We are refugees from the cap city style of "progressive" education. I found the honky-dory kumbayaism distracted from the actual learning and ran when we could. We are all for well rounded but it does not mean we want our child to learn nothing but singing and dancing without emphasizing math and good old fashion reading and writing. to basis/latin we go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"If the charters are pulling from the same crowd that KIPP is pulling from, why can't they bring to a similar proficiency as a KIPP. How well-rounded do you need to be in elementary school and exactly what are you teaching that is so inefficient and taking away time from learning the basics? Honestly, I want to know."

Agree. I'm all for a progressive approach to education, but if that means the percentage of proficiency is below 85%, that is just not acceptable to me. I like the idea of a lot of these other charters and agree that KIPP or DC Prep might not be a match for my child, but I can't imagine sending him to a school with such low scores, even if I do like the concept of the approach.

We are refugees from the cap city style of "progressive" education. I found the honky-dory kumbayaism distracted from the actual learning and ran when we could. We are all for well rounded but it does not mean we want our child to learn nothing but singing and dancing without emphasizing math and good old fashion reading and writing. to basis/latin we go.

Please advocate for the expansion of both schools to second campuses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not a parent and either of these schools but:

YAY for Ross, that is AMAZING!
Yay for Eaton!
Impressed with Basis and think it has a direct relation of th Latin's significant drop in scores
Stoddert is earning the S in the now ERJKLMMS!! Very impressed with Stoddert, larger OOB, minority and FARM than many schools WOTP and still scores keep rising.
Keep it up YY (shake the haters off)!
Why don't Shepherd, Mckinley High, and Banneker get love on DCUM? Can't help to think it's a race thing. Especially since Shepherd is only 33% FARM (79% black), aren't those the "safe" ones you want your kid to go to school with?

FWIW, Shepherd's demographics are changing rapidly. Upper grades are almost completely black, but the new PS3 class (at least what I could tell from school tours and PS3 Pop in and Preview day) will be less so.

In addition, upper grades are mostly OOB and have a higher FARMS percentage, but the PS3 class looks like it will be all IB this year. I expect test scores will continue to improve, since most Shepherd IB families are relatively high SES. Who knows, maybe the relatively new International Bacc. curriculum will also help in this regard.

That being said, I have to agree w/a PP--Shepherd is still too far out of the way for most to consider--at least for now, until the school's popularity catches up w/its test scores and potential.

-Parent of a rising Shepherd PS3er

[Anonymous]

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Impressed with Basis and think it has a direct relation of th Latin's significant drop in scores


Totally agree. I hate to see Latin scores drop because I believe it is a good school overall, but BASIS took the top students (and potential tops) from Latins' pool. BASIS will be the top MS/HS in the area in about 2 years.

Didn't Basis outscore Latin last (their first) year also? And it is a school based on accelerated learning, wouldn't it be BAD if their scores WEREN'T higher than most schools?

I have not been able to find the subgroup DCCAS results. I imagine that they are not out yet. However, keep in mind that BASIS has a high FARMs rate and still did that well.

Subgroup data is up at learndc.org for each individual school in their "report card"

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:At least the scores reinforce our decision to go private by third grade.

Scores (statistics) can always reinforce what you want to hear.

Yeah, especially poor scores like these.

Well, they are not all poor.

It's all relative. Our HRCS scores are not very good and it's actually on the list for top ten. While that kind of scores are acceptable when DC is in the early grades, it's not acceptable when your kid is approaching upper elementary. Much as we love the school and school community, just looking at the scores makes leaving much easier.

These are my thoughts as well, but we can't afford private.

It is all relative, but it makes me feel good, not bad. Our HRCS is at the bottom of the top 10 charters (hello YY!), and I gotta say, given that the students spend 50% of the school year learning in Mandarin, I'm actually really optimistic. Of course I want to see the school's scores go up - up a lot - but it actually feels like quite an accomplishment that even with half of the learning time in a language with a different alphabet and so many families that are not speaking Mandarin at home, and the testing grades are still relatively new (isn't YY only 6 yrs old?), the overall score is still 79% proficient.

For that school it makes me hopeful, not want to leave. I want to stay and keep working as a parent on improving those scores.

The scores are from kids who started at YY in preK so we've been waiting for that big "bump up" from previous years where the "excuse" was that the kids started in K, 1st, etc. Looks like this is about the best the school can achieve and frankly it's a disappointment since we chose YY over private schools for the Mandarin. Also, getting tired of all the turnover in staff: Wouldn't be surprise if the coming yrs scores actually fell due to staff turnover. Compared to other Mandarin immersion schools in other parts of the country, YY's scores in English and Math are not impressive.

You chose a public Mandarin school over a private and you're surprised at the result? *rolls eyes*

My kid can read, write and speak Mandarin with perfect tones so it's been worth it (and free He also reads four grades above grade level in English but he would be doing the same if he went to private school... But it's still disappointing that the current scores are probably about the best it's going to get. We were always planning on private for middle school anyway but we may switch a little sooner. That's all. Yu Ying is a great school for what it offers.

[Anonymous]

Nah, you can't be sure how good his tones are unless you speak at least one Chinese dialect, and speak to him in it. Everybody DC parent I know who does this (two dozen) avoids YY. I'm a bit impressed with YY's English scores though despite the dip. They're better than the other immersion schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"If the charters are pulling from the same crowd that KIPP is pulling from, why can't they bring to a similar proficiency as a KIPP. How well-rounded do you need to be in elementary school and exactly what are you teaching that is so inefficient and taking away time from learning the basics? Honestly, I want to know."

Agree. I'm all for a progressive approach to education, but if that means the percentage of proficiency is below 85%, that is just not acceptable to me. I like the idea of a lot of these other charters and agree that KIPP or DC Prep might not be a match for my child, but I can't imagine sending him to a school with such low scores, even if I do like the concept of the approach.

We are refugees from the cap city style of "progressive" education. I found the honky-dory kumbayaism distracted from the actual learning and ran when we could. We are all for well rounded but it does not mean we want our child to learn nothing but singing and dancing without emphasizing math and good old fashion reading and writing. to basis/latin we go.

Please advocate for the expansion of both schools to second campuses.

Charter board already denied Basis application to expand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nah, you can't be sure how good his tones are unless you speak at least one Chinese dialect, and speak to him in it. Everybody DC parent I know who does this (two dozen) avoids YY. I'm a bit impressed with YY's English scores though despite the dip. They're better than the other immersion schools.

Yet, there are many Cantonese and mandarin speaking parents with children attending YY. I guess you don't know all them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"If the charters are pulling from the same crowd that KIPP is pulling from, why can't they bring to a similar proficiency as a KIPP. How well-rounded do you need to be in elementary school and exactly what are you teaching that is so inefficient and taking away time from learning the basics? Honestly, I want to know."

Agree. I'm all for a progressive approach to education, but if that means the percentage of proficiency is below 85%, that is just not acceptable to me. I like the idea of a lot of these other charters and agree that KIPP or DC Prep might not be a match for my child, but I can't imagine sending him to a school with such low scores, even if I do like the concept of the approach.

We are refugees from the cap city style of "progressive" education. I found the honky-dory kumbayaism distracted from the actual learning and ran when we could. We are all for well rounded but it does not mean we want our child to learn nothing but singing and dancing without emphasizing math and good old fashion reading and writing. to basis/latin we go.

Please advocate for the expansion of both schools to second campuses.

Charter board already denied Basis application to expand.

The BASIS DC expansion request, made in its first year, could have been handled better. If BASIS DC now wants to invoke its air rights and build up four stories, there is little justification to say no to what is now a high-performing Title I school. BASIS DC could add the floors onto their Penn Quarter building next summer through a commercial loan at low rates.

Washington Latin works well for a diversity of students from all Wards. DC's top charter schools should sit down with the District, like KIPP does, and get approval and resources for expedited expansion.

Successful DCPS schools should be rewarded too, and not simply by being called "reward schools."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nah, you can't be sure how good his tones are unless you speak at least one Chinese dialect, and speak to him in it. Everybody DC parent I know who does this (two dozen) avoids YY. I'm a bit impressed with YY's English scores though despite the dip. They're better than the other immersion schools.

Actually, Oyster has the best scores among dual immersion schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nah, you can't be sure how good his tones are unless you speak at least one Chinese dialect, and speak to him in it. Everybody DC parent I know who does this (two dozen) avoids YY. I'm a bit impressed with YY's English scores though despite the dip. They're better than the other immersion schools.

Riiiiight... Because it's not at all possible that the parent you're responding to actually knows any native Mandarin speakers who have given her that feedback....

Seriously, why would you assume the parent hasn't gotten the feedback on her child's tones from a native speaker?

As for all the native Mandarin speaking parents you know who avoid YY, I guess you don't know any of the ones that attend the school or waited in line trying to get in. Let's just say those numbers far exceed the 12 you know, so you might not want to assume your alleged friends are representative of some giant whole.