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Anonymous
Agree. Knee-jerk reactions to the concept of appropriate academic tracking don't help. |
Anonymous
I was tracked throughout schooling from G & T in elementary to the highest level courses in middle and high school. I took a bunch of AP classes 11th and 12th grade and a number of exams to get college credit. I don’t think pushing kids to take AP courses in 9th let alone 10th grade is good. It’s just rushing them thru without a solid foundation to start. This is why some families including us do not consider Basis. |
Anonymous
It’s really too late. 9th and 10th is done, 11th to start next year. Above should have been challenged and advocated against as soon as leadership said it would only be 2 classes. Right. 2 classes then went from 9th grade to 10th and now 11th. There is no way DCPS is going to reverse the detracking that has started at Wilson. Reality is that DCPS only cares about narrowing the achievement gap even if they have to bring down the top students to do it. Just ask all the UMC EOTP parents trying to get differentiation and tracking. Falls on deaf ears. Response is their kids will be “fine”. |
Anonymous
That's what I was thinking too! Why rush? I also was in highest track and did AP only in 11th and 12th. Prior to that did some solid honors history classes which were not AP. I'm worried that this whole AP thing has totally run amuck since we were in school. |
Anonymous
You should also avoid Montgomery County in that case. The standard track for a student heading to college in MoCo high schools is to take AP US History in 9th. At BASIS 0th grade is AP US Gov, which is actually considered an 'easier' AP class. However AP/high school curriculum has changed a lot since the 80s/90s. Hop on over to the DCUM college board, but essentially what matters to admissions offices at selective institutions (not every institution is particularly selective) is that you take the 'most rigorous' or highly rigorous schedule. There is literally a box for the counselor to check off with your kid's application. So if no one at your high school takes more than 6 AP tests and/or advanced classes such as post-AP math or dual-enrollment at a college, if your kid takes those you are fine. But if your kid takes 4, many students take 6 and the number offered in total is 12 -- your kid will not get the 'most rigorous' checkmark. Of course, they also need to do well in those classes. This matters if they want to go to certain schools. It doesn't for others. |
Anonymous
What does this mean? Where is the evidence that this is happening? Seems like a lot of Chicken Littling going on in this thread. |
Anonymous
All I know is that this is the only thing that anyone talks about at DCPS, the Mayor, OSSE...have never heard a thing about serving advanced kids. |
Anonymous
Leadership can still make a big difference. Here in the EOTP doldrums, we've watched the new Stuart Hobson principal bravely add a number of honors classes. Fve or six advanced classes are offered in each grade now, up from two classes several years ago. He added the classes under pressure from his teachers. Principal Martin is a narcissistic disaster. Change her out for a grounded principal popular with in-boundary families and the combination of good leadership and changing demographics will get Wilson back on track. Watch for it. |
Anonymous
Our end goal is not having our child take as many AP courses as he possibly can. Neither is our end goal for high school is to get into the ivies or whatever competitive college a parent wants their child to go. We want our child to love school, get a solid education and foundation in high school, and to be challenged to his full potential. That’s it. Then go to a college that is a good fit for him. He might take a number of AP courses, or a few, or none - too early to tell right now. If people have not seen it, I would recommend watching the movie race to nowhere - stressed out kids pushed to the max, good at memorizing short term for the test but no solid foundation of learning, stressed out, burned out, anxiety issues, etc... |
Anonymous
Here is 2 quick scenarios: A - tracking. All kids performing in the top 10% of the class are in the AP class. Material is challenging but manageable. All peers motivated to do well. Kids rise up to the challenge and teacher can easily raise the bar of difficulty of the course. Kids learn much more and challenged to their full potential. B - no tracking. Kids 3,4 grade levels apart. Kids at the top bored and easily gets A’s with no effort whatsoever. Teacher can not differentiate effectively with wide academic spread so she focuses on spending much of her time helping the kids at the bottom at least get to grade level. So kids at the top in group A are learning and being challenged to perform to their full potential. Their knowledge base has increased significantly. Kids at the top in B are stagnant and not learning much at all. There’s the spread and how B is bringing the top kids down from what they potentially could achieve from A.. Lastly, the playing field gets harder and more competitive in college. The top kids in B are going to find college much more challenging and will likely struggle as they compete with kids who are used to being in group A. As someone growing up poor and was tracked, I can personally say with certainty that I would not be where I am today if I wasn’t with a similar performing peer group that challenged me to my full potential. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
Good goals. Seriously. Just be prepared for your child to have ideas and goals of their of their own, such as getting college credits early, wanting to be competitive for merit scholarships or applying to an elite school or keeping up with their friends. If so, they will be pursuing the more ‘advanced’ work even if you wished they weren’t. The kids drive this trend as much or more than parents. And not every kid finds APs or dual enrollment classes stressful, anxiety-inducing. Some find the content interesting or a good challenge. -parent of kid who just graduated HS |
Anonymous
Very good summary. I grew up poor and was tracked in NYC schools (Hunter College MS and HS). Almost every DC parent I know who's opposed to academic tracking, however thoughtfully done, grew up middle-class somewhere green and leafy. These parents have a strong tendency to develop secret plan Bs in case the DC public middle school and high schools they might have access to won't provide adequate challenge. |
Anonymous
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Interesting. I grew up in a poor rural area and was the top student in my grade at a public school with very limited (pretty much no) opportunities for kids who were excelling. I was admitted to a good college based on luck and great SAT scores and I REALLY struggled. I knew far less than my friends who came from rigorous high schools. In some ways, I caught up. In others, doors were permanently closed (I.e medical school-hard to get in when you get a C in physics because college physical is all new material due to such an abysmal high school class)
As I parent my own kids, my number one concern (based on my childhood) is that they’re learning and mastering material and will be prepared for college. I could care less about which college they attend. We’re pulling our oldest from Deal (where he/she received all As with little effort) for a big3 private this coming fall. I just want my kids to be challenged and really learn. |
Anonymous
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I hear you, but a big3private costs a bomb (out of reach for most of us in this government town) and some of us worry about what becomes of an UMC kid who is surrounded by privilege during the teen years.
We have neighbors on Capitol Hill who pulled their kid from DCI after 6th for lack of challenge and good discipline. They home schooled the kid for 7th and 8th. The cheery kid was admitted to Walls this year along with several top parochial schools. Big 3, or 5, or 10 privates are fine for some. But there are ways and ways for kids to be challenge and really learn in this Metro area that don't involve spending 40K+ a year on their schooling before college. |