Parent Essay critical of DCI

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For all the naysaying and mean girl talk: check this out (75 seniors and it's very early in the college application process....)
For the class of 2020, it is only November and they have....
over $750,000 in scholarships
319 college applications, and
35 acceptances!

BASIS parent here - don't start this game. Ppl will ask where they are, denigrate the choices as not being prestigious enough, nitpick whether they are real scholarships or need-based, etc. Wait til the dust settles and post then if you must but it really isn't fair to the kids, and it is their news after all.

(There's a parent of a Latin graduate who posts on this board sometimes - she would say the same thing).

[Anonymous]

It’s quite unfortunate that people behave in the manner that they do. It really isn’t setting a good example.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Latin had issues in its first six years as well. Latin has not always been where it is today.

DCI parent here. Yes there are challenges. There are also opportunities. In a city where the opportunity gap between public’s and privates is insurmountable for most, DCI provides a more than adequate option. We supplement academically, and that’s a lot less expensive than say a 45K + per year private. And I don’t expect it to be one either.

The article the parent wrote speaks to challenges that Latin also faced at the beginning; Latin’s early challenges are very public , noted in both the schools meeting minutes posted online as well as the many articles about Latin published circa 2008/2010ish.

Rather than bash the school , one should compare it to others at the same stage of development and note differences, versus highlighting the cracks.

+1000. Completely agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The majority of the student body is not low SES or poor performing. Maybe by DCUM standards but not statistically.

DCI is a Title 1 school with 19% at risk. 55% are proficient or advanced in PARACC ELA; 38% in Math.

Where are you getting your stats from ???

According to the 18/19 Parcc results:

ELA: 61% scored 4 or higher
Math: 41% scored 4 or higher

By Grade (including special populations) :

6th ELA: 65 % scored 4 or higher
6th Math: 43 % scored 4 or higher
7th ELA: 66 % scored 4 or higher
7th Math: 44 % scored 4 or higher
8th ELA: 55 % scored 4 or higher
8th Math: 39 % scored 4 or higher

By Race:

Asian ELA: 88 % scored 4 or higher
Asian Math: 64 % scored 4 or higher
Af. American ELA: 59 % scored 4 or higher
Af. American Math: 36 % scored 4 or higher
White ELA: 84 % scored 4 or higher
White Math: 70 % scored 4 or higher
Hispanic ELA: 44 % scored 4 or higher
Hispanic Math: 25 % scored 4 or higher
Two or More Races ELA: 91 % scored 4 or higher
Two or More Races Math: 67 % scored 4 or higher

Here is a link to where I pulled the data from:
http://results.osse.dc.gov/school/248/assessment/1/proficiency/4

PP, have made the generalization that DCI is a low performing , low SES school; that is statistically just not accurate. One has to consider the entire percentage of students who qualify for special populations. Over 80% of the student body does not classify within any special population designation. Many students in special populations also qualify in multiple categories ((A student could be at risk - new term for low SES, and LEP, and Special Education and their results count multiple times in the statistics).

Carry on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The majority of the student body is not low SES or poor performing. Maybe by DCUM standards but not statistically.

DCI is a Title 1 school with 19% at risk. 55% are proficient or advanced in PARACC ELA; 38% in Math.

Where are you getting your stats from ???

According to the 18/19 Parcc results:

ELA: 61% scored 4 or higher
Math: 41% scored 4 or higher

By Grade (including special populations) :

6th ELA: 65 % scored 4 or higher
6th Math: 43 % scored 4 or higher
7th ELA: 66 % scored 4 or higher
7th Math: 44 % scored 4 or higher
8th ELA: 55 % scored 4 or higher
8th Math: 39 % scored 4 or higher

By Race:

Asian ELA: 88 % scored 4 or higher
Asian Math: 64 % scored 4 or higher
Af. American ELA: 59 % scored 4 or higher
Af. American Math: 36 % scored 4 or higher
White ELA: 84 % scored 4 or higher
White Math: 70 % scored 4 or higher
Hispanic ELA: 44 % scored 4 or higher
Hispanic Math: 25 % scored 4 or higher
Two or More Races ELA: 91 % scored 4 or higher
Two or More Races Math: 67 % scored 4 or higher

Here is a link to where I pulled the data from:
http://results.osse.dc.gov/school/248/assessment/1/proficiency/4

PP, have made the generalization that DCI is a low performing , low SES school; that is statistically just not accurate. One has to consider the entire percentage of students who qualify for special populations. Over 80% of the student body does not classify within any special population designation. Many students in special populations also qualify in multiple categories ((A student could be at risk - new term for low SES, and LEP, and Special Education and their results count multiple times in the statistics).

Carry on.

The overall percentages include the High school ELA and Math Assessments

Overall 2019 Parcc for Middle School Only

ELA: 63% scored 4 or higher
Math: 42.5% scored 4 or higher

Total Middle school population 18/19: 1,084
Total At Risk population: 18.5% or 195 students

Link for reference:

https://dcpcsb.org/district-columbia-international-middle-school


Carry on.

[Anonymous]

The OSSE Report Cards. DCI is Title 1, a federal designation which means significantly more than 20% qualify for free and reduced meals, and or TANF and SNAP.

At risk is defined by OSSE and captures a smaller group of students than the federal designation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Latin had issues in its first six years as well. Latin has not always been where it is today.

DCI parent here. Yes there are challenges. There are also opportunities. In a city where the opportunity gap between public’s and privates is insurmountable for most, DCI provides a more than adequate option. We supplement academically, and that’s a lot less expensive than say a 45K + per year private. And I don’t expect it to be one either.

The article the parent wrote speaks to challenges that Latin also faced at the beginning; Latin’s early challenges are very public , noted in both the schools meeting minutes posted online as well as the many articles about Latin published circa 2008/2010ish.

Rather than bash the school , one should compare it to others at the same stage of development and note differences, versus highlighting the cracks.

Expressing valid concerns is not to "bash" a school. If you're OK with paying to supplement and generally staying on top of things, e.g. inappropriate use of chromebooks, more power to you. Some of us don't have 10 years to wait for DCI to shape up and demographics to shift, or time and energy to supplement a lot. We're not excited about a "partial immersion" Chinese middle school program without native speakers, so we'll be moving on to MoCo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Latin had issues in its first six years as well. Latin has not always been where it is today.

DCI parent here. Yes there are challenges. There are also opportunities. In a city where the opportunity gap between public’s and privates is insurmountable for most, DCI provides a more than adequate option. We supplement academically, and that’s a lot less expensive than say a 45K + per year private. And I don’t expect it to be one either.

The article the parent wrote speaks to challenges that Latin also faced at the beginning; Latin’s early challenges are very public , noted in both the schools meeting minutes posted online as well as the many articles about Latin published circa 2008/2010ish.

Rather than bash the school , one should compare it to others at the same stage of development and note differences, versus highlighting the cracks.

Expressing valid concerns is not to "bash" a school. If you're OK with paying to supplement and generally staying on top of things, e.g. inappropriate use of chromebooks, more power to you. Some of us don't have 10 years to wait for DCI to shape up and demographics to shift, or time and energy to supplement a lot. We're not excited about a "partial immersion" Chinese middle school program without native speakers, so we'll be moving on to MoCo.

Just for the record, DCI has never, ever promised anything except partial immersion/opportunities to continue language studies they began in ES. And if there were few native Chinese speakers at YY, there certainly were never going to be more at DCI.

Totally reasonable for you to move to greener pastures, but it certainly isn't a bait and switch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Latin had issues in its first six years as well. Latin has not always been where it is today.

DCI parent here. Yes there are challenges. There are also opportunities. In a city where the opportunity gap between public’s and privates is insurmountable for most, DCI provides a more than adequate option. We supplement academically, and that’s a lot less expensive than say a 45K + per year private. And I don’t expect it to be one either.

The article the parent wrote speaks to challenges that Latin also faced at the beginning; Latin’s early challenges are very public , noted in both the schools meeting minutes posted online as well as the many articles about Latin published circa 2008/2010ish.

Rather than bash the school , one should compare it to others at the same stage of development and note differences, versus highlighting the cracks.

+1000. Completely agree.

It’s not simply time that improves the school, it is people paying attention to the persistent “cracks” and doing something to address them The article is part of that process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Latin had issues in its first six years as well. Latin has not always been where it is today.

DCI parent here. Yes there are challenges. There are also opportunities. In a city where the opportunity gap between public’s and privates is insurmountable for most, DCI provides a more than adequate option. We supplement academically, and that’s a lot less expensive than say a 45K + per year private. And I don’t expect it to be one either.

The article the parent wrote speaks to challenges that Latin also faced at the beginning; Latin’s early challenges are very public , noted in both the schools meeting minutes posted online as well as the many articles about Latin published circa 2008/2010ish.

Rather than bash the school , one should compare it to others at the same stage of development and note differences, versus highlighting the cracks.

+1000. Completely agree.

It’s not simply time that improves the school, it is people paying attention to the persistent “cracks” and doing something to address them The article is part of that process.

I think it's time plus the school version of gentrification. Latin became a more and more desirable school after it moved into a permanent location, and its enrollment gradually became higher SES - to the point that its MS population has one of hte lowest high-needs populations in the city. In fact the only thing that's really changed at Latin is that at-risk and miniority kids are doing WORSE, not better, as they become a smaller part of the student body.

DCI is in its location, but it's student body is more fixed because the majority of students come from the feeders. To the extent that the feeders attract higher percentages of high-SES students, DCI will magically improve.

[Anonymous]

I would love to see the stats broken down by language track.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Latin had issues in its first six years as well. Latin has not always been where it is today.

DCI parent here. Yes there are challenges. There are also opportunities. In a city where the opportunity gap between public’s and privates is insurmountable for most, DCI provides a more than adequate option. We supplement academically, and that’s a lot less expensive than say a 45K + per year private. And I don’t expect it to be one either.

The article the parent wrote speaks to challenges that Latin also faced at the beginning; Latin’s early challenges are very public , noted in both the schools meeting minutes posted online as well as the many articles about Latin published circa 2008/2010ish.

Rather than bash the school , one should compare it to others at the same stage of development and note differences, versus highlighting the cracks.

Expressing valid concerns is not to "bash" a school. If you're OK with paying to supplement and generally staying on top of things, e.g. inappropriate use of chromebooks, more power to you. Some of us don't have 10 years to wait for DCI to shape up and demographics to shift, or time and energy to supplement a lot. We're not excited about a "partial immersion" Chinese middle school program without native speakers, so we'll be moving on to MoCo.

Well Adios then.

And what was the name of that full language immersion , 90% high performing , publicly funded , small class size, IB, individualized attention school in MoCo again??? I’ll wait....

[Anonymous]

... lmgtfy...

There are none. Zero. No full language immersion public middle schools in MoCo. Students that were in immersion Elementary school matriculate to 1 of four middle schools that offer a one period Mandarin 2a class.

And by the way here’s a list of all the Mandarin immersion programs (full and partial) in publicly funded schools in the United States.

https://miparentscouncil.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/mip-list-2019-07-19-web.xlsx

You’re welcome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would love to see the stats broken down by language track.

At least for sixth grade, and maybe 7th too, it would also be interesting to see it broken down by feeder school to see how well prepared the students are from each respective school. I imagine the feeder schools have asked for that data, but it would be useful for families making their lottery order to see too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would love to see the stats broken down by language track.

At least for sixth grade, and maybe 7th too, it would also be interesting to see it broken down by feeder school to see how well prepared the students are from each respective school. I imagine the feeder schools have asked for that data, but it would be useful for families making their lottery order to see too.

That’s what 5th grade PARCC is for. Yes there is some attrition but still gets most of what you want