Why does DCPS rank 49th in the country, behind poor states like Kentucky, Tennessee and WV?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was fairly shocked to see just how much time and resources at our majority minority school are devoted to “anti racism” curriculum. I mean, 90% of the kids are well below grade level. Shouldn’t every minute of every day be spent on math/reading? It’s bizarre.

What a lie, it's devoted to iReady, PARCC crap,GOLD/CC, DCPS initiatives, etc. The 'curriculum' is in canvas and you have to print it lol

“With an anti-racist framing, District students would be more aware of the role of policy and history in shaping current racial and economic inequities. The revised standards should also focus on the tenets of critical race theory (CRT)when describing power structures and systems.”

https://sboe.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/sboe/publication/attachments/2020-12-16-FINAL-SSSAC-Guiding-Principles.pdf

It’s literally in the curriculum. So is CRT by the way.

Always fun to be reminded that even in DMV parent fora we have folks spreading lies about what is taught in public school. Calling actual history and social emotional learning "CRT" and trying to criminalize teaching kids to think about what they're presented with, teaching history and how to learn from it, and criminalizing teaching kids to be inclusive and compassionate humans.

[Anonymous]

My take on the original question, why is DCPS 49th. I'd start with the backlash against Civil Rights in the 60s that led to mass incarceration. Being a Chocolate City, DC was and is a profitable source of recruits to the school to prison pipeline. I suspect if you check the numbers against other urban centers, you'll get the similar rankings. Then I'd say that the switch to teaching reading using the whole word method rather than phonics really did a number on students across the country. The theory doesn't work better than phonics but I'm pretty sure they're still using in DCPS. Then you have inequitable funding, which was only mitigated but not solved by per-pupil-funding over property taxes. Despite being really diverse, DC is terribly segregated and the schools reflect that. Oddly enough that separate but equal thing still doesn't work. And then there are generational factors. Parents who weren't well-prepared for the workplace or for college aren't likely to know how to make sure they're kids get what they didn't. And so on and so on. All of these things need to be addressed and no doubt there are so many more. Unfortunately, we get a lot of rationalizations and an unwillingness to put the money behind what it would take to fix this problem. Just my take. -Little Black Duck

[Anonymous]

As others have noted, it is the wrong comparison. Compare cities to cities not to states.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As others have noted, it is the wrong comparison. Compare cities to cities not to states.

As others have noted, even when you compare cities to cities, DC still has poor results.

This thing about comparable data not being available is a flimsy excuse.

[Anonymous]

Because the DC teachers union turned the pandemic into an 18 month vacation? Turns out if you close schools for a year and a half, your test scores go in the toilet.

[Anonymous]

I went to high school in a small town in rural America. My school was far more rigorous than DCPS. We have low standards here.

[Anonymous]

In DCPS we have a 'missing middle' sweet spot to teach to. We could either teach to the children of the multiply degreed and fail out 2/3 of students or teach to the children of the unsuccessful and uneducated (which is very rarely their fault, but its consequences for the young are undeniable based on countless studies) and by teaching to allow the least educable to get through the school system, we have low standards and try to figure out what to do with everybody who can learn Algebra and analyze Toni Morrison by 9th grade. I'm amazingly sympathetic with teaching to the least educated, but it leaves us unsure what to do with our kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My take on the original question, why is DCPS 49th. I'd start with the backlash against Civil Rights in the 60s that led to mass incarceration. Being a Chocolate City, DC was and is a profitable source of recruits to the school to prison pipeline. I suspect if you check the numbers against other urban centers, you'll get the similar rankings. Then I'd say that the switch to teaching reading using the whole word method rather than phonics really did a number on students across the country. The theory doesn't work better than phonics but I'm pretty sure they're still using in DCPS. Then you have inequitable funding, which was only mitigated but not solved by per-pupil-funding over property taxes. Despite being really diverse, DC is terribly segregated and the schools reflect that. Oddly enough that separate but equal thing still doesn't work. And then there are generational factors. Parents who weren't well-prepared for the workplace or for college aren't likely to know how to make sure they're kids get what they didn't. And so on and so on. All of these things need to be addressed and no doubt there are so many more. Unfortunately, we get a lot of rationalizations and an unwillingness to put the money behind what it would take to fix this problem. Just my take. -Little Black Duck

Brilliantly worded and so true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As others have noted, it is the wrong comparison. Compare cities to cities not to states.

As others have noted, even when you compare cities to cities, DC still has poor results.

This thing about comparable data not being available is a flimsy excuse.

What is being compared? Or is there a link?

When I look at NAEP results for cities, DC is in the middle of the pack for math and a bit higher for reading.

https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/profiles/districtprofile?chort=1&sub=MAT&sj=XQ&sfj=NL&st=MN&year=2022R3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was fairly shocked to see just how much time and resources at our majority minority school are devoted to “anti racism” curriculum. I mean, 90% of the kids are well below grade level. Shouldn’t every minute of every day be spent on math/reading? It’s bizarre.

My kids attend a DCPS Title 1 school and spend zero hours/time on anti-racism curriculum. You’re a troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My take on the original question, why is DCPS 49th. I'd start with the backlash against Civil Rights in the 60s that led to mass incarceration. Being a Chocolate City, DC was and is a profitable source of recruits to the school to prison pipeline. I suspect if you check the numbers against other urban centers, you'll get the similar rankings. Then I'd say that the switch to teaching reading using the whole word method rather than phonics really did a number on students across the country. The theory doesn't work better than phonics but I'm pretty sure they're still using in DCPS. Then you have inequitable funding, which was only mitigated but not solved by per-pupil-funding over property taxes. Despite being really diverse, DC is terribly segregated and the schools reflect that. Oddly enough that separate but equal thing still doesn't work. And then there are generational factors. Parents who weren't well-prepared for the workplace or for college aren't likely to know how to make sure they're kids get what they didn't. And so on and so on. All of these things need to be addressed and no doubt there are so many more. Unfortunately, we get a lot of rationalizations and an unwillingness to put the money behind what it would take to fix this problem. Just my take. -Little Black Duck

Brilliantly worded and so true.

In fact DCPS has now rejected the whole word method and teaches phonics.

[Anonymous]

Teacher salaries are the highest in the nation, and yet our schools are among the worst in the country

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teacher salaries are the highest in the nation, and yet our schools are among the worst in the country

I had multiple elementary aged children miss more than 80 days of school this year. Tell me how my salary fixes that.

[Anonymous]

It’s difficult for students to do well in school when they don’t attend school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher salaries are the highest in the nation, and yet our schools are among the worst in the country

I had multiple elementary aged children miss more than 80 days of school this year. Tell me how my salary fixes that.

Exactly. The problem is not the schools or the teachers or the curriculum. It's the environment these kids come from.

It's horrible parents. Or even the lack thereof. It's neighborhood crime and the fear and stress that come with it. It's social pressures. It's a lack of role models. It's generational poverty. It's toxic social media. It's so many different things.

You could fund a billion dollar school and it wouldn't change a thing.