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If you could send your (African-American) son anywhere for school…
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Anonymous
| Just throwing another PG school into the ring-- my kids attend New Hope Academy in Landover Hills. We're happy with the academics and the school culture. It's a K3-12 school, about 85% AA. |
Anonymous
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I'm the poster who posted the links to the MD report car and highlighted the info on how many kids weren't just passing these tests, but were passing them an the "advanced" level.
I think what's going on is, right now, AYP is being measured by what percentage of kids are passing the tests in math, language arts and science. Just passing. "Advanced" passes are recorded, but as of right now, schools are not being evaluated by how many kids are passing at the advanced level. Nor for that matter are schools being held accountable (or rewarded) for making sure each child progresses at least a years' worth in math and reading each year. What I mean is, there are probably plent of 3rd graders who can take the end of year 3rd grade test in September, and pass it. So -- who cares if they also pass it at the end of the year? Ideally, youd' test them on a higher grade level test, to be able to show that they had learned something all year long in Language Arts. Anyhow, as of right now, I don't think that principals and teachers are being formally evaluated based on how many kids are passing at the adbvanced level. But for parents of kids in public schools -- that is something you can at a minimum ask about -- and even more importantly, make a stink about at PTA meetings or to your school board. Take a look at these MSA tests someday -- they are NOT that difficult, and even kids who don't speak ENglish very well or who come from poor families, yadda yadda, should be able to pass them at the proficient level by late elementary school assuming the schools are well run. PLENTY of schools in poor areas are able to get their kids to pass OK. So if you are in a school that isn't that badly off, your kids really ought to primarily be passing advanced in my book -- or I'd want to know what the problem is. If I were AA and thinking about public school for K in a few years, I'd look for other likeminded parents and go visit the principal of your neighborhood school NOW and talk about why more AA kids aren't scoring advanced on those tests. Let the principal know you are looking into the stats NOW and that you consider them to be concerning. |
Anonymous
| Another thing to look at when digging more deeply into school "at a glance" stats is that in some downcounty consortium schools, a significant percentage of AA students are also ESOL students. At Burnt Mills Elementary,for example, over 12% of AA students are in ESOL vs fewer than 9% of Hispanic students. There are lots of kids from Ethiopia and other African countries who are not speaking English at home. OTOH, that fact doesn't seem to impact test scores at Burnt Mills. It is nearly 70% AA, and it has very good MSA scores. |
Anonymous
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PP, I like to check what people say. You are right. Look at Burnt Mills' MSA scores broken down by race:
http://www.mdreportcard.org/statDisplay.aspx?PV=2:5:15:0309:3:N:6:1:1:1:1:1:1:1:3 42% of fifth grade AA kids scored advanced on the reading test, and 95% AA fifth graders passed overall. That's a much higher percentage of AA kids scoring advanced than you find in many schools. Math and science however are another story. http://www.mdreportcard.org/statDisplay.aspx?PV=2:5:15:0309:3:N:6:1:2:1:1:1:1:1:3 |
Anonymous
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What about:
River School Capitol Hill Day School Friends Community Lowell Green Acres I think each of these schools develops love of learning and has pretty good diversity?? |
Anonymous
Add Washington Latin. |
Anonymous
I am happy you put this in. We are sending our child (non-AA) there in the fall and are really excited! |
Anonymous
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About me: Married mother of two African-American boys. Public school teacher. Husband and I both taught in DCPS. He no longer teaches, I teach in a DCC MCPS school. (Middle school).
I COMPLETELY understand your concerns. My husband and I have them as well. When I initially started teaching in MCPS, I told my husband I was glad we live in DC because I noticed that the majority of students who got referrals (2/3) were African-American boys. (And unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of those issuing the referrals were white females.) In general, I would say that in order to avoid this, make your presence known to the teachers and administrators. Listen to your child and follow up on any incident you think needs to be followed up on. Even the most liberal, open-mined individuals poseeses biasses. When it was time to enroll my son in school (in 2008), we only looked at one non-public school (Howard U's Early Learning Program). The rest were local DCPS schools. We didn't look into the charters. Unfortunately, since I am simply a Howard Alum and not a current student or faculty member, our son was on the waiting list. We chose to enroll him in a local school that features a Montessori program (Thurgood Marshall in Ft. Lincoln)and we have been thrilled with his progress. When a spot became available at Howard, we declied and kept him at TMES. Since he started school I have read numerous articles about how boys in particular learn and it seems as though the Montessori model is the right fit. It allows students to work at their own pace, teaches them to focus and make decisions , is hands-on and does not require sitting still or rote memorization. And his teacher is FANTASTIC! If you do decide that moving to DC is good option for you and your family, please consider areas other than NW. My husband and I are firm believers that parents make the difference in the quality of education their children receive. Many more public schools would have fantastic reputations if we stopped vying for placement in the same 10 or so schools. |
Anonymous
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I take offense at that statement in bold. As a white county teacher who's in your neighboring consortium, I am working with similar demographics. You must know by now that statistics can be misleading. I have no doubt that data collection on referrals is used toward SIP. So you must have access to that specific data point. However, you must also realize that in the DCC, AAs make up - on average - 30% of each school's population. Furthermore, the schools have hired a majority of white teachers - females in particular. At three different DCC schools, white teachers make up anywhere from 50% to 70% of the professional staff. (About 70% of the professional staff are females.) So the odds are that the majority of referrals will come from white teachers.
But please don't assume that we're all racist and somehow have hidden prejudices. That would be an unfair generalization.
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Anonymous
The PP is not assuming that you all are racist or have a hidden prejudices. I actually believe what she is saying is a fact. I am white female and would caution an AA mom with a son with the same advice and enourage her to be very vigilant. I have witnessed this kind of behavior and bias by white female (and male) teachers and feel that many times AA boys in particular face an uphill battle with teachers and administrators in mostly white public schools. |
Anonymous
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OP again. I'm happy to hear a number of the AA parents out there have had positive experiences in various public schools in MoCo and DC. Someone mentioned that the achievement gap seems to widen as kids get older, and I think the statistics generally support that. The gap also seems wider in math and science as opposed to reading in most grades. A follow-up question I have is for families who have chosen public for elementary school and later switched to private - what do you think is the ideal point to make the switch? Do you think the transition is tough on children either from an academic or social perspective? Is it really worth it to save the money for elementary and later switch if financially feasible?
12:13 - Thanks for your insight. I'm glad to hear Montessori has been a good fit for your son. DH and I both did Montessori as well and it's was great for us - hopeful DS will have the same experience. I completely agree continued parental involvement is a huge factor in a child's academic success. I also took to heart your point about parents choosing the same several schools rather than investing in a broader set of schools that show potential to unlock each child's potential. I had no clue there were any DC publics using the Montessori pedagogy (though I had heard about some in PG County). Does anyone know of public Montessoris in MoCo? |
Anonymous
| For a typically-learning boy, I'd invest the money in private for the lower grades and transition to public either near middle school or in high school. I think privates in general do a better job of letting a boy be a boy (moving around, more experiential learning, recess, etc.). |
Anonymous
| We decided to do private early on b/c we wanted a solid foundation in arts, music and language. |
Anonymous
| OP, if you haven't done so already, you may want to visit Evergreen School in Wheaton. It's a private Montessori school with a diverse population. |
Anonymous
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I would like to address the comment on Concord Hills, I know that people have said this before, but the school is dedfinitely doing significant outreach, but if you visit and there are few minorities, you generally would not choosew the school, but in order to get more minorities, you have to have some. I personally thought that CHS was a great school, and the few black parents I did talk to love the school and verify that the school truly is attempting to diversify. In the end, we didn't choose CH because we wanted a school that went beyond 3rd grade, but it was not because we thought our son would not be welcome.
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