Selective Admissions High Schools - Testing Requirements

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
To clear the “mystery” about the recommendation letters- Here is an idea: Last year Deal sent 41 kids to Walls- Maybe do some reasearch on what made them standout compared to their peers to get an interview at Walls beyond their GPAs.

This is exactly the problem. This is a public school. Families deserve clear guidelines on how to get in--not some research project figure out how best to game the recommendation process.

Bringing back testing is not the solution. It is a public school for all DC not just the upper middle class of DC.

They are not for all of DC. They are specialized schools with admission processes. If you want to just turn them into full lottery schools, then that is a different conversation. If they are going to be selective, then they should have simple guidelines on how to get in. If the worry is low-SES students cannot get in these schools via a competitive testing process DCPS should hold open additional spots for at-risk students. I don't have an issue with putting a thumb on the scale for those that need extra support, but at least be transparent about it.

Exactly. Run an equity lottery if you want to in parallel. But there is no equity argument for not taking the kids from within each group who are most in need of advanced coursework.

[Anonymous]

In favor of testing as a requirement in general. But that won't solve the issue at the high school level. DCPS needs a magnet program that starts around 4th-5th grade. Math is the real issue. Most of the middle schools don't have enough of an advanced cohort to offer advanced math. One solution would be to pull the advanced kids out 2-3 days a week for centralized instruction in math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In favor of testing as a requirement in general. But that won't solve the issue at the high school level. DCPS needs a magnet program that starts around 4th-5th grade. Math is the real issue. Most of the middle schools don't have enough of an advanced cohort to offer advanced math. One solution would be to pull the advanced kids out 2-3 days a week for centralized instruction in math.

If DCPS schools had real middle and high school tracking, families wouldn't be so desperate to get into the selective schools in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In favor of testing as a requirement in general. But that won't solve the issue at the high school level. DCPS needs a magnet program that starts around 4th-5th grade. Math is the real issue. Most of the middle schools don't have enough of an advanced cohort to offer advanced math. One solution would be to pull the advanced kids out 2-3 days a week for centralized instruction in math.

A true magnet or G&T program would be great. Not sure if the Republican Congress would be as receptive to this proposal as a testing requirement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In favor of testing as a requirement in general. But that won't solve the issue at the high school level. DCPS needs a magnet program that starts around 4th-5th grade. Math is the real issue. Most of the middle schools don't have enough of an advanced cohort to offer advanced math. One solution would be to pull the advanced kids out 2-3 days a week for centralized instruction in math.

Our school has less than 1 handful of kids taking geometry in 8th grade but the school still offers it. Schools can make the choice even if it's just 1-2 students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In favor of testing as a requirement in general. But that won't solve the issue at the high school level. DCPS needs a magnet program that starts around 4th-5th grade. Math is the real issue. Most of the middle schools don't have enough of an advanced cohort to offer advanced math. One solution would be to pull the advanced kids out 2-3 days a week for centralized instruction in math.

Our school has less than 1 handful of kids taking geometry in 8th grade but the school still offers it. Schools can make the choice even if it's just 1-2 students.

No school would make the choice for 1-2 students. They don't have the resources.

[Anonymous]

I think they should bring it back and call it the Selective High Admissions Test. Or an abbreviation thereof.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In favor of testing as a requirement in general. But that won't solve the issue at the high school level. DCPS needs a magnet program that starts around 4th-5th grade. Math is the real issue. Most of the middle schools don't have enough of an advanced cohort to offer advanced math. One solution would be to pull the advanced kids out 2-3 days a week for centralized instruction in math.

Our school has less than 1 handful of kids taking geometry in 8th grade but the school still offers it. Schools can make the choice even if it's just 1-2 students.

No school would make the choice for 1-2 students. They don't have the resources.

That's not true. Our DCPS MS is doing it for less than 5 kids right now.

[Anonymous]

https://www.change.org/p/implement-objective-admissions-examinations-in-selective-dcps-high-schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In favor of testing as a requirement in general. But that won't solve the issue at the high school level. DCPS needs a magnet program that starts around 4th-5th grade. Math is the real issue. Most of the middle schools don't have enough of an advanced cohort to offer advanced math. One solution would be to pull the advanced kids out 2-3 days a week for centralized instruction in math.

Our school has less than 1 handful of kids taking geometry in 8th grade but the school still offers it. Schools can make the choice even if it's just 1-2 students.

No school would make the choice for 1-2 students. They don't have the resources.

That's not true. Our DCPS MS is doing it for less than 5 kids right now.

Our charter MS has announced that they will offer geometry as well, for an anticipated 3-10 kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.change.org/p/implement-objective-admissions-examinations-in-selective-dcps-high-schools

So you think that Oklahoma that typically ranks at the bottom nationwide in math and reading, and last year resorted to manipulating the system in order to improve those scores, is qualified to make decisions about a selective DC public high school!
https://oklahomavoice.com/2024/08/21/oklahomas-education-department-quietly-made-changes-that-will-cause-big-jumps-in-state-test-scores/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.change.org/p/implement-objective-admissions-examinations-in-selective-dcps-high-schools

So you think that Oklahoma that typically ranks at the bottom nationwide in math and reading, and last year resorted to manipulating the system in order to improve those scores, is qualified to make decisions about a selective DC public high school!
https://oklahomavoice.com/2024/08/21/oklahomas-education-department-quietly-made-changes-that-will-cause-big-jumps-in-state-test-scores/

Hah! Oklahoma. We do choose to live in a location where the house and senate can make these decisions for us.

[Anonymous]

NYC does this correctly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Equity matters to uplift all DC students. There bright and capable kids all through DC schools but they shouldn’t be at a disadvantage compared to Deal or Hardy kids simply because their schools or SES do not give them the opportunities that UMC get.

To clear the “mystery” about the recommendation letters- Here is an idea: Last year Deal sent 41 kids to Walls- Maybe do some reasearch on what made them standout compared to their peers to get an interview at Walls beyond their GPAs.

Also- here is a reference to the link between SES and kids performance in standardized tests.
“A recent paper released by Opportunity Insights, a Harvard-based team of researchers and policy analysts, found that children of the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans were 13 times likelier than the children of low-income families to score 1300 or higher on SAT/ACT tests.” https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/11/new-study-finds-wide-gap-in-sat-act-test-scores-between-wealthy-lower-income-kids/

Who wants to bet that higher SES correlates to higher GPA too.

The reality is that tests are the best way to identify strong lower SES kids who would benefit from more advanced programming and who don’t have the resources to supplement outside school or divert to a private school in the event they don’t get into a selective HS. Those are the kids who are hurt the most by the lack of an objective testing standard. (That’s why selective colleges have brought back the SAT/ACT!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In favor of testing as a requirement in general. But that won't solve the issue at the high school level. DCPS needs a magnet program that starts around 4th-5th grade. Math is the real issue. Most of the middle schools don't have enough of an advanced cohort to offer advanced math. One solution would be to pull the advanced kids out 2-3 days a week for centralized instruction in math.

Our school has less than 1 handful of kids taking geometry in 8th grade but the school still offers it. Schools can make the choice even if it's just 1-2 students.

No school would make the choice for 1-2 students. They don't have the resources.

That's not true. Our DCPS MS is doing it for less than 5 kids right now.

Our charter MS has announced that they will offer geometry as well, for an anticipated 3-10 kids.

I assume these kids will be taking an online geometry course because what school could possibly have the funding next year for a class of 5 kids? They will be in thr back of the room on a computer.