Basis fills a gap that shouldn’t exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think DC public schools should do anything in regards to privileged UMC types. Basis is just ridiculous in concept (and should not exist), but so is the idea of “differentiation” at any other school, which is just segregation by another name. OP is clearly a segregationist, but no worse than the rest of you who can’t stand to see your kids educated next to the poors. Shameful.

Can you explain your first sentence? And are you equating differentiation to racial segregation? Or something else? Not sure I’m following.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think DC public schools should do anything in regards to privileged UMC types. Basis is just ridiculous in concept (and should not exist), but so is the idea of “differentiation” at any other school, which is just segregation by another name. OP is clearly a segregationist, but no worse than the rest of you who can’t stand to see your kids educated next to the poors. Shameful.

If you want public schools to work, then you need to attract the UMC not turn them off. That means we need options for parents that want both academic rigor and don’t mind sharing space with poors.

It would also help if we applied sales tax to private school tuition and better funded schools.

There is no such thing as a poorly funded school in Washington DC.

Just bring back tracking. Neighborhood schools should be able to accommodate kids who want to go to Harvard and kids who want to be plumbers.

[Anonymous]

My kid was one of a miniscule number of white kids at their middle school. Differentiation is not simply segregation, and people both for it and against it should think carefully.

The kids are in the same school. Not every student needs every class separately. The curriculum in English and social studies and science and many electives like music or language and other classes permits different levels of students to be in the same classes.

I think math is kind of unique and differentiation is a really good idea. Not sure where others feel differentiation is really important. Kids need to be able to make progress and not just be parked in classrooms covering material they already know or at paces that are far too slow or working through disruption needlessly.

But I do support the idea that integration is very valuable for students, both in class and outside of class in schools, and I hope you understand that I have put my money where my mouth is on this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think DC public schools should do anything in regards to privileged UMC types. Basis is just ridiculous in concept (and should not exist), but so is the idea of “differentiation” at any other school, which is just segregation by another name. OP is clearly a segregationist, but no worse than the rest of you who can’t stand to see your kids educated next to the poors. Shameful.

If you want public schools to work, then you need to attract the UMC not turn them off. That means we need options for parents that want both academic rigor and don’t mind sharing space with poors.

It would also help if we applied sales tax to private school tuition and better funded schools.

I don’t want schools to work. I want “equity” at all costs even though I (reluctantly) send my own kids to private schools for “fit.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the core of what OP sees is an artifact of class differences in DC.

DC income distribution is U-shaped and it's directly related to educational trajectories. We have no middle class, by national standards.

High-income DC parents are almost strictly advanced degree holders. Our low-income parents have low educational attainment. Studies have shown that these flows directly into a child's educational attainment.

So the result is a system that can't be targeted broadly. We either have students who are almost immediately behind and students who are already ahead and the difference only accelerates across the grades.

So what is DC to do at a certain stage, probably around middle school? Differentiate.

If they don't, I can see a need for a BASIS. I would prefer differentiation within DCPS middle schools in order to promote integration.

My child did this, not at Deal, and has now gone onto one of the selective high schools. It was doable because there was more than one level of math and other specific courses available and sufficient students willing to do the work.

If the educated end of the DC population sends its kids to middle schools that aren't Deal, the differentiation can happen.

If they don't, DCPS will of course focus its staff on the needs of the low educational attainment population. The differences that can be made in their lives based on educational success can be huge.

If DCPS won't differentiate, though, go ahead and send your kids to BASIS. It makes sense to have your kids made a natural educational progression.

There's no "if" here. DCPS currently offers Algebra I and Geometry at many middle schools. Not just Deal and Hardy. Look in the OSSE CAPE stats if you want to know which ones. I recently persuaded our charter middle to offer Geometry and the main argument was that it's increasingly common in DCPS, on the Hill and elsewhere.

Math is one thing. Geometry helps (though it is not offered at our feeder, Francis, which was a factor for us.) but the other subjects matter, too -- BASIS has real science education (as you can see in both the curriculum and the science PARCC scores compared to DCPS schools), earth science, history, writing, etc. The curriculum is much, much fuller than DCPS across all subjects, except language.

I'm not a BASIS "booster" and I think it's a very weird and flawed school, and some kids get deeply stressed there (although my kid likes it.) But DCPS needs to wake up and start offering a much stronger middle school curriculum.

Ok, I'm just saying PP's views of DCPS math differentiation seemed not very up to date.

BASIS has the highest percentage of middle school kids meeting or exceeding expectations in math in the city.

[Anonymous]

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

Differentiate without the biases inherent in an interview process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the core of what OP sees is an artifact of class differences in DC.

DC income distribution is U-shaped and it's directly related to educational trajectories. We have no middle class, by national standards.

High-income DC parents are almost strictly advanced degree holders. Our low-income parents have low educational attainment. Studies have shown that these flows directly into a child's educational attainment.

So the result is a system that can't be targeted broadly. We either have students who are almost immediately behind and students who are already ahead and the difference only accelerates across the grades.

So what is DC to do at a certain stage, probably around middle school? Differentiate.

If they don't, I can see a need for a BASIS. I would prefer differentiation within DCPS middle schools in order to promote integration.

My child did this, not at Deal, and has now gone onto one of the selective high schools. It was doable because there was more than one level of math and other specific courses available and sufficient students willing to do the work.

If the educated end of the DC population sends its kids to middle schools that aren't Deal, the differentiation can happen.

If they don't, DCPS will of course focus its staff on the needs of the low educational attainment population. The differences that can be made in their lives based on educational success can be huge.

If DCPS won't differentiate, though, go ahead and send your kids to BASIS. It makes sense to have your kids made a natural educational progression.

There's no "if" here. DCPS currently offers Algebra I and Geometry at many middle schools. Not just Deal and Hardy. Look in the OSSE CAPE stats if you want to know which ones. I recently persuaded our charter middle to offer Geometry and the main argument was that it's increasingly common in DCPS, on the Hill and elsewhere.

Math is one thing. Geometry helps (though it is not offered at our feeder, Francis, which was a factor for us.) but the other subjects matter, too -- BASIS has real science education (as you can see in both the curriculum and the science PARCC scores compared to DCPS schools), earth science, history, writing, etc. The curriculum is much, much fuller than DCPS across all subjects, except language.

I'm not a BASIS "booster" and I think it's a very weird and flawed school, and some kids get deeply stressed there (although my kid likes it.) But DCPS needs to wake up and start offering a much stronger middle school curriculum.

Ok, I'm just saying PP's views of DCPS math differentiation seemed not very up to date.

BASIS has the highest percentage of middle school kids meeting or exceeding expectations in math in the city.

Dude this is why people hate BASIS boosters. Perhaps what you say is true, but it's not in any way a relevant response to the PP. Try to contribute something more interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid was one of a miniscule number of white kids at their middle school. Differentiation is not simply segregation, and people both for it and against it should think carefully.

The kids are in the same school. Not every student needs every class separately. The curriculum in English and social studies and science and many electives like music or language and other classes permits different levels of students to be in the same classes.

I think math is kind of unique and differentiation is a really good idea. Not sure where others feel differentiation is really important. Kids need to be able to make progress and not just be parked in classrooms covering material they already know or at paces that are far too slow or working through disruption needlessly.

But I do support the idea that integration is very valuable for students, both in class and outside of class in schools, and I hope you understand that I have put my money where my mouth is on this.

Yes - math, as a cumulative subject, is totally different. Sort of impossible to engage students with big knowledge gaps gaps in a single class. Ironically it seems many of most “sensitive” about math tracking, perhaps because abilty differences can’t be papered over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the core of what OP sees is an artifact of class differences in DC.

DC income distribution is U-shaped and it's directly related to educational trajectories. We have no middle class, by national standards.

High-income DC parents are almost strictly advanced degree holders. Our low-income parents have low educational attainment. Studies have shown that these flows directly into a child's educational attainment.

So the result is a system that can't be targeted broadly. We either have students who are almost immediately behind and students who are already ahead and the difference only accelerates across the grades.

So what is DC to do at a certain stage, probably around middle school? Differentiate.

If they don't, I can see a need for a BASIS. I would prefer differentiation within DCPS middle schools in order to promote integration.

My child did this, not at Deal, and has now gone onto one of the selective high schools. It was doable because there was more than one level of math and other specific courses available and sufficient students willing to do the work.

If the educated end of the DC population sends its kids to middle schools that aren't Deal, the differentiation can happen.

If they don't, DCPS will of course focus its staff on the needs of the low educational attainment population. The differences that can be made in their lives based on educational success can be huge.

If DCPS won't differentiate, though, go ahead and send your kids to BASIS. It makes sense to have your kids made a natural educational progression.

There's no "if" here. DCPS currently offers Algebra I and Geometry at many middle schools. Not just Deal and Hardy. Look in the OSSE CAPE stats if you want to know which ones. I recently persuaded our charter middle to offer Geometry and the main argument was that it's increasingly common in DCPS, on the Hill and elsewhere.

Math is one thing. Geometry helps (though it is not offered at our feeder, Francis, which was a factor for us.) but the other subjects matter, too -- BASIS has real science education (as you can see in both the curriculum and the science PARCC scores compared to DCPS schools), earth science, history, writing, etc. The curriculum is much, much fuller than DCPS across all subjects, except language.

I'm not a BASIS "booster" and I think it's a very weird and flawed school, and some kids get deeply stressed there (although my kid likes it.) But DCPS needs to wake up and start offering a much stronger middle school curriculum.

Ok, I'm just saying PP's views of DCPS math differentiation seemed not very up to date.

BASIS has the highest percentage of middle school kids meeting or exceeding expectations in math in the city.

Dude this is why people hate BASIS boosters. Perhaps what you say is true, but it's not in any way a relevant response to the PP. Try to contribute something more interesting.

It was in response to people saying DCPS math is just as good as math at BASIS. That's obviously untrue. I don't have kids at BASIS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think DC public schools should do anything in regards to privileged UMC types. Basis is just ridiculous in concept (and should not exist), but so is the idea of “differentiation” at any other school, which is just segregation by another name. OP is clearly a segregationist, but no worse than the rest of you who can’t stand to see your kids educated next to the poors. Shameful.

If you want public schools to work, then you need to attract the UMC not turn them off. That means we need options for parents that want both academic rigor and don’t mind sharing space with poors.

It would also help if we applied sales tax to private school tuition and better funded schools.

There is no such thing as a poorly funded school in Washington DC.

Just bring back tracking. Neighborhood schools should be able to accommodate kids who want to go to Harvard and kids who want to be plumbers.

Probably a lot of BASIS kids would stay at their local schools if they offered an honors track.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the core of what OP sees is an artifact of class differences in DC.

DC income distribution is U-shaped and it's directly related to educational trajectories. We have no middle class, by national standards.

High-income DC parents are almost strictly advanced degree holders. Our low-income parents have low educational attainment. Studies have shown that these flows directly into a child's educational attainment.

So the result is a system that can't be targeted broadly. We either have students who are almost immediately behind and students who are already ahead and the difference only accelerates across the grades.

So what is DC to do at a certain stage, probably around middle school? Differentiate.

If they don't, I can see a need for a BASIS. I would prefer differentiation within DCPS middle schools in order to promote integration.

My child did this, not at Deal, and has now gone onto one of the selective high schools. It was doable because there was more than one level of math and other specific courses available and sufficient students willing to do the work.

If the educated end of the DC population sends its kids to middle schools that aren't Deal, the differentiation can happen.

If they don't, DCPS will of course focus its staff on the needs of the low educational attainment population. The differences that can be made in their lives based on educational success can be huge.

If DCPS won't differentiate, though, go ahead and send your kids to BASIS. It makes sense to have your kids made a natural educational progression.

There's no "if" here. DCPS currently offers Algebra I and Geometry at many middle schools. Not just Deal and Hardy. Look in the OSSE CAPE stats if you want to know which ones. I recently persuaded our charter middle to offer Geometry and the main argument was that it's increasingly common in DCPS, on the Hill and elsewhere.

Math is one thing. Geometry helps (though it is not offered at our feeder, Francis, which was a factor for us.) but the other subjects matter, too -- BASIS has real science education (as you can see in both the curriculum and the science PARCC scores compared to DCPS schools), earth science, history, writing, etc. The curriculum is much, much fuller than DCPS across all subjects, except language.

I'm not a BASIS "booster" and I think it's a very weird and flawed school, and some kids get deeply stressed there (although my kid likes it.) But DCPS needs to wake up and start offering a much stronger middle school curriculum.

Ok, I'm just saying PP's views of DCPS math differentiation seemed not very up to date.

BASIS has the highest percentage of middle school kids meeting or exceeding expectations in math in the city.

Dude this is why people hate BASIS boosters. Perhaps what you say is true, but it's not in any way a relevant response to the PP. Try to contribute something more interesting.

It was in response to people saying DCPS math is just as good as math at BASIS. That's obviously untrue. I don't have kids at BASIS.

Who is saying that? It was in response to a PP yammering on about "if DCPS differentiates", when clearly shown in the OSSE CAPE data is that DCPS does offer Algebra I and Geometry to 7th and 8th graders at some schools, not just Deal and Hardy. Nobody's saying it's the same as at BASIS but you can't say that isn't differentiation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think DC public schools should do anything in regards to privileged UMC types. Basis is just ridiculous in concept (and should not exist), but so is the idea of “differentiation” at any other school, which is just segregation by another name. OP is clearly a segregationist, but no worse than the rest of you who can’t stand to see your kids educated next to the poors. Shameful.

If you want public schools to work, then you need to attract the UMC not turn them off. That means we need options for parents that want both academic rigor and don’t mind sharing space with poors.

It would also help if we applied sales tax to private school tuition and better funded schools.

There is no such thing as a poorly funded school in Washington DC.

Just bring back tracking. Neighborhood schools should be able to accommodate kids who want to go to Harvard and kids who want to be plumbers.

Probably a lot of BASIS kids would stay at their local schools if they offered an honors track.

Ironically, Basis doesn’t track. Gives all access to advanced material. The equity folks should love it but still complain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think DC public schools should do anything in regards to privileged UMC types. Basis is just ridiculous in concept (and should not exist), but so is the idea of “differentiation” at any other school, which is just segregation by another name. OP is clearly a segregationist, but no worse than the rest of you who can’t stand to see your kids educated next to the poors. Shameful.

If you want public schools to work, then you need to attract the UMC not turn them off. That means we need options for parents that want both academic rigor and don’t mind sharing space with poors.

It would also help if we applied sales tax to private school tuition and better funded schools.

There is no such thing as a poorly funded school in Washington DC.

Just bring back tracking. Neighborhood schools should be able to accommodate kids who want to go to Harvard and kids who want to be plumbers.

Probably a lot of BASIS kids would stay at their local schools if they offered an honors track.

Ironically, Basis doesn’t track. Gives all access to advanced material. The equity folks should love it but still complain.

The tracking happens when kids don't move up to 7th grade because they fail the 6th grade comps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think DC public schools should do anything in regards to privileged UMC types. Basis is just ridiculous in concept (and should not exist), but so is the idea of “differentiation” at any other school, which is just segregation by another name. OP is clearly a segregationist, but no worse than the rest of you who can’t stand to see your kids educated next to the poors. Shameful.

If you want public schools to work, then you need to attract the UMC not turn them off. That means we need options for parents that want both academic rigor and don’t mind sharing space with poors.

It would also help if we applied sales tax to private school tuition and better funded schools.

There is no such thing as a poorly funded school in Washington DC.

Just bring back tracking. Neighborhood schools should be able to accommodate kids who want to go to Harvard and kids who want to be plumbers.

Probably a lot of BASIS kids would stay at their local schools if they offered an honors track.

Pretty sure many of the DCPS middle schools actually do have an honors track, if not for all subjects, at least for math and English.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid was one of a miniscule number of white kids at their middle school. Differentiation is not simply segregation, and people both for it and against it should think carefully.

Banneker and Walls show you can have coexisting differentiation and segregation. Both differentiate for students with high CAPEs and low populations of at-risk students, yet parents obviously self-segregate.