DC application high schools - by the numbers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This sounds like a student is mostly screwed if they don't lottery into BASIS, Latin, DCI, or Cap City if they don't score well on 7trh grade exams or live IB for Wilson. Got it. smh

Well, almost 30% of 7th graders are in Wilson feeders, so the odds aren't all that bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This sounds like a student is mostly screwed if they don't lottery into BASIS, Latin, DCI, or Cap City if they don't score well on 7trh grade exams or live IB for Wilson. Got it. smh

Well, almost 30% of 7th graders are in Wilson feeders, so the odds aren't all that bad.

I’m referring to the vast majority who aren’t and are coming from programs that won’t prep them to score well on standardized testing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This sounds like a student is mostly screwed if they don't lottery into BASIS, Latin, DCI, or Cap City if they don't score well on 7trh grade exams or live IB for Wilson. Got it. smh

Well, almost 30% of 7th graders are in Wilson feeders, so the odds aren't all that bad.

I’m referring to the vast majority who aren’t and are coming from programs that won’t prep them to score well on standardized testing.

You can't have it both ways--people keep saying they want tracking and selective programs and a cohort of high-achievers and DC offers that for high school--with enough room for all the kids that qualify. But if your kid doesn't meet the standards, you'll have to figure something else out, just like all the other families whose kids don't meet the standards.

DC has many schools that don't have a GPA or PARCC requirement and just admit based on lottery: if I had a middle schooler who got 3s on the PARCC I'd probably look into WLA, Haynes, Ellington, Eastern, Bard, TMA, Ron Brown, KIPP, and Friendship Tech Prep, in addition to some of the ones you mentioned. There are lots of high schools in DC where your kid will have a cohort of other kids who scored 3s or higher on the 7th grade PARCC.

With that said, I think DC could do more to help more elementary and middle school kids score higher on the PARCC. I'd like to see extended school days and years (with time for extracurriculars/lessons beyond math and reading--sports and scouting and music and dance and art and field trips and science and social studies) where more outside professionals and organizations are brought in so kids get a wider range of experiences and classroom teachers had more time to prep and teach smaller groups. I think schools where a high portion of the kids are scoring low on PARCC/living in poverty/exposed to trauma/have IEPs or 504 plans need to have much smaller class sizes (under 20 kids), dedicated classroom aides, and more social workers. I'd be willing to pay more taxes for this, and I already tutor at the Title I school in my neighborhood. But even with this, there will be kids who don't qualify for academically selective schools. We can certainly do more to make their high school experiences rewarding too.

[Anonymous]

You're forgetting that are kids from outside DCPS who apply and get in to these schools -- either move in from other places or come from private schools.