BASIS charter expansion is up for public comment

[Anonymous]

Petty PP above seeks only to muddy the waters. Good public schools benefit everybody in a jurisdiction, regardless of the dough citizens may or may not have for private school.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I'm still trying to get my head around the idea that anyone is okay with these people taking $2 million a year off the DC taxpayer in exchange for washing out 60 percent of the class. WTF

I'm a lot more concerned about the DCPS schools passing students through despite truancy and being years behind grade level.

Why? Some dude in Arizona isn't getting the fancy Audi off of that... I mean, if we're going to miseducate our kids, let's keep the money for Audis here in the district.

Also, to be slightly serious, what you're describing is failure of the system, and what I'm talking about is people seeing how close they can get the system to failure in the name of getting the fancy Audi. Profit should never be part of any conversation about education.

BASIS DC is nonprofit, dummy.

Think of the millions that DCPS is spending on failing schools where most of the kids are illiterate and innumerate.

Let’s create another dozen BASIS schools in DC and stop pouring money into schools that don’t work.

No. It's a for-profit charter. We've gone over this.

DC contracts with a non-profit organization which then turns around and pays the for-profit for administration and curriculum. The for-profit is the decision-making power in terms of what happens at the school. It's really gross.

If DCPS put them out of business by offering a test-in, accelerated STEM school, I wouldn't be sad for a moment. But right now, this is who is interested in providing real math and science to my non-JR zoned kids.

Yeah, I mean, if it gets it done for your kids, you should do it. But so many people going in look at those washout numbers and think “oh that won’t be my kid” but statistically, it will be. And it’s infuriating that BADIS administrators bring kids in and know that they can’t educate 60 percent of them, but don’t try to change their method or discourage the kids who aren’t going to make it.

They’re looking to get paid so they have to take kids in they have no intention or ability to get through to graduation and they convince a whole lot of parents that they’re going to help their kids when they won’t. It’s messed up.

DP. Your post makes absolutely no sense. What are the "washout" numbers you keep referring to? Where are you getting that 60% of the kids aren't being educated? I have to assume you're referring to the attrition numbers which--to be clear--does not represent the number of kids who failed. The number of kids who don't pass the year-end comps is actually pretty small. But kids choose to leave for a number of reasons.

You also argue that the school isn't doing anything to "discourage" the kids who aren't going to make it...soooo, what would you have them do? Maybe require the students to take a year-end test that they have to pass in order to get promoted to the next grade? Oh wait...

What's actually messed up is the fact that DC has so many failing schools---schools that are allowed to remain open and take tax dollars yet less than 5% of the kids are at grade level! THAT's what you should be upset about. Those are the kids who aren't being educated. The stats suggest that the kids at BASIS are, in fact, getting an education.

I'm not suggesting that BASIS is perfect, and it sounds like it didn't work out for your child, but whatever ax you have to grind is getting in the way of facts.

Sixty percent of the kids who go in, don't graduate. That's not success. The fact that 40 percent are successful is dismal. It's good for those 40 percent, but it's an indictment of the school overall.

If it was a public school you'd call that a failing school. If it was a private school and only 40 percent of the kids who start make it to graduation people wouldn't send their kids.

You are reading the data wrong. Families leave DC all the time (transient city). Those kids aren't backfilled at BASIS so you don't notice them at other schools. You also ignore the application HS process. If kids apply to SWW or Banneker or DESA and decide to attend that doesn't mean BASIS failed. It means kids had options and chose something else. Some kids do indeed leave (lots between 6th and 7th) because the school is not a good fit for them. And that is ok. It doesn't have to be. The fundamental failure of your argument is that kids who aren't a good fit and leave for a better fit is an indication of BASIS's "failure". That is no more true than it is to say that a kid who opts to leave BASIS because it isn't a good fit "failed".

Tlr Your analytical skills and critical thinking failed you.

If you saw that garbled mess of an answer to any other school, public or private, you would call bullshit. And what's weird is that none of the other schools (public or private) that have comparable test scores, have this issue of a dramatic decline in class size from 9th to 12th...

How many kids start at 9th grade finish with a diploma? If it's not 75-80%+ the school isn't working.

I now see the problem. You made up B.S. numbers. The 60% number you are (incorrectly) hanging your hat on is total attrition based on class size from 5th through 12th. Bolded above makes clear you mean to address attrition from 9th-12th.

Let's look at the actual OSSE data.
9th grade enrollment 2016-17 vs 12th grade enrollment 2019-20: 57 vs 50 (87%)
9th grade enrollment 2017-18 vs 12th grade enrollment 2020-21: 49 vs 39 (80%)
9th grade enrollment 2018-19 vs 12th grade enrollment 2021-22: 57 vs 52 (91%)
9th grade enrollment 2019-20 vs 12th grade enrollment 2022-23: 54 vs 42 (78%)
9th grade enrollment 2020-21 vs 12th grade enrollment 2024: 49 vs 39 (80%)

Good news is based on the criteria you set out ("If it's not 75-80%+ the school isn't working") the school is "working". Welcome to the Boosters Club!!!!

According to the DC school report card (which I'll link: https://schoolreportcard.dc.gov/lea/168/school/3068/report), the school has:

5th grade: 135
9th grade: 79
12th grade: 42.

I'll buy the argument that it's lottery and people don't know what they're getting into at fifth grade and by ninth have realized the terrible mistake theyv'e made, but what's the deal with the 9th to 12th drop. And 42 isn't even the number that graduates. But let's say it is, it's a 47 percent washout. I stand corrected. Still a horrific number.

And, when you compare it any other school, there is NOWHERE near the attrition 9-12.

Those are also the enrollment numbers reported by USNWR which BASIS parents insist is the ONLY place to evaluate the school's success.

A lot of it is families moving out if DC and students not being replaced.

[Anonymous]

This. It’s an unfortunate part of living in DC to have so much transience. The increasing crime in DC is also not going to help the problem of families leaving the area.
An important point to note about Walls is that it also accepts additional students in 10th grade, albeit not many. No student in BASIS’s high school is ever replaced when they leave, which further complicates the attrition comparison.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I'm still trying to get my head around the idea that anyone is okay with these people taking $2 million a year off the DC taxpayer in exchange for washing out 60 percent of the class. WTF

I'm a lot more concerned about the DCPS schools passing students through despite truancy and being years behind grade level.

Why? Some dude in Arizona isn't getting the fancy Audi off of that... I mean, if we're going to miseducate our kids, let's keep the money for Audis here in the district.

Also, to be slightly serious, what you're describing is failure of the system, and what I'm talking about is people seeing how close they can get the system to failure in the name of getting the fancy Audi. Profit should never be part of any conversation about education.

BASIS DC is nonprofit, dummy.

Think of the millions that DCPS is spending on failing schools where most of the kids are illiterate and innumerate.

Let’s create another dozen BASIS schools in DC and stop pouring money into schools that don’t work.

No. It's a for-profit charter. We've gone over this.

DC contracts with a non-profit organization which then turns around and pays the for-profit for administration and curriculum. The for-profit is the decision-making power in terms of what happens at the school. It's really gross.

If DCPS put them out of business by offering a test-in, accelerated STEM school, I wouldn't be sad for a moment. But right now, this is who is interested in providing real math and science to my non-JR zoned kids.

Yeah, I mean, if it gets it done for your kids, you should do it. But so many people going in look at those washout numbers and think “oh that won’t be my kid” but statistically, it will be. And it’s infuriating that BADIS administrators bring kids in and know that they can’t educate 60 percent of them, but don’t try to change their method or discourage the kids who aren’t going to make it.

They’re looking to get paid so they have to take kids in they have no intention or ability to get through to graduation and they convince a whole lot of parents that they’re going to help their kids when they won’t. It’s messed up.

DP. Your post makes absolutely no sense. What are the "washout" numbers you keep referring to? Where are you getting that 60% of the kids aren't being educated? I have to assume you're referring to the attrition numbers which--to be clear--does not represent the number of kids who failed. The number of kids who don't pass the year-end comps is actually pretty small. But kids choose to leave for a number of reasons.

You also argue that the school isn't doing anything to "discourage" the kids who aren't going to make it...soooo, what would you have them do? Maybe require the students to take a year-end test that they have to pass in order to get promoted to the next grade? Oh wait...

What's actually messed up is the fact that DC has so many failing schools---schools that are allowed to remain open and take tax dollars yet less than 5% of the kids are at grade level! THAT's what you should be upset about. Those are the kids who aren't being educated. The stats suggest that the kids at BASIS are, in fact, getting an education.

I'm not suggesting that BASIS is perfect, and it sounds like it didn't work out for your child, but whatever ax you have to grind is getting in the way of facts.

Sixty percent of the kids who go in, don't graduate. That's not success. The fact that 40 percent are successful is dismal. It's good for those 40 percent, but it's an indictment of the school overall.

If it was a public school you'd call that a failing school. If it was a private school and only 40 percent of the kids who start make it to graduation people wouldn't send their kids.

You are reading the data wrong. Families leave DC all the time (transient city). Those kids aren't backfilled at BASIS so you don't notice them at other schools. You also ignore the application HS process. If kids apply to SWW or Banneker or DESA and decide to attend that doesn't mean BASIS failed. It means kids had options and chose something else. Some kids do indeed leave (lots between 6th and 7th) because the school is not a good fit for them. And that is ok. It doesn't have to be. The fundamental failure of your argument is that kids who aren't a good fit and leave for a better fit is an indication of BASIS's "failure". That is no more true than it is to say that a kid who opts to leave BASIS because it isn't a good fit "failed".

Tlr Your analytical skills and critical thinking failed you.

If you saw that garbled mess of an answer to any other school, public or private, you would call bullshit. And what's weird is that none of the other schools (public or private) that have comparable test scores, have this issue of a dramatic decline in class size from 9th to 12th...

How many kids start at 9th grade finish with a diploma? If it's not 75-80%+ the school isn't working.

I now see the problem. You made up B.S. numbers. The 60% number you are (incorrectly) hanging your hat on is total attrition based on class size from 5th through 12th. Bolded above makes clear you mean to address attrition from 9th-12th.

Let's look at the actual OSSE data.
9th grade enrollment 2016-17 vs 12th grade enrollment 2019-20: 57 vs 50 (87%)
9th grade enrollment 2017-18 vs 12th grade enrollment 2020-21: 49 vs 39 (80%)
9th grade enrollment 2018-19 vs 12th grade enrollment 2021-22: 57 vs 52 (91%)
9th grade enrollment 2019-20 vs 12th grade enrollment 2022-23: 54 vs 42 (78%)
9th grade enrollment 2020-21 vs 12th grade enrollment 2024: 49 vs 39 (80%)

Good news is based on the criteria you set out ("If it's not 75-80%+ the school isn't working") the school is "working". Welcome to the Boosters Club!!!!

According to the DC school report card (which I'll link: https://schoolreportcard.dc.gov/lea/168/school/3068/report), the school has:

5th grade: 135
9th grade: 79
12th grade: 42.

I'll buy the argument that it's lottery and people don't know what they're getting into at fifth grade and by ninth have realized the terrible mistake theyv'e made, but what's the deal with the 9th to 12th drop. And 42 isn't even the number that graduates. But let's say it is, it's a 47 percent washout. I stand corrected. Still a horrific number.

And, when you compare it any other school, there is NOWHERE near the attrition 9-12.

Those are also the enrollment numbers reported by USNWR which BASIS parents insist is the ONLY place to evaluate the school's success.

A lot of it is families moving out if DC and students not being replaced.

But that only affects BASIS enrollment? Hmm… you don’t have to be a ninth grader desperately trying to keep up with college calc to know THAT story doesn’t add up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm still trying to get my head around the idea that anyone is okay with these people taking $2 million a year off the DC taxpayer in exchange for washing out 60 percent of the class. WTF

I'm a lot more concerned about the DCPS schools passing students through despite truancy and being years behind grade level.

Why? Some dude in Arizona isn't getting the fancy Audi off of that... I mean, if we're going to miseducate our kids, let's keep the money for Audis here in the district.

Also, to be slightly serious, what you're describing is failure of the system, and what I'm talking about is people seeing how close they can get the system to failure in the name of getting the fancy Audi. Profit should never be part of any conversation about education.

BASIS DC is nonprofit, dummy.

Think of the millions that DCPS is spending on failing schools where most of the kids are illiterate and innumerate.

Let’s create another dozen BASIS schools in DC and stop pouring money into schools that don’t work.

No. It's a for-profit charter. We've gone over this.

DC contracts with a non-profit organization which then turns around and pays the for-profit for administration and curriculum. The for-profit is the decision-making power in terms of what happens at the school. It's really gross.

If DCPS put them out of business by offering a test-in, accelerated STEM school, I wouldn't be sad for a moment. But right now, this is who is interested in providing real math and science to my non-JR zoned kids.

Yeah, I mean, if it gets it done for your kids, you should do it. But so many people going in look at those washout numbers and think “oh that won’t be my kid” but statistically, it will be. And it’s infuriating that BADIS administrators bring kids in and know that they can’t educate 60 percent of them, but don’t try to change their method or discourage the kids who aren’t going to make it.

They’re looking to get paid so they have to take kids in they have no intention or ability to get through to graduation and they convince a whole lot of parents that they’re going to help their kids when they won’t. It’s messed up.

DP. Your post makes absolutely no sense. What are the "washout" numbers you keep referring to? Where are you getting that 60% of the kids aren't being educated? I have to assume you're referring to the attrition numbers which--to be clear--does not represent the number of kids who failed. The number of kids who don't pass the year-end comps is actually pretty small. But kids choose to leave for a number of reasons.

You also argue that the school isn't doing anything to "discourage" the kids who aren't going to make it...soooo, what would you have them do? Maybe require the students to take a year-end test that they have to pass in order to get promoted to the next grade? Oh wait...

What's actually messed up is the fact that DC has so many failing schools---schools that are allowed to remain open and take tax dollars yet less than 5% of the kids are at grade level! THAT's what you should be upset about. Those are the kids who aren't being educated. The stats suggest that the kids at BASIS are, in fact, getting an education.

I'm not suggesting that BASIS is perfect, and it sounds like it didn't work out for your child, but whatever ax you have to grind is getting in the way of facts.

Sixty percent of the kids who go in, don't graduate. That's not success. The fact that 40 percent are successful is dismal. It's good for those 40 percent, but it's an indictment of the school overall.

If it was a public school you'd call that a failing school. If it was a private school and only 40 percent of the kids who start make it to graduation people wouldn't send their kids.

You are reading the data wrong. Families leave DC all the time (transient city). Those kids aren't backfilled at BASIS so you don't notice them at other schools. You also ignore the application HS process. If kids apply to SWW or Banneker or DESA and decide to attend that doesn't mean BASIS failed. It means kids had options and chose something else. Some kids do indeed leave (lots between 6th and 7th) because the school is not a good fit for them. And that is ok. It doesn't have to be. The fundamental failure of your argument is that kids who aren't a good fit and leave for a better fit is an indication of BASIS's "failure". That is no more true than it is to say that a kid who opts to leave BASIS because it isn't a good fit "failed".

Tlr Your analytical skills and critical thinking failed you.

If you saw that garbled mess of an answer to any other school, public or private, you would call bullshit. And what's weird is that none of the other schools (public or private) that have comparable test scores, have this issue of a dramatic decline in class size from 9th to 12th...

How many kids start at 9th grade finish with a diploma? If it's not 75-80%+ the school isn't working.

I now see the problem. You made up B.S. numbers. The 60% number you are (incorrectly) hanging your hat on is total attrition based on class size from 5th through 12th. Bolded above makes clear you mean to address attrition from 9th-12th.

Let's look at the actual OSSE data.
9th grade enrollment 2016-17 vs 12th grade enrollment 2019-20: 57 vs 50 (87%)
9th grade enrollment 2017-18 vs 12th grade enrollment 2020-21: 49 vs 39 (80%)
9th grade enrollment 2018-19 vs 12th grade enrollment 2021-22: 57 vs 52 (91%)
9th grade enrollment 2019-20 vs 12th grade enrollment 2022-23: 54 vs 42 (78%)
9th grade enrollment 2020-21 vs 12th grade enrollment 2024: 49 vs 39 (80%)

Good news is based on the criteria you set out ("If it's not 75-80%+ the school isn't working") the school is "working". Welcome to the Boosters Club!!!!

According to the DC school report card (which I'll link: https://schoolreportcard.dc.gov/lea/168/school/3068/report), the school has:

5th grade: 135
9th grade: 79
12th grade: 42.

I'll buy the argument that it's lottery and people don't know what they're getting into at fifth grade and by ninth have realized the terrible mistake theyv'e made, but what's the deal with the 9th to 12th drop. And 42 isn't even the number that graduates. But let's say it is, it's a 47 percent washout. I stand corrected. Still a horrific number.

And, when you compare it any other school, there is NOWHERE near the attrition 9-12.

Those are also the enrollment numbers reported by USNWR which BASIS parents insist is the ONLY place to evaluate the school's success.

A lot of it is families moving out if DC and students not being replaced.

But that only affects BASIS enrollment? Hmm… you don’t have to be a ninth grader desperately trying to keep up with college calc to know THAT story doesn’t add up.

No, it affects all schools. It’s just that other schools will take in new students to replace, and BASIS doesn’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm still trying to get my head around the idea that anyone is okay with these people taking $2 million a year off the DC taxpayer in exchange for washing out 60 percent of the class. WTF

I'm a lot more concerned about the DCPS schools passing students through despite truancy and being years behind grade level.

Why? Some dude in Arizona isn't getting the fancy Audi off of that... I mean, if we're going to miseducate our kids, let's keep the money for Audis here in the district.

Also, to be slightly serious, what you're describing is failure of the system, and what I'm talking about is people seeing how close they can get the system to failure in the name of getting the fancy Audi. Profit should never be part of any conversation about education.

BASIS DC is nonprofit, dummy.

Think of the millions that DCPS is spending on failing schools where most of the kids are illiterate and innumerate.

Let’s create another dozen BASIS schools in DC and stop pouring money into schools that don’t work.

No. It's a for-profit charter. We've gone over this.

DC contracts with a non-profit organization which then turns around and pays the for-profit for administration and curriculum. The for-profit is the decision-making power in terms of what happens at the school. It's really gross.

If DCPS put them out of business by offering a test-in, accelerated STEM school, I wouldn't be sad for a moment. But right now, this is who is interested in providing real math and science to my non-JR zoned kids.

Yeah, I mean, if it gets it done for your kids, you should do it. But so many people going in look at those washout numbers and think “oh that won’t be my kid” but statistically, it will be. And it’s infuriating that BADIS administrators bring kids in and know that they can’t educate 60 percent of them, but don’t try to change their method or discourage the kids who aren’t going to make it.

They’re looking to get paid so they have to take kids in they have no intention or ability to get through to graduation and they convince a whole lot of parents that they’re going to help their kids when they won’t. It’s messed up.

DP. Your post makes absolutely no sense. What are the "washout" numbers you keep referring to? Where are you getting that 60% of the kids aren't being educated? I have to assume you're referring to the attrition numbers which--to be clear--does not represent the number of kids who failed. The number of kids who don't pass the year-end comps is actually pretty small. But kids choose to leave for a number of reasons.

You also argue that the school isn't doing anything to "discourage" the kids who aren't going to make it...soooo, what would you have them do? Maybe require the students to take a year-end test that they have to pass in order to get promoted to the next grade? Oh wait...

What's actually messed up is the fact that DC has so many failing schools---schools that are allowed to remain open and take tax dollars yet less than 5% of the kids are at grade level! THAT's what you should be upset about. Those are the kids who aren't being educated. The stats suggest that the kids at BASIS are, in fact, getting an education.

I'm not suggesting that BASIS is perfect, and it sounds like it didn't work out for your child, but whatever ax you have to grind is getting in the way of facts.

Sixty percent of the kids who go in, don't graduate. That's not success. The fact that 40 percent are successful is dismal. It's good for those 40 percent, but it's an indictment of the school overall.

If it was a public school you'd call that a failing school. If it was a private school and only 40 percent of the kids who start make it to graduation people wouldn't send their kids.

You are reading the data wrong. Families leave DC all the time (transient city). Those kids aren't backfilled at BASIS so you don't notice them at other schools. You also ignore the application HS process. If kids apply to SWW or Banneker or DESA and decide to attend that doesn't mean BASIS failed. It means kids had options and chose something else. Some kids do indeed leave (lots between 6th and 7th) because the school is not a good fit for them. And that is ok. It doesn't have to be. The fundamental failure of your argument is that kids who aren't a good fit and leave for a better fit is an indication of BASIS's "failure". That is no more true than it is to say that a kid who opts to leave BASIS because it isn't a good fit "failed".

Tlr Your analytical skills and critical thinking failed you.

If you saw that garbled mess of an answer to any other school, public or private, you would call bullshit. And what's weird is that none of the other schools (public or private) that have comparable test scores, have this issue of a dramatic decline in class size from 9th to 12th...

How many kids start at 9th grade finish with a diploma? If it's not 75-80%+ the school isn't working.

DP. Schools have attrition rates for a variety of reasons. In a city with a city-wide lottery system, multiple application high schools and lots of private schools, there are a number of reasons why a kid might leave BASIS in high school. It's not a good fit for everyone and the curriculum in high school gets a bit wonky. You keep arguing that the school is failing because HS students choose to leave, but I'm not sure that's the dig against the school you think it is given the variety of reasons kids choose to leave.

Why don't any of the other schools -- public or private -- have those attrition numbers? Kids who go to Walls have all the same lottery and private school options. Why are they able to graduate roughly the same number of kids who start at 9th grade AND report strong test scores?

What? You are comparing apples to oranges. A lot of kids leave BASIS after 8th grade - they choose Walls, or privates, or whatever. I don't think many BASIS kids that have decided to enroll in 9th grade leave after that (do you know something I don't?). Walls starts in 9th - and not many (although there are some! do they move? Who knows?) leave after 9th (allowing for a small influx of 10th graders).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The much more logical answer to the question about why Walls lacks the same attrition: Walls is a selective application school which begins in 9th grade where students are selected based on criteria and when students are more likely to know whether an academic focused type of school is a good fit. BASIS admission, on the other hand, is pure lottery in 5th grade when families don’t know their students’ abilities nearly as well and have fewer good public options. Comparing the attrition between 5th and 12th grade at BASIS to lack of attrition between 9th and 12th grade at Walls is apples to oranges. At most, you can compare attrition from 9th through 12th at BASIS to the same grades at Walls but even that isn’t completely fair because Walls hand picked its student body.

Yes, I'm comparing 9th grade. Pick any other school in the area, public or private, better or worse academically, and tell me if you can find another school that loses students like BASIS.

Your answer is the closest to a logical answer that anyone has given, but it's not particularly satisfying, considering how BASIS promotes itself. It may be a case of lottery admission, but the people applying are self-selecting based on the marketing material prepared by the for-profit school.

Also, to the degree that your answer makes sense, it's still problematic because it's not a NEW problem. It's been happening since BASIS showed up. If they're going to take tax dollars, they should solve problems. At least before they're given the right to open any new profit centers.

BASIS is not allowed to solve the problems you want them to solve. They market themselves the way they do for the same reason they don't offer assessment tests and recommend students who are behind not attend: if they did that, there would be enormous pushback. The only way you can have a charter curriculum that's accelerated in DC is by pretending that it's for everyone. But, again, since DCPS has zero interest in providing this to kids who live in most parts of the city, this is what there is.

Sounds like it's not a great option for DC then.

And yet, even with all of the limitations imposed on it, it's still providing something a lot of parents want and can't get from DCPS, which doesn't have these limitations.

[Anonymous]

Adding our experience to the mix. We are leaving after 7th grade. The narrow path to thrive at BASIS did not include my kid. On PARCC/ standardized test my kid is ELA 99th percentile, and around 70% or so in math.

Still, algebra in 7th grade and testing anxiety crushed my kids' spirit. The teacher seems good this year. The teacher was horribly terrible last year. Covid learning loss was real. Even with extra tutoring (at high out of pocket costs that frankly our family can't afford easily), student hours every week, studying for 5+ hours every vacation day, etc, we still don't know if our kid will pass the high stakes all or nothing exam and have to repeat 7th grade (despite decent grades in the other classes). Some kids' brains don't mature fast enough for 7th grade algebra. Some kids don't thrive in the high stakes high pressure anxiety filled testing environment as 12 year olds. There are not enough social emotional resources given the environment. The prospect of a future of calculus or bust high school life is bleak.

We can't afford nor would we want the lack of economic diversity of private. So we are moving. The relief we feel at the prospect of a school system with a wider variety of ways to thrive feels like hope.

[Anonymous]

What were your kid’s grades in the mock comp? They’ll get pretty much the same grade in the comp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What were your kid’s grades in the mock comp? They’ll get pretty much the same grade in the comp.

Not high enough to gamble. Even if my kid does pass, nothing would be worth going through an 8th grade year like this year. Already closed on a modest home in MoCo, and our DC home hits the market next week.

[Anonymous]

All the BASIS charter schools all over the country have an "attrition model" and their graduating class is always smaller.

This is the only way a public charter school, which is open to all, can have an extremely accelerated curriculum that is inappropriate for most. Students come in, realize it doesn't work for them, and drop out.

The solution would be for them to find the 135 5th graders in DC who are truly prepared for and will thrive under a math and science curriculum that is more accelerated than can be found in any other public school in DC. They do try to warn parents and students during the open houses, and to find the right kids.

Once I realized the attrition was kind of by design, and that it is common across all BASIS charter schools (not the private schools), it stopped bothering me as much.

[Anonymous]

They are also open, by the way, about th fact that around 10 percent of the kids do not pass their comps at the end of the year and actually cannot return (without repeating the grade). The admin said that most of these kids do not return, so Definitely lots of the attrition is coming from that. It's the only public school in DC that doesn't do social promotion, and their curriculum is very accelerated on top of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are also open, by the way, about th fact that around 10 percent of the kids do not pass their comps at the end of the year and actually cannot return (without repeating the grade). The admin said that most of these kids do not return, so Definitely lots of the attrition is coming from that. It's the only public school in DC that doesn't do social promotion, and their curriculum is very accelerated on top of that.

They can return. No one is kicked out of the school for failing comps. They can try to take the failed comp again during the summer, and if they pass then, they love to the next grade like everyone else. Otherwise, they can repeat the grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Adding our experience to the mix. We are leaving after 7th grade. The narrow path to thrive at BASIS did not include my kid. On PARCC/ standardized test my kid is ELA 99th percentile, and around 70% or so in math.

Still, algebra in 7th grade and testing anxiety crushed my kids' spirit. The teacher seems good this year. The teacher was horribly terrible last year. Covid learning loss was real. Even with extra tutoring (at high out of pocket costs that frankly our family can't afford easily), student hours every week, studying for 5+ hours every vacation day, etc, we still don't know if our kid will pass the high stakes all or nothing exam and have to repeat 7th grade (despite decent grades in the other classes). Some kids' brains don't mature fast enough for 7th grade algebra. Some kids don't thrive in the high stakes high pressure anxiety filled testing environment as 12 year olds. There are not enough social emotional resources given the environment. The prospect of a future of calculus or bust high school life is bleak.

We can't afford nor would we want the lack of economic diversity of private. So we are moving. The relief we feel at the prospect of a school system with a wider variety of ways to thrive feels like hope.

Sounds like you’re making the right decision for your family. Did you see similar struggles in math in 5th and 6th? Or did it surface in 7th?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All the BASIS charter schools all over the country have an "attrition model" and their graduating class is always smaller.

This is the only way a public charter school, which is open to all, can have an extremely accelerated curriculum that is inappropriate for most. Students come in, realize it doesn't work for them, and drop out.

The solution would be for them to find the 135 5th graders in DC who are truly prepared for and will thrive under a math and science curriculum that is more accelerated than can be found in any other public school in DC. They do try to warn parents and students during the open houses, and to find the right kids.

Once I realized the attrition was kind of by design, and that it is common across all BASIS charter schools (not the private schools), it stopped bothering me as much.

It would be much better for everyone if they were allowed to shape their classes more. More of the kids who would actually benefit could go and fewer kids would have a bad experience. I don't blame them for this, but it's not ideal. And it would be fewer students if they could plan for lower attrition rates.