Wilson honors for all - how has it worked?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Admin wants to make this about race. Let’s talk about it then. I asked 2 of my AA friends (1 is a single mom, the other middle class family) what they thought about HFA. Both thought it was a terrible idea. The single mom said school was hard for her, and she would never want to be put in an honors class. It’s setting her up to fail. The other parents said the same thing. Setting up the kids who can’t handle an honors course up to fail. Bad idea.

Above is me. I forgot to add that I asked them if they thought it was a race issue because basically that was how admin was presenting it as such. Both said no, not at all.

My niece (who is white BTW) goes to school in NoVA. She is an 8th grader and has always done well in math. This year, she is taking an honors math course for the first time. Although trying hard, she was struggling and failing the course. My SIL, after 2 months, pulled her out and put her back in regular math, and she is doing well and much happier.

She came to visit us for the weekend, and I asked her what she thought was the issue. Her responseb- the honors math pace was too fast. They were learning new things everyday, and she still had not understood the previous day’s lessons. She said the regular math pace is slower and gives her more time to learn the info before advancing to the next topic.

So if everyone is thrown into HFA, what is admin going to do with the kids who can’t keep up if the premise is that course content and pace will not change? Fail them? There is no lower course to move them into. It’s not about race. It’s about meeting academic abilities appropriately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
You can find more information about Rachel Laser and HFA on her public professional website: https://www.rachellaser.com

On this website you can read her article "Why I Am Atoning For Racism" where she declares "Today, I, a white American, atone for my racism." Cliff notes: she is not atoning for any personal act of racism or even any racist thoughts but rather for "white privilege".

On her website, you can also see how Rachel uses her role in creating the diversity committee and implementing HFA at Wilson High School to market her professional consulting services on “racism and white privilege”. Yes, that's right - she is using our Wilson High School to sell her professional services. It’s even on her resume. See her webpage titled “White Privilege & Rascism”: https://www.rachellaser.com/white-privilege-race where she states “Rachel Laser is founder and facilitator of the Wilson Diversity Task Force and works as a consultant on bridging racial and cultural divides.”

On Rachel’s website, Principal Martin actually provides a "testimonial" that identifies her as "Principal Kim Martin, Woodrow Wilson High School, Washington, DC". See https://www.rachellaser.com/testimonials. Here is Principal Martin’s full testimonial:

Throughout this school year, I am most proud of the formation of the Diversity Task Force (DTF), which Rachel facilitated and helped create. When we started the DTF, all we knew was that we wanted to figure out concrete and measurable goals to bridge the achievement and well-being gap at Wilson. Each month, Rachel and I met to figure out an agenda that would ensure a productive and forward-moving meeting and she brought fresh ideas and models from other schools for me to consider. In our early meetings, we discussed bias, the definition of racism and white fragility in way that laid a fertile and receptive foundation for our work to come. At many meetings, I used current Wilson data to highlight some inequality, and students who were affected by these inequalities spoke about their pain. Within six months, this committee was so focused on a goal that we could not prevent them from trying to “do something.” I am hopeful that what we are doing will move Wilson towards our goal. I am certain that the process we are using has tremendous merit and I have asked Rachel to stay with us for another year. With Rachel’s help, I have also been reflecting on how my own background, experiences and perspectives have impacted the school change process. If you too are committed to concrete and measurable change in your workplace, I highly recommend Rachel to work with your school, company or organization.
Principal Kim Martin
Woodrow Wilson High School, Washington, DC

This testimonial is improper on multiple levels. First, a school principal should not publicly endorse anyone or any service, especially someone who is trying to profit from controversial changes to critical course offerings. Second, let’s unpack what Principal Martin referred to as “the definition of racism” because it is not what you think it is. Rachel has redefined the term “racism”. Here is how Rachel defines it on her website:

“Racism is a deeply-rooted system in our country that disadvantages and devalues people of color as a group and advantages and empowers white people as a group. Racism is also individual instances of hatred, prejudice or discrimination by a person in a dominant racial group directed at a person of a marginalized racial group.” (https://www.rachellaser.com/definitions)

Racism in her definition—and the definition embraced by Principal Martin—means that in the U.S. only white people can be racist. This is wrong and dangerous, and it shocks me that a principal of a diverse school would embrace such an inaccurate and intentionally biased definition.

Then there is the term “white fragility”. I can thank Principal Martin for introducing me to this racist term. Here is the definition on Rachel’s website:

White fragility is “a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. These moves include the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium.” (https://www.rachellaser.com/definitions)

Again, the idea that a principal of a diverse school would use such a term is just wrong. This term is intended to suppress discussion and stigmatize those that disagree.

I think it is useful for parents and students to know more about the public views of the two people responsible for bringing HFA to Wilson High School. It helps explain the trust issues that some parents have with the information provided by Wilson.

Thanks for posting that information. As a middle aged white person who attended segregated schools in the South as a child, I can say that I agree 100% with the comments from Rachel and disagree entirely with your objections.

I see white fragility constantly in my fairly racist family members who find any suggestion that racism actually exists or negatively impacts anyone to be intolerable. The fact that, for example, the DOJ found that the system of court fines and policing in Ferguson was structured explicitly to extract money from the black community and lower taxes on whites (structural racism that's alive and well in 2019) is absolutely inconceivable to them, and trying to have any rational discussion of a topic like that is impossible -- the become instantly furious. That's white fragility. It's not something someone dreamed up to shut down discussion, it's an observed reality that a lot of people (white and black) have commented on. The fact that you deny it exists suggests to me that you haven't engaged in many honest conversations about race with racists.

Wow. I am sure I never denied that some white idiots think that there is no racism because I don't deny it. So please be more careful with your accusations. What I said was that the term "white fragility" is racist and its intent is to suppress discussion and stigmatize those that disagree. Every group has its share of thin-skinned people, and white people are not the only ones for whom "even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves". See, for example, the shreiking Yale student over Halloween costumes and the meltdown at Evergreen University. And any definition in which arguing your point is evidence of your guilt is Orwellian and intended to end discussion. The definition literally says that when a white person is faced with "minimal" racial stress, they exhibit "white fragility" and thereby are guilty of "reinstat[ing] white racial equilibrium" if they react by arguing or being silent or by leaving. In other words, the only way for white person to avoid being a racist is to completely agree with the other person. The fact that our principal embraces this term is crazy town.

The term racism is very commonly used in an academic sense to refer not to simple bigotry but also an imbalance of power. It's in that sense that many people argue that only white people in the US are racists, whereas everybody can be a bigot. To me, that's semantics and not something that I get that upset about.

Yes, some fringe academic departments have changed the definition to racism = racism + power. This is unfortunate because some young people of color interpret this to mean that they cannot be racist even if they hold racist views and act in racist ways. This is dangerous, particularly so for young impressionable high school students. And this is why high school principals and those working in the school system should not be redefining the term.

Certainly I am aware of my white privilege in day to day life, from the way that I am treated by the police (especially now that I'm no longer poor) to how I'm treated in stores to the fact that no one has ever called the police on me when I was sleeping in a common room at college, or using a coat hanger to unlock my car door after locking my keys in my car, or climbing over my back fence when I was locked out of my house -- all things that result in the police being called on law abiding black college students, car owners and homeowners. Or to take a personal example -- I've called and paid for ubers for some of my kid's friends at various points when they were stuck and I didn't have time to drive them. Twice I've done this for black kids, and both times the first driver has seen the kid and left, something that's never happened when the kid was white. This is particularly striking to me because I happen to spend time in some places where I am the only white person around, and it's a complete total and utter non issue, whereas in the converse situation I've seen black people made uncomfortable in a variety of ways when they are in an all white group. That's white privilege.

Sorry that happened to your kid's friend - that is shitty. As a thought experiment, what if your kid's friend had been Asian or Hispanic. Would the driver had left? I think not. So is it accurate to label it "white privilege"? The problem is not that the driver would pick up your kid or his/her Asian friend but that the driver would not pickup a black child. That is the shitty thing we need to fix. Calling it "white privilege" is generally unhelpful, inaccurate, and alienates people of goodwill.

There's a lot to discuss with HFA, and a lot of reasons that I think it's a bad idea, but denying structural racism or white privilege (or that those things have historically played a role in access to quality schooling) is not a particularly helpful place to start.

Just to recap, I don't deny racism or its history. But the Wilson school district is not filled with southerners like your racist family members. This is a highly educated, worldly, progressive community. Principal Martin's use of the word "white fragility" in this context is all the more inappropriate and leads me to believe she used the term as a tool to suppress discussion.

[Anonymous]

I used to be an economics professor. I did my graduate and undergraduate work at two universities that are in the top ten in my field. When I began teaching at a local private university, I discovered, in talking with the students, that they hadn;t covered the same material in their intro econ courses that is generally covered in the same courses at the top ten schools. The local private university had left out more rigorous topics. The professors at the local private also tended to ask their students to do in class debate or presentations, rather than writing lengthy papers. So some colleges do pitch their courses to the median student.

They don;t have to, though. If this same thing is actually occurring at Wilson, parents should be able to provide numerous examples of topics left off the syllabus or assignments made less rigorous. Please do so. If it is happening, supporting evidence should be easy to find.

Without supporting evidence, the hostility to Honors for All just sounds like ranting.

This metastudy seems to suggest that, on average, previous posters noting that detracking doesn;t hurt top students, but helps student at the bottom.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21349011/

While this one suggests that within- class ability grouping benefits high achieving students, while between- class grouping does not.

https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1121483

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to be an economics professor. I did my graduate and undergraduate work at two universities that are in the top ten in my field. When I began teaching at a local private university, I discovered, in talking with the students, that they hadn;t covered the same material in their intro econ courses that is generally covered in the same courses at the top ten schools. The local private university had left out more rigorous topics. The professors at the local private also tended to ask their students to do in class debate or presentations, rather than writing lengthy papers. So some colleges do pitch their courses to the median student.

They don;t have to, though. If this same thing is actually occurring at Wilson, parents should be able to provide numerous examples of topics left off the syllabus or assignments made less rigorous. Please do so. If it is happening, supporting evidence should be easy to find.

Without supporting evidence, the hostility to Honors for All just sounds like ranting.

This metastudy seems to suggest that, on average, previous posters noting that detracking doesn;t hurt top students, but helps student at the bottom.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21349011/

While this one suggests that within- class ability grouping benefits high achieving students, while between- class grouping does not.

https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1121483

A lot of 9th graders say they are bored. That would be Exhibit A.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to be an economics professor. I did my graduate and undergraduate work at two universities that are in the top ten in my field. When I began teaching at a local private university, I discovered, in talking with the students, that they hadn;t covered the same material in their intro econ courses that is generally covered in the same courses at the top ten schools. The local private university had left out more rigorous topics. The professors at the local private also tended to ask their students to do in class debate or presentations, rather than writing lengthy papers. So some colleges do pitch their courses to the median student.

They don;t have to, though. If this same thing is actually occurring at Wilson, parents should be able to provide numerous examples of topics left off the syllabus or assignments made less rigorous. Please do so. If it is happening, supporting evidence should be easy to find.

Without supporting evidence, the hostility to Honors for All just sounds like ranting.

This metastudy seems to suggest that, on average, previous posters noting that detracking doesn;t hurt top students, but helps student at the bottom.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21349011/

While this one suggests that within- class ability grouping benefits high achieving students, while between- class grouping does not.

https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1121483

Sorry at some point the studies don't matter and you have to use common sense

If you have kids who are multiple levels behind grade level with kids who are multiple levels above grade level there is no way a teacher can differentiate across that wide gap especially in high school. A teacher will most likely teach on grade level. So what happens is the kids on the bottom will struggle and some might drop out since there is no lower level and the material is way beyond their ability. Meanwhile the kids at the top will be extremely bored with the material and have essentially wasted a year of school. Additionally on both sides there will most likely be discipline issues because the class is not relevant to the top bottom or the top.

[Anonymous]

The best part of this is that Rachel Laser sends her own son to GDS for high school while living in the Wilson High School zone.
You can't make this up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The best part of this is that Rachel Laser sends her own son to GDS for high school while living in the Wilson High School zone.
You can't make this up.

so yes, while she is creating HFA for your kid and mine she is paying $40K a year to get her own child far, far away from the underachievers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best part of this is that Rachel Laser sends her own son to GDS for high school while living in the Wilson High School zone.
You can't make this up.

so yes, while she is creating HFA for your kid and mine she is paying $40K a year to get her own child far, far away from the underachievers.

I believe she has another child who graduated from Wilson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best part of this is that Rachel Laser sends her own son to GDS for high school while living in the Wilson High School zone.
You can't make this up.

so yes, while she is creating HFA for your kid and mine she is paying $40K a year to get her own child far, far away from the underachievers.

I believe she has another child who graduated from Wilson.

I believe you are her or her friend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best part of this is that Rachel Laser sends her own son to GDS for high school while living in the Wilson High School zone.
You can't make this up.

so yes, while she is creating HFA for your kid and mine she is paying $40K a year to get her own child far, far away from the underachievers.

I believe she has another child who graduated from Wilson.

I believe you are her or her friend.

LOL!

But either way, it’s the height of hypocrisy.

“Honors for Everyone-except-my-child, so I can atone for something.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to be an economics professor. I did my graduate and undergraduate work at two universities that are in the top ten in my field. When I began teaching at a local private university, I discovered, in talking with the students, that they hadn;t covered the same material in their intro econ courses that is generally covered in the same courses at the top ten schools. The local private university had left out more rigorous topics. The professors at the local private also tended to ask their students to do in class debate or presentations, rather than writing lengthy papers. So some colleges do pitch their courses to the median student.

They don;t have to, though. If this same thing is actually occurring at Wilson, parents should be able to provide numerous examples of topics left off the syllabus or assignments made less rigorous. Please do so. If it is happening, supporting evidence should be easy to find.

Without supporting evidence, the hostility to Honors for All just sounds like ranting.

This metastudy seems to suggest that, on average, previous posters noting that detracking doesn;t hurt top students, but helps student at the bottom.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21349011/

While this one suggests that within- class ability grouping benefits high achieving students, while between- class grouping does not.

https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1121483

Sorry at some point the studies don't matter and you have to use common sense

If you have kids who are multiple levels behind grade level with kids who are multiple levels above grade level there is no way a teacher can differentiate across that wide gap especially in high school. A teacher will most likely teach on grade level. So what happens is the kids on the bottom will struggle and some might drop out since there is no lower level and the material is way beyond their ability. Meanwhile the kids at the top will be extremely bored with the material and have essentially wasted a year of school. Additionally on both sides there will most likely be discipline issues because the class is not relevant to the top bottom or the top.

Where is your evidence that there are a significant number of students at Wilson this year that are multiple grade levels ahead, and multiple grade levels behind?

How are you privy to the achievement data of nearly 500 kids? Do you at least have it broken down by percentages and by what measure? Their 8th grade PARCC?
i-ready?

As for bored kids, all kids will be bored in school sometimes and that, in itself, doesn't mean the teachers are watering down things. The teachers are required to teach the DCPS content for that grade. Your bored kids should approach their teacher for outside reading or projects to complete on their own time and take responsibility for their own education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to be an economics professor. I did my graduate and undergraduate work at two universities that are in the top ten in my field. When I began teaching at a local private university, I discovered, in talking with the students, that they hadn;t covered the same material in their intro econ courses that is generally covered in the same courses at the top ten schools. The local private university had left out more rigorous topics. The professors at the local private also tended to ask their students to do in class debate or presentations, rather than writing lengthy papers. So some colleges do pitch their courses to the median student.

They don;t have to, though. If this same thing is actually occurring at Wilson, parents should be able to provide numerous examples of topics left off the syllabus or assignments made less rigorous. Please do so. If it is happening, supporting evidence should be easy to find.

Without supporting evidence, the hostility to Honors for All just sounds like ranting.

This metastudy seems to suggest that, on average, previous posters noting that detracking doesn;t hurt top students, but helps student at the bottom.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21349011/

While this one suggests that within- class ability grouping benefits high achieving students, while between- class grouping does not.

https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1121483

Sorry at some point the studies don't matter and you have to use common sense

If you have kids who are multiple levels behind grade level with kids who are multiple levels above grade level there is no way a teacher can differentiate across that wide gap especially in high school. A teacher will most likely teach on grade level. So what happens is the kids on the bottom will struggle and some might drop out since there is no lower level and the material is way beyond their ability. Meanwhile the kids at the top will be extremely bored with the material and have essentially wasted a year of school. Additionally on both sides there will most likely be discipline issues because the class is not relevant to the top bottom or the top.

Where is your evidence that there are a significant number of students at Wilson this year that are multiple grade levels ahead, and multiple grade levels behind?

How are you privy to the achievement data of nearly 500 kids? Do you at least have it broken down by percentages and by what measure? Their 8th grade PARCC?
i-ready?

As for bored kids, all kids will be bored in school sometimes and that, in itself, doesn't mean the teachers are watering down things. The teachers are required to teach the DCPS content for that grade. Your bored kids should approach their teacher for outside reading or projects to complete on their own time and take responsibility for their own education.

Imagine if your place of employment decided to hire the entire graduating class of say American University and give them the exact same job. Ridiculous right. That's what honors for all is. There are all sorts of academic variances among the 8th graders at Deal and Hardy.

[Anonymous]

The fact that PARCC scores at Deal and Hardy range from 1 to 5 shows that there are significant grade-level disparities among the students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to be an economics professor. I did my graduate and undergraduate work at two universities that are in the top ten in my field. When I began teaching at a local private university, I discovered, in talking with the students, that they hadn;t covered the same material in their intro econ courses that is generally covered in the same courses at the top ten schools. The local private university had left out more rigorous topics. The professors at the local private also tended to ask their students to do in class debate or presentations, rather than writing lengthy papers. So some colleges do pitch their courses to the median student.

They don;t have to, though. If this same thing is actually occurring at Wilson, parents should be able to provide numerous examples of topics left off the syllabus or assignments made less rigorous. Please do so. If it is happening, supporting evidence should be easy to find.

Without supporting evidence, the hostility to Honors for All just sounds like ranting.

This metastudy seems to suggest that, on average, previous posters noting that detracking doesn;t hurt top students, but helps student at the bottom.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21349011/

While this one suggests that within- class ability grouping benefits high achieving students, while between- class grouping does not.

https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1121483

Sorry at some point the studies don't matter and you have to use common sense

If you have kids who are multiple levels behind grade level with kids who are multiple levels above grade level there is no way a teacher can differentiate across that wide gap especially in high school. A teacher will most likely teach on grade level. So what happens is the kids on the bottom will struggle and some might drop out since there is no lower level and the material is way beyond their ability. Meanwhile the kids at the top will be extremely bored with the material and have essentially wasted a year of school. Additionally on both sides there will most likely be discipline issues because the class is not relevant to the top bottom or the top.

You can go ahead and take medications, have medical procedures, and buy cars whose safety and efficacy are determined by common sense. I'll stick with science, thanks. "Common sense" used to suggest that evil spirits made people ill.

[Anonymous]

I think all the staff at Wilson should take turns being Principal. Surely some of the staff besides Ms. Wildon have the talent to be principal but have been overlooked. PrincipalPowers for All!