DCI college acceptances

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Again, goodbye and good riddance

You're no credit to the DCI community if you don't give a darn if their Diploma candidates can score 6s and 7s on IBD exams.

I scored to 6s and 7s as a teen because I was pushed hard academically at my high school, and prepped to know IBD exam formats. I attended an Ivy on a full Pell Grant. Our IBD program had a pass rate of at least 75%, even though half the Diploma candidates were poor minorities on free lunch. The school was in NY, but it wasn't a test-in program like in NYC.

Ok why don’t you tell us the name of your school then and how long it has been established.

You are tiring as the one repeatedly on here wanting all the kids to score 6s or 7s when the school is new and just graduated their 1st class last year. Your standards are totally unrealistic.

In fact 75% of the schools that offer the IB diploma are private schools, the remaining 25% are public of which a number are test in. With this data the averages IB diploma score is still just under 30.

So lots of private schools don’t even have kids scoring 6’s and 7’s. Why don’t you get back to us after you pay 30-40k a year to send your kid to private school and IF your kid score 6 or 7’s. The majority of kids at privates don’t. BTW, DCI has the best IB diploma kid in the whole mid-Atlantic this year so I’m sure this student scored high.

I may not have gotten the IB diploma and did AP in school instead, but I grew up poor and got a full 4 year academic scholarship. I’m willing to give DCI a few years to see the trend and and how the program improves.

I’m not bitter like you because the school wasn’t rigorous enough for your kid from the start when they were developing not only a high school but also a middle school too.

But I do know that there there are very strong students like my DC at my Spanish immersion school coming up thru the feeders and many parents like us who are willing to give the school a try and chance.

You chose not to and can’t move on and are still bitter.

The other PP is right. Good riddance.

I am not the PP you're responding to but you speak for yourself when you say good riddance. I'm hearing the typical response of a parent who did AP work from you. Trust me, Diploma studies are a very different kettle of fish.

I'm not hearing bitter, I'm hearing IB Diploma experienced and unimpressed, listen-up folks (exit interview style).

Give DCI a try by all means but don't drown out calls to push admins to take the actual curriculum being followed more seriously (concur with PP above).

When you're nasty to PPs who know what they're talking about, you're the one who comes off as ridiculous.

No, the PP comes off as ridiculous and untethered to reality. Expecting kids to score 6 and 7’s from a new school that doesn’t self select or test in. Then actual data is presented to prove this point.

People can say whatever they want but data and numbers don’t lie. People can compare whatever they want. They can also be called out for not comparing similarities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great! Goodbye and good riddance!!!

Good-bye, good riddance? No way. Speak for yourself. I want this kind of parent to come to DCI and to stay to the bitter end.

This type of parent would put pressure on lazy ass admins to aim for high diploma subject exam scores for my tax dollars. As far as I can tell, this isn't happening. The current parents are way too laid back.

This spring, when I asked admins if juniors and seniors were prepping using diploma past exams for HL languages, Chem, Math Bio etc. they informed me that this "wasn't necessary." Come on, prepping off past exams is common practice in diploma programs. When I asked if students used Pearson and Oxford HL IBD study exam guides to prep for exams, again, "just not necessary."

Pretty clearly, DCI admins don't give a darn if students can score 6s and 7s on exams or build toward point totals in the 30s or 40s.

We care and we're not alone.

They’ve been pretty clear that their goal is exposure to the IB curriculum and not actual passing and getting the diploma. I think this is just a way to make excuses for poor performance and as a way to provide cover for their “IB for all” method.

Wait their goal is exposure not passing? That seems like setting really low expectations for students. I wouldn’t send my kid to a school who said that about IB or AP classes. The message to me is ‘we aren’t actually going to teach the curriculum we are supposed to’. How absurd!

No, DCI has never said that its goal is merely exposure. Obviously the best DCI students are going to have scores that rival/surpass any fancy private school (whether they've been encouraged to "prep" according to PP's model or not). The average student will likely pass with an average score. The lowest performing students (who wouldn't have access to IB program at most schools) should do well enough to earn a DC diploma but not necessarily and IB diploma. However, for those students, DCI believes that the IB education will still be beneficial as it prepares them better for college and career options than the non-IB route offered such students in other schools. Whoever keeps harping on DCI's goals and results seems to be willfully mischaracterizing DCI and the limited IB results to date (one tiny inaugural class). Please listen to what the school itself and current parents have to say about the diploma program, and look for the results for the class of 2021 and beyond, rather than listening to the people who bailed in 6th grade and now not only want to justify their own decisions but convince others to follow them. Of course, that's just how it appears to me, a happy DCI HS parent.

THIS x 1000. Nailed it on the head PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great! Goodbye and good riddance!!!

Good-bye, good riddance? No way. Speak for yourself. I want this kind of parent to come to DCI and to stay to the bitter end.

This type of parent would put pressure on lazy ass admins to aim for high diploma subject exam scores for my tax dollars. As far as I can tell, this isn't happening. The current parents are way too laid back.

This spring, when I asked admins if juniors and seniors were prepping using diploma past exams for HL languages, Chem, Math Bio etc. they informed me that this "wasn't necessary." Come on, prepping off past exams is common practice in diploma programs. When I asked if students used Pearson and Oxford HL IBD study exam guides to prep for exams, again, "just not necessary."

Pretty clearly, DCI admins don't give a darn if students can score 6s and 7s on exams or build toward point totals in the 30s or 40s.

We care and we're not alone.

They’ve been pretty clear that their goal is exposure to the IB curriculum and not actual passing and getting the diploma. I think this is just a way to make excuses for poor performance and as a way to provide cover for their “IB for all” method.

Wait their goal is exposure not passing? That seems like setting really low expectations for students. I wouldn’t send my kid to a school who said that about IB or AP classes. The message to me is ‘we aren’t actually going to teach the curriculum we are supposed to’. How absurd!

No, DCI has never said that its goal is merely exposure. Obviously the best DCI students are going to have scores that rival/surpass any fancy private school (whether they've been encouraged to "prep" according to PP's model or not). The average student will likely pass with an average score. The lowest performing students (who wouldn't have access to IB program at most schools) should do well enough to earn a DC diploma but not necessarily and IB diploma. However, for those students, DCI believes that the IB education will still be beneficial as it prepares them better for college and career options than the non-IB route offered such students in other schools. Whoever keeps harping on DCI's goals and results seems to be willfully mischaracterizing DCI and the limited IB results to date (one tiny inaugural class). Please listen to what the school itself and current parents have to say about the diploma program, and look for the results for the class of 2021 and beyond, rather than listening to the people who bailed in 6th grade and now not only want to justify their own decisions but convince others to follow them. Of course, that's just how it appears to me, a happy DCI HS parent.

This is in fact what they have told the staff. I figured they would have provided the same explanation to families, but I guess not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OK, where is the "Diploma exposure" approach impression coming from? Experience with the program? In writing somewhere? The fact that 3/4 of the students who tried to earn the diploma last year failed or what?

It’s what they have continuously told the staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great! Goodbye and good riddance!!!

Good-bye, good riddance? No way. Speak for yourself. I want this kind of parent to come to DCI and to stay to the bitter end.

This type of parent would put pressure on lazy ass admins to aim for high diploma subject exam scores for my tax dollars. As far as I can tell, this isn't happening. The current parents are way too laid back.

This spring, when I asked admins if juniors and seniors were prepping using diploma past exams for HL languages, Chem, Math Bio etc. they informed me that this "wasn't necessary." Come on, prepping off past exams is common practice in diploma programs. When I asked if students used Pearson and Oxford HL IBD study exam guides to prep for exams, again, "just not necessary."

Pretty clearly, DCI admins don't give a darn if students can score 6s and 7s on exams or build toward point totals in the 30s or 40s.

We care and we're not alone.

They’ve been pretty clear that their goal is exposure to the IB curriculum and not actual passing and getting the diploma. I think this is just a way to make excuses for poor performance and as a way to provide cover for their “IB for all” method.

Wait their goal is exposure not passing? That seems like setting really low expectations for students. I wouldn’t send my kid to a school who said that about IB or AP classes. The message to me is ‘we aren’t actually going to teach the curriculum we are supposed to’. How absurd!

No, DCI has never said that its goal is merely exposure. Obviously the best DCI students are going to have scores that rival/surpass any fancy private school (whether they've been encouraged to "prep" according to PP's model or not). The average student will likely pass with an average score. The lowest performing students (who wouldn't have access to IB program at most schools) should do well enough to earn a DC diploma but not necessarily and IB diploma. However, for those students, DCI believes that the IB education will still be beneficial as it prepares them better for college and career options than the non-IB route offered such students in other schools. Whoever keeps harping on DCI's goals and results seems to be willfully mischaracterizing DCI and the limited IB results to date (one tiny inaugural class). Please listen to what the school itself and current parents have to say about the diploma program, and look for the results for the class of 2021 and beyond, rather than listening to the people who bailed in 6th grade and now not only want to justify their own decisions but convince others to follow them. Of course, that's just how it appears to me, a happy DCI HS parent.

We didn't bail in 6th grade and I earned the IB diploma myself. We've decided not to stay at DCI for high school. We're moving to VA, but keeping our DC place and planning to return as empty nesters. Hard decision but feels like the right one I'm not confident as PP above that the "best DCI students are going to have scores that rival/surpass any fancy private school," presumably the best scores at the private school, or an equally strong public IBD option.

I've talked a lot about IBD exam prep with DCI admins and high school teachers in the last couple years, and they're just not pushing or prepping kids to score high on higher level exams. There isn't a culture of scoring high at DCI, not yet anyway. To my knowledge, they're also not pushing the feeder schools to increase rigor and supports for advanced learners, particularly for speaking target languages and writing instruction, essential building blocks for scoring high on IBD exams later on. The language instruction at our feeder wasn't too hot, although admins swore it was world-class. Unless the mindset and preparation changes, high scores aren't going to magically materialize.

Yes, listen to what current parents have to stay about the diploma program. Some of us are leaving for greener pastures, not just the burbs and other places in the US and world, but Walls, Banneker and DC privates.

[Anonymous]

Not sure that I have the patience to wait around for DCI's International Baccalaureate Diploma program to improve dramatically.

It could easily take a decade more for us to see scores in the high 30s, the kind of scores good enough for blue chip US colleges for middle class students.

[Anonymous]

7:42 mentions "tiny augural class" graduating. You're referring to the kids who started in feeders (YY, Lamb) in K in SY 2008-2009? The graduation class was over 100, with 63 full-IBD candidates and 15 passes.

This poster also talks about posts by "people who bailed in 6th grade and now not only want to justify their own decisions but convince others to follow them." Maybe, but we're also hearing from people who stayed and are rightfully concerned that DCPC isn't knocking itself out to build a high-performing Diploma program.

I'm not cynical enough to believe that most parents who enrolled in feeders or DCI and left, or will be leaving this summer, want the program to sink. I'm inclined to think that the opposite is true.

[Anonymous]

Wow, this thread went off the rails quickly.

😒

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, where is the "Diploma exposure" approach impression coming from? Experience with the program? In writing somewhere? The fact that 3/4 of the students who tried to earn the diploma last year failed or what?

It’s what they have continuously told the staff.

So the PP is a disgruntled former staff member, apparently. Please take this with a grain of salt.

[Anonymous]

CONGRATS to the DCI class of 2021 graduates!! Ignore the ADHD posters on this thread that always try to downplay your accomplishments. Very Proud of all of you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:CONGRATS to the DCI class of 2021 graduates!! Ignore the ADHD posters on this thread that always try to downplay your accomplishments. Very Proud of all of you!

How about you not use such a horribly offensive insult while congratulating graduates?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And did you know that Banneker has less than 25 kids each year who even attempt the IB Proram? what a scam....

Wow, that’s really low. Looks like they have about 525 students so that’s less than 5%. This for a test in school too.

Looks like DCI is doing better than Banneker right out of the gate in their 1st graduating class with higher percentage of students getting IB diploma and average scores just as good for not being a self selecting school.

They only take 25 students per class because they don’t have enough teachers for more. Kids have to apply to get into the IB program within Banneker their sophomore year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Congrats to the DCI Class of 2021!

However, it may be a bit premature to jump to conclusions. College admissions for the DCI Class of 2020 (DCI's first graduating class) weren't nearly impressive as 2021. Zero admissions to Ivies/Stanford/MIT or even Georgetown. It looks like the top college for admission last year was probably GW.

There is nothing wrong with GW or the rest of the colleges to which the Class of 2020 was admitted, but it is good to temper expectations going forward.

Let's see if 2021 was an outlier year or a harbinger of future success.

Not true. A student from the class of 2020, was admitted to Brown U.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Congrats to the DCI Class of 2021!

However, it may be a bit premature to jump to conclusions. College admissions for the DCI Class of 2020 (DCI's first graduating class) weren't nearly impressive as 2021. Zero admissions to Ivies/Stanford/MIT or even Georgetown. It looks like the top college for admission last year was probably GW.

There is nothing wrong with GW or the rest of the colleges to which the Class of 2020 was admitted, but it is good to temper expectations going forward.

Let's see if 2021 was an outlier year or a harbinger of future success.

Not true. A student from the class of 2020, was admitted to Brown U.

I guess they didn't tell DCI then because there is no Brown on the official list of college acceptances for the DCI class on 2020 on the DCI website.

https://dcinternationalschool.org/college-counseling/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Congrats to the DCI Class of 2021!

However, it may be a bit premature to jump to conclusions. College admissions for the DCI Class of 2020 (DCI's first graduating class) weren't nearly impressive as 2021. Zero admissions to Ivies/Stanford/MIT or even Georgetown. It looks like the top college for admission last year was probably GW.

There is nothing wrong with GW or the rest of the colleges to which the Class of 2020 was admitted, but it is good to temper expectations going forward.

Let's see if 2021 was an outlier year or a harbinger of future success.

Not true. A student from the class of 2020, was admitted to Brown U.

I guess they didn't tell DCI then because there is no Brown on the official list of college acceptances for the DCI class on 2020 on the DCI website.

https://dcinternationalschool.org/college-counseling/

Sit down, please. Maybe the family received an AID package later in the year.