DCI or Deal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You only have 2 years at best when parents are interested in helping their kid’s high school. By junior year everyone is on to figuring out college, test prep, campus visits.

Then think of all the normal teen stuff parents trying to help their kids navigate - substances, teen driving, sex - tilting at DCPS windmills just isn’t that high on the list of priorities.

This exactly. Plus people tend to "own their choices". I see a lot of this among DCPS parents in my upper NW neighborhood. They will go to death saying that our neighborhood school and Deal and Wilson are "great".
Why? Because subconsciously who wants to admit that they put their kid in a subpar situation? Once you make a choice, you tend to own the choice and see the best in it.

I have 2 kids at Deal and I really can't tell you what they learned this year and they both got straight As with minimal work. One is taking a summer class at one of the well-known privates and told me,
"mom, this is so different than Deal. I learned more this week than in the year at Deal. The class is quiet and my teacher actually knows how to write without a million mistakes herself".
I think Deal tries really hard with the cards they've been dealt. The principal works tirelessly. Many of the teachers are incredibly devoted and inspired. However, others are awful. The classrooms are more often than not chaotic due to misbehaving kids.
The academic standards are low and are mostly based on "if you do the work you get an A'. There is ZERO challenge for high performing kids outside of the advanced math track and the language humanities classes. The rest of the classes can be "aced"
by any kid who does the homework.

That just wasn't our experience at Deal at all.

When were you at Deal? Is it possible that the quality has just gone down hill? I've head that the chaos has increased a lot in recent classes.

2015 to present.

It’s all relative isn’t it? One family’s definition of advanced can be quite different than another family. It’s obvious that the families who say it’s too easy for their child or those who need to supplement much that their child’s needs are not being met. This might be different from another family who think their child’s needs are met whose child is likely not as “advanced” as the first family.

OK, but these kids scored 97th and 99th percentile on the SSAT, are in private high schools now, and are doing really, really well. They were well prepared by Deal and their current teachers say so. Private schools hold Deal in high regard. Just because your child gets an A doesn't mean they didn't learn anything or that the school isn't "hard enough." Give your kids some credit. It might be that the posters who don't like Deal don't like progressive education models or the IB model and want a classical, memorization-based program, which is fine, but it doesn't mean the kids are not learning under the other models, even if they aren't inundated with homework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This might be stating the obvious, but favorable demographics alone can't provide rigor for the brightest students in DCPS. As long as Deal insists on tossing students working behind grade level (sometimes far behind) into the same 6th-8th grade ELA, social studies and science classes as those working at or above grade (sometimes far above), the strongest students obviously can't be well served across the board. Affluent parents can compensate for the lack of challenge, while low SES parents usually can't. Totally unfair.

I don't get why Stuart Hobson can offer honors classes in almost every subject while Deal can't, or at least doesn't. Somebody please explain this to me. If honors classes are now permitted in public middle schools in this city, why can't we have them at Deal? Not just for math but for every academic subject? We can't have them because Hobson is one of the Capitol Cluster schools (sort of neighborhood charter schools since the 80s) but Deal is administered directly by DCPS or what? Serious question.

What was lacking in your estimation? The curriculum looks fantastic and blows away the private middle schools we considered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This might be stating the obvious, but favorable demographics alone can't provide rigor for the brightest students in DCPS. As long as Deal insists on tossing students working behind grade level (sometimes far behind) into the same 6th-8th grade ELA, social studies and science classes as those working at or above grade (sometimes far above), the strongest students obviously can't be well served across the board. Affluent parents can compensate for the lack of challenge, while low SES parents usually can't. Totally unfair.

I don't get why Stuart Hobson can offer honors classes in almost every subject while Deal can't, or at least doesn't. Somebody please explain this to me. If honors classes are now permitted in public middle schools in this city, why can't we have them at Deal? Not just for math but for every academic subject? We can't have them because Hobson is one of the Capitol Cluster schools (sort of neighborhood charter schools since the 80s) but Deal is administered directly by DCPS or what? Serious question.

Principals have discretion to offer honors classes (Hobson, Hardy and other DCPS I’m and outside the Cluster do) if they think they are warranted.

Similarly a MS can pursue a special curriculum, like Deal has with the IB MYP.

[Anonymous]

Deal’s myp means nothing. MYP meant to be grades 6-10 followed by DP in 11-12. Deal is 6-8. Why even bother?

[Anonymous]

The gap in ELA scores between the two schools, with such different demographics, is much narrower than I expected.

Arguably, the PARCC data argue in FAVOR OF honors humanities classes at Deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This might be stating the obvious, but favorable demographics alone can't provide rigor for the brightest students in DCPS. As long as Deal insists on tossing students working behind grade level (sometimes far behind) into the same 6th-8th grade ELA, social studies and science classes as those working at or above grade (sometimes far above), the strongest students obviously can't be well served across the board. Affluent parents can compensate for the lack of challenge, while low SES parents usually can't. Totally unfair.

I don't get why Stuart Hobson can offer honors classes in almost every subject while Deal can't, or at least doesn't. Somebody please explain this to me. If honors classes are now permitted in public middle schools in this city, why can't we have them at Deal? Not just for math but for every academic subject? We can't have them because Hobson is one of the Capitol Cluster schools (sort of neighborhood charter schools since the 80s) but Deal is administered directly by DCPS or what? Serious question.

Principals have discretion to offer honors classes (Hobson, Hardy and other DCPS I’m and outside the Cluster do) if they think they are warranted.

Similarly a MS can pursue a special curriculum, like Deal has with the IB MYP.

Translation: discretionary PC BS absent guiding principles, a supporting macro structure, or much in the way of analysis.

Get lucky enough to be graced with a principal who once led a high-performing school and get your honors classes. It seems you need a personality cult to inject real rigor into the curriculum of a DCPS MS, demographics not withstanding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCPS requires: assessments=40%, classwork=55%, and homework=5%. This discourages teachers from assigning (and grading) a lot of homework. It’s just not worth our time. -Upper NW teacher

Really?? Homework is only counted for 5%? No need to do the work to review and apply concepts, no homework needed. So representative of college and the real world, isn’t it?

So no homework, widespread cheating on assessments and without doing anything you are already in the 40%. Just how much “class work” can you fit in with actual teaching of subjects? And just how difficult can the class work be if the student hasn’t had any homework to review, learn, and absorb the material? I would say the bar would be pretty low.

Just proves again how DCPS analyzes things to skew so they look good. The majority of kids at the bottom who just don’t care in high school would likely not be putting in the effort to do homework. So then let’s not make it part of their grade. Just like passing students who should not be passed based on not meeting competency or high truancy rates or just plain fudging numbers in the poorer performing schools.

[Anonymous]

Who said there is widespread cheating at Deal? Those comments were about Wilson.

Also, I believe the categories are formatives, homework and summatives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This might be stating the obvious, but favorable demographics alone can't provide rigor for the brightest students in DCPS. As long as Deal insists on tossing students working behind grade level (sometimes far behind) into the same 6th-8th grade ELA, social studies and science classes as those working at or above grade (sometimes far above), the strongest students obviously can't be well served across the board. Affluent parents can compensate for the lack of challenge, while low SES parents usually can't. Totally unfair.

I don't get why Stuart Hobson can offer honors classes in almost every subject while Deal can't, or at least doesn't. Somebody please explain this to me. If honors classes are now permitted in public middle schools in this city, why can't we have them at Deal? Not just for math but for every academic subject? We can't have them because Hobson is one of the Capitol Cluster schools (sort of neighborhood charter schools since the 80s) but Deal is administered directly by DCPS or what? Serious question.

Principals have discretion to offer honors classes (Hobson, Hardy and other DCPS I’m and outside the Cluster do) if they think they are warranted.

Similarly a MS can pursue a special curriculum, like Deal has with the IB MYP.

NP. This is total crap.

Middle school honors classes should be offered in DCPS where there are enough advanced students to benefit from them, just like in Fairfax and MoCo.

We pay taxes. We have the advanced students, just not the classes unless a principal....feels like offering them. Ech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who said there is widespread cheating at Deal? Those comments were about Wilson.

Also, I believe the categories are formatives, homework and summatives.

Don’t forget the 50% policy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who said there is widespread cheating at Deal? Those comments were about Wilson.

Also, I believe the categories are formatives, homework and summatives.

Don’t forget the 50% policy

What is the 50% policy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS requires: assessments=40%, classwork=55%, and homework=5%. This discourages teachers from assigning (and grading) a lot of homework. It’s just not worth our time. -Upper NW teacher

Really?? Homework is only counted for 5%? No need to do the work to review and apply concepts, no homework needed. So representative of college and the real world, isn’t it?

So no homework, widespread cheating on assessments and without doing anything you are already in the 40%. Just how much “class work” can you fit in with actual teaching of subjects? And just how difficult can the class work be if the student hasn’t had any homework to review, learn, and absorb the material? I would say the bar would be pretty low.

Just proves again how DCPS analyzes things to skew so they look good. The majority of kids at the bottom who just don’t care in high school would likely not be putting in the effort to do homework. So then let’s not make it part of their grade. Just like passing students who should not be passed based on not meeting competency or high truancy rates or just plain fudging numbers in the poorer performing schools.

This is middle school. The final years to learn how to do things right. They break big projects down into lessons and learn how to do it right, step by step, in class. All graded student work is done in class, so no outside cheating or parent or tutor "help" or teaching it to yourself and hoping you get it right. You are really clueless about what goes on in a Deal classroom, so you are making up strange doom and gloom nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who said there is widespread cheating at Deal? Those comments were about Wilson.

Also, I believe the categories are formatives, homework and summatives.

Don’t forget the 50% policy

What is the 50% policy?

The only one I know of is that "No more than 50% of a summative task may be completed outside of class for seventh and eighth grade students."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who said there is widespread cheating at Deal? Those comments were about Wilson.

Also, I believe the categories are formatives, homework and summatives.

Don’t forget the 50% policy

What is the 50% policy?

The only one I know of is that "No more than 50% of a summative task may be completed outside of class for seventh and eighth grade students."

It's at HS. A student who makes even a basic attempt at an assignment or test (anything but leaving it blank) receives 50%.

The same policy is in effect in MCPS too; it is a trend in public high schools to reflect effort and attempts. Or, some say, to boost graduation rates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS requires: assessments=40%, classwork=55%, and homework=5%. This discourages teachers from assigning (and grading) a lot of homework. It’s just not worth our time. -Upper NW teacher

Really?? Homework is only counted for 5%? No need to do the work to review and apply concepts, no homework needed. So representative of college and the real world, isn’t it?

So no homework, widespread cheating on assessments and without doing anything you are already in the 40%. Just how much “class work” can you fit in with actual teaching of subjects? And just how difficult can the class work be if the student hasn’t had any homework to review, learn, and absorb the material? I would say the bar would be pretty low.

Just proves again how DCPS analyzes things to skew so they look good. The majority of kids at the bottom who just don’t care in high school would likely not be putting in the effort to do homework. So then let’s not make it part of their grade. Just like passing students who should not be passed based on not meeting competency or high truancy rates or just plain fudging numbers in the poorer performing schools.

This is middle school. The final years to learn how to do things right. They break big projects down into lessons and learn how to do it right, step by step, in class. All graded student work is done in class, so no outside cheating or parent or tutor "help" or teaching it to yourself and hoping you get it right. You are really clueless about what goes on in a Deal classroom, so you are making up strange doom and gloom nonsense.

So the assumption is that all students will cheat on doing homework by having parents help. Great confidence in the students.