DCI or Deal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Terrible policy. Just take it and even if I get only 1 question right, I’ll get a 50%. This is grade inflation. Then Ill cheat and can still pass without knowing anything. Then take that into the equation for DC ranking (graduation rates) from 1-5 for their schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Terrible policy. Just take it and even if I get only 1 question right, I’ll get a 50%. This is grade inflation. Then Ill cheat and can still pass without knowing anything. Then take that into the equation for DC ranking (graduation rates) from 1-5 for their schools.

It means a summative assignment or assessment has to be mostly done in class so the teacher knows the student did the work rather than the student’s study group or the student’s mom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Terrible policy. Just take it and even if I get only 1 question right, I’ll get a 50%. This is grade inflation. Then Ill cheat and can still pass without knowing anything. Then take that into the equation for DC ranking (graduation rates) from 1-5 for their schools.

That may be the policy in MCPS, but that is absolutely NOT a policy at Deal. My kids have the zeros on assignments to prove it, sadly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Terrible policy. Just take it and even if I get only 1 question right, I’ll get a 50%. This is grade inflation. Then Ill cheat and can still pass without knowing anything. Then take that into the equation for DC ranking (graduation rates) from 1-5 for their schools.

That may be the policy in MCPS, but that is absolutely NOT a policy at Deal. My kids have the zeros on assignments to prove it, sadly.

At WILSON

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Terrible policy. Just take it and even if I get only 1 question right, I’ll get a 50%. This is grade inflation. Then Ill cheat and can still pass without knowing anything. Then take that into the equation for DC ranking (graduation rates) from 1-5 for their schools.

That may be the policy in MCPS, but that is absolutely NOT a policy at Deal. My kids have the zeros on assignments to prove it, sadly.

Yest but the gradebook automatically counts zeros as 50%, there is no such thing as a zero. The kids know ask them...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Terrible policy. Just take it and even if I get only 1 question right, I’ll get a 50%. This is grade inflation. Then Ill cheat and can still pass without knowing anything. Then take that into the equation for DC ranking (graduation rates) from 1-5 for their schools.

That may be the policy in MCPS, but that is absolutely NOT a policy at Deal. My kids have the zeros on assignments to prove it, sadly.

At WILSON

And Deal

[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.

Grades are meaningless at DCPS, students cannot fail unless they don't come that is the policy. Zeros equal a grade and at some schools homework is done at school and classwork of course is completed in class, so unless you sit there and don't do any work you get a grade. Really the only kids who are failing are kids who refuse to work or the curriculum is not differentiated enough for them. DCPS may as well switch to mastery grading because right now it is just a jumble and is meaningless, plus teachers are penalized for giving low grades. Classwork can include as little as being prepared, binder check, completing a warm-up, etc. Assessments and quizzes are meaningless at some schools as students can take them multiple times but grades don't show that. No consistency

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

So the assumption is homework is not important either because students won’t do them or parents will do them. Whichever one makes perfect sense doesn’t it.

As to parents doing it, I realize that some parents may do so but I would think that the majority of UMC families like ours would not and have our child learn and do the work. This would also be reflective with testing on who knows and mastered the material and who didn’t. That is unless the bar is so low and test so easy that anyone can pass and the advanced kids just breeze thru it with high A’s.

[Anonymous]

You're missing the crux of the problem. No GT programs in traditional schools in this City, no law on GT education in the District, no focus on challenging the brightest kids.

The only real challenge in a public middle school can be found at BASIS, and their facilities are weak, their curriculum inflexible and their approach fairly brutal.

Outside BASIS, most of us pay to supplement, a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're missing the crux of the problem. No GT programs in traditional schools in this City, no law on GT education in the District, no focus on challenging the brightest kids.

The only real challenge in a public middle school can be found at BASIS, and their facilities are weak, their curriculum inflexible and their approach fairly brutal.

Outside BASIS, most of us pay to supplement, a lot.

We are pulling our kid out early from Deal and going to a Big3 private. Unfortunately it’s going to cost $45k. (Officially $48.5k for year 1 with all one time and reoccurring fees). This is a huge amount of money for us but it’s better than another year of learning very little at Deal.

[Anonymous]

I hear you, but why not a good parochial school for half that sum? Not OK with parochial schools?

What most PPs on the is thread don't seem to get is that the system does not incentivize DCPS middle school admins or teachers to try to ensure that any students can do more than test proficient (with 4s for ELA and math) on the PARCC. They aren't given any sort of bonuses for turning out kids who can test score 5s, let alone work above the 5 level in any subject. Why should teachers work harder than they have to when there's nothing in it for them to go the extra mile but perhaps personal satisfaction?

If you have academically advanced children are coming up through Deal feeders, don't like the arrangement, can't afford privates and really don't want to move, you need to organize with other parents. You need to do this sooner rather than later in the interests of applying sustained political pressure to change the culture of mediocrity at Deal and Wilson. That's what happened in the DC burbs in the 80s and that's what needs to happen in DC in the early 2020s...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're missing the crux of the problem. No GT programs in traditional schools in this City, no law on GT education in the District, no focus on challenging the brightest kids.

The only real challenge in a public middle school can be found at BASIS, and their facilities are weak, their curriculum inflexible and their approach fairly brutal.

Outside BASIS, most of us pay to supplement, a lot.

all this talk of supplementing has me wondering:
- how do you know when/if you need to supplement
- are we talking tutors?
- how to find a good tutor that is worth the $$?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're missing the crux of the problem. No GT programs in traditional schools in this City, no law on GT education in the District, no focus on challenging the brightest kids.

The only real challenge in a public middle school can be found at BASIS, and their facilities are weak, their curriculum inflexible and their approach fairly brutal.

Outside BASIS, most of us pay to supplement, a lot.

all this talk of supplementing has me wondering:
- how do you know when/if you need to supplement
- are we talking tutors?
- how to find a good tutor that is worth the $$?

This was a useful thread to answer some of your questions: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/792436.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're missing the crux of the problem. No GT programs in traditional schools in this City, no law on GT education in the District, no focus on challenging the brightest kids.

The only real challenge in a public middle school can be found at BASIS, and their facilities are weak, their curriculum inflexible and their approach fairly brutal.

Outside BASIS, most of us pay to supplement, a lot.

all this talk of supplementing has me wondering:
- how do you know when/if you need to supplement
- are we talking tutors?
- how to find a good tutor that is worth the $$?

I have kids at Deal and supplement. I'm moving one to a Big3 school. Why do we supplement? 1) My kids get As at Deal with very little effort. "Little effort" this past year meaning that they had one standing assignment per week but otherwise did no homework outside of class. They never studied for a test or quiz at home. Rarely (I'd say once a month) did they do a math problem outside of school. 2) They always get 5's on the 2 PARCCs (math and ELA). They score in the 99% of the city and high 90s in their upper NW schools on the PARCC. 3) their writing (as learned in DCPS) is fairly abysmal.
So we supplement at home and during the summer with extra ELA work and writing and they take writing classes outside of school during the year and during the summer.
I know MANY Deal parents who are supplementing heavily this summer. Most don't advertise it (and others look at us like we have two heads) but there is a ton of summer supplementing going on. Many kids taking classes outside of Deal, doing work-books, working with tutors, etc. etc.

[Anonymous]

THIS. There is indeed a ton of supplementing going on. Many UMC parents are signing Deal students up for Johns Hopkins CTY sleep-away camps, getting them writing tutors and classes, dispatching them to language immersion summer camps, to enrolling them in STEM and math camps locally.

You supplement when you realize that a bright kid can hardly write a grammatical paragraph after 6th grade, isn't pushed in any subject, and, for the most part, is bored.