How's basis going so far?

[Anonymous]

So, according to the portrayals from these posts purporting to have firsthand knowledge of BASIS Tucson, the premise is that it's all just "test driven". That does not comport with accounts from most other parents and students. Yes, they have regular quizzes - they assess knowledge and mastery frequently throughout the school year, which helps to eliminate the guesswork involved when there is far more infrequent testing. But that is very different than "teaching to the test" as some other schools do.

Similarly, another premise being put forward is that BASIS wants to create workaholics, yet I believe that is another misportrayal. Kids who are high achievers and who are willing to work hard will do fine at BASIS - and, there's nothing wrong with working hard - but again, that doesn't mean that their intent is in creating workaholics.

Our own child is doing great at BASIS, still spends tons of time reading sci fi and fantasy, enjoying drawing and art, jokes, storytelling, creative writing and lots of other outside activities, and still gets to goof off on a regular basis with games and favorite TV shows. The idea the poster is trying to push, that BASIS crushes creativity and creates soulless workaholic automatons certainly is not the case with us.

To me, the misportrayals being put forward here are in fact quite alien and foreign to our own direct experiences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, according to the portrayals from these posts purporting to have firsthand knowledge of BASIS Tucson, the premise is that it's all just "test driven". That does not comport with accounts from most other parents and students. Yes, they have regular quizzes - they assess knowledge and mastery frequently throughout the school year, which helps to eliminate the guesswork involved when there is far more infrequent testing. But that is very different than "teaching to the test" as some other schools do.

Similarly, another premise being put forward is that BASIS wants to create workaholics, yet I believe that is another misportrayal. Kids who are high achievers and who are willing to work hard will do fine at BASIS - and, there's nothing wrong with working hard - but again, that doesn't mean that their intent is in creating workaholics.

Our own child is doing great at BASIS, still spends tons of time reading sci fi and fantasy, enjoying drawing and art, jokes, storytelling, creative writing and lots of other outside activities, and still gets to goof off on a regular basis with games and favorite TV shows. The idea the poster is trying to push, that BASIS crushes creativity and creates soulless workaholic automatons certainly is not the case with us.

To me, the misportrayals being put forward here are in fact quite alien and foreign to our own direct experiences.

Are you aware of the concept of individual perspective? Why would you characterize opinions & experiences that differ from your own as "misportrayals?" This is not an AP test, there is no right answer! You can & should make your own decisions about what is best for you and your family. Especially if you are at the DC campus maybe your school has nothing except the name in common with Tucson. And besides, it is still a game of finding the least worst school around...

[Anonymous]

From reading some of the hysterical posts raising a panic about everything, it's easy to see how some people might be "dangerously stressed out" in even the most laid-back of circumstances.

[Anonymous]

Indeed! Lets all get a grip here folks. Go to basis if it works for your kid/family, and don't if its not a good fit. Lets just remember that kids can handle many situations even if they're not ideal. There's a threshold though so try not to let it go too far away from being a peaceful solution for your family. We can't predict the future (fully at least) so make the eat choice you can based on what you know today. Then try and relax - that's probably the best thing you can do for your child!

[Anonymous]

The Basis website talked about how the school was comprised of classrooms full of "Workaholics." I think it was a quote from Olga. Obviously, people might define that word differently or have different associations (positive and negative) with it.

[Anonymous]

That's "best" choice!

[Anonymous]

Pp, yes that was an Olga quote from an as newspaper. She wants to "fill her classrooms with workaholics". I think the context was that kids didn't have to be gifted to succeed. Maybe, culturally, that word doesn't have the same negative connotations it does here. Sounded ugly to me , but trying to keep it in perspective. Wouldn't want to put my young kid into that however.

[Anonymous]

Continued, as I would think it does say something about the character of the organization. Never been to the dc school though, so maybe there are puppy dogs roaming the halls!

[Anonymous]

If Basis retains the great majority of the upper middle-class families starting in 5th, and/or affluent replacements, to the all-important AP tests (doubtful), and 95%+ of the students pass the 10th grade DC-CAS (if there is still such a test by then) we might be interested eventually for our tiny tots. As you may know, close to 100% of the kids at Walls and Banneker are passing the DC-CAS, no great hurdle.

I don't much care what a school is up to, in DC or Arizona, beyond the demographics. Simply put, if a giant cohort of high-SES families of various races are still invovled for 12th grade, as at privates, this alone is sufficient evidence that the program is working well enough for the likes of us for high school (MIT grads working for Uncle Sam while still paying student loans). If not, it's not. At Washington Latin, nearly 1/3 of middle school kids currently fail to test proficient on the DC-CAS and around 40% of 10th graders. Not nearly good enough. If Basis is in the same boat down the road, forget it. If it does much better, as expected, we'll have a look.

[Anonymous]

^^ yea, that's pretty much the case for us as well. you're hardly alone in thinking this way. the proof will be in the demographics. 5th grade presents no great challenges for DC Charter; 12th is a different story.

the Cult of the Blocks at BASIS sounds, bluntly, creepy. What next, little books of their sayings students carry and slavishly quote from?

Why isn't there more local autonomy, like at local branches of a state university system?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ yea, that's pretty much the case for us as well. you're hardly alone in thinking this way. the proof will be in the demographics. 5th grade presents no great challenges for DC Charter; 12th is a different story.

the Cult of the Blocks at BASIS sounds, bluntly, creepy. What next, little books of their sayings students carry and slavishly quote from?

Why isn't there more local autonomy, like at local branches of a state university system?

Why isn't there more local autonomy? You haven't met Olga Block, have you? Funny thing is, she claims to be an economic libertarian but her institution looks more like FDR's New Deal - a tangled web of bureaucratic experts standardizing everything at every campus... attempting to create efficiencies but simply increasing the amount of paperwork and (fairly well-paid) middlemen and reducing the freedom of principals and teachers.

[Anonymous]

OMG, "tangled web of bureaucratic experts standardizing everything at every campus..." Aren't you describing DCPS? What I see being standardized at BASIS (with my child attending) is consistency between teachers so a kid can form good work habits rather than scramble in sheer frustration to discern each teacher's idiosyncratic procedures as was the case at Latin where every teacher had to reinvent the wheel and blaze their own trail for paperwork management, how assignments are relayed to kids, what to do if kid out sick, labeling pages, show work or not, point systems for discipline, acceptance of late work, contacting parents, on and on and on. I am grateful for Basis thinking it through and freeing the teachers and students to focus on the stuff that actually matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG, "tangled web of bureaucratic experts standardizing everything at every campus..." Aren't you describing DCPS? What I see being standardized at BASIS (with my child attending) is consistency between teachers so a kid can form good work habits rather than scramble in sheer frustration to discern each teacher's idiosyncratic procedures as was the case at Latin where every teacher had to reinvent the wheel and blaze their own trail for paperwork management, how assignments are relayed to kids, what to do if kid out sick, labeling pages, show work or not, point systems for discipline, acceptance of late work, contacting parents, on and on and on. I am grateful for Basis thinking it through and freeing the teachers and students to focus on the stuff that actually matters.

Not sure whether I am describing DCPS, but definitely TUSD, our struggling public school system in Tucson. And that is the delicious irony. Our success has led to expansion has led to loss of many of the qualities that allowed us to succeed. And this is primarily from the teacher's point of view, which of course doesn't count for much any more (again another similarity between BASIS and TUSD). Again, I am speaking about the 10+ year evolution of BASIS in Tucson, not your 0.1 year experience in DC. The two may differ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Indeed! Lets all get a grip here folks. Go to basis if it works for your kid/family, and don't if its not a good fit. Lets just remember that kids can handle many situations even if they're not ideal. There's a threshold though so try not to let it go too far away from being a peaceful solution for your family. We can't predict the future (fully at least) so make the eat choice you can based on what you know today. Then try and relax - that's probably the best thing you can do for your child!

+1

It also amazes me to see someone trying selling "individual perspective" - Hey, folks, this IS Washington DC, remember? Where entire multimillion dollar industries are wrapped around "individual perspective" a/k/a political spin. Some of us know it for what it is.

[Anonymous]

Funny to see someone stuck on semantics and quotes about "workaholics" where it comes to Olga Block, a woman whose native language is not English.