By the numbers: A dispassioned evaluation of Hardy (compared to Deal and Wilson)

[Anonymous]

It's really hard to believe that Hardy is 59% English language learners. Is that number correct?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's really hard to believe that Hardy is 59% English language learners. Is that number correct?

The previous year the percentage was closer to 4%. Unlikely that is correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's really hard to believe that Hardy is 59% English language learners. Is that number correct?

The previous year the percentage was closer to 4%. Unlikely that is correct.

DCPS released profiles with errors on ELL. They have since been updated. Hardy is 8% ELL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The forced march to Hardy cracks me up. We are inbounds for Deal and I would probably apply to Hardy in a few years (our child is too young now). The building is gorgeous. The location--outstanding. The school is all about what people are willing to invest. OOB families have obviously been investing/believing for years. With a good mix of in bounds families what a dynamic place it will be. The only thing Hardy needs is a great principal and something distinctive about its program (focus on arts, STEM, language--whatever). Do they have that?

Why does a middle school need something distinctive?

That's a good question. I think charter schools have been a game changer in DC, with each offering something distinct that its known for. I think for middle schools and high schools to attract in bounds families and oob, so that they are dynamo choice schools they need to develop their characters a little beyond simply " we follow the common core and test a lot." Deal and Wilson both are known for having smaller schools within the school - their academies or cohorts. Beyond that, I think unfortunately they thrive simply because kids who are very well prepared from home attend. I q think they offer much draw beyond knowing your kid will be in class with other well prepared kids (and in dc this is a big drawn to be sure). But I do think they could offer something more that in itself is tempting and that any time a peer school emerges with a well thought through vision, it does become a compelling option. What is Hardy's focus, its pull, its distinct character - beyond the other schools being full and it being a forced march? Once its clear to people that they're marching to a school with vision and high academics I think they'll start running, not marching.

[Anonymous]

I think parents who are interested in Hardy should attend an open house, and engage with the (awesome) principal on questions including the above. The principal has been working intensely with feeder school parents and current parents to build on Hardy's strengths. What appealed to me was the small scale, and the quality of science and math teaching; also the music program. But it's not something I can be summarize in a bumper sticker, like "Mandarin is important to our family." (Though I think Hardy may be part of Confucius classrooms.)

Now that my child is close to middle school, the charter school "flavor-of-the-month" approach has lost its appeal. Now that I know my child better, I know what she needs, and I know I need to actually visit a school perhaps several times to make sure a chool can meet her interests/needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The forced march to Hardy cracks me up. We are inbounds for Deal and I would probably apply to Hardy in a few years (our child is too young now). The building is gorgeous. The location--outstanding. The school is all about what people are willing to invest. OOB families have obviously been investing/believing for years. With a good mix of in bounds families what a dynamic place it will be. The only thing Hardy needs is a great principal and something distinctive about its program (focus on arts, STEM, language--whatever). Do they have that?

Why does a middle school need something distinctive?

That's a good question. I think charter schools have been a game changer in DC, with each offering something distinct that its known for. I think for middle schools and high schools to attract in bounds families and oob, so that they are dynamo choice schools they need to develop their characters a little beyond simply " we follow the common core and test a lot." Deal and Wilson both are known for having smaller schools within the school - their academies or cohorts. Beyond that, I think unfortunately they thrive simply because kids who are very well prepared from home attend. I q think they offer much draw beyond knowing your kid will be in class with other well prepared kids (and in dc this is a big drawn to be sure). But I do think they could offer something more that in itself is tempting and that any time a peer school emerges with a well thought through vision, it does become a compelling option. What is Hardy's focus, its pull, its distinct character - beyond the other schools being full and it being a forced march? Once its clear to people that they're marching to a school with vision and high academics I think they'll start running, not marching.

Hardy actually had this for years - an arts, particularly music, focus.

[Anonymous]

It did when Fillmore was in the building ad Pope supported it. With both gone how is this being done today? And if so, I think great -along with fine academics hopefully???

[Anonymous]

Wait, they moved Fillmore? Where is it now?

[Anonymous]

I think there was a move to close Fillmore but it was "saved" so will be there again this year.

I think in addition to the smaller size and also the principal seems to stress that it's an environment where kids are encouraged to keep trying new things (including music and other activities), which I think is a breath of fresh air in an area where kids are pushed to specialize and pick interests so early. Also increasing focus on teaching and options for different academic achievement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is not true. In DC "white" is a clean proxy for being the beneficiary of systematic racism. There are so many studies that say that AA kids from highly educated, affluent homes where parents own books, and read to them, and value their education, are not protected from racism. They are subjected to disproportionate discipline, and low expectations, which leads to achievement gaps that continue to exist even when income, parental education, time spent reading, and other factors are taken into account.

Whether or not a group has benefited from systemic racism (knowingly or unknowingly), IN DC "white" is a proxy for high-income. You'd have to look high and low to find a significant number of poor white families in this city in 2015. The DC suburbs, Baltimore or any other city would be a different story.

I'm not arguing that white people in DC aren't, by and large, high income. I totally agree that they are. I'm arguing that you can't look at the numbers that represent the experience of high-income white kids in DC, and assume that experience of high-income kids of color, and particularly high-income AA kids, will be the same.

There is a lot of research comparing test scores and outcome for AA kids with white kids that show a substantial gap, even when income, household education, and other factors are controlled.

I'll bet IQ isn't one if the factors controlled for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there was a move to close Fillmore but it was "saved" so will be there again this year.

I think in addition to the smaller size and also the principal seems to stress that it's an environment where kids are encouraged to keep trying new things (including music and other activities), which I think is a breath of fresh air in an area where kids are pushed to specialize and pick interests so early. Also increasing focus on teaching and options for different academic achievement.

That sounds nice. I did not realize Fillmore was still housed in the building. DO they foreign languages or classic languages?

[Anonymous]

Isn't Fillmore being closed in one year? It was only extended for one year

[Anonymous]

It's been in a potentially on the chopping block table off-and-on for several years. It leads to an inevitable uproar and gets restored. But maybe one year it will end up getting closed. Honestly, my kids go there from a feeder, and I'm very impressed with it vs. the 'art-on-a-cart' with specialists going from classroom to classroom that I actually had as a kid. I think the exposure to a broader range of instruments and the "digital arts" probably would get missed.

[Anonymous]

PP, opps, meant to say *NOT* very impressed...

[Anonymous]

So it looks like only 3 Hardy students scored a 5 in math and 11 in ELA on the 15-16 PARCC.

http://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Hardy+Middle+School

Deal had only 40 score a 5 in math, but 362 scored a 5 in ELA.

http://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Deal+Middle+School

Looks like it is really hard to score a 5 on the PARCC.