Black parent -- does school ranking matter?
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Anonymous
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I am looking through tons of information, test scores, etc. and have realized that in terms of outcomes for black children, I don't see a major difference between "top" schools and ones on the bottom. As parents, we want the best for our kids, but I really don't know if it's worth investing to live in say North Arlington when the outcomes are basically the same (or worse) than South Arlington schools for black children.
I am struggling to figure out the best option. We are both STEM/Medical types but have run into our own issues with the educational system as black children. I really don't want my kids to suffer or have the same types of problems, but from a data standpoint -- where can I send them to school that shows some indicative of success? In their population? /Please no racism/ |
Anonymous
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Maybe if you tell us what types of problems you suffered, we can better advise you.
Usually the answer is to go to the best school you can go to, as most kids do better if all their peers are also good. However, this can also not be true for a number of reasons, a big one being if your kid is somehow separate from the group. Do you feel that your kid is separate? Not trying to be facetious -- I was the only one of my minority in my school until high school, but I never felt separate from the group. I could definitely see the problems if I were, however. |
Anonymous
| OP here. I guess my question is whether it is worth investing in a home in a district like Langley or whatever versus living some place less expensive and investing those resources to supplement our children's educational experience since the outcomes are uniformly unacceptable for our student population, regardless of location. I know we can't rely on our schools to do everything, but I guess my question is whether it's better to just assume the worst and take things over at home/supplemental experiences/activities approach. |
Anonymous
| OP again. My spouse and I both suffered from an environment of "low expectations." We both went to suburban schools but were working class/poor (thankfully not anymore). Beyond just not tracking, it seemed as though we didn't receive meaningful mentor-ship, guidance, or support. I know our experience now is different (from a resource standpoint), but i fear subtle racism that may prevent our kids from being their best. |
Anonymous
Excuse my ignorance, but why does it matter that you are black? It seems to me this is the same question that runs through the minds of all parents. What is different? |
Anonymous
| I haven't looked at the stats, but its actually stunning that the test scores are uniformly poor for black kids, even in school where non-black kids are testing high. Is that what you are finding, OP? If so, I would share your concern. Have you looked to see how that does or doesn't correspond to poverty? It seems like in high income areas the white and black kids come pretty uniformly from well off families, so one would expect the test scores for black and white kids to be similar. If they aren't...blech. |
Anonymous
| OP again. I think the above is my concern. I looked at Yorktown and realized wtf? These scores are horrible. I haven't looked into the SES of these students but I was hoping for ideas on this because there is this disparity makes me question spending so much on a place in this pyramid. Is it a waste? Are things better in private schools? Should we just live more cheaply and invest our money directly into our children without relying on schools for much beyond the bare minimum? |
Anonymous
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OP, I don't know the statistics, but I agree with 11:49, I would expect the kids at the North Arlington schools to be from a high SES background and to do well there. If you're finding that's not the case, I don't know what to say, but I would be very concerned as well.
Have you checked the Fairfax schools, and is it the same there? Or MoCo? |
Anonymous
| Well, for different reasons we did decide to "directly invest" in my kid by sending him to private, rather than routing that investment through a house, which then bought a specific school pyramid. We were worried more about the kind of atmosphere and discipline in our local school (high % latino, AA, and poor, with poor test outcomes across categories) than with performance - our local school suspends elementary school kids and has a sort of law and order, toe the line atmosphere we didn't want for our kid. So he's at private. And from what I can see, there is no racial disparity in performance in my kid's private school. But you'd never know for sure if there was, would you? Its not like privates publish test scores by race and income. Good luck, OP! |
Anonymous
I'm from MoCo, and just checked out the stats for some of ESs here. The stats breakdown the MSA test scores by race, and I saw one where the score for the Black students were pretty high - like 90+% across the board for most of the grades. Unfortunately, I do think that this is uncommon, though. |
Anonymous
| Great question OP! We struggled with this as well and currently our child is attending a DC private, which was not our original plan. We want him to be around motivated kids of all races including his own (black). We loved the Yorktown pyramid test scores, but was confused about the performance of the minorities attending those schools. We hate our commute but so far we have a peace of mind that he is being challenge to perform at his highest level. Hopefully one day we will have enough confidence and courage to place him in our local public. We are both advocates of public education. We are actually envious of our white friends that don't have this matter to think about. The school administration, faculty, and student body all look like them and their children..... and that sub group has the highest standardized test scores. Good luck with your decision. |
Anonymous
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Thank you for the helpful responses. Seriously. I didn't really think about private school seriously but I may have to consider this option (and choose a cheaper place) if there isn't some sort of way to address the disparity.
Also -- pp do you know what MoCo school that was? I will add it to my house hunting list. |
Anonymous
Not to hijack OP's thread but I think the difference is that the stakes are higher for black students (even high SES). Even those of us who are successful don't have generations of family members with strong academic records or that have worked in white collar jobs, or have a set history of financial stability. Outside of core family stability, education is really the only true pathway for progress in our communities. I live in DC and struggled with this question that OP is asking. When my family moved to DC in 2005 I noticed that AA's of a higher SES resoundingly rejected, even the higher performing DCPS schools, especially for HS - many sent their kids to private. This has changed somewhat over the years, but I think the idea of sending a child to a mediocre school was out of the question. Families don't want to take a chance. The other thing I noticed were families with black boys left in elementary - quickly - in some cases because of bias by teachers and administrators. In my case we decided to stick with public, but we reevaluated every year. What really worked for us was making sure our DD's were with a strong cohort of friends, from all backgrounds and races, that valued education. If you go with a school that does not have a strong record of achievement that could be difficult to overcome in the middle and high school years. The key is you want to make sure your kids are prepared to take advantage of the offerings that MCPS provides. I also think that as kids get older it is difficult to supplement appropriately. I don't know how school funding works in MCPS but I can tell you that in DC, there is a vast difference in the extracurricular offerings at our middle school and those across town. Our kids only do one activity outside of school because the middle and high school offer so much. Good Luck to you! |
Anonymous
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I would suggest the SES analysis as well. If your kids are in a school where the black kids are upper middle class, their scores are going to be a lot higher than schools where the white/asian kids are upper middle class and most of the black kids are in a lower class bracket. My kids go to an FCPS school where (1) the FARMS rate is around 10% and it is not correlated to minority kids, and (2) the black kids actually did BETTER than the white kids in many of the tests this past spring. I wonder if the school has made a concerted effort to focus on bringing black kids' test scores up and in the process didn't notice some of the other kids barely getting by.
I wouldn't give up on public schools. IMO, test scores are even more important for a black family that expects their kids to leap over the achievement gap compared to the value of scores for the average white family. Many FCPS schools are assertively looking for bright minority students to participate in Young Scholars and AAP. What happens at home and the expectations you have for your children will be more important than any thing else. |
Anonymous
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"/Please no racism/"
You first, OP. |