How's basis going so far?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^Some measure of coordination and planning, great, but the Cult of Olga sounds disturbingly industrial. A high order form of the NCLB conveyer belt? I've got a PhD and wouldn't teach anywhere I had to spell out lesson plans for anybody but my students. BASIS evokes an image of Mussolini making the trains run on time, with the Italians cheering for a time.

What works well in public high schools in this city anyway when more than a handful of low-SES kids are in the mix? Most of you seem to be commenting on a 5th grade experience. Did anyone else find Latin's 2012 DC-CAS scores troubling when broken down by race? It seems that at BASIS' main competitor, nearly 1/3 of the MS kids don't test proficient (yet the school only tracks for algebra) and nearly half the HS kids (in 10th grade). Even so, parents rave about Latin on DCUM as though it's the Harvard of public schools.

I'm taking all this boosting with a grain of salt, waiting for BASIS' scores next summer, broken down by race and class.

"Cult of Olga"... "Mussolini"... You sound like a nut. Personally, I wouldn't WANT you teaching anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
What difference does it make, 13:10.

(I'm not the PP you reference but I wonder what your point is.)


Because there are some subjects for which the material that must be covered in a given course at a given grade is not open to debate. Others are more "flexible." A PhD in Theatre and Drama and a PhD in Biology are very different.

The poster used the PhD to establish authority without providing the obvious information. I also have a PhD (in computer science). In my dozens of posts on these BASIS threads, I have never mentioned that fact (until now).

What? Um, no. Curriculum is always "open to debate" and that non-point you are trying to make has very little to do with your real reason for asking...you don't like that a PhD established authority and didn't say what you wanted to hear. That's pretty childish of you.

Clearly, you know absolutely nothing about curriculum, and your PhD is completely irrelevant to this discussion.

[Anonymous]

You're both kind of having an off day.

[Anonymous]

Haven't posted for several days. Lighten up folks. Maybe a little nuttiness is in order here.

One of my cousins, a newly minted Ph.D. who taught at the first BASIS Tuscon, quit 6 months in because s/he didn't appreciate the Cult of Block. Said heavy handed was too tame a description of how the administration ran the place. I'm not under the impression that the curriculum was the issue. Word has it that Basis teachers are indeed micro managed. As for Latin's recent DC-CAS scores, yes, unimpressive despite the hype, especially for 10th grade. I, too, am waiting for the first crop from Basis.

[Anonymous]

"I have a Ph.D. from Harvard... no wait, one better, I have a degree even higher - a Qh.D. and I RAN Harvard, and I know everything there is to know about Education, in fact I INVENTED Education... yeah, that's the ticket... And I have a twin sister who taught at BASIS and we have a psychic bond, and that's how I know about the secret Mind Control Emitter Beam that was installed on the roof of BASIS DC and how Olga Block pastes on a fake Hitler mustache and makes everyone goose-step in the halls of BASIS, yeah, that's the ticket..."

Lately, every time I peek in on these threads, all I can do anymore is give an eyeroll and close my browser. If nothing else, there's some "Theatre of the Absurd" comedic value to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"I have a Ph.D. from Harvard... no wait, one better, I have a degree even higher - a Qh.D. and I RAN Harvard, and I know everything there is to know about Education, in fact I INVENTED Education... yeah, that's the ticket... And I have a twin sister who taught at BASIS and we have a psychic bond, and that's how I know about the secret Mind Control Emitter Beam that was installed on the roof of BASIS DC and how Olga Block pastes on a fake Hitler mustache and makes everyone goose-step in the halls of BASIS, yeah, that's the ticket..."

Lately, every time I peek in on these threads, all I can do anymore is give an eyeroll and close my browser. If nothing else, there's some "Theatre of the Absurd" comedic value to it.

Agree! I wish we could get back to the simple question of "How's BASIS going so far?"

[Anonymous]

Okay, here's my son's observation: most of the teachers are giving the disrespectful behavior a pass in the classroom. And after someone struck my kid for saying something mean, there was no consequences nor attempt to sort out what happened. I actually think that was probably appropriate but it doesn't sound like zero tolerance...

[Anonymous]

amateur hour...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay, here's my son's observation: most of the teachers are giving the disrespectful behavior a pass in the classroom. And after someone struck my kid for saying something mean, there was no consequences nor attempt to sort out what happened. I actually think that was probably appropriate but it doesn't sound like zero tolerance...

What grade is your son in?

[Anonymous]

7th

[Anonymous]

Read it and weep, Basis-haters!
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/10/what-the-best-writing-teachers-know/263573/

[Anonymous]

Agreed. No one except people who have them measure success or smarts by who has a PhD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Read it and weep, Basis-haters!
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/10/what-the-best-writing-teachers-know/263573/

Nice article. And, she hardly sounds like a kid who's been drilled and killed, taught to the test, lacking critical thinking skills, had the creativity drained out, micromanaged, stressed out and all the dozens and dozens of other hyperbolic descriptions that have randomly been ascribed to BASIS students throughout this meritless fearmongering campaign from Mrs. "I'm a Ph.D. and therefore I know it all".

[Anonymous]

Indeed. Though I'm neither a basis booster nor hater, I'm mostly just impressed that a high school freshman is reading Atlantic monthly and expanding upon the authors ideas. I would not have been experienced enough, intellectually engaged enough, or just self-assured enough to have written and submitted that piece to a highly-regarded journal at that age. We just wanted to hang out in the Hardee's parking lot trying to find someone to buy us beer!! So kudos to the author for bring an exceptionally mature and motivated young woman. I think it ultimately comes down to the teachers e thusiam for the subject and high-expectationsfor students. That's what a good teacher does and they can sometimes be found in otherwise crappy schools. But curricum does count too. I hated English in high school as I felt that we'd takes eyre having book and critique the life out of it. Wasn't until a required creative writing class that I learned to love the freedom of the act of putting pen to paper. Glad to here that basis curriculum incorporates Botha d thatin the Scottsdale school they found a gem of a teacher . Hell, I myself would enjoy many of the classes they describe! Just wish it could all be delivered with a gentler hand however, and with more age-appropriate timing.

[Anonymous]

Well stated, PP... but it's also important to point out that it's not just about one unique teacher, it's about a model that BASIS has been trying to instill in all of its schools, where the teachers each coordinate and contribute to provide these complementary "dimensions" - we're seeing complementary themes interwoven from teacher to teacher at BASIS DC, for example common Latin-root word lists shared between Latin, Classics, English and Science... Topics discussed in Classics carrying over into English, and so on.