Is walls ever bringing back the test for admissions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much grade inflation is actually happening at middle schools? My DS is getting straight As but his friends are getting As and Bs. Maybe a handful are getting straight As.

This is not true! Deal’s honor roll and principal’s honor roll would be huge if that were the case.

Honor roll is massive. Principal’s is not.

Principal's is pretty large as well.

https://www.alicedealmiddleschool.org/community-updates/term-1-principals-honor-roll-and-honor-roll

Oh wow, you’re right. That’s 1/4 the grade…

[Anonymous]

Let's be clear...the number of kids getting 3.8+ at DCPS middle schools is ENORMOUS and in no way allows SWW to differentiate between the "top" students and kids who simply complete work. What the grade threshold does do is eliminate kids who don't complete the work (and who are more likely to be behavior issues). Now, it's not a bad thing for a school to be full of kids who complete work and aren't causing trouble...that's definitely SWW's main advantage. But let's not kid ourselves into thinking that this school is full of academic high flyers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let's be clear...the number of kids getting 3.8+ at DCPS middle schools is ENORMOUS and in no way allows SWW to differentiate between the "top" students and kids who simply complete work. What the grade threshold does do is eliminate kids who don't complete the work (and who are more likely to be behavior issues). Now, it's not a bad thing for a school to be full of kids who complete work and aren't causing trouble...that's definitely SWW's main advantage. But let's not kid ourselves into thinking that this school is full of academic high flyers.

I am A-OKAY with weeding out the behavior issues and nothing else!
Signed a rising 9th grade Walls Parent

[Anonymous]

Wouldn't a test be more equitable than GPA? I know students who don't try hard in school or don't even show up half the time because it's boring--but they're incredibly smart, far smarter than their grades would reveal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn't a test be more equitable than GPA? I know students who don't try hard in school or don't even show up half the time because it's boring--but they're incredibly smart, far smarter than their grades would reveal.

Bored, unmotivated, but smart kids need far better attention from DCPS than they get now. However, application HS school admission should be for good students. The people who are both smart and make an effort appropriately deserve priority over people who have potential but are slack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn't a test be more equitable than GPA? I know students who don't try hard in school or don't even show up half the time because it's boring--but they're incredibly smart, far smarter than their grades would reveal.

Bored, unmotivated, but smart kids need far better attention from DCPS than they get now. However, application HS school admission should be for good students. The people who are both smart and make an effort appropriately deserve priority over people who have potential but are slack.

+1....It's so much easier to do well on one test than to be consistent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn't a test be more equitable than GPA? I know students who don't try hard in school or don't even show up half the time because it's boring--but they're incredibly smart, far smarter than their grades would reveal.

Bored, unmotivated, but smart kids need far better attention from DCPS than they get now. However, application HS school admission should be for good students. The people who are both smart and make an effort appropriately deserve priority over people who have potential but are slack.

+1....It's so much easier to do well on one test than to be consistent.

Wouldn’t it be great if both the GPA and the test were used for admissions to have a better picture of each applicant?

Oh, wait.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much grade inflation is actually happening at middle schools? My DS is getting straight As but his friends are getting As and Bs. Maybe a handful are getting straight As.

This is not true! Deal’s honor roll and principal’s honor roll would be huge if that were the case.

Honor roll is massive. Principal’s is not.

Principal's is pretty large as well.

https://www.alicedealmiddleschool.org/community-updates/term-1-principals-honor-roll-and-honor-roll

Oh wow, you’re right. That’s 1/4 the grade…

All As qualify for principal’s honor roll. That includes getting all A-. But a 3.7 wouldn’t make the cut for Walls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn't a test be more equitable than GPA? I know students who don't try hard in school or don't even show up half the time because it's boring--but they're incredibly smart, far smarter than their grades would reveal.

Bored, unmotivated, but smart kids need far better attention from DCPS than they get now. However, application HS school admission should be for good students. The people who are both smart and make an effort appropriately deserve priority over people who have potential but are slack.

+1....It's so much easier to do well on one test than to be consistent.

Wouldn’t it be great if both the GPA and the test were used for admissions to have a better picture of each applicant?

Oh, wait.

This. You can much better correlate grades with test and reduces the effects of huge grade inflation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn't a test be more equitable than GPA? I know students who don't try hard in school or don't even show up half the time because it's boring--but they're incredibly smart, far smarter than their grades would reveal.

Bored, unmotivated, but smart kids need far better attention from DCPS than they get now. However, application HS school admission should be for good students. The people who are both smart and make an effort appropriately deserve priority over people who have potential but are slack.

+1....It's so much easier to do well on one test than to be consistent.

Wouldn’t it be great if both the GPA and the test were used for admissions to have a better picture of each applicant?

Oh, wait.

That would be IF all DC MS offered the same curriculum. Walls is definitely Deal dominant. Deal just has more of an advanced cohort than others. I suspect an essay component will be added to gauge writing ability. This what we get with no G&T Program!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's be clear...the number of kids getting 3.8+ at DCPS middle schools is ENORMOUS and in no way allows SWW to differentiate between the "top" students and kids who simply complete work. What the grade threshold does do is eliminate kids who don't complete the work (and who are more likely to be behavior issues). Now, it's not a bad thing for a school to be full of kids who complete work and aren't causing trouble...that's definitely SWW's main advantage. But let's not kid ourselves into thinking that this school is full of academic high flyers.

I am A-OKAY with weeding out the behavior issues and nothing else!
Signed a rising 9th grade Walls Parent

Understandable. But I am a Walls parent too (one at JR and one at Walls) and folks should understand that this is really the main advantage of the school. Folks should go in with their eyes wide open that they won't be surrounded by academic superstars, nor will they have better teachers (fwiw, I think my JR student has had, overall, better teachers).

[Anonymous]

I think one issue is that some schools (e.g., BASIS) give actual grades and some schools (e.g., many DCPSes) give As to anyone who completes the work by the end of the marking period.

My DD has smart, hard-working friends at BASIS who didn't make the cutoff because they're not great at math & study 10-15 hours/week outside of class. She also has friends at SH who turned in every assignment & spend no more than 10-15 hours a term on studying and made the cutoff.

I'm not sure DCPS minds that the grade cutoff is helping kids at less selective schools, and BASIS is more than happy to keep its students, but Deal & charters with HSes will be under enormous pressure to inflate grades even more after the cutoff was so high this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think one issue is that some schools (e.g., BASIS) give actual grades and some schools (e.g., many DCPSes) give As to anyone who completes the work by the end of the marking period.

My DD has smart, hard-working friends at BASIS who didn't make the cutoff because they're not great at math & study 10-15 hours/week outside of class. She also has friends at SH who turned in every assignment & spend no more than 10-15 hours a term on studying and made the cutoff.

I'm not sure DCPS minds that the grade cutoff is helping kids at less selective schools, and BASIS is more than happy to keep its students, but Deal & charters with HSes will be under enormous pressure to inflate grades even more after the cutoff was so high this year.

There's no place to inflate grades further at Deal. Right now you can get an A for just doing any work.
The only place to go from here is to give As for not doing the work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think one issue is that some schools (e.g., BASIS) give actual grades and some schools (e.g., many DCPSes) give As to anyone who completes the work by the end of the marking period.

My DD has smart, hard-working friends at BASIS who didn't make the cutoff because they're not great at math & study 10-15 hours/week outside of class. She also has friends at SH who turned in every assignment & spend no more than 10-15 hours a term on studying and made the cutoff.

I'm not sure DCPS minds that the grade cutoff is helping kids at less selective schools, and BASIS is more than happy to keep its students, but Deal & charters with HSes will be under enormous pressure to inflate grades even more after the cutoff was so high this year.

This is true.

In fact, BASIS has better PARCC scores for 9th grade than Walls for both ELA and math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think one issue is that some schools (e.g., BASIS) give actual grades and some schools (e.g., many DCPSes) give As to anyone who completes the work by the end of the marking period.

My DD has smart, hard-working friends at BASIS who didn't make the cutoff because they're not great at math & study 10-15 hours/week outside of class. She also has friends at SH who turned in every assignment & spend no more than 10-15 hours a term on studying and made the cutoff.

I'm not sure DCPS minds that the grade cutoff is helping kids at less selective schools, and BASIS is more than happy to keep its students, but Deal & charters with HSes will be under enormous pressure to inflate grades even more after the cutoff was so high this year.

I don't understand how the kids can be at BASIS and not be good at math. I was a math major and it's about repeation and hard work. BASIS seems to be providing plenty on both ends. There are SH kids at Walls and I'm sure they would say otherwise.