Wilson High -- Principal Selection Meeting/Anyone Go?

[Anonymous]

^^ seems that this is why so many of these neglected students opt to go private, which makes the perceived racial gap even worse. See the general education board and previous thread on why black families do not send their kids to Wilson or public high school.

[Anonymous]

Not all of us opted for private. There are high achieving AA students. I do agree though that Wilson is a divided school and even the kids understand it exists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not all of us opted for private. There are high achieving AA students. I do agree though that Wilson is a divided school and even the kids understand it exists.

ESPECIALLY the kids know it exists -- they are participating in it every day.

The implication is that this "divide" is an inherently bad thing that should stop and the Wilson would be better in some way if it did. Not sure there's a good reason to think that.

Is it a deep divide that is causing problems for one group or the other? Is there some academic or social benefit that we know would accrue from forcing a change?

How racial is it, really, or is it also more interest-based, or based on friendships built in grade or jr high school. How similar/different is Alice Deal?

How important is this issue, really? Is is something that needs tending to to make a major, needed improvement in Wilson, or is it something people enjoy whispering about as if it is important?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with 17:38 -- let's back track to middle school, please. Fire the principal who graduates an 8th grader into HS who is not prepared. Back track further, fire the Primary grades principal who graduated the children to 6th. On another vein, let's backtrack to the empty valor of Rhee/Kaya when they stormed into town --They talked and talked about cutting the "fat" from DCPS central and putting $$$ into one of the only viable solutions to improve the achievement gap -- "wraparound services". Oh, yeah. Our pal Rhee and her deputy Kaya were going to ensure those critical hours between 3:30 and 6 were catching up the kids who do not have financial advantages at home, and it was going to be even across town. Hmmm….At Oyster-Adams Rhee's buddy Monica Aguirre (wife of former DPR head Jesus who magically has made it to Superintendent of State for DC) allowed a 2-tier after care program to run for years, one that sucked and was free and one that didn't suck that certain parts of the Oyster population could afford. Hmmm. How are the after care programs in all wards these days? There's the critical hours, folks. 3:30 to 6, primary school, and DCPS central must have just made up all that when they rode in on their horses.

One problem at Wilson is the preparation of students who come from schools other than Deal, particularly Hardy.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with 17:38 -- let's back track to middle school, please. Fire the principal who graduates an 8th grader into HS who is not prepared. Back track further, fire the Primary grades principal who graduated the children to 6th. On another vein, let's backtrack to the empty valor of Rhee/Kaya when they stormed into town --They talked and talked about cutting the "fat" from DCPS central and putting $$$ into one of the only viable solutions to improve the achievement gap -- "wraparound services". Oh, yeah. Our pal Rhee and her deputy Kaya were going to ensure those critical hours between 3:30 and 6 were catching up the kids who do not have financial advantages at home, and it was going to be even across town. Hmmm….At Oyster-Adams Rhee's buddy Monica Aguirre (wife of former DPR head Jesus who magically has made it to Superintendent of State for DC) allowed a 2-tier after care program to run for years, one that sucked and was free and one that didn't suck that certain parts of the Oyster population could afford. Hmmm. How are the after care programs in all wards these days? There's the critical hours, folks. 3:30 to 6, primary school, and DCPS central must have just made up all that when they rode in on their horses.

One problem at Wilson is the preparation of students who come from schools other than Deal, particularly Hardy.

What is your basis for making this claim?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with 17:38 -- let's back track to middle school, please. Fire the principal who graduates an 8th grader into HS who is not prepared. Back track further, fire the Primary grades principal who graduated the children to 6th. On another vein, let's backtrack to the empty valor of Rhee/Kaya when they stormed into town --They talked and talked about cutting the "fat" from DCPS central and putting $$$ into one of the only viable solutions to improve the achievement gap -- "wraparound services". Oh, yeah. Our pal Rhee and her deputy Kaya were going to ensure those critical hours between 3:30 and 6 were catching up the kids who do not have financial advantages at home, and it was going to be even across town. Hmmm….At Oyster-Adams Rhee's buddy Monica Aguirre (wife of former DPR head Jesus who magically has made it to Superintendent of State for DC) allowed a 2-tier after care program to run for years, one that sucked and was free and one that didn't suck that certain parts of the Oyster population could afford. Hmmm. How are the after care programs in all wards these days? There's the critical hours, folks. 3:30 to 6, primary school, and DCPS central must have just made up all that when they rode in on their horses.

One problem at Wilson is the preparation of students who come from schools other than Deal, particularly Hardy.

And you know this because...
-you are a teacher and have a class list with students' feeder school next to each name
-you are a Hardy basher whose kid goes to Wilson and knows a couple of kids who went to Hardy but didn't have their assignments done as well as friends who went to Deal

Which is it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not all of us opted for private. There are high achieving AA students. I do agree though that Wilson is a divided school and even the kids understand it exists.

ESPECIALLY the kids know it exists -- they are participating in it every day.

The implication is that this "divide" is an inherently bad thing that should stop and the Wilson would be better in some way if it did. Not sure there's a good reason to think that.

Is it a deep divide that is causing problems for one group or the other? Is there some academic or social benefit that we know would accrue from forcing a change?

How racial is it, really, or is it also more interest-based, or based on friendships built in grade or jr high school. How similar/different is Alice Deal?

How important is this issue, really? Is is something that needs tending to to make a major, needed improvement in Wilson, or is it something people enjoy whispering about as if it is important?

The situation conflicts with the positive messages kids hear about valuing diversity. It would be interesting to get their take on how it affects them. At the same time though, most of the kids I know are really happy at Wilson.

On the importance of this issue - well I think it's important if one group is able to extract the best education out of a school and others are not able to - I think that is a problem that DCPS is fixated on. We can argue about whether or not it is important but the fact remains the next principal will have to address it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The situation conflicts with the positive messages kids hear about valuing diversity. It would be interesting to get their take on how it affects them. At the same time though, most of the kids I know are really happy at Wilson.

On the importance of this issue - well I think it's important if one group is able to extract the best education out of a school and others are not able to - I think that is a problem that DCPS is fixated on. We can argue about whether or not it is important but the fact remains the next principal will have to address it.

This is the crux of the matter, though. If you arrived at Wilson with Geometry already completed, and finish with CalBC, is that a better outcome than if you arrive at Wilson in need of remediation/not ready for Algebra 1 but still get out with Algebra 2 successfully completed? What if you arrived with no foreign language, but make it through French 4 vs the native speaker who takes AP in 9th grde? In some areas of curriculum it may be possible to improve 2 or more grade levels in a year, but math and science are less forgiving. I think the school should be judged more by individual progress ( eg improved reading 4 grade levels in 2 yrs, no change in reading levels in 2 years for instance) and not so much on achievement gaps. Those gaps were there when the students enrolled, are pre-existing. I'd argue that moving a kid from 9th to 12 grade math in 4 years is equivalent to moving a child from 6th grade level to 10th in math in the same time frame.
I think Wilson could do more to encourage high scoring minority kids to take honors classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not all of us opted for private. There are high achieving AA students. I do agree though that Wilson is a divided school and even the kids understand it exists.

ESPECIALLY the kids know it exists -- they are participating in it every day.

The implication is that this "divide" is an inherently bad thing that should stop and the Wilson would be better in some way if it did. Not sure there's a good reason to think that.

Is it a deep divide that is causing problems for one group or the other? Is there some academic or social benefit that we know would accrue from forcing a change?

How racial is it, really, or is it also more interest-based, or based on friendships built in grade or jr high school. How similar/different is Alice Deal?

How important is this issue, really? Is is something that needs tending to to make a major, needed improvement in Wilson, or is it something people enjoy whispering about as if it is important?

The situation conflicts with the positive messages kids hear about valuing diversity. It would be interesting to get their take on how it affects them. At the same time though, most of the kids I know are really happy at Wilson.

On the importance of this issue - well I think it's important if one group is able to extract the best education out of a school and others are not able to - I think that is a problem that DCPS is fixated on. We can argue about whether or not it is important but the fact remains the next principal will have to address it.

What if the value of diversity is over-rated, or misunderstood, or not well examined or defined differently be different people? can we please understand what we all mean by diversity and what we really know about its value before we make assumptions about it being a problem?

How do we know that one group (whites?) is really "extracting" a quality education that is not available to others in the school and how do we know that any difference in the quality of education that each kid is getting is the responsibility of the school? There are high-scoring black kids at the school -- how about actually talking to them and getting their experiences and attitudes about this. Maybe get some past students too -- I bet they'd be eager and willing. Any results from such conversations won't be definitive, but they certainly will be useful and add more substance to whatever plan evolves to address the needs of all students.

And it sure beats putting some diversity plan into effect that presumes to solve whatever problems exist at Wilson.

[Anonymous]

Diversity is a nice-to-have, but it very much should be a secondary priority to an academic program that is distinguished by its depth, breadth and rigor.

[Anonymous]

I think the word "rigor" has lost all meaning in education discussions. Too many people are using it to mean too many different things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not all of us opted for private. There are high achieving AA students. I do agree though that Wilson is a divided school and even the kids understand it exists.

ESPECIALLY the kids know it exists -- they are participating in it every day.

The implication is that this "divide" is an inherently bad thing that should stop and the Wilson would be better in some way if it did. Not sure there's a good reason to think that.

Is it a deep divide that is causing problems for one group or the other? Is there some academic or social benefit that we know would accrue from forcing a change?

How racial is it, really, or is it also more interest-based, or based on friendships built in grade or jr high school. How similar/different is Alice Deal?

How important is this issue, really? Is is something that needs tending to to make a major, needed improvement in Wilson, or is it something people enjoy whispering about as if it is important?

The situation conflicts with the positive messages kids hear about valuing diversity. It would be interesting to get their take on how it affects them. At the same time though, most of the kids I know are really happy at Wilson.

On the importance of this issue - well I think it's important if one group is able to extract the best education out of a school and others are not able to - I think that is a problem that DCPS is fixated on. We can argue about whether or not it is important but the fact remains the next principal will have to address it.

What if the value of diversity is over-rated, or misunderstood, or not well examined or defined differently be different people? can we please understand what we all mean by diversity and what we really know about its value before we make assumptions about it being a problem?

How do we know that one group (whites?) is really "extracting" a quality education that is not available to others in the school and how do we know that any difference in the quality of education that each kid is getting is the responsibility of the school? There are high-scoring black kids at the school -- how about actually talking to them and getting their experiences and attitudes about this. Maybe get some past students too -- I bet they'd be eager and willing. Any results from such conversations won't be definitive, but they certainly will be useful and add more substance to whatever plan evolves to address the needs of all students.

And it sure beats putting some diversity plan into effect that presumes to solve whatever problems exist at Wilson.

We know from the data white students perform very well at Wilson. From my viewpoint this isn't an acessibility issue. Some research on barriers might make sense. Along the same lines, I love the idea of getting students thoughts on this too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the word "rigor" has lost all meaning in education discussions. Too many people are using it to mean too many different things.

Perhaps, but one thing it isn't is a dumbed-down mediocre course to bolster the self-esteem of kids who are either seriously underprepared for, or actively disrupt, a top fight high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not all of us opted for private. There are high achieving AA students. I do agree though that Wilson is a divided school and even the kids understand it exists.

ESPECIALLY the kids know it exists -- they are participating in it every day.

The implication is that this "divide" is an inherently bad thing that should stop and the Wilson would be better in some way if it did. Not sure there's a good reason to think that.

Is it a deep divide that is causing problems for one group or the other? Is there some academic or social benefit that we know would accrue from forcing a change?

How racial is it, really, or is it also more interest-based, or based on friendships built in grade or jr high school. How similar/different is Alice Deal?

How important is this issue, really? Is is something that needs tending to to make a major, needed improvement in Wilson, or is it something people enjoy whispering about as if it is important?

The situation conflicts with the positive messages kids hear about valuing diversity. It would be interesting to get their take on how it affects them. At the same time though, most of the kids I know are really happy at Wilson.

On the importance of this issue - well I think it's important if one group is able to extract the best education out of a school and others are not able to - I think that is a problem that DCPS is fixated on. We can argue about whether or not it is important but the fact remains the next principal will have to address it.

What if the value of diversity is over-rated, or misunderstood, or not well examined or defined differently be different people? can we please understand what we all mean by diversity and what we really know about its value before we make assumptions about it being a problem?

How do we know that one group (whites?) is really "extracting" a quality education that is not available to others in the school and how do we know that any difference in the quality of education that each kid is getting is the responsibility of the school? There are high-scoring black kids at the school -- how about actually talking to them and getting their experiences and attitudes about this. Maybe get some past students too -- I bet they'd be eager and willing. Any results from such conversations won't be definitive, but they certainly will be useful and add more substance to whatever plan evolves to address the needs of all students.

And it sure beats putting some diversity plan into effect that presumes to solve whatever problems exist at Wilson.

We know from the data white students perform very well at Wilson. From my viewpoint this isn't an acessibility issue. Some research on barriers might make sense. Along the same lines, I love the idea of getting students thoughts on this too.

So instead of determining that there's something about Wilson that makes whites perform well, perhaps we should think a bit more deeply and consider that there's something about those kids (let's say SES) that would allow them do well just about anywhere -- assuming doing "very well" means getting high scores on AP tests and SATs?

Unless considering SES is against our belief system, which certainly has been the case with DCPS leadership since 2007.

When you say "research on barriers" - do you mean barriers at Wilson that keep AA's from performing well? If so, imo, it's a huge waste of time. yes, there are barriers, but they aren't at Wilson -- they're at home and they are generational - and will take generations to change in effective long-term ways.

Frustrating, to be sure, but seems like it's worse to spend time and money denying it.