PARC scores

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fives certainly aren't rare at our DCPS. With so many highly educated parents in the mix, including SAHMs with multiple graduate degrees, au pairs, tutors, weekend and summer enrichment camps etc., the DCPS curriculum clearly isn't hard enough for many kids. The schools homegrown, PTA funded GT programs help, but not enough.

Mann has the highest elementary ELA scores - 23% got 5s (2016) and 19% got 5s in math.

Lafayette had the highest elementary math scores - 22% got 5s and 11% got 5s in ELA.

Do those schools do a lot of teaching to the test?

No more than any others. They may be the top scorers, but most of the other JKLM schools were in the same ballpark and should be grouped together.

I'll ask again, do they do a lot of teaching to the test? My child's school does not do any teaching to the test. Does Mann?

They all follow the same curriculum, PP. Sheesh.

Oh, FFS, "sheesh" back to you. No they don't ask follow the same curriculum. Where do you get that from?! I don't think all DCPS follow the same curriculum and charters certainly don't.

Yes, DCPS schools do. The schools have some flexibility on how they follow it, but they do all hit the same things.

https://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/publication/attachments/DCPS%20Curriculum%20Pillar%2004122017.pdf

How does that fit with some schools using Regio Emilio, or Tools of the Mind, or Montessori? Curriculum is not identical at each DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All charters also use Common Core.

No they do not.

- Charter parent

\

Common Core are the DC state standards, not a specific curriculum. And yes, they DC public schools need to work to have students master those standards -- or live with the fact that their kids will not be prepared for PARCC, which tests mastery of the standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All charters also use Common Core.

No they do not.

- Charter parent

\

Common Core are the DC state standards, not a specific curriculum. And yes, they DC public schools need to work to have students master those standards -- or live with the fact that their kids will not be prepared for PARCC, which tests mastery of the standards.

Sorry for the typo. All charters and DCPS schools are required to cover the Common Core standards. If you read the charters' agreements with the DCPCSB they all state that they will cover Common Core, although they may get there with various curriculums (Tools of the Mind, IBP, Expeditionary Learning, Montessori, etc).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fives certainly aren't rare at our DCPS. With so many highly educated parents in the mix, including SAHMs with multiple graduate degrees, au pairs, tutors, weekend and summer enrichment camps etc., the DCPS curriculum clearly isn't hard enough for many kids. The schools homegrown, PTA funded GT programs help, but not enough.

Mann has the highest elementary ELA scores - 23% got 5s (2016) and 19% got 5s in math.

Lafayette had the highest elementary math scores - 22% got 5s and 11% got 5s in ELA.

Do those schools do a lot of teaching to the test?

No more than any others. They may be the top scorers, but most of the other JKLM schools were in the same ballpark and should be grouped together.

I'll ask again, do they do a lot of teaching to the test? My child's school does not do any teaching to the test. Does Mann?

They all follow the same curriculum, PP. Sheesh.

Oh, FFS, "sheesh" back to you. No they don't ask follow the same curriculum. Where do you get that from?! I don't think all DCPS follow the same curriculum and charters certainly don't.

Yes, DCPS schools do. The schools have some flexibility on how they follow it, but they do all hit the same things.

https://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/publication/attachments/DCPS%20Curriculum%20Pillar%2004122017.pdf

How does that fit with some schools using Regio Emilio, or Tools of the Mind, or Montessori? Curriculum is not identical at each DCPS.

All three of those are not curricula, they are approaches to learning. They are also almost always used for ECE (where schools can do what they like) and not the 3-5 areas of PARCC testing. A curriculum tells you what to teach. An approach tells you how to teach it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All charters also use Common Core.

No they do not.

- Charter parent

\

Common Core are the DC state standards, not a specific curriculum. And yes, they DC public schools need to work to have students master those standards -- or live with the fact that their kids will not be prepared for PARCC, which tests mastery of the standards.

Sorry for the typo. All charters and DCPS schools are required to cover the Common Core standards. If you read the charters' agreements with the DCPCSB they all state that they will cover Common Core, although they may get there with various curriculums (Tools of the Mind, IBP, Expeditionary Learning, Montessori, etc).

those are not curricula, they are learning approaches.

Go to two different montessori schools and you will not find them teaching the same things, but you will find them teaching the same way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All charters also use Common Core.

No they do not.

- Charter parent

\

Common Core are the DC state standards, not a specific curriculum. And yes, they DC public schools need to work to have students master those standards -- or live with the fact that their kids will not be prepared for PARCC, which tests mastery of the standards.

Sorry for the typo. All charters and DCPS schools are required to cover the Common Core standards. If you read the charters' agreements with the DCPCSB they all state that they will cover Common Core, although they may get there with various curriculums (Tools of the Mind, IBP, Expeditionary Learning, Montessori, etc).

those are not curricula, they are learning approaches.

Go to two different montessori schools and you will not find them teaching the same things, but you will find them teaching the same way.

Tools of the mind is curriculum. Common core is not curriculum but standards. Ergo, PP was wrong when she said that all schools use the same curriculum. They do not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All charters also use Common Core.

No they do not.

- Charter parent

\

Common Core are the DC state standards, not a specific curriculum. And yes, they DC public schools need to work to have students master those standards -- or live with the fact that their kids will not be prepared for PARCC, which tests mastery of the standards.

Sorry for the typo. All charters and DCPS schools are required to cover the Common Core standards. If you read the charters' agreements with the DCPCSB they all state that they will cover Common Core, although they may get there with various curriculums (Tools of the Mind, IBP, Expeditionary Learning, Montessori, etc).

those are not curricula, they are learning approaches.

Go to two different montessori schools and you will not find them teaching the same things, but you will find them teaching the same way.

Tools of the mind is curriculum. Common core is not curriculum but standards. Ergo, PP was wrong when she said that all schools use the same curriculum. They do not.

Tools of the mind ends in PK4. Is is not relevant to PARCC in any way. You will note that the curriculum link from the PPP starts in K only.

Here's more
https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/parent-curriculum-guides

[Anonymous]

Charters absolutely do NOT use the same curriculum as DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Charters absolutely do NOT use the same curriculum as DCPS.

We know. However the curriculum any public school in DC uses has to align to / cover the Common Core standards for each grade level, including PK and K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Charters absolutely do NOT use the same curriculum as DCPS.

We know. However the curriculum any public school in DC uses has to align to / cover the Common Core standards for each grade level, including PK and K.

Ok, now that's cleared up, let's get back to the original question. Does Mann do a lot of teaching to the test?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Charters absolutely do NOT use the same curriculum as DCPS.

We know. However the curriculum any public school in DC uses has to align to / cover the Common Core standards for each grade level, including PK and K.

Ok, now that's cleared up, let's get back to the original question. Does Mann do a lot of teaching to the test?

None of the high performing schools, charter or DCPS teach to the test. They teach to common core standards which are the basis for testing and that's a good thing. The highest correlation between scores and performance in DCPS is SES status. A few charters like DC PREP and KIPP post strong achievement numbers with high intervention/rigorous programs primarily targeting communities of need and some do a lot of drill and kill but it's not specifically teaching to the test. The higher performing charters that aren't of the 'no excuses' variety also have more SES diversity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Charters absolutely do NOT use the same curriculum as DCPS.

We know. However the curriculum any public school in DC uses has to align to / cover the Common Core standards for each grade level, including PK and K.

Ok, now that's cleared up, let's get back to the original question. Does Mann do a lot of teaching to the test?

None of the high performing schools, charter or DCPS teach to the test. They teach to common core standards which are the basis for testing and that's a good thing. The highest correlation between scores and performance in DCPS is SES status. A few charters like DC PREP and KIPP post strong achievement numbers with high intervention/rigorous programs primarily targeting communities of need and some do a lot of drill and kill but it's not specifically teaching to the test. The higher performing charters that aren't of the 'no excuses' variety also have more SES diversity.

[Anonymous]

Someone please explain to me how you teach to the test now with the Common Core standards. It just doesn't seem like it possible or that it works with how kids are tested now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Charters absolutely do NOT use the same curriculum as DCPS.

We know. However the curriculum any public school in DC uses has to align to / cover the Common Core standards for each grade level, including PK and K.

Ok, now that's cleared up, let's get back to the original question. Does Mann do a lot of teaching to the test?

None of the high performing schools, charter or DCPS teach to the test. They teach to common core standards which are the basis for testing and that's a good thing. The highest correlation between scores and performance in DCPS is SES status. A few charters like DC PREP and KIPP post strong achievement numbers with high intervention/rigorous programs primarily targeting communities of need and some do a lot of drill and kill but it's not specifically teaching to the test. The higher performing charters that aren't of the 'no excuses' variety also have more SES diversity.

I was under the impression it's the mother's educational attainment that is the strongest correlation, but I may be thinking of nationwide, not DCPS-specific.