Wilson/Walls College Admissions Results

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason I'd do a top ranked private if I could afford it (I can't) is because I am not sure what will happen in college. Lots of smart, capable kids flunk out for maturity reasons. Some never go back. But sending my kids to a top ranked private means he would leave 12th grade able to write and read and think critically, skills that will serve him well in the world. I am not as sure a public school will provide the same degree of mastery of these skills, and I can't count on him getting them in college, either because he drops out or he majors in a non-liberal arts field.

But it's all moot since 40,000 is way more than we have.

If your child is at Wilson and Walls, "he would leave 12th grade able to write and read and think critically, skills that will serve him well in the world," unless he chooses not to pay attention and do the work.

he will be assigned more writing and get much more feedback on this writing from a teacher at a private school. It is a better quality of education (doubtfully 40,000 a year better though).

But he will have NO math or science foundations. Not better quality education

This is crazy. My kids went to Deal and are now at a local private high school. The math instruction at their private runs circles around DCPS. I am by no means anti-DCPS. However, this statement is just fundamentally untrue.

I think that Wilson teaches Calc earlier than leading privates, so the DCPS math track is more advanced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason I'd do a top ranked private if I could afford it (I can't) is because I am not sure what will happen in college. Lots of smart, capable kids flunk out for maturity reasons. Some never go back. But sending my kids to a top ranked private means he would leave 12th grade able to write and read and think critically, skills that will serve him well in the world. I am not as sure a public school will provide the same degree of mastery of these skills, and I can't count on him getting them in college, either because he drops out or he majors in a non-liberal arts field.

But it's all moot since 40,000 is way more than we have.

If your child is at Wilson and Walls, "he would leave 12th grade able to write and read and think critically, skills that will serve him well in the world," unless he chooses not to pay attention and do the work.

he will be assigned more writing and get much more feedback on this writing from a teacher at a private school. It is a better quality of education (doubtfully 40,000 a year better though).

But he will have NO math or science foundations. Not better quality education

This is crazy. My kids went to Deal and are now at a local private high school. The math instruction at their private runs circles around DCPS. I am by no means anti-DCPS. However, this statement is just fundamentally untrue.

You are comparing MS math instruction to Private HS instruction? How does that work? Would like examples or details, please.

You are correct in that I am extrapolating the type of math instruction received in 8th grade at Deal to that in 9th grade at Wilson. Theoretically, they could be worlds apart but I would be willing to bet big dollars that they're not. The qualifications of the teachers, depth of mathematics instruction, and extensive academic support for math learners available to students at my DC's private school is simply something that DCPS would be hard-pressed to match. At my DCs' school, students from Deal are routinely placed in the lowest level of algebra II because they lack the foundational principles of mathematical knowledge that allow them to extrapolate out from the algorithm the teacher provides. This basic level requires a lot of scaffolding and direct instruction from the teacher. There's no shame in it but it definitely is less sophisticated math thinking that what the average private school student is capable of. Relatedly, one of my DC has an elementary/middle school friend that went to another local private. That school won't even accept Deal geometry credentials and makes incoming 9th graders repeat the class so that they can be satisfied that the students have the requisite knowledge to perform well in their math progression.

None of this is terribly surprising given the kid of math instruction my DC received while in DCPS. I have one DC that quite literally had three different mathematics curricula in three years. At one point, the math teachers at her elementary were making up the curriculum on their own because DCPS had shifted from Everyday Math to common core but hadn't yet provided any new materials. This constant churn has resulted in substantial holes in her mathematics education.

None of this is meant to disparage DCPS. Overall, we were very happy with the education my DC received. However, to say that a private school child would have "no math or science foundations" is absurd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason I'd do a top ranked private if I could afford it (I can't) is because I am not sure what will happen in college. Lots of smart, capable kids flunk out for maturity reasons. Some never go back. But sending my kids to a top ranked private means he would leave 12th grade able to write and read and think critically, skills that will serve him well in the world. I am not as sure a public school will provide the same degree of mastery of these skills, and I can't count on him getting them in college, either because he drops out or he majors in a non-liberal arts field.

But it's all moot since 40,000 is way more than we have.

If your child is at Wilson and Walls, "he would leave 12th grade able to write and read and think critically, skills that will serve him well in the world," unless he chooses not to pay attention and do the work.

he will be assigned more writing and get much more feedback on this writing from a teacher at a private school. It is a better quality of education (doubtfully 40,000 a year better though).

But he will have NO math or science foundations. Not better quality education

This is crazy. My kids went to Deal and are now at a local private high school. The math instruction at their private runs circles around DCPS. I am by no means anti-DCPS. However, this statement is just fundamentally untrue.

You are comparing MS math instruction to Private HS instruction? How does that work? Would like examples or details, please.

You are correct in that I am extrapolating the type of math instruction received in 8th grade at Deal to that in 9th grade at Wilson. Theoretically, they could be worlds apart but I would be willing to bet big dollars that they're not. The qualifications of the teachers, depth of mathematics instruction, and extensive academic support for math learners available to students at my DC's private school is simply something that DCPS would be hard-pressed to match. At my DCs' school, students from Deal are routinely placed in the lowest level of algebra II because they lack the foundational principles of mathematical knowledge that allow them to extrapolate out from the algorithm the teacher provides. This basic level requires a lot of scaffolding and direct instruction from the teacher. There's no shame in it but it definitely is less sophisticated math thinking that what the average private school student is capable of. Relatedly, one of my DC has an elementary/middle school friend that went to another local private. That school won't even accept Deal geometry credentials and makes incoming 9th graders repeat the class so that they can be satisfied that the students have the requisite knowledge to perform well in their math progression.

None of this is terribly surprising given the kid of math instruction my DC received while in DCPS. I have one DC that quite literally had three different mathematics curricula in three years. At one point, the math teachers at her elementary were making up the curriculum on their own because DCPS had shifted from Everyday Math to common core but hadn't yet provided any new materials. This constant churn has resulted in substantial holes in her mathematics education.

None of this is meant to disparage DCPS. Overall, we were very happy with the education my DC received. However, to say that a private school child would have "no math or science foundations" is absurd.

A lot has changed since your kids were in DCPS. I have kids far apart in age and all younger than yours, and the youngers are getting an entirely different (and better) education than my oldest.

Nonetheless, I agree with your last sentence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason I'd do a top ranked private if I could afford it (I can't) is because I am not sure what will happen in college. Lots of smart, capable kids flunk out for maturity reasons. Some never go back. But sending my kids to a top ranked private means he would leave 12th grade able to write and read and think critically, skills that will serve him well in the world. I am not as sure a public school will provide the same degree of mastery of these skills, and I can't count on him getting them in college, either because he drops out or he majors in a non-liberal arts field.

But it's all moot since 40,000 is way more than we have.

If your child is at Wilson and Walls, "he would leave 12th grade able to write and read and think critically, skills that will serve him well in the world," unless he chooses not to pay attention and do the work.

he will be assigned more writing and get much more feedback on this writing from a teacher at a private school. It is a better quality of education (doubtfully 40,000 a year better though).

But he will have NO math or science foundations. Not better quality education

This is crazy. My kids went to Deal and are now at a local private high school. The math instruction at their private runs circles around DCPS. I am by no means anti-DCPS. However, this statement is just fundamentally untrue.

Different poster but I have to agree. My son is at a local private, not one of the "big 3," and not one that is particularly famous for competitive admissions although it does have a good reputation for teaching. When there was a thread about AP testing on DCUM a couple of weeks ago I was kind of knocked out by the DCPS scores, only 26 kids system-wide got a 3 or higher on the AP BC Calc. (Results are here: https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/ap-score-data-sets). My son did BC Calc last year so I asked him how his school compares. He said about a quarter of the kids take BC Calc -- and everyone in the class scored a 5. That's because they only let kids who are prepared take BC Calc. The school has 200+ kids and is probably cranking out as many 5's on the AP BC as all of DCPS with 45,000+ kids.

[Anonymous]

First, only 36 kids TOOK the BC Cal exam. So 73% got 3 or higher.

Second, DCPS has significantly changed its policy on who can accelerate. Only 83 7th graders at Deal took Algebra 1 last year and all scored proficient or above on PARCC. It appears that they knew they were letting too many kids advance and they have stopped that.

Third, private schools don't educate all kids; they select who they want, so please stop foolishly suggesting that 45,000 kids in DC should be in AP Calc BC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First, only 36 kids TOOK the BC Cal exam. So 73% got 3 or higher.

Second, DCPS has significantly changed its policy on who can accelerate. Only 83 7th graders at Deal took Algebra 1 last year and all scored proficient or above on PARCC. It appears that they knew they were letting too many kids advance and they have stopped that.

Third, private schools don't educate all kids; they select who they want, so please stop foolishly suggesting that 45,000 kids in DC should be in AP Calc BC.

So what's happening to all of those kids who are taking algebra in 7th grade or geometry in 8th? Shouldn't they be turning into kids who take BC in 12th?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First, only 36 kids TOOK the BC Cal exam. So 73% got 3 or higher.

Second, DCPS has significantly changed its policy on who can accelerate. Only 83 7th graders at Deal took Algebra 1 last year and all scored proficient or above on PARCC. It appears that they knew they were letting too many kids advance and they have stopped that.

Third, private schools don't educate all kids; they select who they want, so please stop foolishly suggesting that 45,000 kids in DC should be in AP Calc BC.

So what's happening to all of those kids who are taking algebra in 7th grade or geometry in 8th? Shouldn't they be turning into kids who take BC in 12th?

They may not stay in DCPS for high school.

They opt out of AP Calc BC and take AP Calc AB and Stats instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason I'd do a top ranked private if I could afford it (I can't) is because I am not sure what will happen in college. Lots of smart, capable kids flunk out for maturity reasons. Some never go back. But sending my kids to a top ranked private means he would leave 12th grade able to write and read and think critically, skills that will serve him well in the world. I am not as sure a public school will provide the same degree of mastery of these skills, and I can't count on him getting them in college, either because he drops out or he majors in a non-liberal arts field.

But it's all moot since 40,000 is way more than we have.

If your child is at Wilson and Walls, "he would leave 12th grade able to write and read and think critically, skills that will serve him well in the world," unless he chooses not to pay attention and do the work.

he will be assigned more writing and get much more feedback on this writing from a teacher at a private school. It is a better quality of education (doubtfully 40,000 a year better though).

But he will have NO math or science foundations. Not better quality education

This is crazy. My kids went to Deal and are now at a local private high school. The math instruction at their private runs circles around DCPS. I am by no means anti-DCPS. However, this statement is just fundamentally untrue.

You are comparing MS math instruction to Private HS instruction? How does that work? Would like examples or details, please.

You are correct in that I am extrapolating the type of math instruction received in 8th grade at Deal to that in 9th grade at Wilson. Theoretically, they could be worlds apart but I would be willing to bet big dollars that they're not. The qualifications of the teachers, depth of mathematics instruction, and extensive academic support for math learners available to students at my DC's private school is simply something that DCPS would be hard-pressed to match. At my DCs' school, students from Deal are routinely placed in the lowest level of algebra II because they lack the foundational principles of mathematical knowledge that allow them to extrapolate out from the algorithm the teacher provides. This basic level requires a lot of scaffolding and direct instruction from the teacher. There's no shame in it but it definitely is less sophisticated math thinking that what the average private school student is capable of. Relatedly, one of my DC has an elementary/middle school friend that went to another local private. That school won't even accept Deal geometry credentials and makes incoming 9th graders repeat the class so that they can be satisfied that the students have the requisite knowledge to perform well in their math progression.

None of this is terribly surprising given the kid of math instruction my DC received while in DCPS. I have one DC that quite literally had three different mathematics curricula in three years. At one point, the math teachers at her elementary were making up the curriculum on their own because DCPS had shifted from Everyday Math to common core but hadn't yet provided any new materials. This constant churn has resulted in substantial holes in her mathematics education.

None of this is meant to disparage DCPS. Overall, we were very happy with the education my DC received. However, to say that a private school child would have "no math or science foundations" is absurd.

I was the one who questioned your comparison and asked for details. I do absolutely agree that it is absurd to say that kids in private school would have no math or science foundation. I would argue the difference in a public and private education really aren't in the curriculum but in the other aspects (teacher time, resources, extracurricular activities, facilities) of education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason I'd do a top ranked private if I could afford it (I can't) is because I am not sure what will happen in college. Lots of smart, capable kids flunk out for maturity reasons. Some never go back. But sending my kids to a top ranked private means he would leave 12th grade able to write and read and think critically, skills that will serve him well in the world. I am not as sure a public school will provide the same degree of mastery of these skills, and I can't count on him getting them in college, either because he drops out or he majors in a non-liberal arts field.

But it's all moot since 40,000 is way more than we have.

If your child is at Wilson and Walls, "he would leave 12th grade able to write and read and think critically, skills that will serve him well in the world," unless he chooses not to pay attention and do the work.

he will be assigned more writing and get much more feedback on this writing from a teacher at a private school. It is a better quality of education (doubtfully 40,000 a year better though).

But he will have NO math or science foundations. Not better quality education

This is crazy. My kids went to Deal and are now at a local private high school. The math instruction at their private runs circles around DCPS. I am by no means anti-DCPS. However, this statement is just fundamentally untrue.

You are comparing MS math instruction to Private HS instruction? How does that work? Would like examples or details, please.

You are correct in that I am extrapolating the type of math instruction received in 8th grade at Deal to that in 9th grade at Wilson. Theoretically, they could be worlds apart but I would be willing to bet big dollars that they're not. The qualifications of the teachers, depth of mathematics instruction, and extensive academic support for math learners available to students at my DC's private school is simply something that DCPS would be hard-pressed to match. At my DCs' school, students from Deal are routinely placed in the lowest level of algebra II because they lack the foundational principles of mathematical knowledge that allow them to extrapolate out from the algorithm the teacher provides. This basic level requires a lot of scaffolding and direct instruction from the teacher. There's no shame in it but it definitely is less sophisticated math thinking that what the average private school student is capable of. Relatedly, one of my DC has an elementary/middle school friend that went to another local private. That school won't even accept Deal geometry credentials and makes incoming 9th graders repeat the class so that they can be satisfied that the students have the requisite knowledge to perform well in their math progression.

None of this is terribly surprising given the kid of math instruction my DC received while in DCPS. I have one DC that quite literally had three different mathematics curricula in three years. At one point, the math teachers at her elementary were making up the curriculum on their own because DCPS had shifted from Everyday Math to common core but hadn't yet provided any new materials. This constant churn has resulted in substantial holes in her mathematics education.

None of this is meant to disparage DCPS. Overall, we were very happy with the education my DC received. However, to say that a private school child would have "no math or science foundations" is absurd.

I was the one who questioned your comparison and asked for details. I do absolutely agree that it is absurd to say that kids in private school would have no math or science foundation. I would argue the difference in a public and private education really aren't in the curriculum but in the other aspects (teacher time, resources, extracurricular activities, facilities) of education.

Meant to add..Because of the advent of common core, many privates are aligning with common core.

[Anonymous]

Because of fantastic ED admissions, I predict an influx of private (or otherwise private) school parents in Ward 3 trying to get their kids into SWW next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First, only 36 kids TOOK the BC Cal exam. So 73% got 3 or higher.

Second, DCPS has significantly changed its policy on who can accelerate. Only 83 7th graders at Deal took Algebra 1 last year and all scored proficient or above on PARCC. It appears that they knew they were letting too many kids advance and they have stopped that.

Third, private schools don't educate all kids; they select who they want, so please stop foolishly suggesting that 45,000 kids in DC should be in AP Calc BC.

So what's happening to all of those kids who are taking algebra in 7th grade or geometry in 8th? Shouldn't they be turning into kids who take BC in 12th?

They may not stay in DCPS for high school.

They opt out of AP Calc BC and take AP Calc AB and Stats instead.

Yes, in fact, taking the PP’s datapoint of 83 7th graders taking algebra 1 (the highest level of acceleration available), I would expect about 40 to end up, five years later, still on that most-accelerated track in DCPS—even without attrition to private schools. I mean, I took algebra 1 in 7th grade and decided to decelerate in high school because I found math really hard, didn’t enjoy the challenge, and wanted to focus on other subjects. This wasn’t uncommon; in fact, I’d argue that it’s *appropriate*. Calc BC is not a necessity for most successful life paths.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because of fantastic ED admissions, I predict an influx of private (or otherwise private) school parents in Ward 3 trying to get their kids into SWW next year.

It is not the school, it's the way the educational industrial complex is in DC which is quite different from other states.

I was told that parents hire private college consultants before student starts high school. These consultants guide the students until they get accepted to college.
A parent who has been in the country since 2013 was VERY surprised that I had not hired a private consultant. She said that almost everyone does it but does not really talk about it. She said that she first heard it from another Latina mom whose student got a scholarship with one of these educational consulting firms because they qualified for FARMS.

[Anonymous]

I am a DCPS mom whose kids have done pretty well with admissions, and I definitely think DCPS is weak on geometry. Both kids have had to do extra work in SAT prep for Geometry. Reading etc was great.
FWIW, neither child was recommended for BC calc, though they ended up with 5s on AB. I think thete are 25 or fewer kids doing BC at Wilson in any year, and only 2 or 3 taking multivariable, usually at a univerity close by