Hardy MS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's obviously not fine. If it were, the high-performing suburban schools in this Metro area would go with 9th and 10th grade Honors for Al. They manifestly do not.

That is a ridiculous response.

I disagree. The point is that the high performing schools in the suburbs, VA and MD, track and track much more than DC in not only high school but also middle school. They also do much better in test scores compared to Wilson BTW. If honors for all is so great, why aren’t any high schools doing it??

Those that want to send their kids to Wilson with honors for all, good luck with that. I hope they are able to do well in college when they compete against kids who come from high schools with tracking with a much more rigorous curriculum. Honors for all, AP for all....no thanks. We are now no longer considering Wilson in the future for high school.

[Anonymous]

We are a few years away from middle school at Hardy and I hope Wilson leadership finds better ways to address inequality than Everybody Loses by the time my children go there.

While Wilson cuts off its nose to even out its face, is there any DCPS HS positioned to go the other way and start tracking? Any chance at all that Roosevelt would do something like that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are a few years away from middle school at Hardy and I hope Wilson leadership finds better ways to address inequality than Everybody Loses by the time my children go there.

While Wilson cuts off its nose to even out its face, is there any DCPS HS positioned to go the other way and start tracking? Any chance at all that Roosevelt would do something like that?

If you want a challenging school for a prepared kid, you will have to send them to Walls or other application schools. The by-right schools are moving away from differentiation to try to close the achievement gap by pushing out the top students because they have given up trying to pull up the bottom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's obviously not fine. If it were, the high-performing suburban schools in this Metro area would go with 9th and 10th grade Honors for Al. They manifestly do not.

That is a ridiculous response.

Why is it ridiculous? You can't invent your own best practices to best serve your most advanced students like this. When you dumb down your curriculum for students who could reasonably aspire to attend the nation's top universities and liberal arts colleges, these kids will obviously struggle to compete down the track. Nobody would argue that banning traveling sports teams for DC teenagers would constitute best practices in preparing students to play college ball. By the same token, Honors for All constitutes weak prep for the strongest students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a few years away from middle school at Hardy and I hope Wilson leadership finds better ways to address inequality than Everybody Loses by the time my children go there.

While Wilson cuts off its nose to even out its face, is there any DCPS HS positioned to go the other way and start tracking? Any chance at all that Roosevelt would do something like that?

If you want a challenging school for a prepared kid, you will have to send them to Walls or other application schools. The by-right schools are moving away from differentiation to try to close the achievement gap by pushing out the top students because they have given up trying to pull up the bottom.

Agree, and we will need a new mayor to change this. Bowser has won several more years to do her damage to by-right high schools. Maybe Banneker will desegregate now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's obviously not fine. If it were, the high-performing suburban schools in this Metro area would go with 9th and 10th grade Honors for Al. They manifestly do not.

That is a ridiculous response.

Why is it ridiculous? You can't invent your own best practices to best serve your most advanced students like this. When you dumb down your curriculum for students who could reasonably aspire to attend the nation's top universities and liberal arts colleges, these kids will obviously struggle to compete down the track. Nobody would argue that banning traveling sports teams for DC teenagers would constitute best practices in preparing students to play college ball. By the same token, Honors for All constitutes weak prep for the strongest students.

+100.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's obviously not fine. If it were, the high-performing suburban schools in this Metro area would go with 9th and 10th grade Honors for Al. They manifestly do not.

That is a ridiculous response.

Why is it ridiculous? You can't invent your own best practices to best serve your most advanced students like this. When you dumb down your curriculum for students who could reasonably aspire to attend the nation's top universities and liberal arts colleges, these kids will obviously struggle to compete down the track. Nobody would argue that banning traveling sports teams for DC teenagers would constitute best practices in preparing students to play college ball. By the same token, Honors for All constitutes weak prep for the strongest students.

I think that logic requires that we agree with your assessment of the academic trajectory of Wilson's policy; however, most DC parents would probably disagree with your assessment of HOW bad the result is. I believe most studies show that the strongest students are not noticeably adversely affected, academically, by mainstream classrooms; the only question is what opportunities to improve are they losing by being mainstreamed. I think most parents, in DC anyway, won't think that "undefined academic loss" is harmful enough to flee...at least with respect to Wilson HS, anyway. That undefined loss also does not account for the social benefit that kids gain from being in a mainstream class, especially in an urban environment.

[Anonymous]

Where one goes to high school truly doesn’t determine who is going to an elite college.

Every admissions office will tell you that a student must take the moat challenging classes AVAILABLE to them (if the school doesn’t offer something, it won’t be held against them), prep for entrance exams on their own (buy a book or use Khan Academy) and be able to pay the full price of tuition.

If you can’t afford to pay the full tuition - game over - unless you bring something else to the table such as being an elite athlete. Your high school curriculum isn’t the issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's obviously not fine. If it were, the high-performing suburban schools in this Metro area would go with 9th and 10th grade Honors for Al. They manifestly do not.

That is a ridiculous response.

Why is it ridiculous? You can't invent your own best practices to best serve your most advanced students like this. When you dumb down your curriculum for students who could reasonably aspire to attend the nation's top universities and liberal arts colleges, these kids will obviously struggle to compete down the track. Nobody would argue that banning traveling sports teams for DC teenagers would constitute best practices in preparing students to play college ball. By the same token, Honors for All constitutes weak prep for the strongest students.

I think that logic requires that we agree with your assessment of the academic trajectory of Wilson's policy; however, most DC parents would probably disagree with your assessment of HOW bad the result is. I believe most studies show that the strongest students are not noticeably adversely affected, academically, by mainstream classrooms; the only question is what opportunities to improve are they losing by being mainstreamed. I think most parents, in DC anyway, won't think that "undefined academic loss" is harmful enough to flee...at least with respect to Wilson HS, anyway. That undefined loss also does not account for the social benefit that kids gain from being in a mainstream class, especially in an urban environment.

Do you think Wilson should cut advanced classes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's obviously not fine. If it were, the high-performing suburban schools in this Metro area would go with 9th and 10th grade Honors for Al. They manifestly do not.

That is a ridiculous response.

Why is it ridiculous? You can't invent your own best practices to best serve your most advanced students like this. When you dumb down your curriculum for students who could reasonably aspire to attend the nation's top universities and liberal arts colleges, these kids will obviously struggle to compete down the track. Nobody would argue that banning traveling sports teams for DC teenagers would constitute best practices in preparing students to play college ball. By the same token, Honors for All constitutes weak prep for the strongest students.

I think that logic requires that we agree with your assessment of the academic trajectory of Wilson's policy; however, most DC parents would probably disagree with your assessment of HOW bad the result is. I believe most studies show that the strongest students are not noticeably adversely affected, academically, by mainstream classrooms; the only question is what opportunities to improve are they losing by being mainstreamed. I think most parents, in DC anyway, won't think that "undefined academic loss" is harmful enough to flee...at least with respect to Wilson HS, anyway. That undefined loss also does not account for the social benefit that kids gain from being in a mainstream class, especially in an urban environment.

That’s for elementary school — certainly not for HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's obviously not fine. If it were, the high-performing suburban schools in this Metro area would go with 9th and 10th grade Honors for Al. They manifestly do not.

That is a ridiculous response.

Why is it ridiculous? You can't invent your own best practices to best serve your most advanced students like this. When you dumb down your curriculum for students who could reasonably aspire to attend the nation's top universities and liberal arts colleges, these kids will obviously struggle to compete down the track. Nobody would argue that banning traveling sports teams for DC teenagers would constitute best practices in preparing students to play college ball. By the same token, Honors for All constitutes weak prep for the strongest students.

I think that logic requires that we agree with your assessment of the academic trajectory of Wilson's policy; however, most DC parents would probably disagree with your assessment of HOW bad the result is. I believe most studies show that the strongest students are not noticeably adversely affected, academically, by mainstream classrooms; the only question is what opportunities to improve are they losing by being mainstreamed. I think most parents, in DC anyway, won't think that "undefined academic loss" is harmful enough to flee...at least with respect to Wilson HS, anyway. That undefined loss also does not account for the social benefit that kids gain from being in a mainstream class, especially in an urban environment.

Do you think Wilson should cut advanced classes?

Wilson isn't cutting advanced classes. They offer 28 AP classes, and students can also dual-enroll at a local university. The Wilson-part of this thread is full of hysterical people. I think it also needs a sock-puppeting check.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's obviously not fine. If it were, the high-performing suburban schools in this Metro area would go with 9th and 10th grade Honors for Al. They manifestly do not.

That is a ridiculous response.

Why is it ridiculous? You can't invent your own best practices to best serve your most advanced students like this. When you dumb down your curriculum for students who could reasonably aspire to attend the nation's top universities and liberal arts colleges, these kids will obviously struggle to compete down the track. Nobody would argue that banning traveling sports teams for DC teenagers would constitute best practices in preparing students to play college ball. By the same token, Honors for All constitutes weak prep for the strongest students.

I think that logic requires that we agree with your assessment of the academic trajectory of Wilson's policy; however, most DC parents would probably disagree with your assessment of HOW bad the result is. I believe most studies show that the strongest students are not noticeably adversely affected, academically, by mainstream classrooms; the only question is what opportunities to improve are they losing by being mainstreamed. I think most parents, in DC anyway, won't think that "undefined academic loss" is harmful enough to flee...at least with respect to Wilson HS, anyway. That undefined loss also does not account for the social benefit that kids gain from being in a mainstream class, especially in an urban environment.

That’s for elementary school — certainly not for HS.

+1. The academic loss for strong students may not be substantial, but my kids are at the tippy-top academy-wise. I’m not risking it at mediocre-is-close-enough Wilson.

They already know a lot about the world and getting along with lots of different kinds of people. I place zero positive value on being in ‘mainstream’ classes in high school if they are not sufficiently academically challenging.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's obviously not fine. If it were, the high-performing suburban schools in this Metro area would go with 9th and 10th grade Honors for Al. They manifestly do not.

That is a ridiculous response.

Why is it ridiculous? You can't invent your own best practices to best serve your most advanced students like this. When you dumb down your curriculum for students who could reasonably aspire to attend the nation's top universities and liberal arts colleges, these kids will obviously struggle to compete down the track. Nobody would argue that banning traveling sports teams for DC teenagers would constitute best practices in preparing students to play college ball. By the same token, Honors for All constitutes weak prep for the strongest students.

I think that logic requires that we agree with your assessment of the academic trajectory of Wilson's policy; however, most DC parents would probably disagree with your assessment of HOW bad the result is. I believe most studies show that the strongest students are not noticeably adversely affected, academically, by mainstream classrooms; the only question is what opportunities to improve are they losing by being mainstreamed. I think most parents, in DC anyway, won't think that "undefined academic loss" is harmful enough to flee...at least with respect to Wilson HS, anyway. That undefined loss also does not account for the social benefit that kids gain from being in a mainstream class, especially in an urban environment.

Do you think Wilson should cut advanced classes?

Wilson isn't cutting advanced classes. They offer 28 AP classes, and students can also dual-enroll at a local university. The Wilson-part of this thread is full of hysterical people. I think it also needs a sock-puppeting check.

28 AP classes that anyone can enroll in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's obviously not fine. If it were, the high-performing suburban schools in this Metro area would go with 9th and 10th grade Honors for Al. They manifestly do not.

That is a ridiculous response.

Why is it ridiculous? You can't invent your own best practices to best serve your most advanced students like this. When you dumb down your curriculum for students who could reasonably aspire to attend the nation's top universities and liberal arts colleges, these kids will obviously struggle to compete down the track. Nobody would argue that banning traveling sports teams for DC teenagers would constitute best practices in preparing students to play college ball. By the same token, Honors for All constitutes weak prep for the strongest students.

I think that logic requires that we agree with your assessment of the academic trajectory of Wilson's policy; however, most DC parents would probably disagree with your assessment of HOW bad the result is. I believe most studies show that the strongest students are not noticeably adversely affected, academically, by mainstream classrooms; the only question is what opportunities to improve are they losing by being mainstreamed. I think most parents, in DC anyway, won't think that "undefined academic loss" is harmful enough to flee...at least with respect to Wilson HS, anyway. That undefined loss also does not account for the social benefit that kids gain from being in a mainstream class, especially in an urban environment.

Do you think Wilson should cut advanced classes?

Wilson isn't cutting advanced classes. They offer 28 AP classes, and students can also dual-enroll at a local university. The Wilson-part of this thread is full of hysterical people. I think it also needs a sock-puppeting check.

28 AP classes that anyone can enroll in.

This is how it has always been - nothing new to this principal. And parents whose kids are at Wilson or recently say that the problem you imagine doesn't exist; the brightest students of all backgrounds go on to attend elite colleges, get high SAT scores etc etc etc.

Further, there are fewer kids not at grade level now than there ever have been, and given the SES trajectory of all of its feeders, this trend will grow.

But why not just keep fear-mongering to manufacture a crisis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's obviously not fine. If it were, the high-performing suburban schools in this Metro area would go with 9th and 10th grade Honors for Al. They manifestly do not.

That is a ridiculous response.

Why is it ridiculous? You can't invent your own best practices to best serve your most advanced students like this. When you dumb down your curriculum for students who could reasonably aspire to attend the nation's top universities and liberal arts colleges, these kids will obviously struggle to compete down the track. Nobody would argue that banning traveling sports teams for DC teenagers would constitute best practices in preparing students to play college ball. By the same token, Honors for All constitutes weak prep for the strongest students.

I think that logic requires that we agree with your assessment of the academic trajectory of Wilson's policy; however, most DC parents would probably disagree with your assessment of HOW bad the result is. I believe most studies show that the strongest students are not noticeably adversely affected, academically, by mainstream classrooms; the only question is what opportunities to improve are they losing by being mainstreamed. I think most parents, in DC anyway, won't think that "undefined academic loss" is harmful enough to flee...at least with respect to Wilson HS, anyway. That undefined loss also does not account for the social benefit that kids gain from being in a mainstream class, especially in an urban environment.

That’s for elementary school — certainly not for HS.

+1. The academic loss for strong students may not be substantial, but my kids are at the tippy-top academy-wise. I’m not risking it at mediocre-is-close-enough Wilson.

They already know a lot about the world and getting along with lots of different kinds of people. I place zero positive value on being in ‘mainstream’ classes in high school if they are not sufficiently academically challenging.

Well then, you are basically agreeing with the post. Not many students are in the top 2% academically, and very few public HS cater to that minority of a minority -- so, yeah, Wilson is probably not the best fit for your kids but double yeah it is really very fine for everyone else.

But as for your tidbit about your personal knowledge of the world and its people -- how can that possibly apply to your kids, when they have not yet fully lived? The environment of a big urban HS with decent academics is a great way for (almost) all kids to learn about the world, its people, and your neighbors' cultures.