Middle and high school on Capitol Hill

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For 10:03

OSSE releases a DC-wide annual report card, that aggregates demographics and reports on PARCC proficiency for all DCPS and charter school students (obviously it excludes home schooled or private school students) http://results.osse.dc.gov/state/DC

There are 87,343 total students in public and public charter schools in DC. 79% of those students are economically disadvantaged. Only 27% of all students are proficient or advanced in ELA and 25% in math.

For every grade level, no more than 30% of all students are proficient or advanced on PARCC in ELA; for math the high water mark is 37% proficient or advanced in math for all 3rd graders. http://results.osse.dc.gov/state/DC

If you just look only at the performance of non-economically disadvantaged students, the proficient and advanced numbers are 59% for ELA and 56% for math.

10:03 here--thanks for providing these data. Wow, stark numbers here. From what's presented here, I just don't see a very robust argument for creating more challenging programs when the vast majority of the kids are performing so far below where they need to be. Why would any politician push these sorts of programs and risk alienating the rest of the voter base? I don't see it happening, at least not on a large scale, in the near future.

These numbers don't count all the kids in privates. The question isn't just who uses the DC public schools now, it's who would if they were better. Also, I think it will be interesting to look at the post-widespread gentrification generation on the Hill; most of those kids are 5-7 now max.

[Anonymous]

2012 DC student enrollment in private schools was examined by the Urban Institute. I've not seen anything more recent. Generally speaking enrollment in private schools by DC students was trending downward, most dramatically at the elementary school level. Wealthier wards had the highest percentages of students in private schools by far.

http://www.urban.org/urban-wire/private-school-enrollment-decline-dc

Generally speaking enrollment was trending down (compared to early 2000s)

[Anonymous]

Banneker would be a great option but it is not diverse at all. Yes, some asian/white parents need to jump in and try which would be easier if Banneker offered some outreach to these families to make them feel welcome. Sorry to keep harping on this poing, but I can't imagine the outcry there would be if a strong school as 99% white and didn't make any attempt to diversify. I know this happens all the time in the suburbs but this is DC!

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/07/rich-kid-poor-kid-how-mixed-neighborhoods-could-save-americas-schools/260308/


https://tcf.org/content/facts/the-benefits-of-socioeconomically-and-racially-integrated-schools-and-classrooms/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think any high SES parents would mind having their kids attend classes/school with smart kids from low SES background. I know I wouldn't care because all the kids would be smart, motivated students. DCPS could adopt admission standards similar to Chicago. Not an unreasonable ask at all and much more sensible that continuing to maintain high poverty schools with no good options for bright kids from any background.

If this were strictly true, then why aren't they at Banneker?

My understanding is that Banneker isn't all that great of a school. If you put a cohort of strong white and Asian kids in there, you'd see how far behind the rest of the school would suddenly get.

[Anonymous]

I don't disagree, nor do I care.

Just quit it with the "High SES parents will go, etc. etc. etc." when they obviously can and obviously won't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For 10:03

OSSE releases a DC-wide annual report card, that aggregates demographics and reports on PARCC proficiency for all DCPS and charter school students (obviously it excludes home schooled or private school students) http://results.osse.dc.gov/state/DC

There are 87,343 total students in public and public charter schools in DC. 79% of those students are economically disadvantaged. Only 27% of all students are proficient or advanced in ELA and 25% in math.

For every grade level, no more than 30% of all students are proficient or advanced on PARCC in ELA; for math the high water mark is 37% proficient or advanced in math for all 3rd graders. http://results.osse.dc.gov/state/DC

If you just look only at the performance of non-economically disadvantaged students, the proficient and advanced numbers are 59% for ELA and 56% for math.

10:03 here--thanks for providing these data. Wow, stark numbers here. From what's presented here, I just don't see a very robust argument for creating more challenging programs when the vast majority of the kids are performing so far below where they need to be. Why would any politician push these sorts of programs and risk alienating the rest of the voter base? I don't see it happening, at least not on a large scale, in the near future.

The city has a HUGE incentive to try to get more of the 79% of economically disadvantaged kids to, or closer to proficiency and break the cycle of multi-generational poverty for as many as they can. The children of high SES families will be fine, whether they stay in the city of not. But if we don't provide more of the 79% with a decent education, they will not be employable and we will be trying to educate their economically disadvantaged kids 15-20 years from now.

10:03 again. And maybe this is the angle that needs to be pushed. Considering the Michelle Obama example above, perhaps a multiracial group of high and low SES parents interested in stronger educational options for all kids could have some traction. But if high SES/white families are seen as pushing such a curriculum to only benefit their own kids, it's probably easier to not take them seriously, since politicians may reason that they're only going to move to VA/MD/elsewhere or go private anyway.

Also, if test-in/advanced options are on the table, criteria for placement should probably *not* rely on test scores, since that will lead to segregated classes, which no politicians want. Instead, other criteria need to be used to ensure that promising kids from low-SES backgrounds also get placed in these programs in sufficient numbers.

Just thinking out loud above. I do think the perception that gentrifiers wanting de facto segregated test-in/advanced options needs to be challenged, though, and it seems relationships need to be formed with lower SES, longtime DC residents who also prioritize education. The optics might go a long way politically, and there could be cross-fertilization of ideas re: integrated, test-in/advanced curricula.

They're not on the table.

How new are you, anyway?

[Anonymous]

Why are the math scores at Walls and Banneker so low? They're good in comparison to the rest of DC which is trash, but really, if you are aiming to have your kids compete with the likes of kids coming out of TJ, etc., there is no way I'd send my kids to these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Banneker would be a great option but it is not diverse at all. Yes, some asian/white parents need to jump in and try which would be easier if Banneker offered some outreach to these families to make them feel welcome. Sorry to keep harping on this poing, but I can't imagine the outcry there would be if a strong school as 99% white and didn't make any attempt to diversify. I know this happens all the time in the suburbs but this is DC!

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/07/rich-kid-poor-kid-how-mixed-neighborhoods-could-save-americas-schools/260308/


https://tcf.org/content/facts/the-benefits-of-socioeconomically-and-racially-integrated-schools-and-classrooms/

None of the application schools do "outreach." None.

We visited Banneker when figuring out high school for our white male 8th grader. They could not have been more welcoming and enthusiastic about his applying.

Have you ever been to the school?

We chose not to enroll because DC has an IEP and so few students there do (same story at SWW). Being sent back to our IB high school was not worth the risk for us.

[Anonymous]

Nice to hear the school was welcoming and warm. Maybe none of the other schools do outreach, but I think they should. I know this issue has come up in MoCo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh for the last time

If all the people on capitol hill actually went to Eastern you would have a cohort of advanced kids

It's chicken and egg.

And again why should a system care about less than 1% of students vs focusing on the needs of a system with nearly 80% FARMS

Because the 1% (it's more than just 1% but you know that) count too.

And sometimes, some of the FARMS kids sneak in there, like me.

[Anonymous]

From what I've observed, new arrivals to Cap Hill with babies and toddlers have a strong tendency to err on the side of optimism where MS goes. Flash forward 5 years, and at least half are gone, or on their way out (many after swearing up and down that they'd never go). After 15 years here, with kids in the lower ES grades, I'm feeling less optimistic about MS options than I was several years back.

Bowser doesn't seem interested in helping Latin or BASIS open second MS/HS campuses (e.g. by telling DCPS to hand off appealing real estate to them), and neither program appears to be pushing hard to expand locally. Deal is pretty much a closed book from the Hill now. Within 5 years, Hardy probably won't have OOB spots to auction off. Hobson and Two Rivers already have long WLs for those who aren't in the feeders or catchment areas. Test in DCPS MS programs are not on the table. Eliot-Hine and Jefferson may become crowd pleasers within 10 or 15 years, but not in 5.

Looks to me like those of us with little kids will have fewer acceptable MS options than parents of older kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From what I've observed, new arrivals to Cap Hill with babies and toddlers have a strong tendency to err on the side of optimism where MS goes. Flash forward 5 years, and at least half are gone, or on their way out (many after swearing up and down that they'd never go). After 15 years here, with kids in the lower ES grades, I'm feeling less optimistic about MS options than I was several years back.

Bowser doesn't seem interested in helping Latin or BASIS open second MS/HS campuses (e.g. by telling DCPS to hand off appealing real estate to them), and neither program appears to be pushing hard to expand locally. Deal is pretty much a closed book from the Hill now. Within 5 years, Hardy probably won't have OOB spots to auction off. Hobson and Two Rivers already have long WLs for those who aren't in the feeders or catchment areas. Test in DCPS MS programs are not on the table. Eliot-Hine and Jefferson may become crowd pleasers within 10 or 15 years, but not in 5.

Looks to me like those of us with little kids will have fewer acceptable MS options than parents of older kids.

WL's Board has committed to opening a new school within next 5 years (adding about 100 5th grade seats - more than Hardy provides now to OOB 6th graders)

TR at Young will have MS by then, creating additional middle school seats that don't exist today

DCPS putting significant resources into MacFarland, which isn't any further from Capital Hill than Washington Latin

As for BASIS, they withdrew its application for a second school; will only open another if they can start at K. That's their issue -- they don't want a surplus DCPS building because they want to own the bldg, not renovate something that DC retains the ownership of and leases to the charter school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nice to hear the school was welcoming and warm. Maybe none of the other schools do outreach, but I think they should. I know this issue has come up in MoCo.

In MoCo the criticism was about their dual language programs, which you really had to hunt for and which are very small (they've now downgraded sibling preference and added a low SES preference).

With the common lottery, EdFest and so forth, DC is doing pretty well in terms of information about options and outreach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From what I've observed, new arrivals to Cap Hill with babies and toddlers have a strong tendency to err on the side of optimism where MS goes. Flash forward 5 years, and at least half are gone, or on their way out (many after swearing up and down that they'd never go). After 15 years here, with kids in the lower ES grades, I'm feeling less optimistic about MS options than I was several years back.

Bowser doesn't seem interested in helping Latin or BASIS open second MS/HS campuses (e.g. by telling DCPS to hand off appealing real estate to them), and neither program appears to be pushing hard to expand locally. Deal is pretty much a closed book from the Hill now. Within 5 years, Hardy probably won't have OOB spots to auction off. Hobson and Two Rivers already have long WLs for those who aren't in the feeders or catchment areas. Test in DCPS MS programs are not on the table. Eliot-Hine and Jefferson may become crowd pleasers within 10 or 15 years, but not in 5.

Looks to me like those of us with little kids will have fewer acceptable MS options than parents of older kids.

If I were DCPS, I would be pleased as punch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From what I've observed, new arrivals to Cap Hill with babies and toddlers have a strong tendency to err on the side of optimism where MS goes. Flash forward 5 years, and at least half are gone, or on their way out (many after swearing up and down that they'd never go). After 15 years here, with kids in the lower ES grades, I'm feeling less optimistic about MS options than I was several years back.

Bowser doesn't seem interested in helping Latin or BASIS open second MS/HS campuses (e.g. by telling DCPS to hand off appealing real estate to them), and neither program appears to be pushing hard to expand locally. Deal is pretty much a closed book from the Hill now. Within 5 years, Hardy probably won't have OOB spots to auction off. Hobson and Two Rivers already have long WLs for those who aren't in the feeders or catchment areas. Test in DCPS MS programs are not on the table. Eliot-Hine and Jefferson may become crowd pleasers within 10 or 15 years, but not in 5.

Looks to me like those of us with little kids will have fewer acceptable MS options than parents of older kids.

I disagree and I think we'll know soon. We'll be in middle school within the next 5 years and would like to stay in the neighborhood. I think there are others in that boat. People think there is going to be a slow drip but actually it will happen really fast. Some year soon I think, 15 to 20 kids from a "good" ES are going to give it a go and then we'll see what happens. If Jefferson and EH become 50-60% IB, then I think you can start looking at Eastern.

Ward 6 people only seem to look at BASIS and Latin if they don't want to move or go private. There are only so many seats...