DCI academics

[Anonymous]

My DS is new to DCI this year. So far we have not seen the rigor or homework that people talked about last year. In fact, he is bored in his courses and never has homework because there is time in every class to finish the work. He says that there are a lot of kids who struggle and don't get their work done but he doesn't know why.
He's only taken one test this year and no quizzes. He hasn't received grades or written feedback on any assignments. This isn't my first child through middle and high school so I'm pretty horrified by the lack of communication and seemingly non-existent structure. I'm trying to get some outside perspective and I'm attempting to be patient.

Questions for parents who have kids in higher grades:
1) Do the classes get more interesting and/or more rigorous as the year goes on?
2) Will he ever see any feedback on assignments or quizzes? If so, does that arrive before the test?
3) Do any teachers ever post due dates, test dates or things like that anywhere? It's not on Google Classroom and not on the course "one pagers" (except for one class).
4) I noticed one of the class "one pagers" said that the quarter grade would be based on 3 summative tests. Are parents happy with a course grade being based solely on 3 tests?

I know my questions are very stilted but I am interested in getting some balance. Any input would be appreciated because I've not gotten anywhere talking to the school so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS is new to DCI this year. So far we have not seen the rigor or homework that people talked about last year. In fact, he is bored in his courses and never has homework because there is time in every class to finish the work. He says that there are a lot of kids who struggle and don't get their work done but he doesn't know why.
He's only taken one test this year and no quizzes. He hasn't received grades or written feedback on any assignments. This isn't my first child through middle and high school so I'm pretty horrified by the lack of communication and seemingly non-existent structure. I'm trying to get some outside perspective and I'm attempting to be patient.

Questions for parents who have kids in higher grades:
1) Do the classes get more interesting and/or more rigorous as the year goes on?
2) Will he ever see any feedback on assignments or quizzes? If so, does that arrive before the test?
3) Do any teachers ever post due dates, test dates or things like that anywhere? It's not on Google Classroom and not on the course "one pagers" (except for one class).
4) I noticed one of the class "one pagers" said that the quarter grade would be based on 3 summative tests. Are parents happy with a course grade being based solely on 3 tests?

I know my questions are very stilted but I am interested in getting some balance. Any input would be appreciated because I've not gotten anywhere talking to the school so far.

TROLL alert! TROLL alert!!!

[Anonymous]

OP - assuming that you went to DCI from a feeder school, I wonder if you have talked to the parents your child went to elementary school with and compared notes? Might be more fruitful than DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Yes I've spoken to the other kids in my DS's grade. We all have the same problem. There seems to be no logic to who was placed in what level of class, none of the kids have seen grades and very few of my DSs friends ever have homework. I know because they come to my house after school. They all log in and then all of their assignment pages are empty or show an in-class assignment that they did. We've had weeks of this now.

[Anonymous]

OP again: I'm trying to get some perspective from parents from other feeder schools. It's not like we have any way to communicate to one another other than DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again: I'm trying to get some perspective from parents from other feeder schools. It's not like we have any way to communicate to one another other than DCUM.

Pose question on the school's Facebook page or tweet at them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again: I'm trying to get some perspective from parents from other feeder schools. It's not like we have any way to communicate to one another other than DCUM.

I understand your concerns, but I think it's a bit too early to raise this type of issue, just a month into the school year. See how things look as the semester develops. Don't know anything about DCI specifically, but in college the workload was often pretty light early in the semester and ramped up as you got into October and November.

I'd schedule a meeting with a teacher if this is still something you are concerned about in a month.

[Anonymous]

Jeez, my kid has a fair amount of DCI homework every night and weekends.
The school has a parent listserv and a facebook page and a very accessible admin team.
Each class has an online page, homework and assignment policy and google classroom page.
Each teacher's contact information is available in multiple pages and Back to School Night is this week.
And yet you come HERE for "information".
I call you out as a shit-stirrer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jeez, my kid has a fair amount of DCI homework every night and weekends.
The school has a parent listserv and a facebook page and a very accessible admin team.
Each class has an online page, homework and assignment policy and google classroom page.
Each teacher's contact information is available in multiple pages and Back to School Night is this week.
And yet you come HERE for "information".
I call you out as a shit-stirrer.

No, my DS doesn't have homework and neither do his 6th grade friends. They finish it in school with time to spare.
As mentioned, I've contacted the school, the listserv is not active and the facebook page is for school announcements.
None of my DS's classes have a page other than their Classroom which shows all of his work and, by the way he still DOES NOT HAVE HOMEWORK.
And to reiterate, I've contacted the teachers and I have received no answers.

Your DC's experience and my DC's experience are not the same. What I have gleaned from you is that some kids are treated like academic royalty while others are not. That's what it seemed like when I compared last year to this year, but thanks for putting it out there.

[Anonymous]

NP who is considering DCI for DC. If you find out any information, please post. DCI is so new so any details about school life (good and bad) are appreciated.

[Anonymous]

What I have gleaned from you is that some kids are treated like academic royalty while others are not. That's what it seemed like when I compared last year to this year, but thanks for putting it out there.

OP - are you asking if there is tracking going on, with some kids being given more advanced material or more assignments and others not? Or is 'academic royalty' something else.

[Anonymous]

It seems like it.

[Anonymous]

How much of the immersion language does the students get on a typical day if they are coming from a feeder?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How much of the immersion language does the students get on a typical day if they are coming from a feeder?

2-3 classes in 6th grade. 3 seems to be when a specials teacher is fluent in their language (e.g. the PE teacher conducts class in Mandarin for the children who came from YY; drama is in Spanish for the kids who came from a spanish immersion feeder.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
What I have gleaned from you is that some kids are treated like academic royalty while others are not. That's what it seemed like when I compared last year to this year, but thanks for putting it out there.

OP - are you asking if there is tracking going on, with some kids being given more advanced material or more assignments and others not? Or is 'academic royalty' something else.

How can DCI avoid tracking? Without naming names/schools, based on test scores, some feeder schools are NOT producing a large number of students who score proficient/advanced in math or reading. You can't just throw all of these kids in the same classes and expect it to work. How does DCI differentiate in math, reading and languages?