Does anyone know the status of the Proposed BASIS Expansion
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Anonymous
| Education is broken. Grade inflation and test optional policies have made it very hard for college admission officers to decide if a student would be a good fit/academically prepared. Heard about remedial college classes? At least BASIS students get to show, via APs that they do not have to pay for or go out of their way to take, that they are academically prepared for higher education. Leaving high school with 10+ APs with scores over 3 hurts no student in college admissions. |
Anonymous
How does BASIS “game the ratings?” Do you mean that kids who can’t keep up with the work are counseled out or leave of their own accord? How is that different than the private schools that BASIS detractors seem to think are the reasonable alternative for all. Does SWW game the ratings by requiring testing for applicants? As a Long time BASIS parent, I have plenty of criticisms of the school. To the extent that I get “boosterish” is when recalcitrant former families or people with a strong anti-BASIS network bias attack the school as wholly unworthy. Like it shouldn’t exist or families only stay there if they literally have no other options. And that’s obviously just not a reasonable take, so parents lash out. You say BASIS is mid, compared to what? Sidwell? SWW, Banneker, & JR all have their warts too. They’re just not charters. |
Anonymous
Mid compared to the claims of its boosters. And mid compared to how it would score if it has to take by-right enrollment like J-R does. Gaming the ratings does include retention and counseling out, but also things like what CAPE test they have the kids take. SWW and Banneker are explicitly selective schools. BASIS is functionally running a lottery 5th grade and then a selective 7-12 by not letting kids matriculate upwards if they are below grade level, while pretending it is lottery and nothing but lottery. Jeff will probably delete this post as misleading but I don't know how much clearer I can be. |
Anonymous
It seems like you’re fixated on the question of how much institutional credit BASIS deserves, especially in comparison to schools like JR, Reed, or others that serve by-right populations. And sure, from a school-rating or policy-analysis perspective, that’s a fair question. But from the vantage point of a family evaluating what’s best for their child, it’s largely irrelevant. If a family believes their child can thrive in BASIS’s rigorous environment—whether entering at 5th grade or later—then the fact that BASIS ends up with a more curated, academically oriented student body is actually a point in its favor, not a strike against it. The peer environment matters. So if the selectivity or attrition that happens along the way results in a cohort that’s better aligned for certain kinds of academic engagement, many parents will see that as a plus. Now, I totally get that some people object to BASIS’s model on policy grounds—particularly the publicly funded nature of the school, the attrition rates, and the lack of backfilling. That’s a legitimate debate to have at the systems level. But those very features that raise red flags for some are seen as benefits by many families trying to navigate a landscape where middle school options in D.C. are often limited or uneven. In other words, what’s framed as a systemic flaw from one angle can be a practical advantage from another. So yes, it’s true that BASIS benefits in some ways from the fact that not everyone stays, and that it doesn’t face the same structural burdens as some DCPS schools. But the real-world question for most families isn’t whether BASIS is getting “too much credit”—it’s whether their own child would benefit from being there. And for plenty of families, the answer is yes. |
Anonymous
Well, for me those things are connected. It's not just policy grounds, it's what it says about BASIS and the quality of the experience there. BASIS loves to tout their stats and ratings, but if I believe those things are the result of attrition and class curation and external factors that don't benefit my kid, rather than the result of quality teaching, that's unappealing. And personally I think the small senior class is a con rather than a pro, but not everyone thinks that I guess. |
Anonymous
You raise a point about “quality teaching,” and I think what you’re really getting at is a discomfort with the idea that BASIS might be benefiting from largely extrinsic factors—like the SES makeup of the student body—rather than intrinsic factors like curriculum design or teacher excellence. And I get that. It’s a completely valid question to ask: what actually makes a school “good”? But here’s the thing—whether we like it or not, we know from decades of research (and frankly from common sense) that a very large share—maybe 70 to 90 percent—of school outcomes are driven by demographics. Not because teachers don’t matter, but because concentrated advantage (or disadvantage) shows up in all kinds of ways: classroom culture, peer effects, parental involvement, behavioral norms, expectations. This is precisely why schools like Janney, SWS, JRE, and others have long been coveted in D.C.—not only because of their programming, but because of the demographic profile of the families they serve. And often, the quality of the programming flows from that demographic context, not the other way around. So yes, you’re right to want to tease apart what BASIS’s results really reflect. But at the same time, let’s not pretend this is some BASIS-specific phenomenon. In this city, nearly every family decision about schools is heavily shaped by demographic cues. That’s not always fair or admirable, but it’s real. It’s why we see demand spikes for certain schools before and after boundary or program changes. It’s not because a secret pedagogical revolution occurred. And as for BASIS, I don’t think many of us are pretending it’s perfect—or beloved. It’s not. It’s not universally praised, and many families are pretty clear-eyed about its tradeoffs. But for some of us who came from schools—often highly rated charters—that were lax in academic rigor, didn’t enforce behavior standards, and where our kids ended up underserved or even harmed, a school like BASIS feels not just “rigid” but also safe and predictable. It doesn’t bend itself into knots to accommodate every form of disruption. It doesn’t treat all variance as equally virtuous. And for many kids, that creates a much more functional learning environment. That doesn’t mean it works for everyone. Of course not. And if your child feels excluded or unsupported there, that’s a real and important experience. But it’s also true that many families have felt the exact same thing in other D.C. schools—particularly those where wide ability ranges are crammed together with no differentiation, and where behavioral standards are unevenly enforced in the name of inclusion. That too is exclusion, just in a different form. So for a lot of us, BASIS isn’t good because it’s “better” than everyone else—it’s good because it doesn’t index everything to vulnerability, it doesn’t apologize for standards, and it provides a structured academic environment without pretending every child is the same. If your kid doesn’t thrive in that space, that’s okay. But for those whose kids do, we shouldn’t feel guilty or have to justify it in broader political terms. It just works. |
Anonymous
Disagree. 1. You must think SWW and Bannker are mid because they cherry pick all their students. By your definition, those schools "curate" 100% of their class. So, by your logic, their ratings are nothing to tout. 2. Basis has a rigorous curriculum and doesn't backfill, that is why the classes get smaller over time. The fact that Basis can't backfill by offering a test in DC to allow qualified students to enter later grades is not their fault (no way a random lottery student could handle the curriculum by entering in, say, 8th or 9th grade). Rather, Basis is barred from doing that by their charter. 3. The teaching is generally pretty good, as evidenced by Basis' top scores on AP exams, high SAT average, and top college admissions. 4. Agree that it is too bad the senior class is so small. However, that is a result of the fact that Basis has to admit 100% of students by lottery, some kids who shouldn't go there are enrolled by parents who are desperate to avoid their in-bounds option and the kids later drop out, and Basis can't backfill under their charter by admitting qualified students for upper grades through an entrance exam. 5. The hope is that, over time, parents will do better research at the beginning and only send academically motivated kids to Basis for 5th grade. That will reduce attrition, increase class sizes over time, and lead to a better school for everyone. |
Anonymous
+1 I agree with a lot of what you’ve laid out here, especially the challenges around backfilling and how BASIS’s model plays out structurally over time. One point I’d add, though (and that you may agree with) is that even many of the students who end up leaving BASIS—whether they decamp for Walls, Banneker, or private school—aren’t necessarily “underserved” by their time there. In fact, I’d argue that quite a few of those kids may have been well served by BASIS during the years they attended. The rigor, the structure, and even the school’s reputation likely strengthened their applications to other schools. For families who ultimately decide the fit isn’t right long term, that experience still had value. Their time at BASIS may have pushed them academically or exposed them to higher expectations, and that doesn’t go away just because they didn’t stay through 12th grade. So when we talk about who “benefits” from BASIS, I think it’s broader than just the graduating class. The value proposition isn’t only for the students who make it all the way through—it often extends to those who use it as a launchpad to other strong options as well. |
Anonymous
Well, of course it's demographically linked. But people who go to BASIS often complain about unskilled and inexperienced teachers, and I don't hear that as much from other schools, so that's a particular concern with BASIS. If BASIS' "results" are due to demographics and from avoiding serving the more challenging students, and I could get a similar peer group in the honors program at J-R, but with all the benefits of a bigger school (sports, activities, etc), then why choose BASIS? Is it really that different from the honors classes at J-R, in quality and outcomes? I don't think it is. I don't think my kid would have a different outcome. |
Anonymous
1) I don't think SWW and Banneker are particularly great for application schools. But at least they're not trying to pretend they are lottery schools when really they aren't. It's the transparent BS of BASIS and its boosters that irritates people. 2) BASIS could admit students and is just choosing not to. The BASIS parent organization could decide to allow it. They just don't want to. Stop pretending it's impossible when it's just a policy choice. Again with the transparent BS. 3) You are imputing a causal relationship far stronger than actually exists. Those kids would likely be fine at any well performing school. 4) Again, they can, they just don't want to. Other schools do. 5) Is that the hope? BASIS is hoping students with disabilities don't enroll? I think you said the quiet part loud. You're not supposed to admit that because it could get BASIS in legal trouble. |
Anonymous
| I love how all BASIS attrition is due to the kid failing academically, and none of it is ever due to people finding better options or moving away for some other reason. BASIS for the win! Everyone else is dumb! |
Anonymous
The one thing I'll add here, as a current BASIS parent who has examined the coursework at BASIS and at DCPS middle schools, is that the curriculum itself is very, very different. BASIS students are responsible for learning much more, and they learn and memorize in a much more structured way, particularly in science, math and history, and because they require the kids to use paper and pencil to learn. If DCPS had that curriculum and that structure, we would have stayed. For us, it was that simple. And I think that's what the poster who is obsessed with the idea that BASIS "flushes" out the poor students is missing. The kids who survive at BASIS learn much, much more than they would have at DCPS middle. It's not the same experience, minus the bad students. I'm not sure if this holds in high school -- it's possible that Walls and JR offer more in course variety. |
Anonymous
NP. Don't tell us which hills to fight or die on. What PP above is pointing out is well known in the BASIS high school community. Many of us dislike the way senior year is handled. Can we do anything about it, influencing outcomes at the school? Of course not. But we aren't without our ways of challenging on a personal level. My kid is spreading subject work into senior year by taking a couple-line IB Diploma classes senior year while at BASIS (yes, on-line IBD classes are now a thing, just not for many subjects) as well as at least one Cambridge A-Level exam in November. I'm not bitter although I'd have left for a private long ago if I had the option (never got good enough fi aid). Even so, I'm counting the months until I can divorce the place. A franchise not run by educators is correct. Speak for yourself when you come at the disgruntled parents of kids who "washed out." The many kids we know who've left haven't fit the bill and we've been at BASIS for 7 years. |
Anonymous
It’s quite different because those of us not zoned for JR have no shot of attending. |
Anonymous
JR is only 55% in-boundary. You can’t wait until 9th to lottery, of course. (Just like Basis!) |