How's basis going so far?

[Anonymous]

PP again, and it made for great lively conversation with my kid this morning.

[Anonymous]

The low-SES kids will be driven out by the high expectations regarding the rules. You should have seen the concern and worry on some of the faces at the back to school night in regards to the need to come to school on time. If your children have attended any EoP DCPS, you know what I'm talking about. BASIS is open at 7am and has free before care, so there are no excuses.

[Anonymous]

13:17: Basis isn't really G&T, but then again, no school in the District is, and neither are most of the programs that hold themselves out to be G&T. If you truly want G&T enrichment then you likely will have to cobble together your own curriculum and homeschool on it. But that said, if your child is the sort who could be mastering Calculus in middle school, then Basis is the place to be, because you won't find that elsewhere.

I also wouldn't pan the idea of organizational skills and work ethic. Growing up, I had bright parents, I was G&T, Honor Society et cetera, I barely had to crack the books and sailed through with A's and honors, because I loved to read, had a great memory, and so on. I never had to try and always succeeded because I always had all the answers. But... later in life I began to realize that wasn't enough, and that the rest of the skills and habits are a definite must, and the sooner, the better. Basis puts a big emphasis on this early on, to instill the habits and skills, but then it fades to the background as academics comes to the fore.

As for the demographic, that will more likely be driven by the comprehensive exam requirement, along with their zero-tolerance attitude toward behavior problems. I don't foresee them being overrun by low performers.

[Anonymous]

I did see concern and worry on faces of parents, and I already see some slight inklings that the reality of the hard line they drew in Arizona is getting blurred in DC, despite the tough words. For example, the school wants parents to check the CJ but then back off and leave kids to do the work. Yet the English teacher fervently suggested parents go home and help kids prep for tomorrow's vocab quiz. She also said she will not put it in the CJ if the kid missed homework, instead parents should check the kid's expanding file to see if they did their homework. That is not the plan as I understood it. The beauty of the parent's light touch (teacher enters a note in the CJ re the missing homework, parents sign the entry) is that it motivates kids of either involved or uninvolved parents, and puts the emphasis on achievement rather than approval.

Once even one teacher doesn't follow the plan, and asks parents to keep after the kid, you're losing the kid's self-motivation. My KID told me that!

BASIS will lose the ability to say they had no bigotry of low expectations if they lower their expectations and let the quality of parenting be the dividing line between the kids who succeed and the ones who fail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question about demographics at Basis, if I dare. Is the 5th grade cohort more high-SES/white than the 6th? Much more so? What about 7th and 8th? Are most of the higher grades students mostly low-SES or what?

When PPs talk about a school willing to challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations, what about one willing to challenge the hard bigotry of driving out most high-SES parents before HS by catering mainly to low-SES kids, hurting the brightest and most disciplined poor kids by depriving them of middle-class peers? How can the teachers at Basis differentiate without leaving advanced/GT kids behind? They're only tracking for math, right? In all grades? How much tracking for math?

I ask this in all seriousness -we've got a shy 4th grader in DCPS EotP who's bored about half the time at school, although he loves his Johns Hopkins CTY summer classes (which we've done for two summers now). Paying for privates would be a real stretch, leaving us to wonder whether moving to take advantage of suburban test-in programs might be our best route to challenge for him. We're not crazy about Deal for now - still too many tough and low-performing kids being bused in, and not enough tracking/ability grouping.

Our son may or may not get a spot at Basis for 5th, all depends what the lottery looks like in 2013, but he would probably test-in to a suburban GT program. And even if he didn't test in, he could take advanced classes at a suburban middle school. He doesn't need a strong emphasis on organizational or life skills--we're two PhDs who provide that at home--but he does need tougher subject matter and a faster pace if he isn't going to become a discipline problem at school...

I haven't had a chance to count the white kids in 7th and 8th but since Basis just started I don't think it will give you the answer you want in terms of attrition of brilliant white kids. It definitely won't give you SES since many of the blacks (like my child) at Basis come from mid to high SES homes.

Basis tracks math in 5th and Science in 8th and humanities in 9th. The curriculum is available at the school website, but of course this is the first year for DC. Time will tell but I am not to concerned about having 20 geniuses in class with my child but a good number of competitive students. Which Basis has. My child is in a class with 20+ 6th graders and 3 5th graders taking algebra. I don't need every one of the 6th graders taking algebra like I guess you have at the magnets in Maryland/VA. Overall, the curriculum as planned is really strong untracked (check it out and compare to Thomas Jefferson, not saying its better)

Overall I think you should go to the suburbs where you will find a class full of geniuses for your child. I doubt Basis will eliminate all the low SES blacks of manufacture 100 genius kids of any race if that's your goal. Anyways what was your schooling like to become a PHD scientist?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did see concern and worry on faces of parents, and I already see some slight inklings that the reality of the hard line they drew in Arizona is getting blurred in DC, despite the tough words. For example, the school wants parents to check the CJ but then back off and leave kids to do the work. Yet the English teacher fervently suggested parents go home and help kids prep for tomorrow's vocab quiz. She also said she will not put it in the CJ if the kid missed homework, instead parents should check the kid's expanding file to see if they did their homework. That is not the plan as I understood it. The beauty of the parent's light touch (teacher enters a note in the CJ re the missing homework, parents sign the entry) is that it motivates kids of either involved or uninvolved parents, and puts the emphasis on achievement rather than approval.

Once even one teacher doesn't follow the plan, and asks parents to keep after the kid, you're losing the kid's self-motivation. My KID told me that!

BASIS will lose the ability to say they had no bigotry of low expectations if they lower their expectations and let the quality of parenting be the dividing line between the kids who succeed and the ones who fail.

PP, I'm not sure the line that you think is being blurred was as hard as you thought. From the BASIS web site:

"While support and encouragement from parents can play a huge role in students’ success, students who rely on micromanagement and supervision from their parents are far more likely to struggle in college than students who learn to hold themselves accountable for setting and meeting their own academic goals. BASIS focuses on striking the correct balance by encouraging parents to support their children’s education while still allowing them enough autonomy to build the skills and personal responsibility they will need to succeed in college and beyond."

While I understand that not all will agree with me, I don't think that helping kids study for a vocabulary quiz during the third week of school rises to the level of "micromanagement".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question about demographics at Basis, if I dare. Is the 5th grade cohort more high-SES/white than the 6th? Much more so? What about 7th and 8th? Are most of the higher grades students mostly low-SES or what?

When PPs talk about a school willing to challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations, what about one willing to challenge the hard bigotry of driving out most high-SES parents before HS by catering mainly to low-SES kids, hurting the brightest and most disciplined poor kids by depriving them of middle-class peers? How can the teachers at Basis differentiate without leaving advanced/GT kids behind? They're only tracking for math, right? In all grades? How much tracking for math?

I ask this in all seriousness -we've got a shy 4th grader in DCPS EotP who's bored about half the time at school, although he loves his Johns Hopkins CTY summer classes (which we've done for two summers now). Paying for privates would be a real stretch, leaving us to wonder whether moving to take advantage of suburban test-in programs might be our best route to challenge for him. We're not crazy about Deal for now - still too many tough and low-performing kids being bused in, and not enough tracking/ability grouping.

Our son may or may not get a spot at Basis for 5th, all depends what the lottery looks like in 2013, but he would probably test-in to a suburban GT program. And even if he didn't test in, he could take advanced classes at a suburban middle school. He doesn't need a strong emphasis on organizational or life skills--we're two PhDs who provide that at home--but he does need tougher subject matter and a faster pace if he isn't going to become a discipline problem at school...

BASIS is not G&T. However, the curriculum is accelerated. Furthermore, they offer an even more accelerated version of their program which they call "LEAP":

THE LEARNING ENRICHMENT ACADEMIC PROGRAM (LEAP)
Although BASIS provides a rigorous and accelerated program for all students, there are some students who are ready to move even faster in certain disciplines. In order to give these students the chance to move ahead to more challenging courses, and in order to further develop the accelerated nature of the BASIS program, we provide LEAP courses in select 8th grade core disciplines: mathematics, science, and English. LEAP students must apply for entry to the course, obtain a recommendation from a teacher of that particular subject, and maintain an acceptable overall academic record.

My impression is that LEAP kids get to take the classes that kids ones or two grades higher take. For example. the average 6th grader takes Pre-Algebra, above average 6th grader takes Algebra I, and the (math) LEAP 6th grader takes Alegra II. The LEAP kids go on to take Pre-Calculus in the 7th grade and AP Calculus in the 8th. The LEAP program expands to other subjects in the 8th grade. Unlike the case with G&T classes, the LEAP 6th grader taking Algebra II does so with non-LEAP 7th and 8th graders, so it does not have the feel of a G&T classroom.

If your child is exceptionally gifted and needs to be in a small class with only G&T kids taught by a teacher specializing in G&T and offering individualized instruction, BASIS might not be the right place for you. If your child can handle being in a large class with average and above average kids who are a year or two older, BASIS might be the right place.

As for the lottery, it's impossible to predict what will happen in the next year. However, I imagine that high demands placed on BASIS students will be common knowledge by then, and parents will give more thought to whether their kids have or can develop the sort of work ethic required to succeed at BASIS. I also think that the administration is prepared to accommodate as many children as can fit in the building.

[Anonymous]

What I got out of the meeting with the teachers is a bit of a different story. They are gradually ramping up to the full rigor, and the intent is still to have the kids be independent, self-sufficient and responsible. Currently a missed assignment or other minor thing isn't a big deal, but in a month's time that will no longer be the case.

[Anonymous]

I heard something about a teacher being let go today? Was that just a misunderstanding on my part?

[Anonymous]

I hope you're right. Habits form, or not. The early days are important.

[Anonymous]

Just heard 7th Spanish teacher is gone.

[Anonymous]

Wow! She was at BTS Night last night.

[Anonymous]

The low-SES kids will be driven out by the high expectations regarding the rules. You should have seen the concern and worry on some of the faces at the back to school night in regards to the need to come to school on time. If your children have attended any EoP DCPS, you know what I'm talking about. BASIS is open at 7am and has free before care, so there are no excuses.

[Anonymous]

^ Multi-generational low-SES status persists because low expectations perpetuate and propagate generationally.

If you really, truly care about ever breaking that cycle and ending multi-generational low-SES status then the take-away is that one should not be grumbling about accommodations (and thus perpetuating low-expectation, low-SES culture) and instead be talking to the community about the type of opportunity reflected here, and instead that one should be looking to MEET the expectations, as opposed to expecting schools to never set a bar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ Multi-generational low-SES status persists because low expectations perpetuate and propagate generationally.

If you really, truly care about ever breaking that cycle and ending multi-generational low-SES status then the take-away is that one should not be grumbling about accommodations (and thus perpetuating low-expectation, low-SES culture) and instead be talking to the community about the type of opportunity reflected here, and instead that one should be looking to MEET the expectations, as opposed to expecting schools to never set a bar.

AA PP here. Which community? Partly true that low expectations perpetuate failure. The other piece of the puzzle is clearly "cultural," given that around 1/3 of high-SES AA kids don't perform as well in school as high-SES white and East Asian (all classes) counterparts. Get thee to the Cato Institute web site for analysis of how AA, being fairly new to the middle class, don't always embrace middle-class values even if they have the wherewithal to.

If you really, truly care about breaking the cycle, identify GT and "advanced" kids of all races and classes young, reach out to their caregivers offering special support, and nurture the kids' talents like crazy - DC fails abysmally in this regard. Genius springs up in odd places but DC pols and school reform leaders don't seem to give a damn.

The writing is on the wall for Basis to be too little too late for a lot of the kids. Meeting expectations sounds great, but when expectations aren't set until age 11 or later, you're missing the boat for many of the brightest from low-SES families in general and AA families across the SES spectrum.