McKinley Tech and Banneker - why don't more white students attend?

[Anonymous]

I have a STEM oriented white 8th grader and would definitely consider McKinley Tech for next year. We have visited a few times and spoken to reps at various school fairs over the last couple of years. The kids we met at the tour were incredibly impressive. The kids we saw engaged in various activities, not really paying attention to the visiting people, were also actively engaged in their activities. Seemed like a nice bunch of kids and great teachers.

I was an almost only in HS back in the day and it was a good experience for me. My younger kid is very interested in Ellington (which is where I went), when the time comes. I know it isn't the focus of this thread, but it still has a relatively small white population. Would be proud to have another Ellington grad in the family.

[Anonymous]

It's pointless to think about considering McKinley or Bannister when DCPS middle schools are a non-starter unless you happen to be IB or attend a feeder for Deal and possibly Stuart-Hobson or Hardy.

[Anonymous]

I would definitely consider McKinley for my white, science-obsessed DS10. I like the idea of him having a very science-y peer group.

It just isn't going to be possible for everyone in the city to go to Wilson and SWS, so we have to look realistically at other options with a strong STEM program. McKinley seems to be on a steady upward trend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused by the person who said that the graduation rates are not as high as you expect. Banneker has a 100% graduation/100% college acceptance rate. McKinley Tech appears to have a 92% graduation rate.

What exactly WERE you expecting?

Coppin State was one of the acceptances during my child's tenure. I guess UDC might have been one as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My white kid applied to Banneker about 8 years ago. I was very impressed with the school but it was not a good fit for her and she went to Ellington instead.

My impression is that Banneker is very structured, there's a lot of support from staff, and that the students work very hard. The tours at the Saturday morning open house were led by students who were vocal about how much work they had to do, which was one reason my kid got scared off ( in addition to her being more artsy than intellectual I should add). But I would have been happy to have her go there if things had been different.

What has bothered me about past discussions about Banneker on DCUM is the resistance of some white families to even look at the school and instead they are completely willing to reject the school based on assumptions and innuendo. Go check out the school. It may not be right for your kid but how do you know that unless you visit?

That kind of blind bias is almost always based on safety vs. fear. I think the big issue for people like the previous poster who want to cast doubt on the results at Banneker/McKinley is the fear, conscious or not, that their kid will not measure up.

But who cares? They'll never feel the school is good enough, so neither high quality academics nor their kids' achievement there would matter one whit. I see no good reason for anyone - their kid, classmates, teachers, administrators - to have to put up with that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know very much about either school. Are they neighborhood schools and the student population reflects that?

They're both city-wide application only public schools. With great academic results.

+1. This is the point of the question, I believe. High SES parents clamoring for schools that have high academic standards, particularly white parents whose children are not zoned for the Deal/Wilson feeder, but who do not give McKinley and Banneker a chance either.

There was a long Banneker thread here a few months ago. Essentially, yes, academics there are higher than other black-majority schools, but lower than TJ, Wilson, SWS, so there's no particular reason why a white family would choose to send their kids there.

Have you looked at test scores and college admission rates? Where do you get your information about Banneker having lower academics than SWS or Wilson? As a previous poster stated, many white students probably would not pass the admission test. Anyway, the school is doing quite well without white students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They may be application schools but I don't think they have impressive AP pass rates, graduation rates, etc for "application" schools. The standards in DC are so low sometimes, just because you pass a test doesnt mean anything. I have seen a lot of DCPS graduates in my office as interns and many are functionally illiterate but UDC can't wait to take their loan money for tuition. Its such a racket.

Banneker's graduation rate: 100%, Banneker's college acceptance rate: 100%. Washington Post: "Banneker is 60 percent low-income, yet its passing rate for AP tests is 89 percent, right up there with Wootton at 88 percent and Langley at 88 percent. It has about the same test participation rate as the two suburban schools. According to principal Anita Berger, less than 1 percent of students ever leave because the work is too hard."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They may be application schools but I don't think they have impressive AP pass rates, graduation rates, etc for "application" schools. The standards in DC are so low sometimes, just because you pass a test doesnt mean anything. I have seen a lot of DCPS graduates in my office as interns and many are functionally illiterate but UDC can't wait to take their loan money for tuition. Its such a racket.

Banneker's graduation rate: 100%, Banneker's college acceptance rate: 100%. Washington Post: "Banneker is 60 percent low-income, yet its passing rate for AP tests is 89 percent, right up there with Wootton at 88 percent and Langley at 88 percent. It has about the same test participation rate as the two suburban schools. According to principal Anita Berger, less than 1 percent of students ever leave because the work is too hard."

I'd like to see a data source for Banneker's alleged 89% AP pass rate. Erich Martel's data has Banneker's 3 or higher rate at about 20% for 2012 and 2013, with just one 5 out of 560 tests taken.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They may be application schools but I don't think they have impressive AP pass rates, graduation rates, etc for "application" schools. The standards in DC are so low sometimes, just because you pass a test doesnt mean anything. I have seen a lot of DCPS graduates in my office as interns and many are functionally illiterate but UDC can't wait to take their loan money for tuition. Its such a racket.

Banneker's graduation rate: 100%, Banneker's college acceptance rate: 100%. Washington Post: "Banneker is 60 percent low-income, yet its passing rate for AP tests is 89 percent, right up there with Wootton at 88 percent and Langley at 88 percent. It has about the same test participation rate as the two suburban schools. According to principal Anita Berger, less than 1 percent of students ever leave because the work is too hard."

I'd like to see a data source for Banneker's alleged 89% AP pass rate. Erich Martel's data has Banneker's 3 or higher rate at about 20% for 2012 and 2013, with just one 5 out of 560 tests taken.

The above quote is from a Jay Mathews column from March 2015. This is what US News reported in their 2015 high schools report http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/district-of-columbia/districts/district-of-columbia-public-schools/benjamin-banneker-academic-high-school-4650/test-scores

[Anonymous]

The 5:36 quote was from this Jay Mathews column. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/dont-trust-complaints-that-schools-are-too-rigorous/2015/03/08/945c25b2-c3ab-11e4-ad5c-3b8ce89f1b89_story.html


More on Banneker and AP and IB test results from US News
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/district-of-columbia/districts/district-of-columbia-public-schools/benjamin-banneker-academic-high-school-4650/test-scores

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know very much about either school. Are they neighborhood schools and the student population reflects that?

They're both city-wide application only public schools. With great academic results.

+1. This is the point of the question, I believe. High SES parents clamoring for schools that have high academic standards, particularly white parents whose children are not zoned for the Deal/Wilson feeder, but who do not give McKinley and Banneker a chance either.

There was a long Banneker thread here a few months ago. Essentially, yes, academics there are higher than other black-majority schools, but lower than TJ, Wilson, SWS, so there's no particular reason why a white family would choose to send their kids there.

Have you looked at test scores and college admission rates? Where do you get your information about Banneker having lower academics than SWS or Wilson? As a previous poster stated, many white students probably would not pass the admission test. Anyway, the school is doing quite well without white students.

White students in DC would easily gain admission to Banneker, unless they were turned down due to race.

Banneker is better than most of the high schools in DC, but the average test scores are well below what the College Board has identified as predictive of success in an accredited four-year college or university.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They may be application schools but I don't think they have impressive AP pass rates, graduation rates, etc for "application" schools. The standards in DC are so low sometimes, just because you pass a test doesnt mean anything. I have seen a lot of DCPS graduates in my office as interns and many are functionally illiterate but UDC can't wait to take their loan money for tuition. Its such a racket.

Banneker's graduation rate: 100%, Banneker's college acceptance rate: 100%. Washington Post: "Banneker is 60 percent low-income, yet its passing rate for AP tests is 89 percent, right up there with Wootton at 88 percent and Langley at 88 percent. It has about the same test participation rate as the two suburban schools. According to principal Anita Berger, less than 1 percent of students ever leave because the work is too hard."

I'd like to see a data source for Banneker's alleged 89% AP pass rate. Erich Martel's data has Banneker's 3 or higher rate at about 20% for 2012 and 2013, with just one 5 out of 560 tests taken.

The above quote is from a Jay Mathews column from March 2015. This is what US News reported in their 2015 high schools report http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/district-of-columbia/districts/district-of-columbia-public-schools/benjamin-banneker-academic-high-school-4650/test-scores

The US News page also reports a 20% pass rate. I guess Jay Mathews pulled the 89% number out of his ass.

[Anonymous]

Banneker students typically don't utilize expensive test companies. If they did the SAT/ACT scores would be higher.

My daughter graduated from Wilson and a big state school and a few years later my Banneker son graduated from a top tier school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They may be application schools but I don't think they have impressive AP pass rates, graduation rates, etc for "application" schools. The standards in DC are so low sometimes, just because you pass a test doesnt mean anything. I have seen a lot of DCPS graduates in my office as interns and many are functionally illiterate but UDC can't wait to take their loan money for tuition. Its such a racket.

Banneker's graduation rate: 100%, Banneker's college acceptance rate: 100%. Washington Post: "Banneker is 60 percent low-income, yet its passing rate for AP tests is 89 percent, right up there with Wootton at 88 percent and Langley at 88 percent. It has about the same test participation rate as the two suburban schools. According to principal Anita Berger, less than 1 percent of students ever leave because the work is too hard."

I'd like to see a data source for Banneker's alleged 89% AP pass rate. Erich Martel's data has Banneker's 3 or higher rate at about 20% for 2012 and 2013, with just one 5 out of 560 tests taken.

The above quote is from a Jay Mathews column from March 2015. This is what US News reported in their 2015 high schools report http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/district-of-columbia/districts/district-of-columbia-public-schools/benjamin-banneker-academic-high-school-4650/test-scores

The US News page also reports a 20% pass rate. I guess Jay Mathews pulled the 89% number out of his ass.

Wow, I am a Ward 5 parent of a STEM-oriented elementary school kid. Think McKinley could be a potential.

But holy cow, it looks like Jay Matthews screwed up with that article. From US News on Banneker:

Advanced Placement® (AP®) Student Performance

Many U.S. higher educational institutions grant credits or advanced placement based on student performance on AP® exams. This shows this school's student participation and performance on these exams if data were available.

Participation Rate 100%
Participant Passing Rate 29%
Exams Per Test Taker 2.7
Exam Pass Rate 20%
Quality-Adjusted Participation Rate 33%
Quality-Adjusted Exams Per Test Passer 0.6

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know very much about either school. Are they neighborhood schools and the student population reflects that?

They're both city-wide application only public schools. With great academic results.

+1. This is the point of the question, I believe. High SES parents clamoring for schools that have high academic standards, particularly white parents whose children are not zoned for the Deal/Wilson feeder, but who do not give McKinley and Banneker a chance either.

There was a long Banneker thread here a few months ago. Essentially, yes, academics there are higher than other black-majority schools, but lower than TJ, Wilson, SWS, so there's no particular reason why a white family would choose to send their kids there.

Have you looked at test scores and college admission rates? Where do you get your information about Banneker having lower academics than SWS or Wilson? As a previous poster stated, many white students probably would not pass the admission test. Anyway, the school is doing quite well without white students.

White students in DC would easily gain admission to Banneker, unless they were turned down due to race.

Banneker is better than most of the high schools in DC, but the average test scores are well below what the College Board has identified as predictive of success in an accredited four-year college or university.

The only people discriminating and hating against Banneker are people like you. Perhaps, you should go back to whatever podunk midwest town where you don't have to worry about Black people discriminating against your snowflake.