How is it possible that Walt Whitman high school has a score of 4 on greatschools.org??

[Anonymous]

I know that each schools scores are based on test results & NOT the opinions or reviews of the parents (as some seem to think the scores are correlated by).

So how does:

Walter Johnson score an 8
BCC score a 7
Churchill score a 6 and
Whitman score a 4 out of 10??

The kids from Whitman are always bragging about how much money they have & they say they're "slumming it" when they hang out with kids from the other "W" schools & BCC (I've heard it myself & saw it written on social media).

So how are these kids who are so well off, going to a school with a ranking of 4 on great schools??

Aren't the parents livid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know that each schools scores are based on test results & NOT the opinions or reviews of the parents (as some seem to think the scores are correlated by).

So how does:

Walter Johnson score an 8
BCC score a 7
Churchill score a 6 and
Whitman score a 4 out of 10??

The kids from Whitman are always bragging about how much money they have & they say they're "slumming it" when they hang out with kids from the other "W" schools & BCC (I've heard it myself & saw it written on social media).

So how are these kids who are so well off, going to a school with a ranking of 4 on great schools??

Aren't the parents livid?

Well off has nothing to do with intelligence or hard work. Perhaps the other schools/parents simply do a better job of instilling consistent work habits amount the students. I always found the students from Walter Johnson and BCC to be far superior to the Whitman students in my children's circles. Superior not so much academically but in general behavior and citizenship. Does make a difference when you have a support system at home that truly supports you, not just financially.

[Anonymous]

Looks like students across the board underperformed on PARCC exam. Lots of schools dropped a point or two because PARCC performance has not been as high as olde test.

[Anonymous]

The apologists will tell you that the seniors intentionally tanked the PARCCs to protest standardized testing, but that explanation doesn't really hold up considering that the scores were low across racial and economic groups.

That is, I would believe one subset of kids getting together and blowing off the PARCC, but every single group of kids in the school? It's just not plausible.

Also, if you look at the (small number) of poor kids at Whitman, they do really poorly as compared to poor kids at other area high schools.

Since you can assess a school based on how it is doing for kids who don't have extra tutoring, and kids who presumably can't afford extra tutoring are doing worse at Whitman than most of the other schools in the area, I think this is actually a problem with the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The apologists will tell you that the seniors intentionally tanked the PARCCs to protest standardized testing, but that explanation doesn't really hold up considering that the scores were low across racial and economic groups.

That is, I would believe one subset of kids getting together and blowing off the PARCC, but every single group of kids in the school? It's just not plausible.

Also, if you look at the (small number) of poor kids at Whitman, they do really poorly as compared to poor kids at other area high schools.

Since you can assess a school based on how it is doing for kids who don't have extra tutoring, and kids who presumably can't afford extra tutoring are doing worse at Whitman than most of the other schools in the area, I think this is actually a problem with the school.

+1

And I love how they use the excuse that the kids blew it off because they knew it didn't count towards their GPA, but if the poor kids in ganglandia do poorly, it's not for the same reason.

[Anonymous]

Walt Whitman was an American poet whose verse collection 'Leaves of Grass' is a landmark in the history of American literature.

[Anonymous]

I totally agree with the poster who wrote about the calibre of kids from BCC & Walter Johnson.

My kids are in college now, but I'm a member of the neighborhood bulletin board app NextDoor & I live in the Wildwood section of Bethesda (off Grosvenor).
If you look under the classified section of NextDoor, you'll see hundreds of posts from kids that go to Walter Johnson who are soliciting their services for babysitting, lawn cutting, dog walking, tutoring, snow shoveling, etc. All of our lifeguards at Wildwood pool are from WJ & they are truly the nicest, most respectful bunch of kids you've ever met.

They're putting themselves out there & trying to make their own money with hard work & integrity, not just asking for the debit card or dipping into mommies wallet when she's not looking. It's really quite impressive to see.

A friend of mine has kids who go to BCC & her kids and all of their friends start taking mass transit to work as soon as they get their work permits. They don't need anyone to drive them to or fro, they depend on themselves to get them places & they work hard for the money they get.
Additionally, so many parents come from international backgrounds & instill responsibility & dedication early on.
Could you imagine any one of those kids blowing off a test just because?? Never happening.

Both sets of schools have families that may be well off enough to live in Bethesda & Chevy Chase, but their parents know the value of hard work, being a good neighbor & being together for family time. While the parents may have the means, they don't allow their kids to rest on their laurels, they teach them hard work & the value of a dollar early on.

If you were to ask me which kid I'd want my kid to emulate, the uber rich one who doesn't take PARCC scores seriously because mommy & daddy will always be there to catch them if they fall, or the kids who do it right the first time because it's not even a choice to them. They want to make their parents proud & there is no other alternative.
It's not a hard choice to make at all.

[Anonymous]

Whitman is a 4? That is hilarious.

[Anonymous]

It's funny because many of the same people who howl that schools like Sherwood and Blake deserve their low greatschools rankings are now the most vocal critics of the methodology because it's come home to roost at Whitman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Walt Whitman was an American poet whose verse collection 'Leaves of Grass' is a landmark in the history of American literature.

I believe he was gay also, from what I read.

[Anonymous]

They are going to have to change the name of the school to something without W's

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's funny because many of the same people who howl that schools like Sherwood and Blake deserve their low greatschools rankings are now the most vocal critics of the methodology because it's come home to roost at Whitman.

Yep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whitman is a 4? That is hilarious.

That is rich, isn't it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whitman is a 4? That is hilarious.

That is rich, isn't it.

I see what you did there... "rich" lol!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I totally agree with the poster who wrote about the calibre of kids from BCC & Walter Johnson.

My kids are in college now, but I'm a member of the neighborhood bulletin board app NextDoor & I live in the Wildwood section of Bethesda (off Grosvenor).
If you look under the classified section of NextDoor, you'll see hundreds of posts from kids that go to Walter Johnson who are soliciting their services for babysitting, lawn cutting, dog walking, tutoring, snow shoveling, etc. All of our lifeguards at Wildwood pool are from WJ & they are truly the nicest, most respectful bunch of kids you've ever met.

They're putting themselves out there & trying to make their own money with hard work & integrity, not just asking for the debit card or dipping into mommies wallet when she's not looking. It's really quite impressive to see.

A friend of mine has kids who go to BCC & her kids and all of their friends start taking mass transit to work as soon as they get their work permits. They don't need anyone to drive them to or fro, they depend on themselves to get them places & they work hard for the money they get.
Additionally, so many parents come from international backgrounds & instill responsibility & dedication early on.
Could you imagine any one of those kids blowing off a test just because?? Never happening.

Both sets of schools have families that may be well off enough to live in Bethesda & Chevy Chase, but their parents know the value of hard work, being a good neighbor & being together for family time. While the parents may have the means, they don't allow their kids to rest on their laurels, they teach them hard work & the value of a dollar early on.

If you were to ask me which kid I'd want my kid to emulate, the uber rich one who doesn't take PARCC scores seriously because mommy & daddy will always be there to catch them if they fall, or the kids who do it right the first time because it's not even a choice to them. They want to make their parents proud & there is no other alternative.
It's not a hard choice to make at all.

+100

I own a business on Bethesda & students from both Whitman & WJ come there for lunch (WJ during school) & Whitman & WJ on the weekends with their families.

There is absolutely NO comparison to the kids that are from Whitman & those that are from WJ... there is also NO confusing them.
Both sets of kids also emulate their parents, almost like little clones.

The kids from WJ come in, they're always smiling, respectful, say hi, please & thank you, wave bye when they leave, etc. Same when they stop in with their families on weekends. The families come in together, they eat together, have actual conversations, enjoy each other's presence, etc.

The kids from Whitman are impatient, entitled, they goof off while waiting in line, they bother other customers, they act like they're the only ones that deserve to be waited on, they never, ever say please or thank you, they'll play practical jokes, they make fun of other patrons clothing, cars, accents, etc & they're no better when their parents are here.
The parents are just as demanding, arrogant & entitled as their kids... even more so.
When they come in as a family, they all sit and stare at their own phones, the kids have ear buds in, if they're forced to put their screens away they sit there and look miserable, it's truly like night & day when dealing with families from these schools.