Interesting article about school quality when demographics factored out

[Anonymous]

It's great to see some DCPS and charter schools doing so well for our at-risk youth.

https://ggwash.org/view/64796/want-the-best-dc-school-for-your-child-look-beyond-demographics

[Anonymous]

Agree.

But I fear most DCUM people will use this data to find the schools with the lowest % of at-risk students.

[Anonymous]

"Digging into actual school performance vs. expected performance might change parent opinions about school quality in gentrifying DC neighborhoods. For example:

"Ludlow-Taylor Elementary, a stone’s throw from Two Rivers-4th Street Public Charter School, which boasts the longest waiting list in the city, outperforms Two Rivers on PARCC and outperforms the expected proficiency trend line. Ludlow serves nearly double Two Rivers’ population of at-risk students in tested grades. Despite the school’s strong performance, many white families at Ludlow leave after the early childhood years.

"Stuart-Hobson Middle School on Capitol Hill, where only 30.7% of tested students are at-risk, performs 9 points below expectations, with 28.2% of students on grade level in reading and math combined; whereas Center City - Shaw Public Charter School, with nearly double the percentage of at-risk students (56%), performs 10.8 points above expectations, with an average of 34% of their students on grade level on PARCC reading and math exams. Perhaps more interesting: there’s almost no gap in proficiency between at-risk and non-at risk students at Center City - Shaw. (At Stuart-Hobson, only 5% of at-risk students are proficient in math and 20% in reading.)
Comparing schools with similar PARCC scores, but dramatically different student bodies, also challenges conventional wisdom:

:Ketcham Elementary in Ward 8, where more than 90% of students are at-risk, performs at about the same levels as Bridges, a charter school popular with upper-middle-class parents in the District, which performs below expected proficiency levels.

"Inspired Teaching Demonstration Public Charter School, with a waiting list of more than 800 students, has an average of math and reading scores combined only 1 percentage point higher than Thomson Elementary, a DCPS school located downtown and serving a student body that is 4.2% white and 51% at-risk. Of students tested last spring at Inspired Teaching, 28.1% were at-risk and 29% were white. (Inspired Teaching serves even more white students in early grades.)"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Digging into actual school performance vs. expected performance might change parent opinions about school quality in gentrifying DC neighborhoods. For example:

"Ludlow-Taylor Elementary, a stone’s throw from Two Rivers-4th Street Public Charter School, which boasts the longest waiting list in the city, outperforms Two Rivers on PARCC and outperforms the expected proficiency trend line. Ludlow serves nearly double Two Rivers’ population of at-risk students in tested grades. Despite the school’s strong performance, many white families at Ludlow leave after the early childhood years.

"Stuart-Hobson Middle School on Capitol Hill, where only 30.7% of tested students are at-risk, performs 9 points below expectations, with 28.2% of students on grade level in reading and math combined; whereas Center City - Shaw Public Charter School, with nearly double the percentage of at-risk students (56%), performs 10.8 points above expectations, with an average of 34% of their students on grade level on PARCC reading and math exams. Perhaps more interesting: there’s almost no gap in proficiency between at-risk and non-at risk students at Center City - Shaw. (At Stuart-Hobson, only 5% of at-risk students are proficient in math and 20% in reading.)
Comparing schools with similar PARCC scores, but dramatically different student bodies, also challenges conventional wisdom:

:Ketcham Elementary in Ward 8, where more than 90% of students are at-risk, performs at about the same levels as Bridges, a charter school popular with upper-middle-class parents in the District, which performs below expected proficiency levels.

"Inspired Teaching Demonstration Public Charter School, with a waiting list of more than 800 students, has an average of math and reading scores combined only 1 percentage point higher than Thomson Elementary, a DCPS school located downtown and serving a student body that is 4.2% white and 51% at-risk. Of students tested last spring at Inspired Teaching, 28.1% were at-risk and 29% were white. (Inspired Teaching serves even more white students in early grades.)"

The comparison between Ketcham and Bridges is a little unfair given that Bridges focuses on special needs.

[Anonymous]

What a dumbass article! They seem to not understand the causal connectiom between Ludlow Taylor and Stuart Hobson. I think LT is very hard to get into OOB for younger grades, probably harder than Two Rivers. And it is not meaningful to compare Bridges test scores. People choose it for the special needs and the siblings come along.

[Anonymous]

So basically, if you are going to IT - you are going because you are white and scared of going to school with black kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a dumbass article! They seem to not understand the causal connectiom between Ludlow Taylor and Stuart Hobson. I think LT is very hard to get into OOB for younger grades, probably harder than Two Rivers. And it is not meaningful to compare Bridges test scores. People choose it for the special needs and the siblings come along.

I think the article makes valid points, but you do raise a interesting point about waitlists and the probability of getting in. The waitlist for Thomson was not ridiculously long but it did not budge and we never got in. We also applied to a number of charters, which had long waitlists but they moved quickly.

[Anonymous]

Bridges non-sped students are 20% proficient in ELA and 33% in math. The school as a whole is only about 30-35% special education.

The authors don't seem to be saying that Bridges is a bad school, they're just saying Ketcham is a good school and outperforming other schools in Ward 8 with high % at-risk.

http://results.osse.dc.gov/school/142/assessment/1/proficiency/4

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Digging into actual school performance vs. expected performance might change parent opinions about school quality in gentrifying DC neighborhoods. For example:

"Ludlow-Taylor Elementary, a stone’s throw from Two Rivers-4th Street Public Charter School, which boasts the longest waiting list in the city, outperforms Two Rivers on PARCC and outperforms the expected proficiency trend line. Ludlow serves nearly double Two Rivers’ population of at-risk students in tested grades. Despite the school’s strong performance, many white families at Ludlow leave after the early childhood years.

"Stuart-Hobson Middle School on Capitol Hill, where only 30.7% of tested students are at-risk, performs 9 points below expectations, with 28.2% of students on grade level in reading and math combined; whereas Center City - Shaw Public Charter School, with nearly double the percentage of at-risk students (56%), performs 10.8 points above expectations, with an average of 34% of their students on grade level on PARCC reading and math exams. Perhaps more interesting: there’s almost no gap in proficiency between at-risk and non-at risk students at Center City - Shaw. (At Stuart-Hobson, only 5% of at-risk students are proficient in math and 20% in reading.)
Comparing schools with similar PARCC scores, but dramatically different student bodies, also challenges conventional wisdom:

:Ketcham Elementary in Ward 8, where more than 90% of students are at-risk, performs at about the same levels as Bridges, a charter school popular with upper-middle-class parents in the District, which performs below expected proficiency levels.

"Inspired Teaching Demonstration Public Charter School, with a waiting list of more than 800 students, has an average of math and reading scores combined only 1 percentage point higher than Thomson Elementary, a DCPS school located downtown and serving a student body that is 4.2% white and 51% at-risk. Of students tested last spring at Inspired Teaching, 28.1% were at-risk and 29% were white. (Inspired Teaching serves even more white students in early grades.)"

The comparison between Ketcham and Bridges is a little unfair given that Bridges focuses on special needs.

Not really. When you look at how Bridges' non-special needs kids (70% of students) are doing on PARCC compared to Ketcham's non-special needs kids, they are also the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bridges non-sped students are 20% proficient in ELA and 33% in math. The school as a whole is only about 30-35% special education.

The authors don't seem to be saying that Bridges is a bad school, they're just saying Ketcham is a good school and outperforming other schools in Ward 8 with high % at-risk.

http://results.osse.dc.gov/school/142/assessment/1/proficiency/4

Exactly!

[Anonymous]

>>>>In a city with more than 200 public school choices, it’s easy to overlook some good ones if you rely only on word of mouth and what’s nearby.

Parents are supposed to consider traveling farther for a school with lower test scores because the schools achieve those lower test scores with a more difficult student body? Nice try.

[Anonymous]

A reminder: the definition of at-risk in DC is:

"An at-risk student is a child whose family qualifies for SNAP or TANF benefits, is placed in foster care, or lives in a homeless shelter."

Nearly 50% of students in DC are at-risk.

[Anonymous]

I'm happy for Ketcham, but it is Just Too Far for most people. And, middle school ???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:>>>>In a city with more than 200 public school choices, it’s easy to overlook some good ones if you rely only on word of mouth and what’s nearby.

Parents are supposed to consider traveling farther for a school with lower test scores because the schools achieve those lower test scores with a more difficult student body? Nice try.

These idiots have no idea what it is like to do rush hour twice a day with toddler and baby daycare dropoff too.

[Anonymous]

I think this is a good article and it's useful framing to look at schools that are "outperforming their demographics." I would caution that "performance" here is defined narrowly - exclusively by PARCC scores. Schools that teach to the test, spend lots of time on test prep, and do (lots and lots) of computer time with their mid/upper elementary kids are those that are more likely to come out on top on these measures.