smart kid not really being fostered at a JKLM; what to do?
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Anonymous
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Having sent a kid through NW DC public schools through Deal, and now doing extremely well at a high-academic private high school, my opinion is that anybody who is worried about academics in NW DC public schools for an elementary student is worrying about things that don't need to be worried about.
If your kid would be happier in a different environment, that's cool. But if your kid is happy, and if they can spend their time doing things other than academics in elementary and even middle school, and if you can tell your kid in high school that they might need to work harder, then seriously there is no problem. There is also a great benefit to being in a public school with people of very different learning abilities and styles. Much of being an adult is being able to work in groups where people do not always process things in the same way. Put your kid in a high-status high-academic environment at an early age and they miss the very real benefit of learning how to work well with people across a wide range of brain styles. |
Anonymous
| You can move to MoCo or fairfax like vast majority of the realistic parents do |
Anonymous
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I'm not sure if your smart kid is gifted, but the resources from the National Association for Gifted Children may be of interest.
(Signed, a realistic parent who stayed in DC) |
Anonymous
Murch is doing it; and the words advanced, and even gifted, are used publicly, even at BTSN. |
Anonymous
| what does murch do? genuinely interested |
Anonymous
That is fine but just be honest with your self that the majority of people do it different and it is unlikely you know something they don't. People who stay in the city aren't hipper, just more risk tolarent. |
Anonymous
Why you so intolarent, you grumpy suburbanite? |
Anonymous
| It may not be that uncommon to score that high on the test. For example, in one article I read they mentioned that in New York, out of kids on the UWS, 47% score in the 90th percentile or higher on a test used to determine "gifted" class placement. Your child may just be average bright and your JKLM/Deal/Wilson pathway is probably fine. |
Anonymous
no, in this case it is a true percentage. Kids are compared against their grade mates at their school. In a class of 100, there is one 96% kid, one 97%, etc. |
Anonymous
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It may not be that uncommon to score that high on the test. For example, in one article I read they mentioned that in New York, out of kids on the UWS, 47% score in the 90th percentile or higher on a test used to determine "gifted" class placement. Your child may just be average bright and your JKLM/Deal/Wilson pathway is probably fine."
No, I''m talking about an IQ test done by a professional. Yes, IQ and IQ scores are not static, but they also don't vary so much that someone could score in the 99% one time and 80 or 90% another time, at least after a certain age. |
Anonymous
Unless a bunch of kids has the same score. |
Anonymous
Murch does some enrichment classes - but it can be very hit or miss depending on the year so while it's nice when it happens - and this year is great so far so kudos to them. But, I don't fool myself into thinking it will continue on through the year or the next. We've lost our last two enrichment teachers in the middle of the school year which really hurts. |
Anonymous
Yes, students could have the same score but than would just lower the percentage of students they score higher than. It is written in terms of your child scores higher than X percent of the students at that school. We have had two years of this test, my child has twice scored better than 99% of students at DC's JKLM in ELA and on math once scored higher than 99% and once higher than 91%. My child was always well served by the teachers at the elementary school and we are now at Deal and generally happy (although I frankly think the math teachers at DC's elementary school were better). I am with the parents that think OP should worry less about academics and more about fostering passions at this age. |
Anonymous
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OP, I am in a similar boat- my 4th grader at a JKLMM got PArcc scores just a bit below your child's, but more importantly I worry about the large class sizes she's had and that she is not getting any particular attention because the focus is on bringing low-scoring kids up and settling down the trouble-makers. A well-behaved, solidly performing girl is just not going to get much teacher special attention. And yet I know she is capable of doing so much more than the curriculum.
What really makes me concerned about my kids is that my 2nd grade Ds is leaps and bounds ahead of what his class is doing (math and reading), and I got pushback for requesting more challenging work from the teacher or some other outlet him to work at an advanced level. Over the years I've gotten responses like "everything is fine", which seem like ways to assuage parents' concerns, but I've failed to dig deep and have complacently assumed that all is fine.(I WOH and have a lot on my plate--so I trust the school stuff is fine) Ultimately, my DD isn't thriving as I know she could be. And I'm not referring to her zooming ahead in test scores, but I just know she could be developing her talents more. She'll be lost in the crowd at Deal, I fear.We rent, and i've changed my home-buying plans to MoCo instead of NWDC. |
Anonymous
SEM is a part of it, but also scheduled Intervention/Enrichment block daily for all students, an advanced math teacher for grades 3-5 (e.g., teaching 6th grade math to a few 4th and 5th graders, who took 5th grade math last year as 3rd and 4th graders), pull outs and push ins for math problem solving, Jr. Great Books, academic contests, and programs like that, individualized advanced courses in rare, appropriate circumstances; inquiry-based learning model, project-based assessments (speeches, videos, plays, 3-d projects, reports, etc. all possibilities as assessments); teachers are departmentalized starting in 1st grade (science, math, ELA); PD training in differentiated instruction. And of course meaningful field trips, and guest presenters, and all the after school opportunities. They also have a new intervention program for special ed. (Response to Intervention). And the Reggio-inspired ECE model is a fantastic foundation for learning. I also really like the social curriculum, the focus on service projects, and bringing the international and professional community into the school. There is a lot going on to stimulate a bright mind and keep any kid interested and growing, gifted or not. And if you say, "This is great!" they say, "We can do better, and we will." They specifically say out loud and publicly about gifted kids. Gotta love that. Plus, small instructor:student ratios most of the time. And I don't know for sure, but I doubt Murch is the only school doing these things; it just isn't always advertised. Add me to the camp that thinks my kids are well served. (2 kids, 98th and 99th percentiles for 2 years on PARCC and thriving, while participating in some, but not all of the programs described above and without parental intervention or requests). And while academics come easily to DCs, they are by no means bored (and no, it hasn't been all sunshine and roses -- I'm well aware of DCPS's flaws. I think the writing enrichment project is titled, "Of Mice and Mosquitos."  ).
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