School Without Walls (SWW) - Recent Experience?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent of a middle school student here. I think Walls now offers what the parents of high-achieving students have demanded over the course of their child’s education.

Classmates who all perform well on standardized tests, and a learning experience validated by high test standardized scores, AP, SAT et al. And the opportunity to work ahead to hone competitive advantage: students can actually earn an associate’s degree starting junior year, right?

What’s not to love?

Hmm, I don't think I love sequestering high achieving students together. Sounds like a pressure cooker, and not the real world either, not to mention lack of diversity and children of all kinds of intelligence (not only narrow academic ability). I really benefited from this variety in my own high school, which was more like a Wilson. I probably won't be looking at SWW for my kid.

In what ways does Walls lack diversity?

Well see below from another thread, and just compared to DC as a whole it's much more white. There is likely other lack of diversity in terms of interests of kids, extracurricular which are not done only for college applications, etc. I worry about this because I see a negative trend of stress in high schoolers in order to get into college.

Wilson is 34% White, 32% AA, 22% Hispanic/Latino and 6% Asian
Walls is 43% White, 31%AA, 12% Hispanic/Latino, and 8% Asian
Banneker is 1% White, 74% AA, 20% Hispanic/Latino, and 3% Asian
Ellington is 9% White, 74% AA, 11% Hispanic/Latino, and 2% Asian

Depends on how you define diversity. From above Walls is pretty diverse in my book. And if you are touting Wilson as being diverse in your post above, a few percentages is nothing so your arguement doesn’t hold up with Wilson being diverse and Walls not.

I define consider a DC public school diverse when it reflects either the diversity of the public school population or the diversity of school-age children living in the city generally.

By those measures, Ellington gets closest to mirroring the city's mix.

Do you really think there are only 9% whites yet 74% AA in DCPS? That is probably the least representative.

[Anonymous]

City wide demographics for all public schools in 2017-18
https://dcschoolreportcard.org/state/99999-0000

Asian 2%
Black/AA 67%
Hispanic/Latino 19%
Two or more races 2%
White 10%

Here is DCPS vs. Charter

Charter sector https://www.dcpcsb.org/sites/default/files/report/PCSB%20background%20slides_current%2010.10.18.pdf
Other 4%
Black/AA - 74%
Hispanic/Latino 15%
White 6%

DCPS https://dcps.dc.gov/page/dcps-glance-enrollment
Other 5%
Black/AA 60%
Hispanic/Latino 20%
White 15%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent of a middle school student here. I think Walls now offers what the parents of high-achieving students have demanded over the course of their child’s education.

Classmates who all perform well on standardized tests, and a learning experience validated by high test standardized scores, AP, SAT et al. And the opportunity to work ahead to hone competitive advantage: students can actually earn an associate’s degree starting junior year, right?

What’s not to love?

Er, perhaps high standardized test scores =\= a good education?!

Besides, I want my kids to go to top 4 year colleges. What good is an associates’s degree from a middling college?

NP here. PARCC measures the basics. While a good education is comprised of more than just ELA and math, it certainly includes these. If students can't get a 4 or 5 on PARCC, then no, they're not getting a good education. Stop drinking your low performing school's koolaid that PARCC doesn't matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:City wide demographics for all public schools in 2017-18
https://dcschoolreportcard.org/state/99999-0000

Asian 2%
Black/AA 67%
Hispanic/Latino 19%
Two or more races 2%
White 10%

Here is DCPS vs. Charter

Charter sector https://www.dcpcsb.org/sites/default/files/report/PCSB%20background%20slides_current%2010.10.18.pdf
Other 4%
Black/AA - 74%
Hispanic/Latino 15%
White 6%

DCPS https://dcps.dc.gov/page/dcps-glance-enrollment
Other 5%
Black/AA 60%
Hispanic/Latino 20%
White 15%

Huh. I stand corrected!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent of a middle school student here. I think Walls now offers what the parents of high-achieving students have demanded over the course of their child’s education.

Classmates who all perform well on standardized tests, and a learning experience validated by high test standardized scores, AP, SAT et al. And the opportunity to work ahead to hone competitive advantage: students can actually earn an associate’s degree starting junior year, right?

What’s not to love?

Er, perhaps high standardized test scores =\= a good education?!

Besides, I want my kids to go to top 4 year colleges. What good is an associates’s degree from a middling college?

NP here. PARCC measures the basics. While a good education is comprised of more than just ELA and math, it certainly includes these. If students can't get a 4 or 5 on PARCC, then no, they're not getting a good education. Stop drinking your low performing school's koolaid that PARCC doesn't matter.

My kids (still in elementary school) get 5’s on the PAARCs. They do well at standaized tests generally. I want far more from a schhol than teching to a test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent of a middle school student here. I think Walls now offers what the parents of high-achieving students have demanded over the course of their child’s education.

Classmates who all perform well on standardized tests, and a learning experience validated by high test standardized scores, AP, SAT et al. And the opportunity to work ahead to hone competitive advantage: students can actually earn an associate’s degree starting junior year, right?

What’s not to love?

Hmm, I don't think I love sequestering high achieving students together. Sounds like a pressure cooker, and not the real world either, not to mention lack of diversity and children of all kinds of intelligence (not only narrow academic ability). I really benefited from this variety in my own high school, which was more like a Wilson. I probably won't be looking at SWW for my kid.

In what ways does Walls lack diversity?

Well see below from another thread, and just compared to DC as a whole it's much more white. There is likely other lack of diversity in terms of interests of kids, extracurricular which are not done only for college applications, etc. I worry about this because I see a negative trend of stress in high schoolers in order to get into college.

Wilson is 34% White, 32% AA, 22% Hispanic/Latino and 6% Asian
Walls is 43% White, 31%AA, 12% Hispanic/Latino, and 8% Asian
Banneker is 1% White, 74% AA, 20% Hispanic/Latino, and 3% Asian
Ellington is 9% White, 74% AA, 11% Hispanic/Latino, and 2% Asian

Depends on how you define diversity. From above Walls is pretty diverse in my book. And if you are touting Wilson as being diverse in your post above, a few percentages is nothing so your arguement doesn’t hold up with Wilson being diverse and Walls not.

I define consider a DC public school diverse when it reflects either the diversity of the public school population or the diversity of school-age children living in the city generally.

By those measures, Ellington gets closest to mirroring the city's mix.

The city mix looks like 18% of African American kids don't read at grade. You just want to mix with the ones that can read and do math, just realize that. It is fine, me too. But your are hiding something, or from something, with a simplistic call for "diversity" and all you use to define that is race.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent of a middle school student here. I think Walls now offers what the parents of high-achieving students have demanded over the course of their child’s education.

Classmates who all perform well on standardized tests, and a learning experience validated by high test standardized scores, AP, SAT et al. And the opportunity to work ahead to hone competitive advantage: students can actually earn an associate’s degree starting junior year, right?

What’s not to love?

Er, perhaps high standardized test scores =\= a good education?!

Besides, I want my kids to go to top 4 year colleges. What good is an associates’s degree from a middling college?

NP here. PARCC measures the basics. While a good education is comprised of more than just ELA and math, it certainly includes these. If students can't get a 4 or 5 on PARCC, then no, they're not getting a good education. Stop drinking your low performing school's koolaid that PARCC doesn't matter.

My kids (still in elementary school) get 5’s on the PAARCs. They do well at standaized tests generally. I want far more from a schhol than teching to a test.

A typing school would be great in your case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent of a middle school student here. I think Walls now offers what the parents of high-achieving students have demanded over the course of their child’s education.

Classmates who all perform well on standardized tests, and a learning experience validated by high test standardized scores, AP, SAT et al. And the opportunity to work ahead to hone competitive advantage: students can actually earn an associate’s degree starting junior year, right?

What’s not to love?

Er, perhaps high standardized test scores =\= a good education?!

Besides, I want my kids to go to top 4 year colleges. What good is an associates’s degree from a middling college?

NP here. PARCC measures the basics. While a good education is comprised of more than just ELA and math, it certainly includes these. If students can't get a 4 or 5 on PARCC, then no, they're not getting a good education. Stop drinking your low performing school's koolaid that PARCC doesn't matter.

My kids (still in elementary school) get 5’s on the PAARCs. They do well at standaized tests generally. I want far more from a schhol than teching to a test.

The PARCC score is a proxy for academically strong students. The kids that got 4s and 5s on the PARCC and likely have been doing so since elementary school do not get these scores because they attended or their parents wanted them to attend schools that teach to the test. They got them like your kids did, because they go to a good school and they are smart kids. No one is sending their child to Walls because they want them to score higher on the PARCC BUT because these are smart kids they score well on the PARCC. You are completely missing the point if all you think pointing to scores is about is evidence that a school teaches to the test. Teaching to the test is really no longer a thing after elementary school.