What’s going on at DCI?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Problem is that UMC feeder parents don't have a decade to wait for DCI to shape into a strong IB program. The lack of ambition in DCPC across all subjects drags programs down for far too long. BASIS came out of nowhere 7 years ago yet is clobbering competitor programs in math and science. Their main problems are a crappy building and far too much busy work homework for the younger students.

BASIS had the advantage of a model and curriculum in other states, and for high school a very AP focused curriculum, which people understand and have confidence in. Execution in DC has bumpy, but they arent' inventing the plan while trying to fly in.

DCI is trying to be the first public, open enrollment, IB for everyone school in this region, and perhaps nationally. They are figuring it out as they go. Big difference.

[Anonymous]

TYPO - "inventing the plane while trying to fly it."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Problem is that UMC feeder parents don't have a decade to wait for DCI to shape into a strong IB program. The lack of ambition in DCPC across all subjects drags programs down for far too long. BASIS came out of nowhere 7 years ago yet is clobbering competitor programs in math and science. Their main problems are a crappy building and far too much busy work homework for the younger students.

BASIS had the advantage of a model and curriculum in other states, and for high school a very AP focused curriculum, which people understand and have confidence in. Execution in DC has bumpy, but they arent' inventing the plan while trying to fly in.

DCI is trying to be the first public, open enrollment, IB for everyone school in this region, and perhaps nationally. They are figuring it out as they go. Big difference.

DCI could have the advantage of a model and curriculum found in the best public IB World Schools around the country, one of which is in this Metro region - Richard Montgomery HS in Rockville. But all DCI is doing is trying to be yet another DC public middle school that hardly tracks in middle school and sets the bar pretty low for language learning. What they are figuring out as they go as much as anything else is how to try to be all things to all comers without succeeding. Real disappointment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Problem is that UMC feeder parents don't have a decade to wait for DCI to shape into a strong IB program. The lack of ambition in DCPC across all subjects drags programs down for far too long. BASIS came out of nowhere 7 years ago yet is clobbering competitor programs in math and science. Their main problems are a crappy building and far too much busy work homework for the younger students.

BASIS had the advantage of a model and curriculum in other states, and for high school a very AP focused curriculum, which people understand and have confidence in. Execution in DC has bumpy, but they arent' inventing the plan while trying to fly in.

DCI is trying to be the first public, open enrollment, IB for everyone school in this region, and perhaps nationally. They are figuring it out as they go. Big difference.

DCI could have the advantage of a model and curriculum found in the best public IB World Schools around the country, one of which is in this Metro region - Richard Montgomery HS in Rockville. But all DCI is doing is trying to be yet another DC public middle school that hardly tracks in middle school and sets the bar pretty low for language learning. What they are figuring out as they go as much as anything else is how to try to be all things to all comers without succeeding. Real disappointment.

I don't know anything about this school in Rockville, but are you sure DCI should try to emulate this school, given the vast differences in demographics? I want these kids to be challenged, but appropriately.
I think there has to be some recognition that many kids at DCI are behind academically, have challenging social circumstances, etc., and so to some extent, you have to set expectations accordingly.

When the demographics begin to change at DCI over time, with more middle-class families opting in, I'm sure the rigor will also improve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Problem is that UMC feeder parents don't have a decade to wait for DCI to shape into a strong IB program. The lack of ambition in DCPC across all subjects drags programs down for far too long. BASIS came out of nowhere 7 years ago yet is clobbering competitor programs in math and science. Their main problems are a crappy building and far too much busy work homework for the younger students.

BASIS had the advantage of a model and curriculum in other states, and for high school a very AP focused curriculum, which people understand and have confidence in. Execution in DC has bumpy, but they arent' inventing the plan while trying to fly in.

DCI is trying to be the first public, open enrollment, IB for everyone school in this region, and perhaps nationally. They are figuring it out as they go. Big difference.

DCI could have the advantage of a model and curriculum found in the best public IB World Schools around the country, one of which is in this Metro region - Richard Montgomery HS in Rockville. But all DCI is doing is trying to be yet another DC public middle school that hardly tracks in middle school and sets the bar pretty low for language learning. What they are figuring out as they go as much as anything else is how to try to be all things to all comers without succeeding. Real disappointment.

I don't know anything about this school in Rockville, but are you sure DCI should try to emulate this school, given the vast differences in demographics? I want these kids to be challenged, but appropriately.
I think there has to be some recognition that many kids at DCI are behind academically, have challenging social circumstances, etc., and so to some extent, you have to set expectations accordingly.

When the demographics begin to change at DCI over time, with more middle-class families opting in, I'm sure the rigor will also improve.

Richard Montgomery is not offering the IB career track, like DCI. They only offer the diploma track. Richard Montgomery is a MCPS magnet school, with a competitive/selective application process. Students admitted to the magnet IB program begin preparing in 9th and 10th. Other students, who attend Richard Montgomery because it is their zoned high school, can take IB classes in 11th and 12th if they wish.

Read DCI's charter application. They have a much broader mission.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI has significantly different demographics from Latin and BASIS which is just plain harder. It is also significantly larger with 804 students (and it's still growing/adding a grade).

It is also a newer school.

From the beginning DCI intended to allow students an option not to pursue an IB diploma (read their charter application). They know a significant portion of their students may not ever attend college, and are supposed to be offering them the IB career diploma and training.

So why not just make DCI a vocational program with a bit of language instruction? Sheesh. We really need more high-performing schools in this city to serve taxpayers, not skim milk IB program BS. DCI can't built a critical mass of strong students without a more serious curriculum, teaching and higher standards.

Theres’s nothing inherently skim milk or not-rigorous about the IB diploma or career track programs. DCI is offering both.

But like all start up schools, it will probably take a few years at full capacity before they hit their stride. The bleeding edge kids (and their parents) are always in for a bumpy ride.

Disagree. We're native Mandarin speakers, fairly new to DC, who were given permission to sit in on the most advanced Chinese class early this year. We visited to help us decide if we'd take our DCI spot. The kids' Chinese didn't impress, and that's putting it mildly. We'd read about poor Chinese skills on DCUM threads but took the posts with a grain of salt. A teacher told us that there are NO students in the MS who speak Chinese at home with native-speaking parents.

As a parent who got a high score on higher level IB diploma Chinese in the 90s, it looked to me like the kids are on track to score low on standard level IB diploma Chinese. We also sat in on an advanced 9th grade math class that didn't impress us. We observed 9th graders at BASIS knocking it out the park in AB and BC calc classes. We saw chaos in hallways and at dismissal. DCPC just can't build a truly rigorous IB diploma program this way. Not even close.

9th graders taking BC calculus would be a huge red flag for me. I teach physics at a well regarded state university, and my experience has been that the majority of kids who fail or are at risk of failing my classes seem to be kids who were rushed through math curricula without really grasping how to use math as a tool to solve problems. We actually have special remedial calculus classes that those kids end up having to take.

OK, but what if the 9th graders taking BC calculus score 5s on the BC calculus AP test? To my knowledge, two BASIS 9th graders did that in the spring. These are the sort of kids who get into MIT eventually. Believe it or not, there are a few such kids in DC public schools these days.

So these few are actual math geniuses and they should probably be at BASIS. It's silly comparing these two schools which are apples and oranges. Also, it's silly having that kind of ambition - the physics teacher was right. That's not normal and should not be used as a yardstick. My top high school elsewhere did not allow kids in 9th into AP calc even if they were showing ability, because it wasn't necessary or advisable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Problem is that UMC feeder parents don't have a decade to wait for DCI to shape into a strong IB program. The lack of ambition in DCPC across all subjects drags programs down for far too long. BASIS came out of nowhere 7 years ago yet is clobbering competitor programs in math and science. Their main problems are a crappy building and far too much busy work homework for the younger students.

BASIS had the advantage of a model and curriculum in other states, and for high school a very AP focused curriculum, which people understand and have confidence in. Execution in DC has bumpy, but they arent' inventing the plan while trying to fly in.

DCI is trying to be the first public, open enrollment, IB for everyone school in this region, and perhaps nationally. They are figuring it out as they go. Big difference.

DCI could have the advantage of a model and curriculum found in the best public IB World Schools around the country, one of which is in this Metro region - Richard Montgomery HS in Rockville. But all DCI is doing is trying to be yet another DC public middle school that hardly tracks in middle school and sets the bar pretty low for language learning. What they are figuring out as they go as much as anything else is how to try to be all things to all comers without succeeding. Real disappointment.

I don't know anything about this school in Rockville, but are you sure DCI should try to emulate this school, given the vast differences in demographics? I want these kids to be challenged, but appropriately.
I think there has to be some recognition that many kids at DCI are behind academically, have challenging social circumstances, etc., and so to some extent, you have to set expectations accordingly.

When the demographics begin to change at DCI over time, with more middle-class families opting in, I'm sure the rigor will also improve.

Richard Montgomery is not offering the IB career track, like DCI. They only offer the diploma track. Richard Montgomery is a MCPS magnet school, with a competitive/selective application process. Students admitted to the magnet IB program begin preparing in 9th and 10th. Other students, who attend Richard Montgomery because it is their zoned high school, can take IB classes in 11th and 12th if they wish.

Read DCI's charter application. They have a much broader mission.

PP. So that school can select its population? Then I'm not even sure why it was brought up--its applicability here seems limited given both the demographic differences (for example, just checked: 18% vs. 51% economically disadvantaged) and the test-in model.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Problem is that UMC feeder parents don't have a decade to wait for DCI to shape into a strong IB program. The lack of ambition in DCPC across all subjects drags programs down for far too long. BASIS came out of nowhere 7 years ago yet is clobbering competitor programs in math and science. Their main problems are a crappy building and far too much busy work homework for the younger students.

BASIS had the advantage of a model and curriculum in other states, and for high school a very AP focused curriculum, which people understand and have confidence in. Execution in DC has bumpy, but they arent' inventing the plan while trying to fly in.

DCI is trying to be the first public, open enrollment, IB for everyone school in this region, and perhaps nationally. They are figuring it out as they go. Big difference.

DCI could have the advantage of a model and curriculum found in the best public IB World Schools around the country, one of which is in this Metro region - Richard Montgomery HS in Rockville. But all DCI is doing is trying to be yet another DC public middle school that hardly tracks in middle school and sets the bar pretty low for language learning. What they are figuring out as they go as much as anything else is how to try to be all things to all comers without succeeding. Real disappointment.

I don't know anything about this school in Rockville, but are you sure DCI should try to emulate this school, given the vast differences in demographics? I want these kids to be challenged, but appropriately.
I think there has to be some recognition that many kids at DCI are behind academically, have challenging social circumstances, etc., and so to some extent, you have to set expectations accordingly.

When the demographics begin to change at DCI over time, with more middle-class families opting in, I'm sure the rigor will also improve.

Richard Montgomery is not offering the IB career track, like DCI. They only offer the diploma track. Richard Montgomery is a MCPS magnet school, with a competitive/selective application process. Students admitted to the magnet IB program begin preparing in 9th and 10th. Other students, who attend Richard Montgomery because it is their zoned high school, can take IB classes in 11th and 12th if they wish.

Read DCI's charter application. They have a much broader mission.

And probably those who want this kind of school need to move to MoCo. Not saying we wouldn't consider it when the time came but I hope we won't need to, and DCI can indeed serve all the levels of incoming students. I also know there is a program to help prepare/ensure kids are ready for DCI from the feeders. They are paying some attention to this.

[Anonymous]

Please, you guys must have something better to do than to serve as apologists for DCPC in failing to serve our City's best and brightest charter students well. Other than at BASIS, the charter boards freely uses open admissions as a crutch not to push, challenge or celebrate their highest-performing students, including bilingual students who speak languages of "immersion" study who happen to come from affluent families.

I graduated from one of the first public high schools in the country to adopt the IB Diploma curriculum, back in the early 1980s. I grew up in a small town where more of my classmates enlisted in the military than went on to 4-year colleges. Yet town's IB program makes DCI's look like the skim milk version. I remember our principal taking one study trip after another to Geneva, prep schools teaching IB, international schools abroad teaching it, until he knew what he was doing. I don't see anywhere near that kind of determination in the mix at DCI.

[Anonymous]

Stop trying to make DCPC a thing.

It is a meaningless acronym.

[Anonymous]

Huh? There are DC charter schools, the DC Public Charter Board approves their charters and provides oversight of their programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Huh? There are DC charter schools, the DC Public Charter Board approves their charters and provides oversight of their programs.

But each charter is independent and the PCSB has very limited oversight over the day to day. They approve charters, and can close schools if they fail to make academic progress or if there are financial misdeeds. Other than that, there's little they can do by law.

The point is, you really can't discuss them as a system the way you can with DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Yes, you can. And you can predict high octane, suburban-quality outputs here and there outside BASIS if you have 15 or 20 years to keep watching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Huh? There are DC charter schools, the DC Public Charter Board approves their charters and provides oversight of their programs.

Right so the acronym is DCPCB there is no "DCPC". This shows me you aren't from here, and don't have kids in this school system.

[Anonymous]

Or DCPCS when referring to the DC Public Charter Schools.