DC School Report Cards are up

[Anonymous]

Big picture - the ratings city-wide were pretty evenly distributed.

1 Star - 9%
2 Star - 27%
3 Star - 36%
4 Star - 19%
5 Star - 8% (17 schools)

At the news conference today about these, the mayor pointed out that there is at least one 4 star school in every ward.

OSSE to invest $11 million over 3 years to support the lowest 5% of schools (Moten, Langley, Ballou, Kramer, Eliot-Hine, Anacostia, Sousa, Cardozo, Ideal Academy PCS (may be moot if takeover goes through), Democracy Prep Congress Heights (may be closed).

[Anonymous]

With all the errors people have found, how can we know if the testing data is correct?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love data and numbers, and I would say these reports are too complicated to be useful. And there is no easily accessible information about what each metric actually is (i.e., how it is computed) in a school's profile. And they put a possible range of scores and then have data points for a school that are outside that.

I think this could have been a useful exercise but ultimately wasn't because it is so poorly documented.

Yep, totally agree.

I also agree with what some of the critics were saying before this ever came out: it feels icky. What is a school that is a one star supposed to do? How do they improve, and how does labeling them in this way help them improve? The nuance between 4 & 5 is minor compared to that, to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two Ward 5 elementary schools rank the same (3) as the nearby popular charters that siphon off their IB students.

Maybe this will system will help neighborhood schools?

It should, and it should push the charters to do better. Name the schools?

Langdon got 4 stars but I have my doubts. It seems like a lot of this data is just not correct.

Based on what? Your gut?

Based on conversations with people who have children there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Strong High schools

SWW - 5
Ellington - 4
McKinley Tech - 4
Banneker - 5
Washington Leadership Academy - 5
Capital City HS - 4

Also:
BASIS DC - 5
Wilson - 4

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Deal feeders, at risk %

Janney 5, 0%
Hearst 4, 8%
Murch 4, 5%
Lafayette 4, 3%
Shepherd 4, 15%
Bancroft, 31%

... Bancroft 4, 31%

Watkins 4, 19%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love data and numbers, and I would say these reports are too complicated to be useful. And there is no easily accessible information about what each metric actually is (i.e., how it is computed) in a school's profile. And they put a possible range of scores and then have data points for a school that are outside that.

I think this could have been a useful exercise but ultimately wasn't because it is so poorly documented.

Yep, totally agree.

I also agree with what some of the critics were saying before this ever came out: it feels icky. What is a school that is a one star supposed to do? How do they improve, and how does labeling them in this way help them improve? The nuance between 4 & 5 is minor compared to that, to me.

The acting chancellor said that the lowest DCPS schools would be redesigned and parents would be partners in the process.

OSSE is investing $11M in the lowest 5% of school. Two of the lowest 5% are charters that were recommended for closure, FWIW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With all the errors people have found, how can we know if the testing data is correct?

The testing data is the same data that was released last fall and has been validated a few times. I think that and the demographic are the most accurate part of these. When that is released everyone focuses on the percentage earning 4 and 5 on PARCC.

These take into account PARCC 4&5, PARCC 3+, and the median growth score on PARCC.

For elementary school the CLASS metric is a factor, something that hasn't been released for all schools before.

[Anonymous]

The school and class size numbers are from last school year (2017-2018).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The school and class size numbers are from last school year (2017-2018).

The whole report card is 2017-18 data. They aren't going to post this year's school size and demographics along with last year's test score results. That would be even more confusing.

[Anonymous]

Shout out to Thurgood Marshall Academy HS - 4 stars.

They had such a challenging year last year, losing classmates to gun violence, I'm glad to see this.

[Anonymous]

Wilson is listed as not offering AP classes or dual enrollment. In fact, Wilson offers more AP classes than any other public school in the city. Pretty hard to get that basic info wrong. And my child is currently dual enrolled at Wilson and a local
university, as are several of my child’s friends at Wilson, so that one is also wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love data and numbers, and I would say these reports are too complicated to be useful. And there is no easily accessible information about what each metric actually is (i.e., how it is computed) in a school's profile. And they put a possible range of scores and then have data points for a school that are outside that.

I think this could have been a useful exercise but ultimately wasn't because it is so poorly documented.

Yep, totally agree.

I also agree with what some of the critics were saying before this ever came out: it feels icky. What is a school that is a one star supposed to do? How do they improve, and how does labeling them in this way help them improve? The nuance between 4 & 5 is minor compared to that, to me.

The acting chancellor said that the lowest DCPS schools would be redesigned and parents would be partners in the process.

OSSE is investing $11M in the lowest 5% of school. Two of the lowest 5% are charters that were recommended for closure, FWIW.

That’s next to nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The school and class size numbers are from last school year (2017-2018).

The whole report card is 2017-18 data. They aren't going to post this year's school size and demographics along with last year's test score results. That would be even more confusing.

Our school size is waaaay off from past AND current year data. And the number of kids in each grade does not add up to the total displayed. Even if you add in Kindergarten, which was omitted entirely.

How can a person have confidence in these numbers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The school and class size numbers are from last school year (2017-2018).

The whole report card is 2017-18 data. They aren't going to post this year's school size and demographics along with last year's test score results. That would be even more confusing.

Our school size is waaaay off from past AND current year data. And the number of kids in each grade does not add up to the total displayed. Even if you add in Kindergarten, which was omitted entirely.

How can a person have confidence in these numbers?

Most of the information about our school is incorrect.