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Independent schools and "advanced" kids: national problem?
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Anonymous
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What I do not understand is the people who magically come to the conclusion that you use public for ES and MS, and then private for HS. ?
I have a child in private school, and have no problem seeing the short comings. I might have been misinterpreted as being a public booster, when I am just a realist, willing to admit that there is not much data supporting private schools. Although there have been some instances where the experts say that private is better, we in this area rarely fall into those categories. The data that was broken up by SES has been watch by many for years. Those authors are a husband and wife team who seem to bask in the limelight since their findings. Those findings help shoot down any hope for vouchers in many states. The reason that I am suspicious of their findings is that they have subtly implied that very good private schools may be better than public schools, but they seem reluctant to substantiate that. They also admit that the lowest ranking private schools, in all SES, tend to be religious (all religions), whose scores were folded into the data under private schools. It would be interesting to see what would happen if they took out the schools with heavy religious tones and looked at the more secular privates separately. My bet is that the scores would jump. I suspect that these professors might have some political point to make. But they are really just warning parents who make great sacrifices to send their children to private schools, to relax. |
Anonymous
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Smart, economically-privileged kids will do well in either environment. The choice is really about $$ and what type of education you want for your kid.
My DC is in private (despite rather than because of the culture/traditions/network!) because I resist the notion that education is a narrow chute and the goal should be to push kids down it as fast as possible. And because it's not a financial struggle for us. If money were tight, we might make different decisions. Private school doesn't strike me as crucial and only a few private schools strike me as worth the money. That said, when I watch what a crazy culture the G&T/testing/acceleration model seems to create among MoCo (and to a less extent Fairfax County) parents, I'm really glad I don't (and my kid doesn't) have to deal with that mentality on a regular basis. It hasn't been difficult to innoculate my DC against the entitle-itis I see in private school (especially because I feel as if many of the teachers at DC's school are on the same page as we are in that regard) but I think it would be harder to prevent her from getting sucked into this effed-up perennial rat race/standardized test-obsessed interpretation of meritocracy. |
Anonymous
Again, the question is not about "pushing" kids who aren't ready down some chute. It's about addressing the needs of kids who are ready. And for kids 2 or more levels above grade, magnets are the way to go instead of private. Plus, are you really comparing the effed-up private school admissions process, with IQ testing, cattle-call playdates and interviews, with magnet testing? We've done both, and the private school process was a lot worse! DC got into a top 3, and a magnet. For the magnet DC needed testing, just like for the private -- but not the whole interview/playdate shebang. |
Anonymous
.... Hah! as if this doesn't exist in private schools! No, private schools have no testing to get in, no ERBs on a regular basis, no admissions preferences for wealthy and/or connected families, or for legacies, no cut-throat competition with classmates for the few slots at each Ivy.... |
Anonymous
| Let's do a "scientific" study: a page count, of posts on DCUM pages, of the number of parents obsessing over private school admissions, versus the number of pages of parents who are obsessing over public school magnet admissions (if you can find any of the latter). |
Anonymous
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It's not about "readiness" -- it's about the chute. It's very narrow. And it doesn't really matter how fast you go through it, because the same stuff is waiting for you at the other end. I don't want to see how fast you can do something or how many people you're in front of become my DC's measure of what it means to be well-educated. Nor do I want performance on standardized tests to become how DC measures mastery (or intelligence).
At a personal level, admissions was under the radar for DC (PreK) and we applied to only 2 schools so it wasn't stressful for us either. Annual ERBs (starting in 4th grade, I think) have been a non-issue. I think it's good that the school makes sure it's not neglecting the basics as it focuses on more challenging and engaging stuff. At a sociological level, yeah, private schools are for wealthy people -- not necessarily smart people. And, yeah, statistically, more smart people are not rich than rich. If I ran the zoo, public schools would be more like private and all kids would be taught as if they were gifted. But I don't, and so I'm forced to choose. Here and now, I chose private and it wasn't a hard decision given our economic situation and what we value about education. |
Anonymous
I say, To hell with meritocracy! I much prefer a school where my kid can get in based on his parents' connections, legacy status, or wealth! Seriously, we're talking about a small group of kids: those who are several grades above. For most kds (and almost certainly the kids of the poster quoted above), a private that offers on-level and one grade up will be just fine. |
Anonymous
| It cracks me up to see MoCo/Fairfax public school parents pretend that wealth doesn't explain why their kids go to the schools they do. |
Anonymous
A simple perusal of this private board and assorted threads is pure testamount to the serene, easygoing, and relaxed admission process to area D.C. private schools. Beats the rat race to public schools. |
Anonymous
I assure you it is the predominant private school crowd that keeps Stanley Kaplan, Princeton Review, C2 education and a host of standardardized test tutors in business. What's this nonsense about getting sucked into this effed-up perennial rat race/ standardized test obsessed interpretation of meritocracy. I would bet the farm if the data were available, in the D.C. area, it would be the clients of area private schools,that scurry like rats to these enterprises and individuals over and over again in the name of high scores on standardized tests!! I am 100 hundred percent certain that this two-faced poster with children in private school is a prime funding booster of standardized testing tutorials for her private school progeny. |
Anonymous
Actually, for a small number of kids, it's *all* about readiness, and how they would be bored with repeating stuff. Moreover, the "other end" of the chute does look really, really different for kids at TJ or Blair HS. Yes, we've toured top privates and seen a sprinkling of advanced science or literature courses. But compare with the "other end" of the chute at a place like Blair. I have the Blair course handbook in front of me - they are offering optics, plate techtonics, physical chemistry, marine biology, cellular biology, and this is the type of the iceberg on their advanced science courses. So you may not want to rush your kids to a terminal point of calculus II. Other kids want to rush, and would die of boredom of they don't. Which is the whole point of this thread - meeting the needs of these other kids, not yours. Your kids will be fine at a top three. How many times do we need to repeat this distinction? |
Anonymous
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Back to OP's original question: is it a problem that independent schools don't meet the needs of the most advanced (defined as being more than one grade level advanced) kids?
I'd say no. Independent schools aren't set up to cater to either extreme - not the learning disabled, nor the budding Einsteins. There would only be a scandal if kids had no other choices. But for those who are disappointed with what privates offer to the most advanced, the answer is simple -- save your $30K and go public. |
Anonymous
100% certain and 100% wrong. |
Anonymous
| Leave the "anti-meritocracy" poster alone. I don't want to be embarrassed by any more of her attempts to defend private schools on our behalfs.... |
Anonymous
That would be because her kis are too young to take the SATs.... |