Walls admissions article in the Post

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would love to hear suggestions about what could be done to address equity in access to the school and still be a school that is focused on serving high achievers that includes high achievers from across the city..

I was thinking maybe teacher recommendations? Like, each school can nominate x number of students that meet GPA, or certain class rank? Of course I’m worried about bias, but surely it can’t be worse than the interview, oy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would love to hear suggestions about what could be done to address equity in access to the school and still be a school that is focused on serving high achievers that includes high achievers from across the city..

I was thinking maybe teacher recommendations? Like, each school can nominate x number of students that meet GPA, or certain class rank? Of course I’m worried about bias, but surely it can’t be worse than the interview, oy.

I think there are probably also a lot of cases when the parent interviews affect the chance of their kid getting in. Everyone complains about "the interview" but I'm sure the rating scale also factors in the parent interview.

[Anonymous]

Simple.

Have an entrance exam open to any resident of DC who wishes to attend. Top 145 test takers get in, as measured by score. Wait list is ranked by exam score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC's POPULATION:
45.4% Black or African American
4.1% Asian
5.2% Hispanic White
0.3% Native American and Alaskan Native
42.5% White
4.4% Some Other Race, 0.1% Pacific Islander and 3.3% from two or more races

WALLS BREAKDOWN:
25% Black/African-American
7% Asian
13% Hispanic / Latino
<1% Native American / Alaska Native
50% White non-Hispanic
5% Multiracial

So Walls is actually quite diverse, people always use this word incorrectly. A 95% black school isn't diverse. The problem is we need to get more Black students into Walls. The problem is DC's Black population skews poor. That's what needs to be fixed. Those kids aren't going to elementary and middle schools that prepare them for success. They are lacking resources at home, at school, and in their communities. My guess is most poor Black kids are never told they can take the test and get into a good HS. Walls should start a program, but the problem is far too entrenched for it to be on the shoulders of one magnet public school in the city.

City population isn’t relevant. DCPS population is. According to the Post article, 15% of DCPS students are white; 60% are black.

PP here. Yes this is excellent and necessary information to determine how to fix the problem. That is what we need.

Walls and Banneker are widely known as the two best test-in DCPS high schools and they are roughly the same size. Banneker by reputation is akin to an HBCU and has nearly zero white students. So in effect all of the top white students only apply to Walls while top black students apply to both Walls and Banneker. As a result, Banneker has a higher than average share of black students (73%) while Walls has a higher than average white students (51%). That's largely an artifact of where students apply.

There are three other factors in play. First, Banneker just opened its amazing new state-of-the-art $130 million campus which is now larger and located in much more convenient location. This very likely increased the number of top black students applying to and attending Banneker over Walls this past year. Second, Walls pulls top white students from private middle schools as well. So looking just at the percentage of white students in DCPS understates the base of white students who apply to Walls. Third, the entire Walls leadership team including the principal is black, as is the mayor and school chancellor. It would seem very odd to me that they would have an interest in disadvantaging black students. More likely they are basing entry on which students they think can handle the rigor at Walls. I have a very smart student at Walls who has to work very hard to do well; the academics are no joke.

This post makes a lot of sense compared with the knee jerk reflexive posters who shout racism without any factual information

This post claimed:

Walls (and dcps/dc) can’t have racist tendencies bc they have black leadership: false
Walls is too hard for black kids: what?

PP, you thinking this made sense is actually more racist than the post you responded too. My goodness

Another DCUM post about DCPS descends into madness. Just close this thread.

I would add that the article indicated two of the students that interviewed rated another application school higher in the lottery process and are going there and one is on the waitlist.

I also think it is a stretch that saying the administration is focused on admitting kids that can do the work is akin to saying that it is too hard for black kids. 25% of the kids at walls are black kids. What this is about is that in addition to race, there are other socio economic factors in play and these are kids that are going to not strong middle schools that many of their neighborhood peers opt out from. Perhaps Banneker is known to have better supports for smart kids coming out of lower performing middle schools. Perhaps the kids that apply and choose another school find other schools appeal to them more. Maybe we should dig into these issues some more but ignoring the preference for Banneker among many students does not further the discussion.

I have a kid at Banneker. They don’t have better supports. They counsel out kids who are low performing. I think many kids choose Banneker over Walls because it is more convenient to where they live and they feel more comfortable in the majority AA environment. I think SWW is in a tough spot. How can they possibly overcome systemic issues that are part of society.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Simple.

Have an entrance exam open to any resident of DC who wishes to attend. Top 145 test takers get in, as measured by score. Wait list is ranked by exam score.

That's how my high school, Boston Latin, admitted 7th graders for more than 200 years, until the late 1980s, when an interview was added, presumably to increase minority enrollment. 20 years ago, the school was sued by a white family. The case settled in mediation with a concession to the plaintiffs, interview nixed. But whites did not really win. Asians did. The percentage of Asian students at BL has tripled in this century, while the white percentage remains roughly where it was when the suit was filed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Simple.

Have an entrance exam open to any resident of DC who wishes to attend. Top 145 test takers get in, as measured by score. Wait list is ranked by exam score.

I guess it depends on what you are going for. If you want a class of interesting, successful, diverse, smart kids, it’s not necessarily the top number of test takers. That’s a different kind of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Simple.

Have an entrance exam open to any resident of DC who wishes to attend. Top 145 test takers get in, as measured by score. Wait list is ranked by exam score.

I guess it depends on what you are going for. If you want a class of interesting, successful, diverse, smart kids, it’s not necessarily the top number of test takers. That’s a different kind of school.

Unless those interesting kids drag down classes or need remedial education

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would love to hear suggestions about what could be done to address equity in access to the school and still be a school that is focused on serving high achievers that includes high achievers from across the city..

I was thinking maybe teacher recommendations? Like, each school can nominate x number of students that meet GPA, or certain class rank? Of course I’m worried about bias, but surely it can’t be worse than the interview, oy.

I think there are probably also a lot of cases when the parent interviews affect the chance of their kid getting in. Everyone complains about "the interview" but I'm sure the rating scale also factors in the parent interview.

Parent interviews have no affect on the student interview score. The rubric has no place to add or subtract points for parent comments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Simple.

Have an entrance exam open to any resident of DC who wishes to attend. Top 145 test takers get in, as measured by score. Wait list is ranked by exam score.

I guess it depends on what you are going for. If you want a class of interesting, successful, diverse, smart kids, it’s not necessarily the top number of test takers. That’s a different kind of school.

Don't disagree. However, the 3-minute interviews in the last admissions cycle were a joke and apparently SWW doesn't have the staff or resources to do serious interviews, go through application essays, review teacher recommendations, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Simple.

Have an entrance exam open to any resident of DC who wishes to attend. Top 145 test takers get in, as measured by score. Wait list is ranked by exam score.

That's how my high school, Boston Latin, admitted 7th graders for more than 200 years, until the late 1980s, when an interview was added, presumably to increase minority enrollment. 20 years ago, the school was sued by a white family. The case settled in mediation with a concession to the plaintiffs, interview nixed. But whites did not really win. Asians did. The percentage of Asian students at BL has tripled in this century, while the white percentage remains roughly where it was when the suit was filed.

It will be interesting to see what happens with TJHSST in Fairfax County, which is often ranked the best public high school in the US. They eliminated their admissions exam last year and each year admission will now be offered to the 550 highest-rated students after a "holistic" review of those students' records including GPA, a problem-solving essay, and experience. TJ is 70% Asian and 20% white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Simple.

Have an entrance exam open to any resident of DC who wishes to attend. Top 145 test takers get in, as measured by score. Wait list is ranked by exam score.

I guess it depends on what you are going for. If you want a class of interesting, successful, diverse, smart kids, it’s not necessarily the top number of test takers. That’s a different kind of school.

Don't disagree. However, the 3-minute interviews in the last admissions cycle were a joke and apparently SWW doesn't have the staff or resources to do serious interviews, go through application essays, review teacher recommendations, etc.

That is part of the issue. The resources are not there to do some holistic approach to admissions. Walls runs all of admissions through teachers volunteering to proctor the test and interview. The admissions director is not a full time position by any means.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am curious how many students were accepted that live in ward 7 or 8 but didn't go to middle school there. Maybe part of the issue is that students from wards 7 or 8 who are academically inclined are looking for middle schools elsewhere. Is that really Walls' fault?

Huh? First it’s a high school. Second, they screen out kids with IEPs (which is illegal). They screen out kids in wards 7 and 8. What else is there to know?

Isn’t the whole point of an IEP is that the kid can’t keep up with normal kids without help? That should eliminate them from contention from high achieving spots in a competitive field…. Because they can’t keep up without help. There is no IEP allowances at my office. Eventually the cold B-smack of reality will come down on the kids who can’t keep up.

I’m all for helping them through but we shouldn’t pretend they are normal.

Perhaps you need an IEP for understanding how education works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would love to hear suggestions about what could be done to address equity in access to the school and still be a school that is focused on serving high achievers that includes high achievers from across the city..

I was thinking maybe teacher recommendations? Like, each school can nominate x number of students that meet GPA, or certain class rank? Of course I’m worried about bias, but surely it can’t be worse than the interview, oy.

I think there are probably also a lot of cases when the parent interviews affect the chance of their kid getting in. Everyone complains about "the interview" but I'm sure the rating scale also factors in the parent interview.

Interviewer was awful -- if SWW want to weight that heavily on interviews they need a serious overhaul of the entire interview process (or maybe it was just revealing of school culture in general)

Agree with PP about teacher recs, scores, etc. . . you know - the evidence of all of the hard work my child put into an elite MS transcript which amounted to a hopelessly high waitlist # at SWW. Maybe over a 10 min interview? What a joke

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am curious how many students were accepted that live in ward 7 or 8 but didn't go to middle school there. Maybe part of the issue is that students from wards 7 or 8 who are academically inclined are looking for middle schools elsewhere. Is that really Walls' fault?

Huh? First it’s a high school. Second, they screen out kids with IEPs (which is illegal). They screen out kids in wards 7 and 8. What else is there to know?

Isn’t the whole point of an IEP is that the kid can’t keep up with normal kids without help? That should eliminate them from contention from high achieving spots in a competitive field…. Because they can’t keep up without help. There is no IEP allowances at my office. Eventually the cold B-smack of reality will come down on the kids who can’t keep up.

I’m all for helping them through but we shouldn’t pretend they are normal.

Perhaps you need an IEP for understanding how education works.

I would love to have the PP sit down with my IEP kid who is now at an Ivy. Counseled out of Walls years ago due to his IEP. He is totally "normal" BTW, just has had an IEP since pre-k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would love to hear suggestions about what could be done to address equity in access to the school and still be a school that is focused on serving high achievers that includes high achievers from across the city..

If you didn't have to account for students coming from privates and charters, I would say top X% from each middle school or top X students guaranteed a place and then have a few spots available for test-in or something else. But since you do have to account for students coming from privates and charters, it would have to be some combo of top X%/X students from each DCPS MS and something else that would provide an entry point for kids from privates/charters - like a test or an allocation based on ward; I don't like a pure allocation by ward because some wards have more kids in private so then they may be allocated more spots than would be appropriate given who actually attends public schools. The top students from DCPS could be determined by teacher recs/GPA/level of classes taken, etc.