Why are Whitman's English Scores So Bad?

[Anonymous]

I realize MD is ditching the PARCC, but just wondering why Whitman's English scores are at 25 percent? Is that accurate?
http://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/ReportCards/ReportCardSchool/3/17/6/15/0427/

[Anonymous]

Many of the W's have gone downhill in recent years. Real estate markets change over time.

[Anonymous]

Because it is a horrible school filled with racist people jealous of Blair, at least that is what I learned on DCUM

[Anonymous]

Bcs rich kids say things like " my mom/dad will just pay my tutor to do my work."

[Anonymous]

It's a popular school district with embassy, World Bank, and IMF workers so not as many native English speakers compared to some other W schools.

[Anonymous]

Because they focus on Spanish so they can speak to help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a popular school district with embassy, World Bank, and IMF workers so not as many native English speakers compared to some other W schools.

LOL.. Whitman ESOL rate < 5%, average ELA 2.5. RMHS ESOL rate about 9%, average ELA score of 3.2.

You are saying the tiny % of ESOL students at Whitman are dragging down the ELA score at Whitman more than the much bigger (and poorer) ESOL students at RM?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I realize MD is ditching the PARCC, but just wondering why Whitman's English scores are at 25 percent? Is that accurate?
http://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/ReportCards/ReportCardSchool/3/17/6/15/0427/

This doesn't look too promising: Total Earned Points: 66.6

The calculation under ESSA has changed. So a small percentage of non-achieving ESOL kids can indeed drag down test scores - as can sped results.

One attendance issue, for example, can affect multiple schools. So if Jo Jo is chronically absent at School X and then transfers to School Y, both schools are dinged by Jo Jo's absences.

lose-lose

Whitman better ramp it up! lol! It will be feeling the pain the more challenging schools have been experiencing for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a popular school district with embassy, World Bank, and IMF workers so not as many native English speakers compared to some other W schools.

LOL.. Whitman ESOL rate < 5%, average ELA 2.5. RMHS ESOL rate about 9%, average ELA score of 3.2.

You are saying the tiny % of ESOL students at Whitman are dragging down the ELA score at Whitman more than the much bigger (and poorer) ESOL students at RM?

yes

See 9:12. In my former job, one of the supervisors shared ESSA's calculation methods. I am not a math person, but the dumbed down version illustrated the concept of how the "few" can affect the whole.

I personally think ESSA will change or even go - like PARCC, but there's a tiny part of me that likes watching some of these schools suffer. You don't change until you feel some pain. Challenging schools have been punished enough. It's time to level the playing field.

[Anonymous]

I'm confused. Isn't Whitman supposed to be one of the highest ranking high schools in MoCo? 25 percent in English/Language doesn't look like a high ranking. But then their Math score is 80 percent. It doesn't add up... what's going on?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a popular school district with embassy, World Bank, and IMF workers so not as many native English speakers compared to some other W schools.

LOL.. Whitman ESOL rate < 5%, average ELA 2.5. RMHS ESOL rate about 9%, average ELA score of 3.2.

You are saying the tiny % of ESOL students at Whitman are dragging down the ELA score at Whitman more than the much bigger (and poorer) ESOL students at RM?

yes

See 9:12. In my former job, one of the supervisors shared ESSA's calculation methods. I am not a math person, but the dumbed down version illustrated the concept of how the "few" can affect the whole.

I personally think ESSA will change or even go - like PARCC, but there's a tiny part of me that likes watching some of these schools suffer. You don't change until you feel some pain. Challenging schools have been punished enough. It's time to level the playing field.

Clearly. But common sense should tell you that a school with a *MUCH* higher % of ESOL and FARMS student will drag down the scores MUCH more than a school with a tiny % of said population. Yet, Whitman has an ELA score of 2.5, while RM has a score of 3.2. Something is wrong at Whitman if their ELA score is *that* low compared to a high FARM/ESOL school like RM.

[Anonymous]

We are an international family in Bethesda (not WW cluster), and know that at the high school level, international kids do their absolute level best to absorb English as rapidly as possible. This English score seems extraordinarily low. Almost like a typo, but who knows?

Anyway, I wouldn't worry. WW is an excellent school, just like WJ and BCC. And the new high school, Woodward, will be just as good. All due to the educated and wealthy parents in the area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused. Isn't Whitman supposed to be one of the highest ranking high schools in MoCo? 25 percent in English/Language doesn't look like a high ranking. But then their Math score is 80 percent. It doesn't add up... what's going on?

I thought so. Strange.

Well, at our highly-ranked ES, math scores exceed ELA scores (not as drastically as here, though) because of the high percentage of first-generation Asian immigrants, but that's sort of normal for that demographics. Whitman, on the other hand.. Doen't every single student there aspire to go to HYP?

[Anonymous]

Most W's perform poorly when you factor for demographics as a proxy for SES of the surrounding community.

[Anonymous]

Wasn't the official story that Whitman kids blew off the test since it meant nothing to them personally...used the time to study for AP exams?