Coffee in Lincoln Park with David Catania

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I won't be able to make it to the coffee. However, can someone please ask Catania if supports test-in middle schools whereby high-SES white students can learn unencumbered by classroom disruptions that are caused by the less affluent minority type? (and report back?)

Cluster Cheerleader? Nonresident? Gotcha. Guess what, learning isn't race-based and there's nothing wrong with grouping high achievers to challenge them.

I think the PP was snarking on 16:47. The Cluster refuses to implement any level of G & T, pull-outs, or special programs, or even consider it. The Cluster blames DCPS Central, but in reality I don't think the Cluster hierarchy wants it anyhow. Supposedly there's some informal "honors" program at Stuart Hobson, and certainly nothing at Watkins. There's a troll that likes to dis on any mention of G & T or pull-outs, and the assumption is the troll reports on anyone who calls it out as a nonresident. G & T or pull-outs aren't race-based; it's based on the student's achievement or the ability to achieve. Yet 16:47 wants to make it a racial issue, when in fact it's race-blind. I don't think anyone on this blog cares about race but instead does care about getting a quality and safe education for their kids, which aside from upper NW, isn't happening within DCPS in most of the city. KIPP can be highly regarded because it takes safety seriously along with education; DCPS hasn't caught on, at least here on the Hill. This makes me think that the eventuality is that education will be privatized because the public school culture is in such opposition to what many people want. Don't want that to happen, but I'm becoming convinced there's no other solution.

Poster who wrote this--can you please do some research on the effectiveness (look for a term known as "ES") of traditional G/T pull out programs in elementary school and then get back to us? Also, while you're at it, can you please do some research on the results of most assessments that are commercially available and that are used to screen students for high levels of intelligence? Can you let us know if there's a racial skew there that seems rather unappetizing for most progressive school systems?

[Anonymous]

^ *AHEM*

It's a _CULTURAL_ skew aligned more to SES, not a racial one. Try telling the high achieving AA kids at Latin, Basis and the privates that it's purely a function of race.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank God that was your take away. I don't think the Hill schools need a "bold reinvention". What I want in a mayor is much broader than that.

+1
I have kids in elementary and middle school in Capitol Hill and am starting to resent people with kids barely out of diapers - who I bet you have never set foot in any of the Hill's middle or high schools - telling me that my children need to be subjected to "bold action" so you can feel better about living around here for a few years (and then pack up and leave anyway).
Besides, declarations about "bold reinvention" and "scrap it all" are so devoid of any historic insight. Eastern was closed - I mean closed, closed - and reopened in a completely new facility, under completely new leadership, teachers, (test-in) IB diploma track and all - doesn't get much bolder than that. Certainly as bold as George Bush had in mind when adopting NCLB. It's doing very well btw, diploma track included. Could use your support for sure, but certainly doesn't need any more "bold actions". And maybe, just maybe, take a few hours off and tour our middle schools. I mean tour, actually go speak to students, teachers, and parents. Go there asking questions rather than bringing all the answers with no insight. Let them explain to you how they handle advanced students (honors tracks, academies and all included, whether they call it that or not), if that's what you're hoping your child may be. And, darn it, that's not asking "how white are you?" or "how rich are you?".

How can you be certain that a young family has in fact never set foot in any of the Hill's public middle or high schools? What if we told you that we've volunteered in these very schools, and that what we've observed has convinced us not to send our little children unless test-in programs are instituted?

Bold action where Hill schoolare are concerned is code for AAP/GT and test-in. I've taught IB curriculum classes in schools in New York. If a single Eastern student earns the 28 IB points needed to clear the full diploma hurdle (the whole point of having an IB program) in the next decade, I'll be surprised. Meanwhile, up in MoCo in the test-in IB program at Richard Montgomery HS, more than 90% of enrolled IB students earn the full diploma, with the average pass rate in the high 30s (45 points maximum). A good many of the RM IB students are neither white nor rich.

I can tell by your response and that of another poster who claims to know that Hill middle school's aren't offering advanced tracks. Fact is they do (and I do know so because my child is in one of those, and so could you if you don't just assume things and actually go look at all the schools in more detail). None call it G&T, something you'd probably not even want when you happen to have a child in the 7th percentile that doesn't fall into G&T's 5th percentile... and frankly, why are we asking our schools to constantly rename things? Our three public middle schools in Ward 6 call it different things and use somewhat different flavors, one advancing kids in subjects, one advancing them across the board, one relying on pull-outs from regular classrooms. So may I suggest you look again?

[Anonymous]

I've toured Eliot-Hine to take a look, in part, because the Cluster leadership and DCPS seemingly have done everything within their power to make sure my family will never attend Stuart-Hobson, which is within walking distance of our home. Sorry, but not at all impressed. Same with Jefferson. Too much focus on remediation for students who arrive unprepared for academic rigor and no track record of supporting higher achieving students. Ward 6 middle schools may talk a good game but test scores tell a different story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ *AHEM*

It's a _CULTURAL_ skew aligned more to SES, not a racial one. Try telling the high achieving AA kids at Latin, Basis and the privates that it's purely a function of race.

Those are anecdotes, Ms. Ahem. Do you know the statistics behind which groups are predominantly "identified" by most screening tools given for entrance into traditional G/T programs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ *AHEM*

It's a _CULTURAL_ skew aligned more to SES, not a racial one. Try telling the high achieving AA kids at Latin, Basis and the privates that it's purely a function of race.

Those are anecdotes, Ms. Ahem. Do you know the statistics behind which groups are predominantly "identified" by most screening tools given for entrance into traditional G/T programs?

Yeah, I know, it's high achieving kids. Full stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I won't be able to make it to the coffee. However, can someone please ask Catania if supports test-in middle schools whereby high-SES white students can learn unencumbered by classroom disruptions that are caused by the less affluent minority type? (and report back?)

Cluster Cheerleader? Nonresident? Gotcha. Guess what, learning isn't race-based and there's nothing wrong with grouping high achievers to challenge them.

I think the PP was snarking on 16:47. The Cluster refuses to implement any level of G & T, pull-outs, or special programs, or even consider it. The Cluster blames DCPS Central, but in reality I don't think the Cluster hierarchy wants it anyhow. Supposedly there's some informal "honors" program at Stuart Hobson, and certainly nothing at Watkins. There's a troll that likes to dis on any mention of G & T or pull-outs, and the assumption is the troll reports on anyone who calls it out as a nonresident. G & T or pull-outs aren't race-based; it's based on the student's achievement or the ability to achieve. Yet 16:47 wants to make it a racial issue, when in fact it's race-blind. I don't think anyone on this blog cares about race but instead does care about getting a quality and safe education for their kids, which aside from upper NW, isn't happening within DCPS in most of the city. KIPP can be highly regarded because it takes safety seriously along with education; DCPS hasn't caught on, at least here on the Hill. This makes me think that the eventuality is that education will be privatized because the public school culture is in such opposition to what many people want. Don't want that to happen, but I'm becoming convinced there's no other solution.

Poster who wrote this--can you please do some research on the effectiveness (look for a term known as "ES") of traditional G/T pull out programs in elementary school and then get back to us? Also, while you're at it, can you please do some research on the results of most assessments that are commercially available and that are used to screen students for high levels of intelligence? Can you let us know if there's a racial skew there that seems rather unappetizing for most progressive school systems?

PP - You're not a DC resident and you don't have kids. So bug out and let us have our own schools the way we want them so we don't end up like you living in the 'burbs. Something needs to be done to keep high SES families in the city, and you're not helping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've toured Eliot-Hine to take a look, in part, because the Cluster leadership and DCPS seemingly have done everything within their power to make sure my family will never attend Stuart-Hobson, which is within walking distance of our home. Sorry, but not at all impressed. Same with Jefferson. Too much focus on remediation for students who arrive unprepared for academic rigor and no track record of supporting higher achieving students. Ward 6 middle schools may talk a good game but test scores tell a different story.

Even if the academics were better at these middle schools, I wouldn't be OK with the peer group. We lived around the corner from Hobson and until recently. Over the years in NE, I grew weary of listening to students shout foul language from sidewalks and the playground, and of watching kids trip, push and thump one another while screaming or scarfing down junk food. We watched police race up to the school in squad cars too many times, charging in to break up a playground fight, make a drugs related arrest outside or whatever. Hobson is supposed to be the high-SES friendly school in the triumvirate. Sorry, but not impressed like the pp above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, exactly, well said. My own family is reluctantly facing the music this summer for little kids. We get it now: we will probaby not have access to a DC public MS where our children will learn alongside a critical mass of well-prepared peers, even a decade from now.

Too many listened politely to Catania yesterday without trying to pin him down on a time-frame (10-15 years?) for proposed improvements that would create an Alice-Deal-for-All scenario.

So are you saying you are voting for Muriel who has contributed next to nothing when it comes to education in this city and who has not even bothered visiting most of the schools here or talked to the various communities about their thoughts on education? Catania has spent a lot time on education and visiting schools and talking to communities.

[Anonymous]

I'm certainly not voting for Bowser. I'll vote for Catania without expecting him to work zealously to create one acceptable Ward 6 MS, let alone several.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've toured Eliot-Hine to take a look, in part, because the Cluster leadership and DCPS seemingly have done everything within their power to make sure my family will never attend Stuart-Hobson, which is within walking distance of our home. Sorry, but not at all impressed. Same with Jefferson. Too much focus on remediation for students who arrive unprepared for academic rigor and no track record of supporting higher achieving students. Ward 6 middle schools may talk a good game but test scores tell a different story.

Even if the academics were better at these middle schools, I wouldn't be OK with the peer group. We lived around the corner from Hobson and until recently. Over the years in NE, I grew weary of listening to students shout foul language from sidewalks and the playground, and of watching kids trip, push and thump one another while screaming or scarfing down junk food. We watched police race up to the school in squad cars too many times, charging in to break up a playground fight, make a drugs related arrest outside or whatever. Hobson is supposed to be the high-SES friendly school in the triumvirate. Sorry, but not impressed like the pp above.

+1 Current SH neighbor here, and I think that the Cluster really hurt itself when they instituted uniforms there, because it is now obvious what school the students attend. I have even called Clemons about specific groups of troublemakers, I know all the suburban folks will say that's how all preteens behave, but I have a hard time seeing my 13 yo DC marching in the middle of the street, screaming obscenities and littering. This is not normal kids horseplay, it's antisocial.

[Anonymous]

+1. Hadn't thought in those terms but, yes, the red polo shirts draw one's attention to how badly behaved groups of S-H kids often are in the neighborhood. When I drive by KIPP middle schools at times when groups of kids are exiting, I don't see such rowdiness on display. Good for you for contacting Clemons - we should have done that.

[Anonymous]

Here's a story from a few years ago about students walking from the Eliot Hine building after school and throwing rocks at adults and toddlers alike. One guy got hit in the head by a rock and got all bloody. It made the evening news.

http://www.thehillishome.com/2009/11/rock-throwing-nihlistic-youth-of-a-street-2/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1. Hadn't thought in those terms but, yes, the red polo shirts draw one's attention to how badly behaved groups of S-H kids often are in the neighborhood. When I drive by KIPP middle schools at times when groups of kids are exiting, I don't see such rowdiness on display. Good for you for contacting Clemons - we should have done that.

And just what do you think Clemens will do? Please let us know what actual action is taken.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1. Hadn't thought in those terms but, yes, the red polo shirts draw one's attention to how badly behaved groups of S-H kids often are in the neighborhood. When I drive by KIPP middle schools at times when groups of kids are exiting, I don't see such rowdiness on display. Good for you for contacting Clemons - we should have done that.

As a longtime neighbor to Stuart Hobson, it seems that the behavior has gotten worse in the past few years. Perhaps I should say it's right back to where it was when we moved to the neighborhood, over a dozen years ago. I think the principal is an idiot letting the kids hang out, unsupervised, on the front step in the morning. A pack of middle school kids with no adult supervision is asking for trouble.