Black parent -- does school ranking matter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One thing to consider is really what tests are telling us:

They are not really IQ tests, they are cultural knowledge tests. They are supposed to be neutral, but I personally don't think that they can be. One of the issues I have seen is that schools that are very focused on progressive education, focus less on content knowledge and more projects feel good reading assignments. These practices are pretty common in this area, I think it often puts kids at a disadvantage especially of lower SES opportunity and sometimes minority students. Different stories and emphasis within our cultural frameworks. Lisa Deplit's article, The Silenced Dialogue is an interesting read http://faculty.washington.edu/rikitiki/tcxg464sp08/Silenced%20Dialogue%20by%20L%20Delpit.pdf

Personally for me, I seek to make sure my children are receiving at school and home a deep base of knowledge in history, science, literature and math. It is the only way I can enable them to engage the wider culture.

For the poster of this (hopefully you will see this request), how do you do this? I am the mother of a AA 6th grade girl. She attends a catholic school in Bethesda that I really think is lacking in history, literature and science. I would like to start supplementing in these areas, but honestly they are not issues that I'm strong either. I don't know where or how to start. Do you have any resources you can share?

Does anyone have any resources they can share to help supplement these subjects? I know I should hit the library, but what resources there should be I utilizing?

[Anonymous]

Yes, I'd like some idea on supplementing. I never had this growing up, so some pointers would be helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been researching with the same concern. We have started our oldest in private and they have siblings coming behind them once old enough. We are in PG. We adore the private so far and it is a community of very successful upper middle class peers and their children...many who are also AA. The students are testing highly and are moving on to many of the big name privates in this area. The school has high standards and so do the parents. It has been the best choice for us. By the time our oldest is in 5th, we plan to move so that a good public middle and high school will be an option. We are looking in VA and like you the overall great schools ranking don't mean much to me. I look at how AA children are performing. Virginia's school website breaks this data down and makes it easy to eliminate many schools from consideration. I looked at where do they have at least 5% of the pop. that look like my kid and I look at the AA test scores. Marshall and West Springfield "won". Woodson with an honorable mention but had almost half the AA population of the other two. Those clusters are where we plan to focus our search when we move....until the. We are very pleased with private school....and might continue to be all the way through 12th. We are either going to pay 3 to 3.5 times more for our next home in these districts and hope these schools will be the best fit or stay put and spend the money on private.

May I ask what private schools is this? Have you looked at middle schools in PG? Samuel Ogle in Bowie is an 8 out 10 on Great Schools.com and the black students do well. Also PG has very good charter middle school programs like College Park Academy, and the CMIT schools that produce very good minority results

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP, I live in PG and have a child in a NW DC independent school. I agree that you should look into private independent schools. The black children at our school are all from well educated families that are commited to their children's academic success. Since this is the norm, no one has any of the negative expectations that unfairly get projected onto minority children in the public school system. Especially if you have a son, it is worth the investment.

You didn't look at any schools in PG county? As someone who went through the school system I never suffered from "low expectations" The school system itself is Majority black so I feel that issue would be mute in PG county. Most of the kids in the TAG or AP courses were African American

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing to consider is really what tests are telling us:

They are not really IQ tests, they are cultural knowledge tests. They are supposed to be neutral, but I personally don't think that they can be. One of the issues I have seen is that schools that are very focused on progressive education, focus less on content knowledge and more projects feel good reading assignments. These practices are pretty common in this area, I think it often puts kids at a disadvantage especially of lower SES opportunity and sometimes minority students. Different stories and emphasis within our cultural frameworks. Lisa Deplit's article, The Silenced Dialogue is an interesting read http://faculty.washington.edu/rikitiki/tcxg464sp08/Silenced%20Dialogue%20by%20L%20Delpit.pdf

Personally for me, I seek to make sure my children are receiving at school and home a deep base of knowledge in history, science, literature and math. It is the only way I can enable them to engage the wider culture.

For the poster of this (hopefully you will see this request), how do you do this? I am the mother of a AA 6th grade girl. She attends a catholic school in Bethesda that I really think is lacking in history, literature and science. I would like to start supplementing in these areas, but honestly they are not issues that I'm strong either. I don't know where or how to start. Do you have any resources you can share?

Does anyone have any resources they can share to help supplement these subjects? I know I should hit the library, but what resources there should be I utilizing?

Science & math camps, also special programs within the library system, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP, I live in PG and have a child in a NW DC independent school. I agree that you should look into private independent schools. The black children at our school are all from well educated families that are commited to their children's academic success. Since this is the norm, no one has any of the negative expectations that unfairly get projected onto minority children in the public school system. Especially if you have a son, it is worth the investment.

You didn't look at any schools in PG county? As someone who went through the school system I never suffered from "low expectations" The school system itself is Majority black so I feel that issue would be mute in PG county. Most of the kids in the TAG or AP courses were African American

My child is in public in PG County and I love the school. I love that he sees dads that look like his picking up their kids every day. I love that the kid he says is the 'smartest' (whatever that means in first grade) is black and that the principal is also. That said, the only public middle school I might send him too (absent the lottery which I can't count on) is Samuel Ogle. Hoping that remains a good school in a few years.

[Anonymous]

To OP and others that are considering DC public schools, Shepherd Elementary in NW DC is a great choice, IMO. It is majority black, although that is changing a bit in the lower grades (which is fine with me--I'm black but I like the idea of my child being exposed to kids from different ethnic backgrounds). The test scores are quite impressive considering--I think last year reading was 73% proficient, and math was 76%. These are not WOTP school scores, which tend to be in the 80s and 90s, but actually pretty decent given that the school is 32% FARMS. It is a pretty popular school for black doctors, lawyers, etc.--actually, we are an MD/PhD couple and we've been quite happy with Shepherd and don't feel out of place at all; this is our first year there. The International Baccalaureate program is great, and our child gets French 3-4x/week. This year, PK3 was all in-boundary and there was even an in-boundary waitlist, so the school is getting even more popular.

For any PPs considering DC schools and looking for a school of choice for middle/upper middle SES black families, Shepherd should definitely be one possibility, particularly in the lower grades, where there is more buy-in from the neighborhood. There are other DC schools where I know high SES black families, although they are mostly charters--LAMB, Inspired Teaching, Creative Minds, etc.--and these are exceedingly difficult to get into.

[Anonymous]

I looked up Churchill Road which I consider to be a pretty wealthy school and saw a mix of grades for the black kids. In 1st, all the African American kids were above grade level in reading. In second, some were below and some were at the end of grade level. All this means is that each child is different and public school may or may not be right for your child. We know many very successful black people and children and find the children to be very welcoming to all races. I think the issues with grades of black students are more socioeconomic or cultural than anything to do with race.

http://schoolprofiles.fcps.edu/schlprfl/f?p=108:15:0:::0_CURRENT_SCHOOL_ID:026

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To OP and others that are considering DC public schools, Shepherd Elementary in NW DC is a great choice, IMO. It is majority black, although that is changing a bit in the lower grades (which is fine with me--I'm black but I like the idea of my child being exposed to kids from different ethnic backgrounds). The test scores are quite impressive considering--I think last year reading was 73% proficient, and math was 76%. These are not WOTP school scores, which tend to be in the 80s and 90s, but actually pretty decent given that the school is 32% FARMS. It is a pretty popular school for black doctors, lawyers, etc.--actually, we are an MD/PhD couple and we've been quite happy with Shepherd and don't feel out of place at all; this is our first year there. The International Baccalaureate program is great, and our child gets French 3-4x/week. This year, PK3 was all in-boundary and there was even an in-boundary waitlist, so the school is getting even more popular.

For any PPs considering DC schools and looking for a school of choice for middle/upper middle SES black families, Shepherd should definitely be one possibility, particularly in the lower grades, where there is more buy-in from the neighborhood. There are other DC schools where I know high SES black families, although they are mostly charters--LAMB, Inspired Teaching, Creative Minds, etc.--and these are exceedingly difficult to get into.

I know this is an old thread, but the topic is sadly still relevant.
To the PP, are you planning to send your kids to Deal and Wilson?

[Anonymous]

Great question OP...we are in a similar position. AA family, 2 small kids and will purchase in 2018/2019. We are currently renting in upper MoCo and are happy with the school that our eldest attends (1st grade), but our intention is to move closer to the city. We will move before our youngest starts kindy, but I too have been researching schools, FARMS %, test scores. We are both Engineers, upper middle class SES and we just want to make sure we give our kids the best opportunities. My spouse is from this area, but he went to private schools. We will likely choose private for High School, but our hope is to find solid public elementary/middle schools until then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To OP and others that are considering DC public schools, Shepherd Elementary in NW DC is a great choice, IMO. It is majority black, although that is changing a bit in the lower grades (which is fine with me--I'm black but I like the idea of my child being exposed to kids from different ethnic backgrounds). The test scores are quite impressive considering--I think last year reading was 73% proficient, and math was 76%. These are not WOTP school scores, which tend to be in the 80s and 90s, but actually pretty decent given that the school is 32% FARMS. It is a pretty popular school for black doctors, lawyers, etc.--actually, we are an MD/PhD couple and we've been quite happy with Shepherd and don't feel out of place at all; this is our first year there. The International Baccalaureate program is great, and our child gets French 3-4x/week. This year, PK3 was all in-boundary and there was even an in-boundary waitlist, so the school is getting even more popular.

For any PPs considering DC schools and looking for a school of choice for middle/upper middle SES black families, Shepherd should definitely be one possibility, particularly in the lower grades, where there is more buy-in from the neighborhood. There are other DC schools where I know high SES black families, although they are mostly charters--LAMB, Inspired Teaching, Creative Minds, etc.--and these are exceedingly difficult to get into.

I know this is an old thread, but the topic is sadly still relevant.
To the PP, are you planning to send your kids to Deal and Wilson?

PP here. We are so many years away from middle and high school that it's hard to say. If we are still in the area, we'll have to look at our child's needs as well as really investigate the quality of education and the learning environment at both schools when it's time. I'm a bit spooked by recent stories of gang activity, violence, etc. at Wilson, but it could be a whole different landscape a decade from now. Also, some kids are distracted by that stuff and at risk for getting into the wrong peer group, whereas others are really focused and are able to thrive despite those influences--we will have to see which of these best describes our kid when it's time. My husband did private school all the way through and wants us to also consider private for high school, so we also have that possibility in the mix.

[Anonymous]

YOU make the difference in your kids academic success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for the helpful responses. Seriously. I didn't really think about private school seriously but I may have to consider this option (and choose a cheaper place) if there isn't some sort of way to address the disparity.

Also -- pp do you know what MoCo school that was? I will add it to my house hunting list.

Why would a private school have a different outcome than an upper ses public?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing to consider is really what tests are telling us:

They are not really IQ tests, they are cultural knowledge tests. They are supposed to be neutral, but I personally don't think that they can be. One of the issues I have seen is that schools that are very focused on progressive education, focus less on content knowledge and more projects feel good reading assignments. These practices are pretty common in this area, I think it often puts kids at a disadvantage especially of lower SES opportunity and sometimes minority students. Different stories and emphasis within our cultural frameworks. Lisa Deplit's article, The Silenced Dialogue is an interesting read http://faculty.washington.edu/rikitiki/tcxg464sp08/Silenced%20Dialogue%20by%20L%20Delpit.pdf

Personally for me, I seek to make sure my children are receiving at school and home a deep base of knowledge in history, science, literature and math. It is the only way I can enable them to engage the wider culture.

For the poster of this (hopefully you will see this request), how do you do this? I am the mother of a AA 6th grade girl. She attends a catholic school in Bethesda that I really think is lacking in history, literature and science. I would like to start supplementing in these areas, but honestly they are not issues that I'm strong either. I don't know where or how to start. Do you have any resources you can share?

Does anyone have any resources they can share to help supplement these subjects? I know I should hit the library, but what resources there should be I utilizing?

Not the pp but try the series of books what your xyz grader should know. Or show them brainpop videos in social studies and science. I have my kids watch these videos daily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, for different reasons we did decide to "directly invest" in my kid by sending him to private, rather than routing that investment through a house, which then bought a specific school pyramid. We were worried more about the kind of atmosphere and discipline in our local school (high % latino, AA, and poor, with poor test outcomes across categories) than with performance - our local school suspends elementary school kids and has a sort of law and order, toe the line atmosphere we didn't want for our kid. So he's at private. And from what I can see, there is no racial disparity in performance in my kid's private school. But you'd never know for sure if there was, would you? Its not like privates publish test scores by race and income. Good luck, OP!

I agree. We send our black sons to top private schools because the expectations and educational opportunities are greater. These schools are not perfect, but they have provided our children with amazing educations and black peers,which they did not have in the highly gifted programs at public. Also I don't think it is likely that the police will enter these campuses and harass black students for no reason at all. When my child went to public school this happened frequently when he was walking home from school or he was targeted by other kids because he was serious about his studies.