Application Middle School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

+1 There is no foresight at all by DCPS. Elementary school students can't leap from basic math/english to AP HS without going through a academically challenging program in MS. It's ludicrous. It's no wonder that so many kids are failing.

They are working backwards (which makes little sense). It easier for them to create these programs in HS.

1) Jay Matthews/The Post put pressure on them to offer AP classes everywhere, so they do it.
2) It's AP, so it is easier set up "off the shelf" and staff the classes.
3) There are more kids in a building to make it financially feasible. A good chunk of the middle school students are still at ECs, where separate classes are harder to set up when there are only a handful of kids in each grade.

Hopefully when all of the new middle schools come online, they will have this program aligned properly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

+1 There is no foresight at all by DCPS. Elementary school students can't leap from basic math/english to AP HS without going through a academically challenging program in MS. It's ludicrous. It's no wonder that so many kids are failing.

They are working backwards (which makes little sense). It easier for them to create these programs in HS.

1) Jay Matthews/The Post put pressure on them to offer AP classes everywhere, so they do it.
2) It's AP, so it is easier set up "off the shelf" and staff the classes.
3) There are more kids in a building to make it financially feasible. A good chunk of the middle school students are still at ECs, where separate classes are harder to set up when there are only a handful of kids in each grade.

Hopefully when all of the new middle schools come online, they will have this program aligned properly.

as to 1), there have been numerous stories about AP being poorly managed at many DC HS and the enrollment process chaotic. In some cases students have been enrolled in AP only because it works for scheduling with no consideration of interest, motivation, or ability required to succeed.

That wouldn't instill confidence for MS either, but at least it's a chance to consistently fail instead the scattershot approach in place now.