What’s going on at DCI?

[Anonymous]

Please get a life, the acronyms aren't important. A poorly run school system is. I once thought that we'd be a lot further along by 2019. What's going on at DCI is predictable - mediocrity all over again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has DCI received IBO approval for its high school yet?

Yes, this summer they were authorized to issue the IB Diploma as well as the IB Career Certificate (in IT). 11th grade students are mostly pursuing the IB Diploma, although some will opt for Career Certificate (both will also get them a DC hs diploma).

[Anonymous]

I see the kids at DCI in the S4 bus and they seem like a diverse bunch. I checked out the school Richard Montgomery in MoCo. Is it possible for DCI to import/copy some of their work? It’s demographic may be similar to DCI.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/04201.pdf

https://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/rmhs/ib/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see the kids at DCI in the S4 bus and they seem like a diverse bunch. I checked out the school Richard Montgomery in MoCo. Is it possible for DCI to import/copy some of their work? It’s demographic may be similar to DCI.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/04201.pdf

https://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/rmhs/ib/

See the post from 11:01.

The demographics are not similar: 50% of DCI students qualify for free or reduced meals. At Richard Montgomery it is 19%. DCI also has twice as many students with disabilities.

But most important I don't think DCI's admins think they need to import / copy anyone else's work. They are a Tier 1 charter school and seriously thinking about replicating to accommodate their growing feeder schools.

[Anonymous]

Please don’t make “DCPC” a thing. Cringing every time I read it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please don’t make “DCPC” a thing. Cringing every time I read it

Dude, it's semantics--let go of it! Doesn't matter to the larger thread topic.

[Anonymous]

I didn’t realize DCI has such a high FARMS and SPED rates. Does DCI put out a stats and data analyzed chart every year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t realize DCI has such a high FARMS and SPED rates. Does DCI put out a stats and data analyzed chart every year?

OSSE does for all schools.

Go to learndc.org and search for DCI, then click on the equity report tab. You can break down the population demographically, or by need (% economically disadvantaged, % with IEPs, % of ELLs).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t realize DCI has such a high FARMS and SPED rates. Does DCI put out a stats and data analyzed chart every year?

OSSE does for all schools.

Go to learndc.org and search for DCI, then click on the equity report tab. You can break down the population demographically, or by need (% economically disadvantaged, % with IEPs, % of ELLs).

Are they recent stats? At one point I looked at what OSSE had and the data was pretty out of date.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t realize DCI has such a high FARMS and SPED rates. Does DCI put out a stats and data analyzed chart every year?

OSSE does for all schools.

Go to learndc.org and search for DCI, then click on the equity report tab. You can break down the population demographically, or by need (% economically disadvantaged, % with IEPs, % of ELLs).

Are they recent stats? At one point I looked at what OSSE had and the data was pretty out of date.

2017-18

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t realize DCI has such a high FARMS and SPED rates. Does DCI put out a stats and data analyzed chart every year?

OSSE does for all schools.

Go to learndc.org and search for DCI, then click on the equity report tab. You can break down the population demographically, or by need (% economically disadvantaged, % with IEPs, % of ELLs).

Are they recent stats? At one point I looked at what OSSE had and the data was pretty out of date.

The enrollment audit data spreadsheet has it too, but it's a much less user-friendly format. Look at the "School UPSFF by need tab" https://osse.dc.gov/node/1306796

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:DCI has significantly different demographics from Latin and BASIS which is just plain harder. It is also significantly larger with 804 students (and it's still growing/adding a grade).

It is also a newer school.

From the beginning DCI intended to allow students an option not to pursue an IB diploma (read their charter application). They know a significant portion of their students may not ever attend college, and are supposed to be offering them the IB career diploma and training.

So why not just make DCI a vocational program with a bit of language instruction? Sheesh. We really need more high-performing schools in this city to serve taxpayers, not skim milk IB program BS. DCI can't built a critical mass of strong students without a more serious curriculum, teaching and higher standards.

Theres’s nothing inherently skim milk or not-rigorous about the IB diploma or career track programs. DCI is offering both.

But like all start up schools, it will probably take a few years at full capacity before they hit their stride. The bleeding edge kids (and their parents) are always in for a bumpy ride.

Disagree. We're native Mandarin speakers, fairly new to DC, who were given permission to sit in on the most advanced Chinese class early this year. We visited to help us decide if we'd take our DCI spot. The kids' Chinese didn't impress, and that's putting it mildly. We'd read about poor Chinese skills on DCUM threads but took the posts with a grain of salt. A teacher told us that there are NO students in the MS who speak Chinese at home with native-speaking parents.

As a parent who got a high score on higher level IB diploma Chinese in the 90s, it looked to me like the kids are on track to score low on standard level IB diploma Chinese. We also sat in on an advanced 9th grade math class that didn't impress us. We observed 9th graders at BASIS knocking it out the park in AB and BC calc classes. We saw chaos in hallways and at dismissal. DCPC just can't build a truly rigorous IB diploma program this way. Not even close.

9th graders taking BC calculus would be a huge red flag for me. I teach physics at a well regarded state university, and my experience has been that the majority of kids who fail or are at risk of failing my classes seem to be kids who were rushed through math curricula without really grasping how to use math as a tool to solve problems. We actually have special remedial calculus classes that those kids end up having to take.

OK, but what if the 9th graders taking BC calculus score 5s on the BC calculus AP test? To my knowledge, two BASIS 9th graders did that in the spring. These are the sort of kids who get into MIT eventually. Believe it or not, there are a few such kids in DC public schools these days.

Sure, there are a few. Very, very few. I have a nephew like this. But there are unlikely to be enough kids like this to fill a b/c calc class at 9th grade in the entire DC metro area. What there are far more of are kids who are pushed and pushed and pushed to be able to pass the AP tests who don't sufficiently internalize the material for it to be of practical use to them. I talked recently to a kid whose parents are pushing him into many AP classes early. He scored a 5 of AP world history but didn't know (now, a year later) when (to the decade) the world wars happened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see the kids at DCI in the S4 bus and they seem like a diverse bunch. I checked out the school Richard Montgomery in MoCo. Is it possible for DCI to import/copy some of their work? It’s demographic may be similar to DCI.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/04201.pdf

https://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/rmhs/ib/

Hi fellow S4 rider!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI has significantly different demographics from Latin and BASIS which is just plain harder. It is also significantly larger with 804 students (and it's still growing/adding a grade).

Sure, there are a few. Very, very few. I have a nephew like this. But there are unlikely to be enough kids like this to fill a b/c calc class at 9th grade in the entire DC metro area. What there are far more of are kids who are pushed and pushed and pushed to be able to pass the AP tests who don't sufficiently internalize the material for it to be of practical use to them. I talked recently to a kid whose parents are pushing him into many AP classes early. He scored a 5 of AP world history but didn't know (now, a year later) when (to the decade) the world wars happened.

It's high school and students don't all need to be the same grade to take the same class. So if there are 2 kids who can handle BC calculus in 9th, put them in with the juniors or seniors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see the kids at DCI in the S4 bus and they seem like a diverse bunch. I checked out the school Richard Montgomery in MoCo. Is it possible for DCI to import/copy some of their work? It’s demographic may be similar to DCI.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/04201.pdf

https://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/rmhs/ib/

See the post from 11:01.

The demographics are not similar: 50% of DCI students qualify for free or reduced meals. At Richard Montgomery it is 19%. DCI also has twice as many students with disabilities.

But most important I don't think DCI's admins think they need to import / copy anyone else's work. They are a Tier 1 charter school and seriously thinking about replicating to accommodate their growing feeder schools.

Here you go again. DCI could offer a far more serious IB diploma program even with current demographics. E.g. they could require the middle school students to pass comprehensive exams, as BASIS does. Students who don't pass could be required to repeat a grade to stay in the program. Current IB diploma classes aren't impressive at DCI, particularly at the higher level.