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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Well it depends! If you look at the NAEP scores, the averages for the WoTP schools (by inference, according to their composition as per DCPS stats) are better than the 75th percentile of Mass, which is by far the best school system in the country. The 75th percentile here in DC is as good as the 90th percentile in MA. So, one can't entirely tar the system with the same brush. Now if you were to bring up the gap....well yes DC is perhaps the worst.[/quote]

+1[/quote]

Agreed. And if you sort the scores by white students (an imperfect proxy for middle income and above in DC), DC's are #1 in the country.

To repeat: White kids in DC outscore--by a decent margin--white kids in every state in the country. Why? Because there are virtually no poor white kids in DC; in fact, the majority of white kids in DC are upper-middle income and above. Privileged kids do well pretty much no matter what. (It would be interesting to compare test scores based on income level--that would give a better view into how DCPS compares to other public school systems.)

This a socioeconomic issue that every education system has to grapple with but that is particularly stark in cities like DC, where you have a huge income gap that also happens to fall largely (but obviously not completely) along racial lines. Add to that the fact that DC's high profile attracts reformer types eager to make names for themselves, and you get a volatile system that applies untested quick fixes to schools that most need consistency and long-term investment.

So, yes, DCPS is a great school system for the kids who would do well pretty much anywhere, like my kids--I might even argue that for kids with such a smooth path in life it is character-building to be part of a system that is at times bumpy and unpredictable and arbitrary. But DCPS (like most large urban school systems) fails most kids without those advantages.[/quote]

Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back. :roll:[/quote]

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