Reply to Banneker SAT averages: 494 Math; 502 Reading

Forum Index » DC Public and Public Charter Schools

Reply to "Banneker SAT averages: 494 Math; 502 Reading"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If the kids are really under a great deal of pressure, and the academics truly are first-rate, as pps claim, why average SAT scores lower than Johns Hopkins summer CTY requires of 7th graders and only a handful of white kids?   What's missing from this picture?  I've perused the whole thread and still don't understand.

[/quote]

I really think that it's because Banneker is an application only school, but not a test in school.  Kids come with great GPAs, an essay and teacher recommendations.  That is very different than what is expected on the SAT.  Kids come from NW, SE, SW and NE.  They come with different skill levels, but work really hard.  A lot of the SAT is about exposure.[/quote]

I graduated from there. I agree with this. They take kids who are in the top X% of their class, but considering what schools they're coming from that can mean anything. There were kids there from Jefferson and Deal as well as kids from Sousa and Elliot. They tested us over the summer after we got there to determine which math and foreign language levels we'd take ninth grade. Those of us below level had to go to a Summer program to bring us up to speed.

Then there was also the issue of consistency with quality. There was a good Math teacher and a bad one, a good English teacher and a bad one. By "bad" I'm not being biased. My Algebra II teacher told us on day one that she didn't remember anything about the subject and that she was being forced to teach it by the Dean of Students despite her livid protest. She also told us that she had a kidney transplant and was not going to stress herself out over the course. Midway through the year she took a leave of absence and we had a substitute the rest of the year who knew nothing about Math. Meanwhile, the "good" Algebra II teacher met with students during lunch, they called him at home with questions and he was a walking graphic calculator. It's probably like that at all schools, but I would've expected a school like Banneker to be more discerning with its teaching staff. Not surprisingly, most of the kids in the Math and National Honor Societies were the ones who had the "good" teachers. They did better on the SAT. The rest of us, didn't do as well and brought the school's average down.

Most of us don't complain because we have so many horror stories from other DCPS. Banneker was the first school that I ever went to where I didn't worry about my safety. No drugs, no fighting and there was a heavy emphasis on us being "a Family." We even sing the song "Family" from Dreamgirls at nearly every assembly. It was our unofficial school song. The dress code was heavily enforced for example. They checked your clothes at the door and had sweatpants and shirts waiting for the girls with skirts above the knee, pants that were too tight or shirts that revealed any cleavage whatsoever. Sometimes I think that the better than average scores (compared to the rest of DCPS) is more the result of the environment than anything else. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics