Reply to Brent to Watkins to Hobson

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The hard truth is that JEfferson IS a bridge too far. At least in its current configuration that envisions a small cohort of Brent graduates meeting a large cohort of Amidon Bowen students. Until Amidon Bowen makes significant progress in preparing its graduates there will never be Brent graduates going there.

DCPS central office doesn't care. They refuse to budge on a different feeder pattern for Brent.  They refuse numerous suggestions that would untie the knot of unproductive middle schools feeder patterns.  A small amount of out of the box thinking here would lead to instant buy-in through middle school and Eastern High School by large numbers of families who currently head charter private or suburbs.

Before Rhee and before Brent Neighbors, no Brent students went on to Jefferson either. They went with a wink and a nod to Hardy. Before that, Jefferson had a principal who implemented a rigid form of tracking that recruited tops students from around the city, gave them a separate advanced curriculum and fed them to Wilson High School.

This feeder pattern Brent to Jefferson has never worked and probably never will.  In not surprised principals are looking for a work-around.

PP can be outraged but the "message" pp worries is being sent is inconsequential in reality.
[/quote]

Last year, 42% of Jefferson students tested proficient in math and 13% scored advanced.  The numbers at Stuart-Hobson were 43% and 11%, respectively.  Not sure how much better Jefferson needs to get than S-H before Brent families start considering it.

There is certainly a difference in reading (the numbers for Jefferson were 38% proficient, 7% advanced, for a total of 45%; at S-H they were 46/15/61).  If you look at the breakdowns by subgroup http://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Compare.aspx?tab=1&school=433,428 the difference is almost entirely based on the difference in demographics.  If Jefferson had 57% FARMS like S-H instead of the current 99%, the kids might have more advantages that help them test high--though most of them are performing on par with S-H already.

Looking at the Median Growth Percentiles on LearnDC is also instructive--S-H's are 35 in math and 54 in reading (DC median is 50 on each).  Jefferson's are 61 and 53, respectively.  Compared to peers at other schools, kids at Jefferson are making basically an equal amount of progress in reading and substantially more progress in math.

So you might prefer the demographics at Stuart-Hobson (more white, fewer Asian kids than Jefferson), or the commute might be better, but the schools are not as different as one might think.  With Jefferson's renovation in a couple years and a very good principal, I think it's a school to watch.  Not every kid is going to move in-bounds for Deal or get into BASIS, Latin, or DCI, or Hardy OOB.  [/quote]

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