Reply to Average GPA at SWW (DC "magnet") is 3.93 unweighted; this is what private kids are up against

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I love how no one on this thread seems to have read the article.

Walls staff, teachers, and staff all realize that the massive grade inflation that occurred at DCPS and especially Walls during the pandemic is a bad thing.  This is going to hurt the school going forward.

Also, note that the current Walls senior class was admitted when Walls had an entrance exam to identify the best candidates for admission.  That entrance exam was scrapped during the pandemic and DCPS has refused to bring it back (in contrast to DC, magnet high schools in NYC, SF, and other cities have an entrance exam).

As a result, the quality of students admitted to Walls has decreased and is getting worse every year.  Indeed, the current Walls admissions criteria (which focuses on identifying a pool of 500 with the highest GPA) just rewards students who have benefitted from the immense recent grade inflation in DCPS.  So, over the next few years and beyond, you can expect to see Walls college admissions go downhill as well.

See here:  https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1125565.page.[/quote]

Most privates have also gotten rid of entrance exams with no indication of bringing them back. Just like SAT requirements in colleges. Your point? Test exams are not always indicative of learning ability? You haven’t learned that yet?[/quote]

Maybe sit this one out since you clearly don't know how Walls admission works.

The entire admissions process at Walls is to pick a pool of the top 500 GPAs, looking at nothing but that number, and then do a short (often 5-10 minute interview).  Obviously, private schools don't do that.  At Walls, there is no information form to fill out, no teacher recommendations, no substantive interviews, and no looking at the rigor of the school you are coming from, the classes you took, the sports you do, or the extracurriculars in which you engage.  In fact, for purposes of GPA, Walls doesn't even distinguish between courses kids take.  An A in PE is treated the same as an A for 7th grade Algebra 2.

This year, the Walls GPA cut-off was 3.87.

Let's say that you were a private school 8th grader and, for whatever reason, you wanted to move to Walls.  If your GPA was 3.85 you would be automatically rejected.  However, a kid at a bad DC school with massive grade inflation with a 3.87 would be eligible and could get in.  There are lots of kids at DCPS schools with below grade-level reading and math who are straight A students.  Previously, with the exam, the private school kid would have been eligible.

No one disputes that grade inflation is out of control in DCPS.  In fact, grade inflation has been made worse given the fact that DCPS ties teacher financial bonuses to student grades, giving teachers even more incentive to inflate grades.

As a result, DCPS kids are overrepresented in the pool of 500 kids considered for Walls, compared to kids from privates, DC charters, and non-DCPS schools.  And, given grade inflation, less stellar DCPS kids are overrepresented in the pool as well.

The result is that Walls is bringing in weaker and weaker classes.  And, ironically--as the Washington Post found--this doesn't even diversify the school; it just makes the selection process more random.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/school-without-walls-admissions-test-diversity/2021/08/27/6959cec2-0293-11ec-a664-4f6de3e17ff0_story.html [/quote]

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