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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Listen all of you. At the macro level, myself and all my wealthy colleagues who choose to benevolently send our kids to DC public schools will stop if we come to understand this town won’t do jack sht beyond “restorative justice” and other methods of watering down discipline for solve fights when actual, tangible punishment is needed.

Beyond ending ap classes and lowering standards out of “equity”, and social engineering, you might see a mass migration to private schools. You think I am kidding? Stop fking around with your Uber liberal lax on everything policies or you will see a massive decline in school quality when all the children raised in good homes leave. The only reason scores went up across the board over the last few years is because of wealthy people who took a chance. These last few years are full of idiotic policies to make classes easier or to allow bullying to continue.[/quote]

Wow. I actually agree that DC and DCPS need to be less lenient on behavior issues and crime, but you didn't do anything out of benevolence. You did whatever you thought was best for your own family, including financially. [/quote]

I did. I also did it because I believe in public schools. I don’t believe in overpaid and under qualified government workers and politicians pushing educational polices of questionable efficacy. Many seem detrimental. Ending ap classes. Less of a focus on the right answer. No suspensions. Restorative justice or hugs from an abuser to someone being abused. Passing kids just so the school doesn’t look bad. I am writing very plainly because really all the new jargon and euphemisms from people like Ibrahim x. Kendi, meant to push policies like restorative justice over traditional discipline are gaining traction. The disproportionate impact of racism in schools in indeed terrible, but when you water down education and discipline policies to try and counter that all you’re doing is instituting feel good hip social justice warrior stuff that really may not be of any help. My kids are going where they can learn, with motivated peers, and school administrators who are treated and treat others fairly. I don’t care if you label that tough or racist or whatever. It’s not. I want diversity at all schools everywhere. I just don’t want questionable policies that result in poor grades and bullying. Do you understand?[/quote]

PP you're responding to here and I actually agree with the premise of what you're saying, but you're coming across as less than civil. But yes, DCPS is on a downward spiral with our political climate and current DC Council. If this trajectory isn't corrected, then DCPS will be set back decades and this will have terrible results for DC's poor with increased violence and worse schools abandoned by anyone who can afford to get out of DCPS/DCPCS.[/quote]

I’m responding in the same blunt tone that the far left seems to employ when discussing their new school policies. It’s this “my approach is right and if you differently you’re racist” pandering and condescending message over and over again. You know why Virginia is going to turn red? It’s not because white parents are so scared and racist and don’t want their child to maybe hear about the horrors of slavery and white legacy in facilitating that terror.

They are voting red because the left is increasingly authoritarian in their views. They simply “know best”. Whether it’s on ending ap classes. Or changing race neutral entrance exams to schools like TJ or pushing lax on discipline schools polices like restorative justice to try to bridge a gap. Basically parents are not idiots and can see that liberal policies, while hearts are in the right place, can lead to worse outcomes. You can only water down school rigor and safety so much before parents react. And ready they should. We need capable future engineers, not ones who were pushed to the next grade out of fairness or to make the school pass rate better.[/quote]

So I can't speak for the other PPs pushing back on you but I was the one who talked about the uncomfortable change. I am a 20+ year educator who has a B.A in public policy and an M. ED in Urban Education.  This isn't one parent debating another on what is correct. This is an expert in the field stating why these policies are being put into place and you not liking it. I'm sorry that your child isn't thriving in this new world but many are and we will keep moving forward with or without you.

I couldn't end this without adding on that the point that "wealthy students" are inflating DCPS scores, which is something I totally agree with. I hope we all remember that when people defend Mayoral Control by pointing to improvements in NAEP scores.[/quote]

NP. Who is thriving in this new world utopia? What are the metrics for thriving and where do we see the results?[/quote]

thriving; students of color who had to previously learn under the eye of teachers who practiced implicit or unconscious bias, which exposed them to systemic racism in a "safe" place as early as 3 or 4; students that have impulse control issues and are now being given tools to manage their behaviors (I remind parents at my school of this all the time; just because you don't see the consequence, that does not mean its not happening); students with (and without disabilities) that now have multiple means of expressing themselves in their work (rather than just through testing data).

This is how DCPS is tracking student SEL (Social - Emotional) data. https://www.panoramaed.com/blog/dc-public-schools-success-story 
There are decades of research that connect SEL and Academic progress. If you really don't believe me, or consider pandering, you are welcome to do some research on the topic[/quote]

So....this was all done under mayoral control, yes?[/quote]

I'm glad you accepted my reasoning as valid[/quote]

Social Emotional Learning is not without serious critics, and its boosters frequently make claims about its effectiveness that cannot be proven by the data they cite. You're citing Panorama Ed here -- the for-profit company that school districts hire to do SEL. They are hardly an unbiased scholarly source, so you might want to tone down the sanctimonious scolding of parents.

Here's another take on SEL: https://kappanonline.org/another-education-war-social-emotional-learning-debates-zhao/

And another: https://www.aei.org/social-and-emotional-learning/

SEL also doesn't address the indisputable fact that DC's public schools have consistently ranked among the worst in the nation. And DCPS response is often to either pass kids along to graduation (including ones who never even show up to school; remember this story? https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/dc-schools-increasingly-graduating-chronically-absent-students-report-finds/2018/01/16/a1722404-bf01-44bc-a8c7-e9d9e3b3e9df_story.html)  or try to distract by pointing to all the new faddish education programs, like SEL, they are enacting.

[/quote]

Thank you for posting those: the first article was really interesting but basically seemed to state that there is not enough research on SEL one way or another to definitively decide if it is effective or not. 
The second paper seems to include a lot of support for SEL and pathways to correctly implement SEL programs, which I believe my DCPS school is doing. 
This quote, found in article two by the researcher cited in article one was particularly eye - opening: "SEL will be counted a dismal failure if it encourages educators to settle for pillowy paeans to “happiness,” “self-esteem,” and “inclusivity” at the expense of harder things such as character, virtue, civility, and self-discipline."

SEL is in its infancy stages in DCPS yes; but the goal is to build good citizens through development of those "harder things" referenced above.

As far as the graduation scandal - I don't really see the connection to anything we are talking about. SEL didn't even start on our radar in DCPS until 2017-2018 school year when students were given an SEL survey.

Sorry you read me as scolding. Tone is tough online[/quote]

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