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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]For high school, you can look at average SAT score.

For example, B-CC is in wealthy Montgomery County, MD and has an average SAT score of 1203, and Wakefield in Arlington, one of the wealthiest areas in Virginia, has an average SAT score of 1230.

In contrast, BASIS DC has an average SAT score of 1340.

You simply can't generalize that every suburban school is better than every DC public school.[/quote]

It's important to understand, though, that unlike virtually every other public school in the region, BASIS is allowed to engage in an "up or out" system where kids will not advance in grade if they don't pass an test at the end of the prior year. They don't technically kick people out, but generally when faced with potentially having to repeat an entire course at BASIS, families voluntarily move their kids. And since BASIS is not required to backfill the vacated spots, what you wind up with is high school classes filled with very strong test takers.

No other school can do that. B-CC and Wakefield cannot just kick in boundary students out for failing to pass a test, and they have to be accountable to families within their boundaries who will complain or freak out if their kid isn't passed up to the next grade or is asked to repeat Geometry or something.

BASIS has found a way out of being a true lottery school and essentially back their way into being a magnet school for kids who are very strong in math and have excellent test taking skills. Yes, the school also emphasizes these skill sets, but since kids who don't already have strengths in this area are penalized by the school, they generally opt out on their own.

I agree you can't generalize but you need to understand the differences in these schools. There are kids at Wakefield, B-CC, JR, and dozens of other schools in this area who outperform BASIS students on both standardized tests and college admissions. But they go to school with kids who don't. That's the only difference. BASIS gets rid of the students who score very poorly on standardized tests long before they take the SAT. Of course their average is higher.[/quote]

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