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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As the OP of this thread pointed out, times are changing.

Here are the 9th-to-10th grade retention rates for Banneker over the past decade or so, based on OSSE data. (https://osse.dc.gov/enrollment)

* Class of 2016, 88/108, 81%
* Class of 2017, 114/142, 80%
* Class of 2018, 128/167, 77%
* Class of 2019, 133/155, 86%
* Class of 2020, 115/135, 85%
* Class of 2021, 125/142, 88%
* Class of 2022, 135/151, 89%
* Class of 2023, 157/187, 89%
* Class of 2024, 139/161, 86%
* Class of 2025, 135/145, 93%
* Class of 2026, 162/168, 96%
* Class of 2027, 232/245, 95%
* Class of 2028, 179/188, 95%

Note the gradual rise from the Classes of 2016-18, when only 4 out of every 5 students returned for sophomore year, to the Classes of 21-23, when nearly 9 in 10 returned, and then the final jump to the current period, when we have 19 out of 20 returning. Old timers who remember “counseling out” as a major feature at Banneker aren’t lying, but they are out of date. Current families aren’t noticing the phenomenon because it isn’t happening anymore.

[i]Some other indications of change at Banneker:[/i]

[u]GPA[/u]. My recollection is that when my student started at Banneker, there was a minimum GPA required to return. I went looking for it and couldn’t find it in the current handbook. But I did find evidence that the average GPA at Banneker is rising. The GPA cutoff for NHS used to be 3.2 (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/m/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=261782&type=d). It’s currently 3.7. For the Class of 2029, it’s going up to 3.9 (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/m/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=382211&type=d) (page 10).

[u]SAT scores[/u]. Banneker is reporting that the average SAT for the Class of 2025 was 1127 (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/ourpages/auto/2025/10/21/27554456/25-26%20Banneker%20Information%20Resources.pdf?rnd=1761072180399), up 20 points from even the 23-24 number reported by DCPS (https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/dcps-data-set-sat).

[b][u]AP scores[/u]. Similarly, Banneker is reporting that the AP pass rate for the 24-25 school year was 70% (https://www.benjaminbanneker.org/ourpages/auto/2025/10/21/27554456/25-26%20Banneker%20Information%20Resources.pdf?rnd=1761072180399), up from the 23-24 figure of 57% (https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/ap-score-data-sets).[/b]

That’s FOUR discrepancies in the data, all tied to the Class of 2025 and subsequent classes: increased retention, increased GPA, increased average SAT score, and increased AP pass rate.

The Class of 2025 was also the first class admitted to high school after Walls dropped the exam. It looks to me like the most banal and predictable result possible: Walls used to use an exam to cherry pick students who are good at taking exams. Take away that exam, and more of those students wind up at Banneker (some because Walls is rejecting a lot of high-scoring students these days, and others because, knowing that Walls now rejects a lot of high-scoring students, they cast a broader net and decide they prefer Banneker). And the result is that the student body at Banneker is performing better on a variety of metrics than it was in the past. [/quote]

Very informative. Thank you for this. That link also lists all the college destinations, which readers might be interested in.

And for a PP  who asked, Walls' AP pass rate was 91 percent for the past two years that DCPS reported.[/quote]

Oof. The DCPS AP pass rate definition is very soft-bigotry-of-low-expectations. Students with at least one pass score over students who did APs. So if you took 7 APs and passed 1, you count in the numerator. Unless I completely misinterpreted it.[/quote]

The other factor, though, is that DC schools often require you to take AP classes and the exam as part of that class, so far more students are taking the exam than in some other states.[/quote]

USNews profiles have the more rigorous stat of % of AP exams taken with a score of 3 or higher. SWW is at 86% and Banneker is 45%. Jackson-Reed is at 56%.[/quote]

Wow that is really low for Banneker.  3 is a low bar too.  It is more informative % of 4 and 5.[/quote]

This is so tiresome. If Banneker is not good enough for your child, then don’t apply and be quiet. The school has been pumping out successful graduates for decades now and does not need a bunch of entitled white parents who think their mere presence of their children improves things. If you feel like a 1450 average SAT is what your kid needs to be around, then best of luck to you with your Walls and Cathedral school apps. [/quote]

Someone cites stats and you rage bait them as an “entitled white parent” ….[/quote]

This.  It helps no one when you don’t acknowledge the data and low standards of DCPS.  One of the best and most selective school in the city has an average SAT of 1100 and less than 50% pass rate of 3 or higher.

I’m sure many of these kids potentially could score much higher and get higher AP scores.  But they can only do so much in 2-3 years to try to make up the large deficit of content knowledge and analysis, even when pushing kids academically at the cost of EC, etc..  It is too late to catch up by high school.  The scores reflect this.

What you need is to identify these kids in elementary, put them in G & T and track them in middle school.  Then go to Banneker and you will see higher stats.
 
[/quote]

That's because no DCPS high school is that selective. Including Walls, which doesn't even have an entrance exam anymore. These schools are selective in the sense you have to apply and not everyone gets in. But they aren't selective in the way TJ is, or the way Stuyvesant is in NYC. They are simply more selective than DCPS's non-application schools at all, which isn't hard because those are boundary schools and not selective at all. Walls and Banneker do not select students based on consistent metrics across the city. Selection is based on grades, teacher recs, and interviews. The process is *designed* to ensure that kids from the poorer parts of the city who are less likely to have high-SES or college grad parents have a shot at getting spots. There is some self-selection (and geographic selection) between Walls and Banneker that leads to Walls having more kids from higher income and more highly educated parents, which leads to a population that tests better. But the schools are not using a system for selection that would lead to populations of very high scoring kids. They could, they choose not to, because it would result in both schools nearly eliminating their at risk populations (and Walls already has a tiny at risk population, again due largely to self-selection and geography because I can guarantee you there is a great deal of effort at Wall in ensuring they are giving spots to at risk kids whenever possible).

If this bothers you, public school in DC is probably not for you. Most DCPS parents are fine with it even when it means the average test scores of their schools are lower than they would be otherwise. If they weren't, the system would be different. The people who are really bothered by it tend to leave the district, for private or for suburbs.[/quote]

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