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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Do more research. The average IBD score is down significantly from 20 years ago. The decline is linked to the rapid expansion of IBD in inner city public school systems in the UK and Britain. Struggling urban school systems like DCPS latch on to IBD as bandaid treatment for deep-rooted systemic problems. DCPS has done this at Eastern and Banneker.

The District already has a cohort of public school students who could post average IBD pass points totals well into the 30s, even the low 40s. But DCI and its feeders are not attracting, retaining or cultivating these students. At our feeder, many if not most of the strongest students leave for BASIS, Washington Latin, the burbs or privates.

Acting as a shill for weak school leadership and middling academics only gets you, and the District's immersion language students so far.[/quote]

And you know the members of this cohort?? I assume you are talking about your kid?  My kid goes to DCI, and is brilliant if I say so myself.  As are many of their friends.  I think DCI is doing a pretty good job of " are not attracting, retaining or cultivating these students."
On the other hand, it's not DCI;s job just to teach its most brilliant students.  IB it isn't an exclusive program at DCI, like most other schools with those higher average pass rates. Its mission is to do right by all of its students, including "average" students, english language language learners (many of whom are also brilliant) and special education students, among other differences.  DCI recognizes the benefit of the IB curriculum for all students (not everyone's goal is an ivy league college) and are making a super challenging curriculum available to all students.  Sure, the top students at DCI are getting into ivy league schools and equivalents, but even those who score lower in their IB classes on average are better prepared for college than kids who have been drifting with low expectations and without any specific academic goals in high school, as most average students at most average schools are often left to do.  
If your kid is as brilliant as you assume, he should do well in the IB at DCI and may, like many of this year's seniors, end up in a highly selective school. But you seem to assume that the only way your kid can succeed is by leaving the masses behind.  That's just not the DCI philosophy and it isn't what our family believes either.  If you want your kid to grow up in a bubble of privilege and think that a school whose mission is to help everyone achieve their bestt (i.e., a public school drawing from a socioeconomically diverse population) somehow threatens the success your child deserves, DCI isn't for you.  If you are onboard with the idea that DCI should prepare everyone as best it can for future academic and career success, then it can also be a great place for your gifted/privileged/lucky child.
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From my perspective, the District has gone with two mediocre IB Diploma programs (Banneker, DCI), and one weak one (Eastern), when at least one excellent program with a highly diverse student body could have emerged from the equation.

I'm not motivated to send my kids to an IB World School where the great majority of their classmates are unable/unwilling to earn the Diploma.  I don't consider earning the Diploma with pass points in the mid to high 30s a high bar to clear, at least not for bilingual children like mine who attend Johns Hopkins CTY.

If more than half of the current DCI students seemed to be on track to earn the Diploma, I'd go with DCI.  Never mind.  We're shooting for a school within-a-school IBD program with an average pass points total in the high 30s. Good luck at DCI.  [/quote]

School within a school = bubble.  Your kids may need that, mine can succeed in the DCI setting.[/quote]

Your kids are getting taught less well in an English class with a substantial percentage of kids who are 2 levels behind grade level literacy-wise. Your kid can probably succeed, but their academic experience is not as challenging and, frankly, not as good as it would be if English classes were at least basically tracked in the SH style (i.e., there is a class for kids at at least grade level, even if I agree that "honors" is a misnomer). My kids are not bilingual, we didn't get into an immersion charter and can't possibly support it on our own (my DH & I are not bilingual), [b]but DCI could create a better IB diploma program for mid-to-high achievers without betraying its mission.[/quote][/b]

Agree. According to my kid, there have actually been a number of kids in my child's English classes who are more than 2 grade levels behind. By her estimates, at least half the classmates have been at least 1-2 grade levels behind. When the students do group work, it's not tough to figure that one out.  [/quote]

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