Reply to Walls admissions article in the Post

Forum Index » DC Public and Public Charter Schools

Reply to "Walls admissions article in the Post"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]DCUM won’t like my post, but I am a teacher who does the interviews. I’m not defending two questions or three minutes or whatever, but I can tell you that after 10 years of being at the school, it is possible to see within ten minutes who is a good fit. Parent interview portion does not factor into the score except to help students who appear to have strong family support. However, with gpa inflation the past two years due to WS plus the ban on getting parcc scores plus random charter schools who have weird report cards, it is very difficult to assess candidates, honestly.

I would support an application ranking system with no interview, just lottery of qualified students. I hate interview days and would rather be teaching.[/quote]

Thanks.  What written records are available?  What kind of information could we get with a FOIA request?[/quote]

This was posted earlier.  Basically:

Keep your request simple. Ask for all "records" that contain:
- the formal process by which Walls candidates were ranked
- all guidance for interviewers on how questions they were to ask and how they were to rate candidates
- all records that provides training for interviewers 
- all records that provides the weighting for interviews vs GPA and how candidates are ranked in the event of a tie.
 Also ask for an example of the interview matrix or rubric that is used for each interview.

There are some exceptions for what has to be disclosed but this is the type of information that has to be released because it's of public interest. If it exists, they will have to provide it. It is likely it doesn't exist and it will show it was capricious.[/quote]

Thanks, but I asking the SWW teacher who is part of the process, not you.[/quote]

That's not how publicly disclosable information works.  This is why FOIA exists :roll: [/quote]

Huh?  You must be new to DCUM.  This is an anonymous blog where people disclose information all the time.

Feel free to file your FOIA request and pay applicable fees to DC for searching, reviewing, and reproducing records.

:roll: [/quote]

Feel free to ignore the previous poster who, for some reason, is opposed to the public getting information on Walls selection process.  The facts are:

1. There is no fee to file a FOIA request.
2. There is usually no fee for the first two hours of research or the first 100 pages of records...
3. If there is going to be a fee, you will be notified and you can narrow your search BUT you can request a waiver if the request is in the public interest ( (which this most definitely is).
[b]"Under the FOIA, fee waivers are limited to situations in which a requester can show that the disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations and activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester."[/b][/quote]

Free free to ignore this poster who is citing to federal FOIA law, which applies only to federal agencies.

This is governed by § 2–532 of the DC Code.  The relevant section states:

(b) A public body may establish and collect fees not to exceed the actual cost of searching for, reviewing, redacting, and making copies of records. Documents may be furnished without charge or at a reduced charge where a public body determines that waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public interest because furnishing the information can be considered as primarily benefiting the general public.

In other words, the DCPS will determine if your request is primarily benefitting the general public and, if so, will then determine whether the documents will be furnished free or at a reduced charge.[/quote]

Clearly, the fact that Larla was denied a spot at Walls after attaining a 4.0 GPA at Deal and acing her interview is a manifest injustice.  Solving the mystery of her denial will greatly benefit the general public.[/quote]

NP:  No need to be a jerk.  Maybe there will be a printing fee, maybe not.  Either way, it’s in everyone’s interest if what’s *supposed* to be a crown jewel of the system is not a piece of crap joke.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics