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[quote=Anonymous]The main reason so many high SES families bail from both DCPS and DC Charter schools around 3rd grade is that in-class differentiation, laudable as the concept is, only works well when, 1) very favorable teacher:instruction ratios are in the mix, 2) the in-class achievement gap isn't a chasm, and, 3) almost all the students consistently behave pretty well.   Thus, you don't find fertile ground for in-class differentiation in most public schools in DC.

What happens is that the schools with the least need to improve their ratios (because PTAs raise money to pay for teachers aides past K), and with the narrowest in-class achievement gaps, are best able, and most willing, differentiate aggressively.  The arrangement stinks city wide.

The achievement gap kicks in so very young in gentrifying neighborhoods.  I thought about this while chaperoning a K class field trip to the US Botanical Gardens model trains exhibit.  While my high SES charges ran around pointing at building replicas in the exhibit, shouting out names (White House! Supreme Court! Washington Monument! Lincoln Memorial!), my bright, eager low SES charges didn't seem to have a clue.  They appeared to have no idea which building replicas we were looking at.

We're not talking about an achievement gap; we're contending with an achievement Grand Canyon.

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