Reply to By the numbers: A dispassioned evaluation of Hardy (compared to Deal and Wilson)

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Reply to "By the numbers: A dispassioned evaluation of Hardy (compared to Deal and Wilson)"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Getting back to the intuition here, my point up thread is, and remains, that across the country and around the world, high-SES families (note use of correct DCUM terminology!) consistently use cohort demographics and cohort academic performance as one of the most important, or the single most important, variable in choosing schools. NOTWITHSTANDING that their high-SES kid will do very well anywhere, they do not want the kid to be surrounded by low performing students.
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Not OP here, but I would say relevant to OPs analysis, is why this is the case.  What is the cost to attending a heavily (but not exclusively) low SES school.

A. The isolation of being 'the only"   But that is not applicable with even 10% high SES.  
B.  General social isolation related to the SES mix.   I think that will vary. Some high SES kids will be better at making friends with low SES kids.  Some high SES kids are teased and bullied by other higher SES kids.   There is a considerable information issue here - both parents not knowing exactly how socialization plays out at Hardy, and them tending to overestimate the social problems their kids will face with low SES, as opposed to other high SES kids.
C.  Serious quality of life issues due to low SES kids behaviors - but again, that will depend on how the school handles it, and there may well be info problems about Hardy on that issue
D.  Low SES kids as a proxy for academic offerings - Assume that high SES kids will enjoy their education better with challenging offerings, independent of test scores. But why use a proxy when you can directly observe the number of challenging academic offerings? 
E.  Attendance at a school with low SES kids as a factor in parents social status (what was earlier hinted at with the "ghetto school uniforms" joke)  May be based on poor information, not by the parents making the choices, but by their peers who are non parents, or who are committed to privates anyway.

So while OP may be wrong that this is purely an information issue, and it does have elements of a PD, I think it is likely that information plays a considerable role, which is why the actual Hardy related content on these threads is so important.  I would say the PD and info issues are interrelated.   Given heterogeneity of preferences on the part of choosers, and moderately imperfect info, and assuming that better info would suggest lower costs to choose Hardy, a small improvement in info could lead to a virtuous cycle and an escape from the PD.

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You're quoting my post. There are many reasons to seek a uniformly high-performing, high-SES student body irrespective of your prediction that your kid will do well anywhere. These include but are not limited to:

1) School is able to put significant resources into enrichment, because no remedial work is needed

2) School can adopt progressive teaching and focus on enriched understanding. No need to teach to the test, which is unnecessary for high-SES students and boring/uninspired

3) Parents can afford a lot of expensive field trips, international trips, elaborate after-school activities, other stuff that is ruled out at Title I schools because it would be impossible to arrange such luxuries while also ensuring equal opportunity to participate

4) Parent volunteering can focus on the joyful aspects of education versus the depressing aspects

5) Kids will make friends with people from successful families

6) Parents will make friends with successful parents

7) Nice schools are often located in nice neighborhoods, lots of trees and low crime (Hardy already satisfies this one)

8) Fewer worries about violence, teen pregnancy, bad behavior in classrooms, etc etc

9) Peer pressure tends toward academic performance or is at least neutral to academic performance, as opposed to anti-academics

10) School day is shorter (here I am referring to, say, Deal vs KIPP, not Deal vs Hardy)

I could go on and on. And there have been millions of words published about this. As I wrote above, I am shocked if there are high-SES people who do not understand this intuitively, even if they cannot express it in a list as I do here.

And I am NOT saying that you are wrong to choose a Title I school for your kid or that great experiences cannot be had at such schools. I am just saying, again, that when rational and informed parents seek high-SES schools, they are not mistaken. Theirs is not the only choice or even the best choice, but it is not the irrational or informationally starved choice that OP makes it out to be.

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