Reply to “Basis DC: Want the Peer Group, But Not the Boot Camp?”

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It's not just the sequencing of the math taught at BASIS vis a vis Walls recognition. It's rampant math acceleration for acceleration's sake at BASIS.

Our eldest was a strong math student in a DCPS ES who also did well in 5th and 6th grade math at BASIS yet wasn't quite ready for 7th grade algebra. How were we to know that in 4th grade when we put in for the lottery, or even in the lower grades at BASIS?

Our is a common BASIS story, even among the "appealing peer group," OP.   [/quote]

I really sympathize with the experience you’re describing — and you’re right that it’s a very common BASIS story. But I don’t think the root issue is “acceleration for acceleration’s sake.” The deeper problem is that most DC elementary schools — even the “good” ones — don’t actually prepare kids for algebraic reasoning, even when students are getting top marks.

What looks like strong math performance in 4th or 5th grade (correct answers, fluency with algorithms, good test scores) often masks a lack of conceptual flexibility, number sense, or comfort with abstraction. So when schools like BASIS move into real algebra in 7th (not just pre-algebra dressed up), many kids who seemed ready suddenly hit a wall.

It’s not a BASIS flaw — it’s a system-wide blind spot. And it’s incredibly hard for parents to know that in advance unless they’ve done a lot of deep math exposure at home, or used programs like Beast Academy or AoPS that build algebraic thinking from an early age.

I don’t think BASIS is perfect, but I also don’t think the issue is excessive rigor. I think it’s that most schools don’t prepare families for what true math readiness really means — and BASIS is just one of the few places where that gap becomes visible.

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