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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]13:37 your post makes no sense.  If a student leaves BASIS and goes to DCPS it is entirely up to DCPS as to what to do with them.  BASIS doesn't dictate which grade for DCPS to place students in.  And DCPS typically does social promotion, as opposed to caring if students actually mastered any of the material or not.

Also, nobody is "forcing" or "threatening" anything at BASIS.  Students should be able to gauge how they are doing long before the comps based on their grades, and based on the precomp - and if they are struggling, then obviously they need to step up their study or consider a different plan.  Even with the comps, if someone fails their comp, they are given some material to work on to bolster their mastery, and are given a second chance before having to repeat.[/quote]

I'm not 13:37, and I agree that it is hard to follow the logic of the post, but allow me to summarize what I think is a legitimate point raised.

BASIS DC has comprehensive exams (comps) at the end of the year.  In order for a, say 6th grader, to be promoted to 7th grade, he/she must pass all of the comps.  Actually, it's OK to fail the math comp for now as BASIS DC will not hold kids back for failing math yet, but failing any of the others is a no-no.

About half way through the year, in February, BASIS DC has pre-comprehensive exams (pre-comps).  These exams are like the comps, but cover only the material introduced up to that point.

If a BASIS DC student fails the pre-comps, absent a major shift in priorities, additional support at school and at home, etc., that student will fail the comps as well.  Thus, every year BASIS DC calls in the families of the kids who have failed the pre-comps, explains the significance of failing the pre-comps, and tries to formulate a plan with the family.

A reasonable response to this meeting on the part of one of these families is to ride out the year to see if their child can improve his game in time for the comps.  If the family does not want their child to repeat the 6th grade, they might assume that they can always switch back to DCPS for 7th grade should their 6th grader fail to earn promotion to the 7th grade.  After all, DCPS does not hold 6th graders back.

Therein lies the trap that DCPS has set:  A BASIS DC 6th grader who aces the DC CAS and learns more that any of the 6th graders in his/her neighborhood DCPS middle school will still have to repeat the 6th at DCPS if he/she fails the 6th grade at BASIS DC.  This is the penalty for having tried out a charter school.  The best move for a risk-averse family whose 6th grader has failed the pre-comps at BASIS DC is to pull their child out of BASIS and enroll him/her at DCPS before the child fails the comps.

Thus, BASIS DC has mid-year attrition -- the type of attrition that garners Washington Post articles and leads to charges of "counseling students out" on DCUM.  Very few people realize that the mid-year attrition at BASIS DC is really a result of DCPS's policy of holding back BASIS DC 6th graders but not its own 6th graders.[/quote]

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