Reply to How's basis going so far?

Forum Index » DC Public and Public Charter Schools

Reply to "How's basis going so far?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]And in 7th grade these kids take Critical Thinking!  What a wonderful way to introduce the kind of skills that the writer of the Atlantic Monthly article shows.  Right now they're looking at 'logical fallacies' which I heard about for the first time in graduate school!!!  I too wish I could take these classes my son's taking, and I too 'hung out in the Hardee's parking lot' so to speak, and frittered away my best brain years because high school demanded so little of me.  [/quote]

OK but can you appreciate that there might be a difference between what they take (i.e., the brochure blurb) and what they actually get (i.e., the kid actually in the classroom)? Let's take 5th grade as an example.

First consider the course load. 5th graders take 7/8th grade math, science, classics, geography, latin, and english, plus PE and Art and Music. That is a long day. Now, right off the bat, if any teacher is less than really good in any class (since the material is difficult and taught at a rapid pace) the kid is going to be seriously screwed because guess what, 6th grade builds upon 5th grade. Are BASIS teachers on average very good? yes. Have they hired teachers who are unorganized or seriously deficient or have nervous breakdowns and quit mid year? Absolutely.

Next, consider what must be sacrificed in the 5th grade curriculum to pack in all that content. This last 6 days of instruction in Tucson for example my kid was "taught" Newton's laws of motion 1-3 and about gravity and friction. In reality, she basically had to memorize about 35 flashcards. No experiments, no enrichment activities. She and many of her classmates will survive by bombing the test, getting back to a B on the retake and then cramming in big end of year test prep phase (using teach to the test techniques) to pass the comp. None of this requires an ounce of understanding or deeper thinking about the wonders of science and is basically the formula used for all the other exceedingly academically demanding core classes.

Finally, consider the opportunity cost of the curriculum. "Workaholic" is a term that has been bandied about and I think not without reason. High expectations are an important part of a successful school and a criminal lack in public school systems straining under incompetency and underfunding and all the rest of it. But in my opinion there is a lot more to the life of a 11-18 year old than nose to the textbook, test to test existence. If BASIS DC is not at that point yet it is due to unavoidable realities of a new school. But it is coming.

Are there many pros to BASIS? Absolutely. Does BASIS attract dedicated teachers and awesome families? Yes. Is it the least worst alternative around? Quite possibly. But does the core vision of BASIS as articulated by the Blocks fundamentally disregard the psychological realities and emotional necessities of developing children and miss a great opportunity to set up kids for an optimal undergraduate experience? In my opinion, unfortunately, I think it does. High school is not college for a reason, and its not because 8th graders can't handle calculus.
[/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