Reply to How can DCPS improve *all* its schools when Wilson and feeders raise big PTA money for enrichment?

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Reply to "How can DCPS improve *all* its schools when Wilson and feeders raise big PTA money for enrichment?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][b]It really is all about the parents.[/b] Not even the money they raise really impacts outcomes at the school as a whole. My kid attends a title 1 school EoTP, our HH income is over 300k. We just had a teacher conf and she is reading a grade level ahead already, she easily grasps math and Spanish. Why.  She has parent with three advanced degrees who read and write and speak with her. We expose her to travel and museums and interesting experiences. She has never known a day of hunger or housing insecurity. We have never let her play or watch a violent movie or video game. Screen time is limited and monitored. She is living in a safe and healthy bubble compared to a lot of her peers quite frankly. The achievement gap is evident in K and will only get bigger and has nothing to do with the teachers or PTA funding.  [/quote]

That's really an insult to the excellent teachers we've encountered at DCPS.  We're a duel Ivy family with an HHI of 250k, and I have no qualms in attributing my son's academic success to the amazing teachers he has had.  I mean, even if you think your kid is the bees knees, the teachers still do the work of, you know, teaching.  And it's not only academics -- my kid has special needs, and they've just been amazing at working with his weaknesses.  I think you must not even realize what teachers do, because you just assume your kid is self-teaching? [/quote]

NP.  I think that if a teacher reaches a certain minimum threshold of being an adequate, decent teacher, the kids (especially if neurotypical) will do fine and thrive.  They don't have to be amazing.  However, if your kid is significantly behind due to deficits in the early years--parents who experienced trauma, rough neighborhood, parents not reading to kids or any other enrichment, general instability--[b]I don't think even an amazing teacher can catch that kid up.[/b]  For that task, wraparound services are necessary, and there doesn't seem to be the political will to provide this for these kids. [/quote]

that's demonstrably untrue, both in my direct observation of teachers, common sense, and the actual research.  teaching quality can make a huge difference.  is there any other profession where you'd say quality doesn't matter past "adequate," especially for the most challenging cases?

https://www.rand.org/education-and-labor/projects/measuring-teacher-effectiveness/teachers-matter.html[/quote]

PP here and you're right in that teachers have some measurable impact.  I think demographics matter a whole lot more.  From your link:

"Some research suggests that, [b]compared with teachers, individual and family characteristics may have four to eight times the impact on student achievement[/b]."[/quote]

So you unschool your child.  Interesting.

I mean of course, privilege matters.  That's why it's called privilege.  But to say it's "all" parents is just not believable.  [b]I don't believe for a second that DCUM parents would be happy to have crappy teachers and crappy curriculums.[/b]  [/quote]

PP, and I agree.  I didn't say that "crappy" teachers are all that's necessary, I said "decent" teachers.  One can argue how many teachers meet even this minimum threshold at many schools, but I don't think every teachers needs to be some rarefied breed to get good outcomes with children from educated families, and who come to school prepared to learn.  And again, even the rarefied breeds of teachers won't be able to completely make up for impoverished home environments.[/quote]

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