Reply to Importance of classmates being at grade levels for reading/math

Forum Index » DC Public and Public Charter Schools

Reply to "Importance of classmates being at grade levels for reading/math"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Also a not yet PK parent. It's my understanding that DCPS doesn't have G&T. At what grade level does there become an option for more advanced classes (e.g. honors)? Does that not happen until you get to AP classes in high school? [/quote]

Depends on where you are. You will find more honors tracking at Deal/Hardy than at other middle schools in the city. Honors tracking has actually been a big bone of contention at two of the Hill middles (Stuart Hobson and Jefferson) where there is debate as to whether tracking is actually happening or not. You will become familiar with the phrase "honors for all" which is another way of saying a school doesn't actually track but does (or claims to) offer challenging curriculum.

One reason a lot of families outside the JR triangle try to lottery into BASIS or Latin for middle school is because of dissatisfaction with tracking and honors offerings in DCPS. Latin is not even considered "honors track" (BASIS is generally considered to be more challenging on math in particular, based on very strong test scores), but there is a self-selection there -- families figure that kids who bothered to lottery into Latin are more likely to be academic-focused and getting support at home than kids in DCPS middle schools. I think this is almost certainly true.

At the high school level, JR offers lots of AP classes and honors tracking. Then you have the application schools. But you are not guaranteed a spot at an application high school even if your grades and test scores are very high -- there are too many qualified students and not enough spots. Outside of JR, there are some DCPS that offer AP/IB programming and honors, but their test scores are not very good and many people question whether these schools are actually offering these more advanced tracks when so many students at these schools are testing below, or well below, grade level -- how does Eastern actually offer an IB diploma when there are so few students in the IB program, because how are these students getting an IB class experience with so few peers? Valid questions.

So the question of advanced academic programs in DC go far beyond the districts' opposition to G&T programming (which runs counter to to DCPS's commitment to equity). The poor DCPS offerings past middles school outside of one school triangle tend to drive families with high performing kids (of all races, by the way) out of DCPS because there's just little evidence that these kids will be challenged or have the kinds of opportunities that you would expect a college-track student to have. Some number of families navigate this in the public school system in DC via charters and the application high schools, but not everyone gets lucky with spots at those schools. So you also have a brain drain where many of the district's most academically focused and successful students wind up leaving the system altogether, heading to suburban districts or going into private, by the time they are in middle school.[/quote]

Thanks. Trying to learn this stuff before my kid gets in, but I know I can't predict what my kid will need. At the end of the day, we are kind of playing it by ear. [/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