Reply to Basis fills a gap that shouldn’t exist.

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]But PPs who are Basis parents compare it to their regular public school growing up. It can’t be so very difficult that no kid coming in via the lottery could handle it. It’s too bad no one even gets the chance. [/quote]

Really, it's the math.  Basis 7th graders take Algebra.  Basis 9th graders take pre-calc, etc.  If a kid is trying to enter in 7th, and they were already on a track to take Algebra in 7th, they would be fine at Basis.  A lot of kids in DC are on that track and would be fine.  A lot aren't, and entering Basis would entail completely skipping pre-algebra and then likely failing Algebra because they weren't ready.  Almost all of the kids who are academic wash-outs from Basis either entered in 5th with extremely shaky math foundations, or needed a slower pace of math instruction and were not going to be ready for Algebra in 7th anywhere.

Not only is basis prohibited from using any admissions tests in the upper grades, but also they're not allowed to admit or not based on transcripts from previous schools.  So they can't even set "passing pre-algebra in a previous school" as a criterion for 7th grade entry.  Since Basis can't do anything at all to ensure that the kid would have a reasonable shot of succeeding at Basis, they don't admit in the higher grades.  Take it up with DC politicians if you disagree with the laws governing charter schools.  [/quote]

No one should have to roll the dice like this. If you get into BASIS in 5th, the school should have to teach to your level. Which means if a kid needs a slower pace of math, the school should offer it. Think how damaging that could be to a perfectly bright kid who enters BASIS with the right foundations but simply cannot keep up with the pace, is then told that rather than just moving to a slower paced math track, they must repeat the same higher paced math, and that the math acceleration will never let up while they are at the school so it's sink or swim.

To say "oh well that 10/11 year old couldn't hack it, tough luck kid" is an unserious attitude that does not belong in public education. We're not even talking about a kid with a learning disorder or other disability (though BASIS wants nothing to do with those kids unless they can medicate the issues away so they don't impact the BASIS approach to education in any way). We're talking about a kid who may be perfectly intelligent, on grade level in math coming into BASIS, but simply not able to keep up with the accelerated pathway. And we are acting like it's fine for the school to chew up that kid and spit them back out (no consideration to the impact that could have on that child's confidence academically moving forward, a child who isn't even in 6th grade yet).

That's messed up. BASIS is not an applications school but they act like they are, and that's the problem. If you want an application school, get DC to change the rules to permit a charter to be application only. But the current situation serves a tiny number of students *at the expense* of other students. That is not in keeping with the goals of the system.[/quote]

Please save your outrage to the vast majority of school in DC, which don't meet the needs of advanced students.

As in 20 out of the 25 public middle schools would be completely deficient and inappropriate for a student who needs advanced math. Thos kid would get it in the suburbs, or Deal/Hardy/BASIS/Latin/DCI but not in the MAJORITY of public middle schools in DC.

That's the failure of our system, and the point of this thread. [/quote]

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