Reply to What would an at-risk preference do? New MSDC research paper out

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Reply to "What would an at-risk preference do? New MSDC research paper out"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is all really wonky stuff.  I would say after working at one of the worst performing elementary schools in the District that the children with motivated parents and capable children were participating in the lottery.  There are buses that idled in the morning in front of my school taking children to J.O Wilson across the river.

[b]The ones that aren't participating in the lottery process are truly at-risk families that would not be able to access a school in a different community anyways.[/b]  Thinking back to my Pre-K classroom - there was a father of 6 that was interviewing for shift-work.  How is he going to have the time to travel across town picking up his kids and pay for himself to commute back and forth.   I had a student that was taken into the foster system away from their parents.  The foster family brought her daily from MD because the child was having such severe behavior problems being taken out of her community and away from cousins and friends.  Children in kinder and first grade were regularily getting their siblings in pre-k to school because the parents weren't at home.

How is taking at-risk funding away from these schools and communities going to address the conditions as to why these families and students are at-risk.

Educationally at-risk students might be behind 3 or 4 years in reading and math levels.  No matter how great or rich your school is - they are not going to snap their fingers and get results.  Children need to be met where they are emotionally and educationally and stop all this non-sense high-stake testing of students that can barely read themselves.  I was in on meeting where administrators said not to focus on the lowest achievers because they would not ever be able to contribute to showing growth in the averages.

I think stregthening neighborhood schools would stregthen the communities.  Schools can be a powerful community instutitions.

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Thank you for your actually well informed response which no one seems to have read. This idea is not going to work for the families who need it most. And, would take away some of the extra funding for at-risk students. That said, I'm all for making it easier for those you mention who already do the lottery to have some type of priority. It's just that putting them above IB PK preference isn't super useful. And wouldn't affect charter access at all.
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This whole thread is ridiculous. Posters who have strongly held views on social-engineering theories but not much thinking about implementation or reality. It's just a lot of hot air.[/quote]

I'm the 100% poster and grew up in a Boston suburb with a court-mandated Metco population. I've also sent my kids to Watkins and SH with relatively large at-risk proportions (kids went on to Walls). I have plenty of real skin in the game. [/quote]

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