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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My theory: more families who like Latin and Basis are staying in places Shaw and Petworth for DCPS elementary, and then trying for Latin/Basis. [/quote]

That’s a huge mistake as competition for seats increases at both schools every year and your chances significantly decreases each passing year.  Odds are not in your favor.

Statistically better to move to the burbs for much better elementary and guaranteed pyramid thru high school because you will be shut out in middle.  It’s a numbers game and that is the reality.

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Very few people are shut out for a good middle school in DC.  Try again with people who know less.[/quote]

Good is relative isn’t it.  My definition of good, not great, is that majority are at least on grade level or higher, so at least 51% getting 4’s and 5’s on PARCC math and ELA. This is not even high standards but very basic.

Guess if your child is performing below grade level, your definition of good may be different [/quote]

I think in practice the opposite is true -- for people who ar confident that their kid will get 4s and 5s no matter what the "average" student is doing, more schools become acceptable.

I think the upper limit is more valuable than the average. If *no one* is getting 5s, that is alarming.[/quote]

You obviously don’t know much because the families with kids getting 5”s at poorly performing schools are all supplementing like hell.[/quote]

Or their kids are just super smart and PARCC isn't that hard.[/quote]

This is hilarious.  Is PP actually saying you can learn advance math by osmosis just because your kid is smart?  That’s definitely not how it works with my kid who always score 95-98% in math.  If the overwhelming majority of kids are below grade level and that is where the teacher is teaching, there is no way your kid is going to score a 5 without supplementing.

And why can’t the majority of kids get at least a 4 which is on grade level if PARCC is not hard? [/quote]

Well, my kid score 5 at an otherwise low-scoring school and I don't supplement at home. The teacher makes some time for her. But I don't really have an explanation other than that.[/quote]

In elementary, differentiating to accommodate learners at several levels is possible, because so much of what kids learn is in a small group setting anyway. In MS/HS, this is no longer the case. But in elementary, standard approach is to group kids by level and then tailor small group lessons.

I have a kid who is above grade level in math and ELA, in a school with a lot of kids below grade level. [b]We are always prepared to supplement and sometimes do, [/b]but she'd be challenged even if we didn't. One aspect of this I really appreciate is that often the enrichment for advanced learners is to deepen understanding, not just add skills. So my advanced reader has learned about grammar and etymology in 1st/2nd grade, not merely been handed more challenging texts (but also that). She's been offered opportunities to apply math concepts to science experiments or building small structures, not just given more advanced worksheets.

It helps to have at least 2-3 other kids in class, and you do need your advanced learner to have some ability to be independent, and no real behavioral issues, to get the most out of it. We know by MS we need a bigger cohort of advanced learners-- you aren't going to get a class that differentiates between math levels, especially.[/quote]

In summary, you are supplementing even with small groups [/quote]

We supplement because kid loves learning and think doing a Beast Academy workbook on a long flight is a treat, not because it's the only way to ensure she stays on grade level. But the supplementing isn't in lieu of school, it's ACTUAL supplementing where we are offering more programming outside of school because she has an interest in it and it plays to her strengths.

Do you think kids at highly rated publics or private schools never do Mathnasium or have tutors? Wrong. Parents pay for that stuff MORE at those schools because the culture encourages them to support their kids any way they can. The main difference is that a parent with a kid at a school with lots of kids at or above grade level may supplement to ensure that their kid can keep up, whereas if you are at a school with lots of kids below grade level, your concern is not whether your child can keep pace with all the below-grade-level kids.

But I have found the school does a good job of actually teaching to at and above grade level kids despite knowing there are a lot of kids in need of remedial work at the school. Though another thing I know after being at these schools is that kids like my own, who are at and above grade level and have supportive families, also wind up getting more than their share of resources, including teacher time, in part because they are the ones showing up to school everyday, actually doing assignments, etc. Many of the below grade level kids soak up a lot of administrative and SpEd resources but are not necessarily dominating classrooms. There are reasons they are so far behind, including chronic truancy and tardiness, undiagnosed special needs, and unstable home lives. They tend to spend a lot less time in classroom seats which means that a school with a lot of below grade level kids might still have classrooms where most kids are on or above grade level.[/quote]

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