Don't be so sure that the SEM program is not tracking.

In my DCs (very good) experience at Hardy, they had explicit tracking for math - beginning at 6th grade, children are on track in 8th grade to take either basic 8th grade math, algebra, or geometry. (and of course, some kids will fall off track and some get moved up to a faster track).

There is no explicit tracking in other areas, and that's where the SEM classes come in. A group of kids that's good at English gets a special SEM class or project. A group of kids thats good at Social Studies has similar opportunities. The point is that kids that are good at and interested in something get a extras in that area.

The whole thing is made more complicated by the fact that DCPS HQ doesn't want to call it tracking or a Gifted and Talented Program, but don't be fooled - that's what SEM is.

what were the test scores for Hardy, under Pope?

Hardy, under Pope, was essentially one big track for motivated black children. Jefferson, in the 90s, was similar.

Anonymous wrote:I think your analysis of tracking in DC is not complete. There was plenty of tracking done in all black schools as well. With black principals attracting educationally ambitious black families with the promise that their kids would be in a separate and more rigorous program.

I'm sure this is true, but this wasn't the tracking that drew the lawsuits that have scarred and scared DCPS for 40 years.

I think your analysis of tracking in DC is not complete. There was plenty of tracking done in all black schools as well. With black principals attracting educationally ambitious black families with the promise that their kids would be in a separate and more rigorous program.

Anonymous wrote:How does their "enrichment program" differ from tracking or ability grouping???

This is the thing about Enrichment -- it is emphatically not tracking or ability grouping. In fact, based on what I've seen Enrichment is primarily defined by what it isn't: it isn't tracking. This is why it seems that no one can give a coherent answer about Enrichment: other than the fact it isn't tracking, no one knows what it is.

Tracking has a sullied history in DC. After Brown vs. Board of Education, integration was ordered in DC, but white Washington fought it with every with every bureaucratic trick they could muster. One of those tricks was to create tracking, and to put the white kids and black kids into separate tracks. A series of lawsuits in the 60's and 70's found that tracking illegal. You probably could come up with a tracking plan that passes court muster, but the legacy of that time is so painful that tracking remains a political non-starter in DC.

Anonymous wrote:11% IB for 2012-13. Can't find the figures from last year. Is that an increase?

Previous year was 12%. Probably not a statistically significant change.

How does their "enrichment program" differ from tracking or ability grouping???

Anonymous wrote:i thought IB was a high school program. Is there a middle school program as well?

IB here stands for inbound- DCPS have their own boundaries. Hardy has a lot of out of boundary students, not enough IB students(neighborhood kids).

i thought IB was a high school program. Is there a middle school program as well?

11% IB for 2012-13. Can't find the figures from last year. Is that an increase?

It's not a flood, but there is a slowly increasing trickle of IB parents coming to Hardy. Hopefully this trend will continue and become a flood - though even without a ton of IB families there are many, many, great kids and families at Hardy.

I'm an IB parent, and my DC is having a great experience there.

The SEM/Gifted and Talented Program is growing. This year, they added a second teacher, and they seem to have learned some lessons from last year. There are more distinct SEM classes and groups, and the program seems more solid than last year. Previous poster had a point - last year, it was a bit hard to discern what was happening, and there was lots of jargon. This year, the program seems much more concrete.

Principal Pride is a good addition. Stefanus was fine, but seemed to lose energy towards the end of last year. Pride has tons of energy and good ideas. She seems like the right person to keep Hardy moving forward.

We have a few years to go 'til middle school and will consider Hardy since we are IB. With so few IB kids going there, we are not sure what's happening at that school.
Don't know much about the school right now to say for sure.

IB parent. Very few kids from my school went to Hardy this year. There is still the perception that Hardy is academically unambitious.

It's not a G&T program, it's an "enrichment model." I went to several presentations on it and no one could explain what it was, they just threw around buzzwords. They were emphatic that it's not G&T, where kids are separated by ability. In the "enrichment model" everyone is included, although what they're included in I couldn't tell.

With the pilot year of their G&T program and 2 with the new principal behind them, how are (IB) people/parents feeling about Hardy?