Anonymous wrote:Isn't he busy at Basis now and will stop "representing" Brent?

Anonymous wrote:Isn't he busy at Basis now and will stop "representing" Brent?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[b]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get outside the Brent District and Upper NW and you'll find few PS parents in favor of GT ES ed, or even programs for ES advanced learners going beyond the limiting differentiated learning within the classroom model. Even most Cluster and Maury PTA parents reject them for now.

[/b]

Why is that?

Brent PTA parent here. The Hill is still brimming with white arch liberals who buy into the concept that elitism in schools in the form of programs for advanced learners, beyond mild differentiation in the classroom, is philosophically offensive and unnecessary. Also, they prioritize other PTA projects at schools, like building good libraries and playgrounds, and changing out weak principals and teachers.

The irony is that these folks, not the most practical of people, have a strong tendency to go into reactive mode somewhere between 1st and 3rd grade. They tend to leave the system once they realize that not only are their kids aren't challenged, they're spending a lot of time on test prep/testing from which they don't benefit, and teachers are focued on crowd control, dealing with disruptive low-SES kids (it only takes a handful to monopolize an educator's time/attention). Other, less liberal parents, generally white, don't want the hassle of being accused of racism in asking for special treatment for their advanced learners. The fallout from Brent's push, in 2009-2010, to add middle school grades on a temporary basis brought a flood of criticism in this vein, a draining experience for those of us involved. Many of these parents simply try DCPS from year to year, expecting to hit the wall before middle school, so aren't motivated to lobby for systemic change, yeoman's work in a city where public schools haven't served a large middle-class cohort in decades.

I don't think so. It goes completely against the grain of what I have heard from virtually every Hill parent - virtually every parent from the Hill that I talk to DOES want change, DOES want differentiation, G&T and so on - regardless of race - and in fact, the race issue never even enters the conversation.

Anonymous wrote:I think most Hill families will come to feel pretty comfortable with the middle school options. Of course, it will be a lottery to get into Latin or Basis, or Stuart Hobson if you are not coming from Watkins or aren't in bounds. But all of these are good options and I think it will shake out like the prek/ k application process. Families may be on a wait list initially but will be accepted by one of the 3 schools by the time school starts.

Anonymous wrote:[b]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get outside the Brent District and Upper NW and you'll find few PS parents in favor of GT ES ed, or even programs for ES advanced learners going beyond the limiting differentiated learning within the classroom model. Even most Cluster and Maury PTA parents reject them for now.

[/b]

Why is that?

Brent PTA parent here. The Hill is still brimming with white arch liberals who buy into the concept that elitism in schools in the form of programs for advanced learners, beyond mild differentiation in the classroom, is philosophically offensive and unnecessary. Also, they prioritize other PTA projects at schools, like building good libraries and playgrounds, and changing out weak principals and teachers.

The irony is that these folks, not the most practical of people, have a strong tendency to go into reactive mode somewhere between 1st and 3rd grade. They tend to leave the system once they realize that not only are their kids aren't challenged, they're spending a lot of time on test prep/testing from which they don't benefit, and teachers are focued on crowd control, dealing with disruptive low-SES kids (it only takes a handful to monopolize an educator's time/attention). Other, less liberal parents, generally white, don't want the hassle of being accused of racism in asking for special treatment for their advanced learners. The fallout from Brent's push, in 2009-2010, to add middle school grades on a temporary basis brought a flood of criticism in this vein, a draining experience for those of us involved. Many of these parents simply try DCPS from year to year, expecting to hit the wall before middle school, so aren't motivated to lobby for systemic change, yeoman's work in a city where public schools haven't served a large middle-class cohort in decades.

Anonymous wrote:What part of the Ward Six Middle School Reform Plan went beyond differentiated instruction (other than a general plan for math that has yet to be implemented)?

Anonymous wrote:Tyler SI is essentially a G/T program by another name. Brent is merely ahead of the curve.

Anonymous wrote:Brent PTA parent here. The Hill is still brimming with white arch liberals who buy into the concept that elitism in schools in the form of programs for advanced learners, beyond mild differentiation in the classroom, is philosophically offensive and unnecessary. Also, they prioritize other PTA projects at schools, like building good libraries and playgrounds, and changing out weak principals and teachers.

Anonymous wrote:Wow -- arch white liberal here who thinks that's a total crock of something. Again -- Brent is more or less in the same boat as Watkins, Tyler SI, Maury, all of which are retaining more IB families who are engaged in their schools, demanding the schools to meet their kids' academic needs, and mostly worry about scoring prized charter MS spots as their kids near the age-out stage.