Anonymous wrote:Every one of the top DCI admits are first-generation URM (under represented minorities). Which is GREAT!

But makes these elite admits completely irrelevant to most of us on this site.
If you are white and your kid is at the top of the DCI class they'll be going to Pitt or Wisconsin or similar.

This is an excellent point. IB Diploma point totals in the 20s will mostly work for low-SES, first-generation URMs aiming high in college admissions.

Not the rest of us.

Anonymous wrote:If it's as terrible as you're saying, why are they getting into great colleges with scholarships?

Something not adding up here. I suspect DCI is being held to a standard that just isn't appropriate for DC right now. That of a magnet or private school in another state.

What's not adding up at DCI (and most of the feeders) is weak leadership/management.

What's not adding up from the Mayor's Office is the political for the city to run first-rate language immersion programs. The programs could be run as hybrid DCPS-charters, with lotteries for native speakers like Oyster. Few DCI parents know that DCI tried to include DCPS Spanish immersion program in their feeder pattern a decade back, but DCPS rejected the model.

What's the point of running IB Diploma programs that aren't competitive locally, regionally or internationally when the District already has the students to establish world-class programs? Are we short on students who could score in the 30s and 40s with the right inputs and push? No.

Every one of the top DCI admits are first-generation URM (under represented minorities). Which is GREAT!

But makes these elite admits completely irrelevant to most of us on this site.
If you are white and your kid is at the top of the DCI class they'll be going to Pitt or Wisconsin or similar.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of these assessments are pretty harsh, even by DCUM standards. This is only the second class of graduating seniors in the school's history, and many of them didn't start immersion in lower elementary. (Our feeder school, Mundo Verde, hasn't even been around long enough to have graduating 12th graders.)

DCI has taken a lot of kids in 9th grade who are new to language immersion, likely giving these students a better option than their inbound high school.

For those who started immersion early and are very motivated and talented, they can get IB diplomas and have more foreign language skills than they could ever otherwise get without going to a private school. That's not bad.

The school isn't perfect, but it is a great new-ish option for the city and many of its small class of 2021 graduates appear to have great college options.

We certainly weren't expecting miracles, but 15 seniors earning the Diploma last year? That's not good.

I earned the Diploma in a public school ranked in the bottom third in my state, with a pass score in the high 30s. We had an IBD pass rate of close to 100% for students on the IB track. I only studied my IBD language, French, for 4 years, coming from a working class family where nobody spoke a foreign language.

Something is broken in the DCI feeders and at DCI. Not convinced that time will push average pass point totals into the 30s under the circumstances. Hope I'm wrong.

Exactly. The fact that only a third of the kids that tried for the Diploma were able to get it is what is concerning. A school that can meet students where they are and adequately teach the curriculum should not have a pass rate that low. I absolutely hope they can figure it out and become a high quality program, but the skeptic in me thinks they'll fall into the same patterns as the feeders and other DC public programs - watered down standards and a focus on bringing kids up to the middle to the detriment of kids at the top. And I really get it. When your alternative is MacFarland or Brookland Middle, you have a lot of stake in making it work. I truly hope I'm wrong.

Want good schools with serious language immersion, first-rate IBD programs, and stellar college acceptances? Go private. Go to the burbs.

Even Oyster-Adams isn't too hot. Those schools feed into Wilson, with Honors for All, little in the way of advanced language offerings, and no IBD program.

DCI is just OK. That won't change!

If it's as terrible as you're saying, why are they getting into great colleges with scholarships?

Something not adding up here. I suspect DCI is being held to a standard that just isn't appropriate for DC right now. That of a magnet or private school in another state.

Anonymous wrote:Some of these assessments are pretty harsh, even by DCUM standards. This is only the second class of graduating seniors in the school's history, and many of them didn't start immersion in lower elementary. (Our feeder school, Mundo Verde, hasn't even been around long enough to have graduating 12th graders.)

DCI has taken a lot of kids in 9th grade who are new to language immersion, likely giving these students a better option than their inbound high school.

For those who started immersion early and are very motivated and talented, they can get IB diplomas and have more foreign language skills than they could ever otherwise get without going to a private school. That's not bad.

The school isn't perfect, but it is a great new-ish option for the city and many of its small class of 2021 graduates appear to have great college options.

We certainly weren't expecting miracles, but 15 seniors earning the Diploma last year? That's not good.

I earned the Diploma in a public school ranked in the bottom third in my state, with a pass score in the high 30s. We had an IBD pass rate of close to 100% for students on the IB track. I only studied my IBD language, French, for 4 years, coming from a working class family where nobody spoke a foreign language.

Something is broken in the DCI feeders and at DCI. Not convinced that time will push average pass point totals into the 30s under the circumstances. Hope I'm wrong.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a YuYing parent. Even so, I wasn't too impressed that only 15 DCI seniors (!) earned IB Diploma last year. I also wasn't wowed by how their average points pass total rate was in the 20s (ask admins).

When parents complain that too many DCI students can barely speak target languages they've studied since they were little kids, they're not crazy, they're stating a fact.

The low IBD pass rate and poor speaking skills are linked. This is a curriculum developed in Europe and Canada, where immersion is mostly taken more seriously than in this city.

8:45 here. I agree with both of these points. They're not popular in DC, but it's not crazy to expect higher standards from these programs. There are clearly very smart kids from all over the city that don't appear on paper to be challenged to perform to the best of their abilities. Getting an IB Diploma is great, but barely passing with the minimum score that is significantly below the average for the IB program is not wonderful. And achieving intermediate language skills after a decade of study in an immersion program is also not particularly noteworthy. I wish DC parents would demand better, but the win-lose nature of the lottery makes it very hard to look critically at your own school and be able to meaningfully lobby for change. That's DC for you, for better or worse.

+1000. As long as most families in immersion are primarily motivated to enroll by push factors--weak in-boundary schools--and there aren't lotteries for native speakers, where's the momentum for change going to come from? DCI feeder students get passed up the chain with good grades for speaking a language, since it's seen as unfair to punish those whose families can't afford to supplement, meaning that there's no wake-up call on lagging language skills.

If you disagree that parents are drawn to DCI feeders and DCI more by pull than push factors, ask yourself why so few Upper NW parents go for immersion. You could also ask yourself why hardly any native speakers of Chinese and French who raise their kids bilingual bother with Stokes and YY, or stay long if they get spots and enroll. Stakeholders don't seem to be asking these important questions. No need to bother because wait lists are long.

Average school IBD pass point totals internationally are in the 30s, while the several DC public IBD programs post scores in the 20s (Eastern, Banneker, DCI). Yet our ed leaders present these programs as first-rate. It's bunk.

Some of these assessments are pretty harsh, even by DCUM standards. This is only the second class of graduating seniors in the school's history, and many of them didn't start immersion in lower elementary. (Our feeder school, Mundo Verde, hasn't even been around long enough to have graduating 12th graders.)

DCI has taken a lot of kids in 9th grade who are new to language immersion, likely giving these students a better option than their inbound high school.

For those who started immersion early and are very motivated and talented, they can get IB diplomas and have more foreign language skills than they could ever otherwise get without going to a private school. That's not bad.

The school isn't perfect, but it is a great new-ish option for the city and many of its small class of 2021 graduates appear to have great college options.

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a YuYing parent. Even so, I wasn't too impressed that only 15 DCI seniors (!) earned IB Diploma last year. I also wasn't wowed by how their average points pass total rate was in the 20s (ask admins).

When parents complain that too many DCI students can barely speak target languages they've studied since they were little kids, they're not crazy, they're stating a fact.

The low IBD pass rate and poor speaking skills are linked. This is a curriculum developed in Europe and Canada, where immersion is mostly taken more seriously than in this city.

8:45 here. I agree with both of these points. They're not popular in DC, but it's not crazy to expect higher standards from these programs. There are clearly very smart kids from all over the city that don't appear on paper to be challenged to perform to the best of their abilities. Getting an IB Diploma is great, but barely passing with the minimum score that is significantly below the average for the IB program is not wonderful. And achieving intermediate language skills after a decade of study in an immersion program is also not particularly noteworthy. I wish DC parents would demand better, but the win-lose nature of the lottery makes it very hard to look critically at your own school and be able to meaningfully lobby for change. That's DC for you, for better or worse.

Anonymous wrote:I find it really odd that someone would make such a bold claim like “all students earned a biliteracy seal” when the internet exists.

For anyone who wants the truth, look on page 10: https://dcpcsb.org/sites/default/files/media/file/Annual%20Report%202019-2020%28SQ5AA%29%28DistriColumbInternSchool%29.pdf

Wow, thanks for this. Looks like 75% received the biliteracy seal, and 45/66 students were in the IB diploma program with 15 of the 45 receiving it (and another 14 students were within 2 points of receiving it). Also looks like around 50-54% of Spanish and French 11th graders meet standardized "mid intermediate" level of fluency/bilingualism. They're very unique students that look good on college applications (from Washington, DC with immersion AND IB - that checks a lot of college admissions boxes right there.) But those are scores that give me some concern for the rigor of the program as a whole and how well prepared these students will be to keep up in a much more competitive college environment. However all schools have a learning curve when they first open and I'm hopeful that DCI will continue to improve and be a strong option for the DC students lucky enough to get in. I also hope DCI doesn't push to expand too quickly to meet the increased demand from the feeders and further water down their program. I think it will be a shock to some of the parents that won the lottery in pre-K to lose in 6th grade and be stuck without a middle school option, but a premature expansion would hurt the school as a whole. IB is hard to do, and IB for all is exceptionally hard. There's a reason very few schools in the US attempt to offer that model.

I'm not a YuYing parent. Even so, I wasn't too impressed that only 15 DCI seniors (!) earned IB Diploma last year. I also wasn't wowed by how their average points pass total rate was in the 20s (ask admins).

When parents complain that too many DCI students can barely speak target languages they've studied since they were little kids, they're not crazy, they're stating a fact.

The low IBD pass rate and poor speaking skills are linked. This is a curriculum developed in Europe and Canada, where immersion is mostly taken more seriously than in this city.

I find it really odd that someone would make such a bold claim like “all students earned a biliteracy seal” when the internet exists.

For anyone who wants the truth, look on page 10: https://dcpcsb.org/sites/default/files/media/file/Annual%20Report%202019-2020%28SQ5AA%29%28DistriColumbInternSchool%29.pdf

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, it’s complicated. There are students who are in the CP and students in the DP. completing the DP does not mean you earn the IB diploma. For that you have to also pass a certain number of IB assessments on top of passing the class. And they couldn’t administer the tests last year or this year so they had to earn IB credits on internal assessments which the kids didn’t know either year were the “tests that counted”. All DCI graduates last year DID earn the Seal of Biliteracy” on their diplomas though, which is amazing!

Seal of Biliteracy on their diplomas? Whoohoo!!!!!

Give us a break.

We know a number of neighborhood kids who started at YuYing in K who are graduating from DCI this year. They certainly alren't fluent in Chinese. Not remotely. We happen to be fluent, so we know they aren't, nowhere near.

You don’t need to be fluent. You need to be proficient. That is good enough for some kids and their families.

My friend is Chinese. Her parents immigrated to this country. She is 1st generation and you know what? She’s not fluent either. Reality is even kids who have native parents, it’s hard to be fluent especially in Chinese.

I’m Vietnamese, came here when I was 4. Far from fluent.

Both of our parents only speak in our native language to us too.

People have different experiences, expectations, and resources and it’s sad that you have to put these kids down.

Get a grip. Nobody's putting the kids down. It's the system that's broken, handing out silly bilingual certificates to kids who can hardly speak languages they've studied like crazy since age 4 or 5.

Language immersion in public schools in this city generally leaves a lot to be desired, other than for Spanish perhaps. Sad that few stakeholders face the truth and push for change.

Are you for real? PP was absolutely putting the kids down. I suggest you re-read the post. Then again, maybe you are the PP.

I also suggest you re-read the requirements to get the bilingual certificates. Kids who can “hardly speak the language” don’t score well on language exams. Guess you haven’t figured out that one yet.

Please everyone ignore the PP, it’s the crazy anti Yu Ying Chinese heritage speaker person.

Back on track: congratulations to all DCI grads!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, it’s complicated. There are students who are in the CP and students in the DP. completing the DP does not mean you earn the IB diploma. For that you have to also pass a certain number of IB assessments on top of passing the class. And they couldn’t administer the tests last year or this year so they had to earn IB credits on internal assessments which the kids didn’t know either year were the “tests that counted”. All DCI graduates last year DID earn the Seal of Biliteracy” on their diplomas though, which is amazing!

Seal of Biliteracy on their diplomas? Whoohoo!!!!!

Give us a break.

We know a number of neighborhood kids who started at YuYing in K who are graduating from DCI this year. They certainly alren't fluent in Chinese. Not remotely. We happen to be fluent, so we know they aren't, nowhere near.

You don’t need to be fluent. You need to be proficient. That is good enough for some kids and their families.

My friend is Chinese. Her parents immigrated to this country. She is 1st generation and you know what? She’s not fluent either. Reality is even kids who have native parents, it’s hard to be fluent especially in Chinese.

I’m Vietnamese, came here when I was 4. Far from fluent.

Both of our parents only speak in our native language to us too.

People have different experiences, expectations, and resources and it’s sad that you have to put these kids down.

Get a grip. Nobody's putting the kids down. It's the system that's broken, handing out silly bilingual certificates to kids who can hardly speak languages they've studied like crazy since age 4 or 5.

Language immersion in public schools in this city generally leaves a lot to be desired, other than for Spanish perhaps. Sad that few stakeholders face the truth and push for change.

Are you for real? PP was absolutely putting the kids down. I suggest you re-read the post. Then again, maybe you are the PP.

I also suggest you re-read the requirements to get the bilingual certificates. Kids who can “hardly speak the language” don’t score well on language exams. Guess you haven’t figured out that one yet.

Formatting error.

PP wasn’t putting the kids down, but rather correcting your lie. All the students did not get those scores. If I remember correctly, it was about 20-30 students who earned it. Why are you insistent on lying?