Really? The test is fine, but good luck with the interview. We had a student come on a few years ago and tell us what the interview was like, and it was essentially whether a few students liked you or now.

Ask SWW.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a child who is an 8th grader and I am interested in SWW for next year. Looking at the SWW website, I see that a child has to score proficient on the DCCAS or 150 on the PSAT. My child attends a school that doesn't do standardized testing, so we'll have to do the PSAT.

Where on the SWW website is this "150 on the PSAT"?

You're right, I was conflating two things. After checking, I realize the website says "Standardized Test Scores- Must be Proficient in Math & Reading on a Standard Test. DC-CAS, PSAT, or a Test Administered by a School District." The 150 on the PSAT is for ECP.

So let me revise my question: what score on the PSAT equates to "proficient"?

19:01, I think you need to read the DCPS web site a little more carefully. It says, "Our students need to graduate from high school ready to be successful in college, careers and life. Yet, only 9 percent of 9th grade students in DC graduated from college within five years of finishing high school. Moreover, if you’re a DC student who just makes proficiency on the DC CAS, that level of proficiency translates to only a 16th percentile score on the SAT." It's a little hard to tell what this means, as 12th grade is not a testing year. It might mean that a 10th grader who hits the proficiency cut-off would perform at the 16th percentile level on the SAT, although that is also weird since they don't test the same things.

And, keep in mind that these are just eligibility standards. You still have to take the SWW test and interview. So, having a low PSAT score might screen out a prospective applicant, but scoring just at the proficient level on DC CAS doesn't mean a child will be admitted. All that said, they do seem to be different standards, although it's not at all clear how they actually compare.

Anonymous wrote:I have a child who is an 8th grader and I am interested in SWW for next year. Looking at the SWW website, I see that a child has to score proficient on the DCCAS or 150 on the PSAT. My child attends a school that doesn't do standardized testing, so we'll have to do the PSAT.

Where on the SWW website is this "150 on the PSAT"?

Anonymous wrote:I think you are also simplifying the percentile correlation. The DC-CAS proficient range is just that--a range, with the highest scores just points below the cutoff for the advanced range. Perhaps the lowest scores in that range correspond to the 16th percentile nationwide, but not the entire level.

No. Since the admissions process uses the test results as a cutoff, it's exactly the right comparison. To be eligible to take the SWW admissions test, you have to score either proficient on the DC-CAS, or 150 combined on the PSAT. Scoring proficient on the DC-CAS means scoring at the 16th percentile or above. Since the PSAT has three parts it's a little tricky to do a direct comparison, but if you score 50-50-50 it puts you in the 74th, 72nd, and 82nd precentiles for the three sections. If you score 50-52-48 it puts you at 74-78-75. That's a huge difference.

Note also that the DC-CAS percentiles are for 8th graders and the PSAT percentiles are for 10th graders.

Clearly, there are tons of kids -- like 60% of the population -- who would be admitted using the DC-CAS but not using the PSAT.

I think you are also simplifying the percentile correlation. The DC-CAS proficient range is just that--a range, with the highest scores just points below the cutoff for the advanced range. Perhaps the lowest scores in that range correspond to the 16th percentile nationwide, but not the entire level.

You could always contact the school and ask them that question. The admissions process will be starting in the next few months.

I have a child who is an 8th grader and I am interested in SWW for next year. Looking at the SWW website, I see that a child has to score proficient on the DCCAS or 150 on the PSAT. My child attends a school that doesn't do standardized testing, so we'll have to do the PSAT.

This seems like a grossly unequal standard. Proficient on the DCCAS corresponds to the 16th percentile nationwide according to the dc.gov website (http://dc.gov/DCPS/In+the+Classroom/What+Students+Are+Learning/DCPS+Common+Core+State+Standards). According to the College Board website, a 150 on the PSAT puts you at about the 75th percentile nationwide (http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/understanding-psat-nmsqt-scores.pdf). And that's for tenth graders, yet they're asking eighth graders to take it!

Am I missing something?

SWWHS and BBAHS are DC's magnets.

I don't think SWW would rank as a magnet school, it is more of an application school. There's a difference. If that's the case then McKinley, Duke, Banneker and Phelps would be considered magnets and they're NOT.

Anonymous wrote:Let's keep in mind that though SWWHS is a citywide magnet school, the ward most represented in the student body is Ward 3. (Something like 30% of the student body.) A small portion of the parents -- not the kids, who are pretty much all great -- think their snowflakes should be cloistered from the the rest of the city. A School With Walls.

This is incorrect. Ward 4, not 3, has the highest number of kids at the school in the 2013-2014 academic year.

I normally troll Walls threads. Apparently I have been beat out.

Damn.

[quote=Anonymous]The AAs at SWW that I have known over the past eight years were also accepted to Wilson academies and Banneker plus private schools. [/quote]

The race and SWW issue is interesting. I have the impression that kids from different backgrounds mix more successfully together at SWW then at other schools because they are all academically strong, whereas at Wilson for example you mostly see white with white, black with black, etc. and some AA kids especially boys feel negative pressure not to strive for honors because achievement is still somehow seen as "acting white." Is that so?

Anonymous wrote:Anyone can join the Wilson academies. You don't have to take a test to follow the courses of study.

You don't have to apply to get in anymore?