^^ What say you Basis boosters? The experience of our near neighbors is irrelevant because we shall overcome at Basis?

Anonymous wrote:PP, I agree. We aren't talking about rare ability, BASIS isn't trying to teach kids anything extraordinary like how to levitate or move things using telekinesis - this is stuff that most kids, given the right environment, should be able to master.

I'm new to this discussion but I taught G/T middle school math in a Fairfax school for 5 years before switching to a DC private 2 years ago. Is it true that Basis plans to teach 7th grade algebra to almost all the students? Whose stats are you going on?

At my Fairfax school, 90% of the G/T math kids came out of county elementary G/T programs, or were very bright DCPS transplants, yet we found that only about 1/3 could handle 7th grade algebra. Even fewer at my DC private, where two-thirds of middle school applicants are rejected, take this subject. As you may know, 7th grade algebra puts kids on track for BC (higher level) AP calculus.

How in the heck could Basis effectively teach 7th grade algebra to almost all the kids when we, in one of the country's best and most G/T inclined school systems, where kids are routinely screened for math giftedness from 2nd grade, could not? Not even close. Is nobody asking these questions? It really does sound like some of you have drunk the Koolaid.

PP, I agree. We aren't talking about rare ability, BASIS isn't trying to teach kids anything extraordinary like how to levitate or move things using telekinesis - this is stuff that most kids, given the right environment, should be able to master.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

From all I have seen, schools like Basis are bending over backward to keep up their end of the bargain toward providing a high-quality education. They have tutoring sessions and all kinds of other extra resources available to the struggling kids. The more important and more-ignored challenge that should be focused on is for the students, parents and the community to keep up their end of the bargain. If the struggling kids can't keep up it will more likely be because their families won't back them up, won't support them toward getting the extra tutoring and help to catch up, then that is not the fault of Basis.

-100. Completely disagree. As my Irish immigrant grandmother used to say, like Sam, the Italian athletics coach in Chariots of Fire, "You can't put in what God left out."

Struggling kids won't be able to keep up if they aren't gifted- 7th grade algebra definitely isn't for almost all kids, as pie in the sky Basis assumes; it's for a tiny fraction. Most kids won't be able to "catch up" in the long-run, not when 8-10 AP classes/tests are the ultimate goal, because they don't have the combination of drive and ability to get there. This is true of many on-the-bell-curve high-SES kids, never mind SpecEd kids.

Culling kids using the pretense that they are their families are responsible for failure, when it's primarily their lack of aptitude that's doing the job, is an inefficient and unpleasant approach to building a high school student body. Much better to screen middle school kids for ability, hunting high and low for low-SES students with a good chance of making the grade on the AP front later, and knocking yourself out to include and support them, than admitting random kids from "self-selecting" families. That's what NYC has done for 40 years and not just in public schools. NYC's famous "Prep for Prep" program, which identifies super bright 5th graders of color and gets them scholarships to privates, including top East Coast boarding schools, has done that really well since the 80s.

Guess what, selective admissions works for the best students. Most parents are happy to assume that their middle schoolers are really bright and motivated - the bubble generally doesn't burst until SAT and AP test results time.

I'm not convinced that DC Charter wouldn't have played ball if some sort of screening mechanism had been part and parcel, either. They wanted Basis enough to compromise some more.

The premise here runs completely counter to basic statistics and demographics. Consider the Gaussian bell curve - I'd contend that a huge percentage of DC students are born with the basic "gift that God gave them" and that only a tiny percentage actually, genuinely don't and won't ever have the aptitude, no matter what. The remainder instead becomes a function of culture, upbringing and family commitment, so YES those factors do indeed become the primary issue, as opposed to schooling.

+1,00. But then Basis has won itself a good decade to pretend that its formula for success in DC will produce a bumper crop of Ivy Leaguers and MIT students, excusing away the impossible....No selective admissions, almost no tracking in the inner city, precious few blue chip college admissions.

State schools and small liberal arts colleges will be the "top" schools graduates get to, as at Latin, SWW, Banneker and Wilson, and DC Charter and parents will, for the most part, be satisfied.

Mark my words, if your ambitions are loftier, and your kid(s) are up to scratch, it will still be privates of the burbs for the likes of you, at least for high school.

Anonymous wrote:

From all I have seen, schools like Basis are bending over backward to keep up their end of the bargain toward providing a high-quality education. They have tutoring sessions and all kinds of other extra resources available to the struggling kids. The more important and more-ignored challenge that should be focused on is for the students, parents and the community to keep up their end of the bargain. If the struggling kids can't keep up it will more likely be because their families won't back them up, won't support them toward getting the extra tutoring and help to catch up, then that is not the fault of Basis.

-100. Completely disagree. As my Irish immigrant grandmother used to say, like Sam, the Italian athletics coach in Chariots of Fire, "You can't put in what God left out."

Struggling kids won't be able to keep up if they aren't gifted- 7th grade algebra definitely isn't for almost all kids, as pie in the sky Basis assumes; it's for a tiny fraction. Most kids won't be able to "catch up" in the long-run, not when 8-10 AP classes/tests are the ultimate goal, because they don't have the combination of drive and ability to get there. This is true of many on-the-bell-curve high-SES kids, never mind SpecEd kids.

Culling kids using the pretense that they are their families are responsible for failure, when it's primarily their lack of aptitude that's doing the job, is an inefficient and unpleasant approach to building a high school student body. Much better to screen middle school kids for ability, hunting high and low for low-SES students with a good chance of making the grade on the AP front later, and knocking yourself out to include and support them, than admitting random kids from "self-selecting" families. That's what NYC has done for 40 years and not just in public schools. NYC's famous "Prep for Prep" program, which identifies super bright 5th graders of color and gets them scholarships to privates, including top East Coast boarding schools, has done that really well since the 80s.

Guess what, selective admissions works for the best students. Most parents are happy to assume that their middle schoolers are really bright and motivated - the bubble generally doesn't burst until SAT and AP test results time.

I'm not convinced that DC Charter wouldn't have played ball if some sort of screening mechanism had been part and parcel, either. They wanted Basis enough to compromise some more.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know how many special needs kids are enrolling? Anyone out there have a sped kid enrolling? How is their approach so far? Are they proactive and ready for your child or do they seem to be discouraging you from attending in a subtle or not-so-subtle way?

My intelligent, hard-working kid who has a specific learning disability was encouraged to attend by the founders of the school during the multiple info sessions our family attended. My husband met with the special ed coordinator over the summer so that they had our IEP prior to school starting. Our child doesn't need many accommodations, but the ones he does need are obviously necessary to his being successful at the school. I'm sure that it will take a bit of time to get everything up and running properly, but I have no reason to believe that it won't happen.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you suggesting that it was part of "the plan" for BASIS to succeed with advanced students by holding back struggling kids who then drop out in shame?

Seems like a pretty cruel way to provide a superior education to those who can handle it. I hope that's not the case and if it is, I hope parents of the select don't approve of it.

I think it is cruel to socially promote kids who then end up being not able to read or compute or function in society. Basis will be providing ample support to students who want to make it.

+1

From all I have seen, schools like Basis are bending over backward to keep up their end of the bargain toward providing a high-quality education. They have tutoring sessions and all kinds of other extra resources available to the struggling kids. The more important and more-ignored challenge that should be focused on is for the students, parents and the community to keep up their end of the bargain. If the struggling kids can't keep up it will more likely be because their families won't back them up, won't support them toward getting the extra tutoring and help to catch up, then that is not the fault of Basis.

Anonymous wrote:Are you suggesting that it was part of "the plan" for BASIS to succeed with advanced students by holding back struggling kids who then drop out in shame?

Seems like a pretty cruel way to provide a superior education to those who can handle it. I hope that's not the case and if it is, I hope parents of the select don't approve of it.

I think it is cruel to socially promote kids who then end up being not able to read or compute or function in society. Basis will be providing ample support to students who want to make it.

Anyone know how many special needs kids are enrolling? Anyone out there have a sped kid enrolling? How is their approach so far? Are they proactive and ready for your child or do they seem to be discouraging you from attending in a subtle or not-so-subtle way?



As long as they can make the grade, they can stay in. Them's the rules.

Maybe if it were a private school, that would be the rule. But Basis is a public charter school and will have to provide a fair and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment. As such, they will have to accommodate special education students. It's hard to tell how prepared they are for sped kids.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know how many special needs kids are enrolling? Anyone out there have a sped kid enrolling? How is their approach so far? Are they proactive and ready for your child or do they seem to be discouraging you from attending in a subtle or not-so-subtle way?

As long as they can make the grade, they can stay in. Them's the rules.

Anyone know how many special needs kids are enrolling? Anyone out there have a sped kid enrolling? How is their approach so far? Are they proactive and ready for your child or do they seem to be discouraging you from attending in a subtle or not-so-subtle way?

Are you suggesting that it was part of "the plan" for BASIS to succeed with advanced students by holding back struggling kids who then drop out in shame?

Seems like a pretty cruel way to provide a superior education to those who can handle it. I hope that's not the case and if it is, I hope parents of the select don't approve of it.

Anonymous wrote:13:24 if your kid is truly math gifted, you have cause for concern. You're just making waaay too much sense for DC Charter. Get thee to MoCo, where middle and high school administrators use common sense in shaping admissions policies for programs designed to graduate high school kids who can handle 8-10 AP classes, scoring 4s and 5s on the tests, launching many Ivy League careers.

Basis could probably have called the shots on the selective admissoins score in DC and didn't bother. So they deserve what they get with their Penn Quarter applicant pool. The gleaming 6th floor science lab won't change that. Good luck.

I like to think that the comps are going to create selective admission to the successive year's grade. How many people are going to want to have their child held back? It's a back-door compromise. The charter board in DC wouldn't have gone for selective admission up front due to the aforementioned racial/SES situation.

+1. Common sense got lost in the shuffle long ago.