The article was a lie - one more attempt to smear charters because of someone's private agenda. It's been proven false and wrong.

Why is this stupid thread even alive anymore?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't make sense. If DCPS doesn't hold back at 6th grade then a child who fails 6th grade at BASIS or DCPS moves onto 7th grade. It makes no difference where the child attended 6th grade.

I think you are trying to give a reason for "mid-year" attrition when the reason is that is how Basis was designed. It happens in AZ too.

Actually, I strongly suspect that a 6th grade DCPS student's report card would not show that a student actually failed that grade due to grade inflation. Grade inflation would thus allow failing DCPS students to be socially promoted in DCPS schools since their grades would not actually show the reality of failed grades which in my opinion is a disservice to these students.

You are both wrong. The BASIS DC report card shows that the student failed the comps. The comp grade is both shown separately on the report card and averaged into the final grade for the course. IIRC, it counts for 50%. Failing the comps absolutely shows up on the report card. There might be some grade inflation at BASIS, but there is no way that getting, say, only 40% of the questions correct on a comp will be inflated to a passing grade.

DCPS absolutely holds back 6th graders whose report cards show that they have failed the 6th grade at BASIS DC. Some DCPS schools are willing to overlook the failures on the 6th grade report card if the BASIS head of school calls the DCPS principal and explains how challenging the BASIS curriculum is compared to DCPS, but there are no guarantees.

As for AZ, I don't know enough about situation. Perhaps AZ public schools have the same policy regarding BASIS kids whose report cards show Fs. After all, why pull your kid out of any school mid-year? Why not let them finish out the year at BASIS, even if they might end up failing the comps? Well, if failing the comps means that they might have to repeat the grade even if they switch to a different school, then that is a very good reason to switch schools.

In most instances DCPS schools will socially promote regardless of a student's failing grades.

Pre-comps are not the only gauge of how a student is doing. Their quiz grades, et cetera will all be in the student's communication journal, all a parent has to do is flip through it to see how their kid is doing. There's really no reason why a BASIS parent wouldn't know how their kid is doing on week to week basis.

If a student is failing mid-year and their family decides to pull out, that is not "being counseled out". Nobody is asking them to leave, it's the family's own choice - and, they do have choices. They can stay and try harder for the remainder of the year and try to pass, or they can accept the possibility of failing, working on the materials over the summer and retaking the comp to advance, or they can consider the prospect of staying and repeating, or they can look at other charters, or DCPS - entirely the family's own decision.

Anonymous wrote:You don't make sense. If DCPS doesn't hold back at 6th grade then a child who fails 6th grade at BASIS or DCPS moves onto 7th grade. It makes no difference where the child attended 6th grade.

I think you are trying to give a reason for "mid-year" attrition when the reason is that is how Basis was designed. It happens in AZ too.

Actually, I strongly suspect that a 6th grade DCPS student's report card would not show that a student actually failed that grade due to grade inflation. Grade inflation would thus allow failing DCPS students to be socially promoted in DCPS schools since their grades would not actually show the reality of failed grades which in my opinion is a disservice to these students.

You don't make sense. If DCPS doesn't hold back at 6th grade then a child who fails 6th grade at BASIS or DCPS moves onto 7th grade. It makes no difference where the child attended 6th grade.

I think you are trying to give a reason for "mid-year" attrition when the reason is that is how Basis was designed. It happens in AZ too.

Anonymous wrote:13:37 your post makes no sense. If a student leaves BASIS and goes to DCPS it is entirely up to DCPS as to what to do with them. BASIS doesn't dictate which grade for DCPS to place students in. And DCPS typically does social promotion, as opposed to caring if students actually mastered any of the material or not.

Also, nobody is "forcing" or "threatening" anything at BASIS. Students should be able to gauge how they are doing long before the comps based on their grades, and based on the precomp - and if they are struggling, then obviously they need to step up their study or consider a different plan. Even with the comps, if someone fails their comp, they are given some material to work on to bolster their mastery, and are given a second chance before having to repeat.

I'm not 13:37, and I agree that it is hard to follow the logic of the post, but allow me to summarize what I think is a legitimate point raised.

BASIS DC has comprehensive exams (comps) at the end of the year. In order for a, say 6th grader, to be promoted to 7th grade, he/she must pass all of the comps. Actually, it's OK to fail the math comp for now as BASIS DC will not hold kids back for failing math yet, but failing any of the others is a no-no.

About half way through the year, in February, BASIS DC has pre-comprehensive exams (pre-comps). These exams are like the comps, but cover only the material introduced up to that point.

If a BASIS DC student fails the pre-comps, absent a major shift in priorities, additional support at school and at home, etc., that student will fail the comps as well. Thus, every year BASIS DC calls in the families of the kids who have failed the pre-comps, explains the significance of failing the pre-comps, and tries to formulate a plan with the family.

A reasonable response to this meeting on the part of one of these families is to ride out the year to see if their child can improve his game in time for the comps. If the family does not want their child to repeat the 6th grade, they might assume that they can always switch back to DCPS for 7th grade should their 6th grader fail to earn promotion to the 7th grade. After all, DCPS does not hold 6th graders back.

Therein lies the trap that DCPS has set: A BASIS DC 6th grader who aces the DC CAS and learns more that any of the 6th graders in his/her neighborhood DCPS middle school will still have to repeat the 6th at DCPS if he/she fails the 6th grade at BASIS DC. This is the penalty for having tried out a charter school. The best move for a risk-averse family whose 6th grader has failed the pre-comps at BASIS DC is to pull their child out of BASIS and enroll him/her at DCPS before the child fails the comps.

Thus, BASIS DC has mid-year attrition -- the type of attrition that garners Washington Post articles and leads to charges of "counseling students out" on DCUM. Very few people realize that the mid-year attrition at BASIS DC is really a result of DCPS's policy of holding back BASIS DC 6th graders but not its own 6th graders.

13:37 your post makes no sense. If a student leaves BASIS and goes to DCPS it is entirely up to DCPS as to what to do with them. BASIS doesn't dictate which grade for DCPS to place students in. And DCPS typically does social promotion, as opposed to caring if students actually mastered any of the material or not.

Also, nobody is "forcing" or "threatening" anything at BASIS. Students should be able to gauge how they are doing long before the comps based on their grades, and based on the precomp - and if they are struggling, then obviously they need to step up their study or consider a different plan. Even with the comps, if someone fails their comp, they are given some material to work on to bolster their mastery, and are given a second chance before having to repeat.

Anonymous wrote:Additionally, PCSB published data in December 2013, along with the DC Public Schools and Office of the State Superintendent of Education, about attendance and discipline trends in charter schools, which resulted in schools changing their policies and expulsion numbers dropped by half.


Does anyone know where we can find this data?

BASIS has not expelled anyone so far as I know. I know that BASIS does give kids who are failing classes and flunk their precomps advice that they need to think carefully about whether they can pass the classes and the comps at the end of the year because the consequences of failure are the same at BASIS and DCPS. They are forced to repeat the grade. This is a BASIS rule, but DCPS has made it a policy.

In 6th grade the child has taken US History, math, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Latin and English. He has to pass all the exams except math at the end of the year in these subjects which cover everything that was covered starting on day 1. Furthermore, there is a BASIS wide portion of the test - half of the grade, where the teacher does not design the questions. The only time some of those answers do not count is when the topic was not introduced in class. This is no small feat, and if you came from a failing school you still may be desperately trying to catch up.

If they complete the year at BASIS, but fail comps and/or classes, DCPS will make them repeat the same grade in the fall, as will BASIS. DC will not let a 6th grader go on to 7th if he has failed comps but I have no idea how many you have to fail. Unbelievably stupid, because it is possible for some kids if they are motivated to catch up enough to get 60's, which is passing. And many kids repeated the year at BASIS this year but if they fail now they will have to go through 6th grade 3 times.

In DCPS, unless the child fails 3rd,5th or 8th grade (comps start in 6th grade), DCPS cannot, by law, hold a single one of their students back even if they only show up for class half the time and get all F's. Social promotion is mandatory by law. BASIS will not do it. But DCPS CAN do it to students who were in a Charter school and failed the comps. What 6th grader wants to repeat 6th grade? What 8th grader would want to? Many last year remained and did repeat a grade, but unless they pull out early they will be in 6th grade 3 times. Especially if they are returning to their IB school where all their friends will now be a year ahead of them. So if they return to a failing school where virtually no students score Advanced on the DC-CAS, and where by law any 6th grader who was there and flunked gets to go on to 7th grade, these children have to have passed the rigorous exams at BASIS unless they drop out (basically are forced) to give up early. But it is not BASIS that is forcing them out. It is DCPS.

I would like to change this rule.

PS illegal immigrants do not have visas, or have visas that have expired...

I am very confused by your post. At the top you say that DCPS fails kids who don't pass comps, and yet below you say that they don't. Which is it? Are you saying that if a child drops out of BASIS after failing 6th, and returns to DCPS that DCPS will place them in sixth?

Forcing kids who struggle out by threatening to fail them and then to tell DCPS they failed isn't really any better than expelling them. It's highly unethical.

Additionally, PCSB published data in December 2013, along with the DC Public Schools and Office of the State Superintendent of Education, about attendance and discipline trends in charter schools, which resulted in schools changing their policies and expulsion numbers dropped by half.


Does anyone know where we can find this data?

BASIS has not expelled anyone so far as I know. I know that BASIS does give kids who are failing classes and flunk their precomps advice that they need to think carefully about whether they can pass the classes and the comps at the end of the year because the consequences of failure are the same at BASIS and DCPS. They are forced to repeat the grade. This is a BASIS rule, but DCPS has made it a policy.

In 6th grade the child has taken US History, math, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Latin and English. He has to pass all the exams except math at the end of the year in these subjects which cover everything that was covered starting on day 1. Furthermore, there is a BASIS wide portion of the test - half of the grade, where the teacher does not design the questions. The only time some of those answers do not count is when the topic was not introduced in class. This is no small feat, and if you came from a failing school you still may be desperately trying to catch up.

If they complete the year at BASIS, but fail comps and/or classes, DCPS will make them repeat the same grade in the fall, as will BASIS. DC will not let a 6th grader go on to 7th if he has failed comps but I have no idea how many you have to fail. Unbelievably stupid, because it is possible for some kids if they are motivated to catch up enough to get 60's, which is passing. And many kids repeated the year at BASIS this year but if they fail now they will have to go through 6th grade 3 times.

In DCPS, unless the child fails 3rd,5th or 8th grade (comps start in 6th grade), DCPS cannot, by law, hold a single one of their students back even if they only show up for class half the time and get all F's. Social promotion is mandatory by law. BASIS will not do it. But DCPS CAN do it to students who were in a Charter school and failed the comps. What 6th grader wants to repeat 6th grade? What 8th grader would want to? Many last year remained and did repeat a grade, but unless they pull out early they will be in 6th grade 3 times. Especially if they are returning to their IB school where all their friends will now be a year ahead of them. So if they return to a failing school where virtually no students score Advanced on the DC-CAS, and where by law any 6th grader who was there and flunked gets to go on to 7th grade, these children have to have passed the rigorous exams at BASIS unless they drop out (basically are forced) to give up early. But it is not BASIS that is forcing them out. It is DCPS.

I would like to change this rule.

PS illegal immigrants do not have visas, or have visas that have expired...

Seems to me that the ability to enroll students without documentation opens the door to a lot of other potential issues, like kidnap/custody battle cases where a child might be able to be enrolled under a different identity.

No documentation is definitely a problem. I'm strongly in favor of a better worker visa program for the folks who are currently in the country illegally. And in fact if workers from Mexico/Guatemala/Honduras et cetera could come and go legally with a visa, they probably would probably be more likely to keep their families in their home country.

Nice job by the two schools and PCSB (later on in the process) questioning the reporting and erroneous statements that might have been made by ED and/or DOJ to the AP and then picked up nationwide by the press and anti-charter activists.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.ksl.com/?nid=157&sid=29814823&title=2-dc-schools-investigated-on-immigrant-enrollment

2 DC schools investigated on immigrant enrollment


WASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department says two District of Columbia charter schools are being investigated over possible barriers to enrollment by students brought to the United States illegally.

The Obama administration issued guidance Thursday reminding schools that they are obligated to enroll every student regardless of immigration status.

The Education Department said it's received 17 complaints since 2011. Two of those involved district charter schools: Basis DC and Capital City.

Before the list of schools was released late Thursday, D.C. Public Charter School Board spokeswoman Lauren Williams said she was not aware of any complaints involving schools in the system. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the specific schools.


Read more at http://www.ksl.com/?nid=157&sid=29814823#GCUaqYQbU70y3xyW.99

I can't help but think there's something contradictory about insisting that DC residents jump through hoops to establish their legitimate residency, only to turn a blind eye towards illegal residency and being punished for failing to turn the blind eye.

Galling.

REGARDLESS, once again DCPS schools have to take anybody that shows up outside their door; whereas, the Charters directly or indirectly cherry-pick and then tout how much better they are than public schools. If DCPS could self-select who shows up at their door and only have students of motivated parents, of course their scores would be better.

Any response, PP, now that we know there were no such allegations?

http://www.dcpcsb.org/Blog/Default.aspx?title=DC-Charters-Respond-to-Allegations-of-Barriers-to-Student-Enrollment-

DC Public Charter School Board (PCSB), DC’s charter authorizer, has contacted the two charter schools named by the U.S. Department of Education as – according to the Associated Press – being investigated over possible barriers to enrollment by students brought to the United States illegally.

“Our school has never discriminated against students based on immigrant status,” said Karen Dresden, executive director of Capital City PCS, which serves students in grades PK-12.

Dresden said that Capital City Public Charter School serves one of the highest populations of immigrant students and English Language Learners in the District and has never denied admission to a student based on immigrant status. “There has never been any complaint or any findings made against Capital City for denying enrollment to students based on immigrant status, and the [Associated Press] story falsely claims Capital City is under investigation for enrollment discrimination.”

Sean Aiken, Head of School at BASIS DC, the other DC public charter school named on the list, said that it has not been involved in any OCR complaint with regards to enrollment or admissions. The school has students in grades 5-9 and is located in downtown Washington.

According to a statement, BASIS DC does not discriminate against students who want to enroll. “No such allegation has ever been made against BASIS DC and the school is not currently under investigation by the Department of Education. The Department of Education has never issued a finding against BASIS DC that the school has denied students enrollment based on immigration status or national origin.”

In its role as DC’s sole charter authorizer, PCSB has a strong record of ensuring equity and access across DC charter schools. Specifically, the Board has implemented several processes and programs to prohibit discrimination such as Mystery Shopper calls to schools, in which callers posing as parents of special needs children ask about enrolling their child, to see if they encounter any barriers.

Additionally, PCSB published data in December 2013, along with the DC Public Schools and Office of the State Superintendent of Education, about attendance and discipline trends in charter schools, which resulted in schools changing their policies and expulsion numbers dropped by half.

“PCSB’s oversight works to ensure that charter schools are open to all students,” said Scott Pearson, Executive Director.

Capital City PCS and BASIS DC were named on a list of 17 schools released by the Department of Education.

Based on discussions with the Department of Education, PCSB believes that Capital City PCS and BASIS DC were listed erroneously.

While each public charter school operates as its own local education agency (LEA), many charters this year joined a common lottery, My School DC, which has a common application and enrollment form, which can help eliminate any potential barriers to enrollment.

The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights and the Department of Justice recently issued joint guidance nationwide around student enrollment practices, including a letter and a questions and answers for states, school districts and parents.

this link now provides an updated story

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=157&sid=29814823#GCUaqYQbU70y3xyW.99



WASHINGTON (AP) — In a story May 8, The Associated Press, relying on information from the U.S. Education Department, incorrectly reported two District of Columbia charter schools were being investigated for possible violations under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that children brought to the United States illegally are guaranteed the right to a public education. The Education Department said Friday that both the complaints had been resolved.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Education Dept.: DC schools not being investigated

Education Department: immigration complaints against DC schools have been resolved

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department says complaints against two District of Columbia charter schools related to students' immigration status have been resolved.

Basis DC and Capital City charter schools were on a list of schools and districts the department said Thursday were being investigated for complaints related to immigration status. But Friday, the department said the complaints involving the two District schools had been resolved.

Documents show the schools agreed to review their enrollment procedures "to make sure they do not have a chilling effect" on enrollment of students who were brought to the United States illegally. They also agreed to make changes to the way they identify English-language learners.

Representatives of both schools tell The Associated Press they've never denied enrollment based on immigration status.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.ksl.com/?nid=157&sid=29814823&title=2-dc-schools-investigated-on-immigrant-enrollment

2 DC schools investigated on immigrant enrollment


WASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department says two District of Columbia charter schools are being investigated over possible barriers to enrollment by students brought to the United States illegally.

The Obama administration issued guidance Thursday reminding schools that they are obligated to enroll every student regardless of immigration status.

The Education Department said it's received 17 complaints since 2011. Two of those involved district charter schools: Basis DC and Capital City.

Before the list of schools was released late Thursday, D.C. Public Charter School Board spokeswoman Lauren Williams said she was not aware of any complaints involving schools in the system. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the specific schools.


Read more at http://www.ksl.com/?nid=157&sid=29814823#GCUaqYQbU70y3xyW.99

I can't help but think there's something contradictory about insisting that DC residents jump through hoops to establish their legitimate residency, only to turn a blind eye towards illegal residency and being punished for failing to turn the blind eye.

Galling.

REGARDLESS, once again DCPS schools have to take anybody that shows up outside their door; whereas, the Charters directly or indirectly cherry-pick and then tout how much better they are than public schools. If DCPS could self-select who shows up at their door and only have students of motivated parents, of course their scores would be better.

The only public schools that self-select their students are specialized DCPS schools (Banneker, Walls, McKinley, CHEC, Walls, Ellington, and Phelps). Other DCPS and all public charter schools are required by law to take anyone.