Anonymous wrote:Yes, missing something. Instruction in modern languages is increasingly common for 5th-7th graders in the highest-performing school districts around the country. That's been the trend for a good 30 years now. As the parent with the kid in the school in VA pointed out, schools are embracing language teaching software to expand curricular options beyond what can be taught in classrooms. Yet BASIS franchise leaders view middle school language instruction as a liability which could impede access to elite colleges on the part of their highest-performing students later on. The fact that the policy is myopic isn't lost on all BASIS middle school parents.

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Anonymous wrote:We are also making a hard choice between sticking around for DCI or departing for Basis. I’d be curious to hear your thought process if you don’t mind sharing, PP. Also, do you plan to maintain the foreign language outside of Basis? I don’t mean to derail this thread. I have concerns about potentially preparing for Basis coming out of an immersion school where most of the academic challenge derived from the foreign language component.

We just made this tough decision for our rising 5th grader and opted for BASIS because academics rank higher than language. Either way we figured we would have to supplement something but language is lower in priority than math, writing, study skills, self-advocacy etc. We were torn on the size of DCI as there appears to be a growing number of activities but we were concerned that many of the behavior and classroom management issues at our feeder would persist at DCI. Our child is also below grade level in Spanish reading and after all these years still doesn’t feel comfortable speaking Spanish. We included our child in the decision making process and they prefer advanced Math and Science over any instruction in Spanish. Spanish immersion was likely not the best fit for our child but we stuck with it for DCI as a backup option for Walls and Latin for high school. We do have a younger child that has picked up Spanish a lot easier (started in Pk3 instead of K) so that decision will be even more difficult when the time comes.

+1.

DCI IB scores are well below the global average in part because many kids don't achieve anything close to fluency in whatever track they follow. So, at DCI, you end up with the worst of both worlds: less rigorous curriculum and subpar language skills.

In fairness to DCI, language instruction in the US is poor, so that result is not surprising. If you really want your kid to learn a language well, supplement and send them to summer immersion programs overseas.

Also, BASIS isn’t really dumping foreign languages before 8th grade. Kids used to do Latin in 5th and 6th and pick a foreign language for 7th. Instead, starting next year, they will now have a writing class in 5th (which will cover Greek and Latin roots) and take linguistics in 6th and 7th. The linguistics classes lay a foundation for study in a foreign language, so the kids have a head start in 8th. And kids will stick with the same foreign language they select in 8th grade until they graduate (so, 5 years of the language).

You're drinking the Kook-Aid on this one, PP. If you want kids to learn to speak, read and write languages during the critical preteen years, you teach them languages, intensely and well. You don't goof around with linguistics. I say this as polyglot European with a grad degree in cultural anthropology, which has a strong linguistics component.

What BASIS does is admit dozens of 4th graders who come out of DCPCS ES immersion programs for Chinese, French, Chinese and possibly Hebrew. Instead of making any effort to build on the kids' strong base in these languages from 5th-7th grades, Basis withholds language support before 8th grade. Then, in 8th, the immersion kids are offered instruction that's less challenging than what they got in 4th grade.

To BASIS, immersion language knowledge is of no value whatsoever. Rather than help the immersion grads excel in languages in MS, like they can in math, BASIS leaves families to their own devices to retain language knowledge. The UMC immersion families tend to hang on with tutors and immersion camps, while low SES families can't.

This is what happens in a top-down charter franchise run from a HQ out West. Because the immersion families at BASIS lack a better public MS option for instruction in core subjects, they suck up the crappy language policy without complaint. Even those who want DCI for MS can't necessarily get a spot. In a state, the immersion families could appeal to a state oversight board with oversight over language instruction in public schools. In the DC burbs, grads of ES immersion programs are generally entitled to appropriate language instruction further up the chain.

Anonymous wrote:All will be well if your kid doesn't advocate for an elected middle school student government, ethics training, first aid training, cooking classes, a gardening club, a bona fide school musical, a band or orchestra, or any other activity that might build toward a full-fledged education. That approach could get them in hot water fast. Now, if your kid advocates for extra pre pre AP prep and a nicely organized binder or two, smooth sailing, mom.

Anonymous wrote:Depends on your child, but in our experience, the challenge wasn't the academics in general, but the organizational skills - keeping track of assignments, etc. There's a summer program for incoming 5th graders that's helpful but not necessary.

Also, experiences vary a lot, depending on both the child's abilities and the child and parents' standards. I literally have never seen my sixth grader do a minute of homework; he does it all in school. His grades are all over the place but average out to a B+. Reasonably smart kid, low standards=not much work. Some kids and parents report spending large amounts of time on homework; they probably have higher standards and the academics might not come as naturally.

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Anonymous wrote:BASIS is simply inflexible. The best way for your kid to succeed there is go in prepped to question nothing, with a determination to stay that way for up to 8 years.

If "question nothing" means don't try to change the curriculum, OK. But are there many schools where students have significant input on the structure of classes?

But if by "question nothing" you envision a silent classroom with bunch of kids writing down notes and not being asked or asking questions or having class discussions, that's not the impression I get from my middle schoolers or what I overheard last year during remote school. My kids seem to be more engaged than they were in elementary school specifically because they are learning more challenging material.

Anonymous wrote:BASIS is simply inflexible. The best way for your kid to succeed there is go in prepped to question nothing, with a determination to stay that way for up to 8 years.

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Anonymous wrote:BASIS doesn't withhold language. If language is important to you then choose a school that prioritizes language or as other posters have said, supplement. No school can be all things to all people. If you want a school to teach your child languages in 5th then pick a school that teaches languages in 5th. If that's not BASIS then pick another school. If you absolutely want BASIS and want languages, then supplement languages. Why is this so hard.

The BASIS policy on language instruction mirrors the one in place at the low-performing rural MS I taught at in the...early 90s. Where are we, and which decade is this?

Our near neighbors in VA and MD, particularly in MoCo and Fairfax, have it right. Teach modern languages just like...other core subjects are taught.

Don't cut out languages any more than you'd cut out science or math. Don't pick another school: pick politicians prepared to risk political capital on building a 21st century urban school system worthy of the name.

What's hard is how far behind DC is on education. BASIS DC, the cream of the local crop for academic rigor without appreciation for the accomplished bilingual students the school system that supports it funnels in. If BASIS families had other appealing choices for MS rigor EotP, your argument would be stronger.

You can toot BASIS' horn without altering the fact that their policy on language instruction is at least 30 years out of date in the East Coast urban context, maybe 40.

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Anonymous wrote:All will be well if your kid doesn't advocate for an elected middle school student government, ethics training, first aid training, cooking classes, a gardening club, a bona fide school musical, a band or orchestra, or any other activity that might build toward a full-fledged education. That approach could get them in hot water fast. Now, if your kid advocates for extra pre pre AP prep and a nicely organized binder or two, smooth sailing, mom.

Love how this PP failed as a parent but is trying to shift the blame onto Basis. My kid already had first aid training cooking classes and learned to garden before coming to Basis, because I taught him as part of basic parenting. Are you spending any time with your kid at all??

Don't take the bait, PP, don't respond. The point is a good one. Basis doesn't offer an actual education. The programs offers intensive test prep, that's it. Basis parents know this and it rankles them privately. So they get defensive whenever this is pointed out on DCUM. Yawn.