Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My guess is that many parents who don't speak the immersion language, or necessarily know much about the culture behind it, are threatened by those who do and, hence, don't want to see bilingual kids being given preferential treatment in the admissions process. Really too bad when you consider that academics who study bilingual immersion programs (e.g. Canadian educators looking at French programs) have found that the "two-way" immersion model, where kids learn language from one another as much as from instructors, is more effective than the "one-way" model, where kids only learn the immersion language from teachers (e.g. Yu Ying).

Bad guess. I'm a non-Chinese YY parent and I'd love to see a separate application process for native speakers. The more native speakers we can get in the classrooms, the stronger our kids' Chinese will be. I do not, however, believe the law allows is.

You are correct.

Anonymous wrote:My guess is that many parents who don't speak the immersion language, or necessarily know much about the culture behind it, are threatened by those who do and, hence, don't want to see bilingual kids being given preferential treatment in the admissions process. Really too bad when you consider that academics who study bilingual immersion programs (e.g. Canadian educators looking at French programs) have found that the "two-way" immersion model, where kids learn language from one another as much as from instructors, is more effective than the "one-way" model, where kids only learn the immersion language from teachers (e.g. Yu Ying).

Bad guess. I'm a non-Chinese YY parent and I'd love to see a separate application process for native speakers. The more native speakers we can get in the classrooms, the stronger our kids' Chinese will be. I do not, however, believe the law allows is.

Anonymous wrote:Common sense says that it isn't fair, but the DC charter school board, and the parent organizations at most of the immersion charters, says otherwise. Dip into the long November thread about Yu Ying only having a handful of bilingual students, although there are probably hundreds in DC (if you include Chinese dialect speakers who don't speak Mandarin), for an education on the subject.

My guess is that many parents who don't speak the immersion language, or necessarily know much about the culture behind it, are threatened by those who do and, hence, don't want to see bilingual kids being given preferential treatment in the admissions process. Really too bad when you consider that academics who study bilingual immersion programs (e.g. Canadian educators looking at French programs) have found that the "two-way" immersion model, where kids learn language from one another as much as from instructors, is more effective than the "one-way" model, where kids only learn the immersion language from teachers (e.g. Yu Ying).

If you're looking for immersion language models for DC to emulate, look around the country at Chicago, NYC and LA, where language immersion charters are permitted to strive to admit 50% Native English speakers and 50% Native speakers of the immersion language. Going out of your way to admit bi and tri-lingual kids to language immersion programs is a no-brainer elsehwere, but, it seems, taboo in this city thus far, where concerns about any policy that might keep some low-income kids out of a particular charter trump all others. In a decade, things will surely be different here, with these schools hosting two lotteries, one for English speakers, one for the bi and tri-lingual kids.

That is categorically untrue. The vast majority of YY families are 100% in favor of preferential admission for Chinese language speakers - it would give our children that many more examples to emulate. However, IT IS AGAINST THE LAW in DC for charter schools to "discriminate" based on language skills (or lack thereof).

Next time, do your homework before you make baseless accusations.

Anonymous wrote:Common sense says that it isn't fair, but the DC charter school board, and the parent organizations at most of the immersion charters, says otherwise. Dip into the long November thread about Yu Ying only having a handful of bilingual students, although there are probably hundreds in DC (if you include Chinese dialect speakers who don't speak Mandarin), for an education on the subject.

My guess is that many parents who don't speak the immersion language, or necessarily know much about the culture behind it, are threatened by those who do and, hence, don't want to see bilingual kids being given preferential treatment in the admissions process. Really too bad when you consider that academics who study bilingual immersion programs (e.g. Canadian educators looking at French programs) have found that the "two-way" immersion model, where kids learn language from one another as much as from instructors, is more effective than the "one-way" model, where kids only learn the immersion language from teachers (e.g. Yu Ying).

If you're looking for immersion language models for DC to emulate, look around the country at Chicago, NYC and LA, where language immersion charters are permitted to strive to admit 50% Native English speakers and 50% Native speakers of the immersion language. Going out of your way to admit bi and tri-lingual kids to language immersion programs is a no-brainer elsehwere, but, it seems, taboo in this city thus far, where concerns about any policy that might keep some low-income kids out of a particular charter trump all others. In a decade, things will surely be different here, with these schools hosting two lotteries, one for English speakers, one for the bi and tri-lingual kids.

Parents at my immersion charter would prefer to have separate lotteries, and to admit only fluent students after a certain grade (like Oyster does for OOB English dominant -- gives them an assessment in Spanish prior to admission). However, the Charter School Law prohibits this. Only random admission is legal.

DC has this problem where the culture prefers equal over fair. That is to say, DC culture prefers everyone be the same, even if everyone lives in squalor, rather than be fair, where people receive different outcomes, but the process is measured and judicious.

Common sense says that it isn't fair, but the DC charter school board, and the parent organizations at most of the immersion charters, says otherwise. Dip into the long November thread about Yu Ying only having a handful of bilingual students, although there are probably hundreds in DC (if you include Chinese dialect speakers who don't speak Mandarin), for an education on the subject.

My guess is that many parents who don't speak the immersion language, or necessarily know much about the culture behind it, are threatened by those who do and, hence, don't want to see bilingual kids being given preferential treatment in the admissions process. Really too bad when you consider that academics who study bilingual immersion programs (e.g. Canadian educators looking at French programs) have found that the "two-way" immersion model, where kids learn language from one another as much as from instructors, is more effective than the "one-way" model, where kids only learn the immersion language from teachers (e.g. Yu Ying).

If you're looking for immersion language models for DC to emulate, look around the country at Chicago, NYC and LA, where language immersion charters are permitted to strive to admit 50% Native English speakers and 50% Native speakers of the immersion language. Going out of your way to admit bi and tri-lingual kids to language immersion programs is a no-brainer elsehwere, but, it seems, taboo in this city thus far, where concerns about any policy that might keep some low-income kids out of a particular charter trump all others. In a decade, things will surely be different here, with these schools hosting two lotteries, one for English speakers, one for the bi and tri-lingual kids.

Anonymous wrote:Can we get off YY and get back on track? I don't see the Hebrew school or the Arabic school being a part of this -- actually, I like the idea of those two schools making their own middle & high school together.

Maybe there could be another all -Spanish middle for the bilinguals who don't attend the 4 schools mentioned in the initial bulletin?

Well, first their charters need to be approved. Let's not put the cart before the horse.

After that, should either of them be interested in an HS option, they will probably find that niche immersion programs don't have the enrollment numbers for the economies of scale necessary for a high-quality HS program. Feeding the consortium would make very good sense, as they could each bring something unique to table. However, high school plans are surely a long way away for schools that haven't even been approved to open.

Anonymous wrote:I am actually less turned off by the anti-Yu Ying posters than I am by the tone of those speaking in defense of the school. Everyone can have dissenters, but it is rare to have such vocal and angry supporters.

I agree that a lot of YY defenders sound over the top but honestly, how would you feel if your kids' school, which you loved, was mercilessly attacked again and again by someone determined to make it fail and others who know nothing about it. Look at this thread, people are actually attacking YY for trying to do this amazing thing. It's crazy.

Is there any where to read/see the actual proposal for this school?

One thing at a time. They aren't actually approved yet, so it would be impossible to include them in the process. MV isn't even a strong participant at this time because they are busy with their first year.

Can we get off YY and get back on track? I don't see the Hebrew school or the Arabic school being a part of this -- actually, I like the idea of those two schools making their own middle & high school together.

Maybe there could be another all -Spanish middle for the bilinguals who don't attend the 4 schools mentioned in the initial bulletin?

I am actually less turned off by the anti-Yu Ying posters than I am by the tone of those speaking in defense of the school. Everyone can have dissenters, but it is rare to have such vocal and angry supporters.

Anonymous wrote:I am very nervous about YY's participation in this project. My son attends one of the other schools, and I absolutely live the warm community. I hope that can remain.

I'm a YY parent and I'm constantly amazed at the difference between the vitriol on this board, and the actual people at the school. Obviously there's one very anti-YY poster here, but the method behind her madness doesn't make much sense. I ascribe it to bitterness. Someone who doesn't particularly care wouldn't be so persistent in their negativity. I can think of one notorious 1st grade parent who wouldn't be above complaining over and over and over again here, especially since she got called out on the internal listserv.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am very nervous about YY's participation in this project. My son attends one of the other schools, and I absolutely live the warm community. I hope that can remain.

Anti YY troll.

Nope. I have never written a negative thing about the school. But these types of reactions make me nervous. Why is everything so polarized?

YY parent here. The longer my child spends at YY, the less I understand the hatred that the school inspires on these boards. I can assure you, nothing I've seen implies that my child & his classmates, or the school's administration, will interrupt your good experience.

That is good to hear. It is hard to know what to think with so much vitriol being passed back and forth. I'm happy to hear that it doesn't actually penetrate everyone's experience.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am very nervous about YY's participation in this project. My son attends one of the other schools, and I absolutely live the warm community. I hope that can remain.

Anti YY troll.

Nope. I have never written a negative thing about the school. But these types of reactions make me nervous. Why is everything so polarized?

YY parent here. The longer my child spends at YY, the less I understand the hatred that the school inspires on these boards. I can assure you, nothing I've seen implies that my child & his classmates, or the school's administration, will interrupt your good experience.