Anonymous
07/03/2013 14:48
Subject: Latin
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
Why? I am sure your NYC friend's kids and your kids will end up in the same colleges and with the same job opportunities and same basic life trajectory even if there are a few less than star quality students in your kid's classes. You are way too anxious about this
Not anxious, annoyed. I'm not convinced that the kids will in fact end up in the same colleges, not given what's going on at the relatively weak high schools in this city. Less than star quality students is putting it mildly. My kid has rowdy classmates who can barely read in one of the several best DCPS Hill schools. We're already tired of this. Our lazy kid is almost never pushed because the focus tends to be on getting classmates who can barely read through basic proficiency tests, or just getting them through the day. We'd be interested in BASIS if he weren't so interested in sports. We're just not excited about our public middle or high school options, Latin included.
Can't he participate in sports outside of school? I know DC has great soccer and baseball leagues outside of school. Are there great leagues for other sports as well?
Won't it be hard to find a school with a great curriculum and a great sports program, unless you have the resources to shell out $30,000 or more per year?
Our DC is not very interested in sports, so we did not give much thought to the sports offerings at BASIS, although we understand that there are extracurricular sports offerings.
Anonymous
07/02/2013 03:16
Subject: Latin
Anonymous wrote:
Why? I am sure your NYC friend's kids and your kids will end up in the same colleges and with the same job opportunities and same basic life trajectory even if there are a few less than star quality students in your kid's classes. You are way too anxious about this
Not anxious, annoyed. I'm not convinced that the kids will in fact end up in the same colleges, not given what's going on at the relatively weak high schools in this city. Less than star quality students is putting it mildly. My kid has rowdy classmates who can barely read in one of the several best DCPS Hill schools. We're already tired of this. Our lazy kid is almost never pushed because the focus tends to be on getting classmates who can barely read through basic proficiency tests, or just getting them through the day. We'd be interested in BASIS if he weren't so interested in sports. We're just not excited about our public middle or high school options, Latin included.
Anonymous
07/01/2013 23:40
Subject: Latin
What's so magical? I'd wager DC CAS exams, if they are anything like any other type of CAS exams or similar standardized testing, are completely formulaic, with a given set of questions in a given set of areas and a finite but rotating item bank - all comprising stuff that kids should have been learning as par for the course in their normal coursework anyways, ala Common Core and other common frameworks. And, that's what I've heard about the DC CAS, maybe someone can prove me wrong. Similarly, since each state is allowed to set the bar for their own CAS exam, they have all typically set the bar very low.
It boggles my mind that people keep acting as though the DC CAS is a complete mystery, that nobody has any idea what it will cover, if will ask kids to translate a passage from Old Church Slavonic, mathematically derive a Riemann Zeta function, or explain in detail the quantum physics involved in plant photosynthesis.
Either that, or they keep acting as though what's covered on the CAS is somehow separate from and totally alien to what the normal curriculum covers - which it isn't, or shouldn't be. Unbelievable that schools spend so much time on the prep. A ROBUST CURRICULUM SHOULD BE ALL THE PREP NEEDED. What's included on the CAS should be a small subset of what should be in the ordinary curriculum.
It boggles my mind that people keep acting as though the DC CAS is a complete mystery, that nobody has any idea what it will cover, if will ask kids to translate a passage from Old Church Slavonic, mathematically derive a Riemann Zeta function, or explain in detail the quantum physics involved in plant photosynthesis.
Either that, or they keep acting as though what's covered on the CAS is somehow separate from and totally alien to what the normal curriculum covers - which it isn't, or shouldn't be. Unbelievable that schools spend so much time on the prep. A ROBUST CURRICULUM SHOULD BE ALL THE PREP NEEDED. What's included on the CAS should be a small subset of what should be in the ordinary curriculum.
Anonymous
07/01/2013 21:03
Subject: Latin
Yes - so here is the real problem with DC-CAS - OSSE does not release the test every year. Teachers and students are forbidden to talk about it. Tax-payer money goes to fund bonuses for teachers whose students pass some kind of magical bar. And yet - what do we really know about the test?
We know that many parents on this forum report that their children have said the test is really, really easy. We know that in many DCPS schools and charter schools, many children do shockingly poorly on this test.
And we know that in some DCPS schools and charter schools, the vast majority of kids are labeled proficient or advanced.
I would like transparency in this and would call for the DC-CAS tests to be released in their entirety alongside the actual DC-CAS scores.
We know that many parents on this forum report that their children have said the test is really, really easy. We know that in many DCPS schools and charter schools, many children do shockingly poorly on this test.
And we know that in some DCPS schools and charter schools, the vast majority of kids are labeled proficient or advanced.
I would like transparency in this and would call for the DC-CAS tests to be released in their entirety alongside the actual DC-CAS scores.
Anonymous
07/01/2013 20:06
Subject: Re:Latin
Anonymous wrote:Which kids? Kids heading to community colleges? Elite colleges? Mechanics school? Why bother with it at all?
College? You're skipping ahead. First and foremost, it's just to see for example if 5th graders have learned what one should have expected to have learned or not. It should be a tool to tell you which schools, which subjects, and which kids need the most help. But if DCPS isn't actually going to fix it then maybe you have a point, why bother?
Why bother even teaching them in the first place if you don't care if they learn?
Anonymous
07/01/2013 19:25
Subject: Latin
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I'm not convinced that the DCCAS scores tell the entire story and is the "smoking gun" that proves social promotion. My DD has consistently missed advanced by 1 or 2 points in both the reading and math portions. It's possible that some of the students that are Below Basic or whatever the terminology used are missing the next level by 1 or 2 points also. It doesn't mean they are illiterate. Geez... I'm not suggesting that all the students that score poorly are in this category, but it's possible for a few. There is also the case of the poor test takers. I'm not trying to make excuses for the less than great DCCAS scores for Latin. The poor scores bother me too, but I believe my DD is getting a good well-rounded education. The DCCAS scores don't tell the entire story.
OK, so if the CAS is so tough, how could my kid, who is lazy, score 100%? He hasn't touched a flash card in his young life and isn't particularly enamored of reading (he'd rather play sports). Test results don't tell the entire story of course, but if this particular kid can get a perfect score (his younger sister, who hasn't taken the CAS yet, seems far more academic) and one-quarter of Latin kids still fail, I'm not impressed. Not remotely. What I am is envious of friends in NYC with kids the same age, kid heading to test-in middle schools.
Why? I am sure your NYC friend's kids and your kids will end up in the same colleges and with the same job opportunities and same basic life trajectory even if there are a few less than star quality students in your kid's classes. You are way too anxious about this
Anonymous
07/01/2013 19:23
Subject: Latin
The DC cas only tests within grade level. Meaning, it only has 5th grade material on the 5th grade test. It will not tell you if your student can do 6th grade material. It will only tell you that they can do really well consistently on the 5th grade material. It is meant only to show if the teacher has taught the grade level material effectively or not. If you want your child thoroughly assessed, you had better pay for it privately.
Anonymous
07/01/2013 17:42
Subject: Re:Latin
Which kids? Kids heading to community colleges? Elite colleges? Mechanics school? Why bother with it at all?
Anonymous
07/01/2013 17:35
Subject: Latin
The DCCAS and its successor are not meant to indicate gifted even for those that are advanced. They instead represent the minimum our kids need to know.