Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's confusing to throw the word entitled around. Wouldn't a higher bar help everyone if appropriate supports and supplementation are provided across the bar, to low- and high-achieving students. Neglecting the needs of high achieving families ultimately could weaken a school.

Of course, that means starting with the feeders, so admittedly the vision will take time to achieve.

The problem is that "appropriate supports and supplementation" to support IB Diploma Higher Level worthy language acquisition cost a bomb over the years, way beyond what any American public school system can and will support. The problem can't be solved with time absent the requisite inputs. There are some feeder and DCI families willing and able to provide the right inputs, but a small minority. I'd wager 10-15%. This is why most of the DCI students who take HL IBD language exams get low scores.

The right inputs for HL IBD language exam scores come in several forms, or a combination of them, all out of reach for the majority of feeder and DCI families.

Form #1: Adults in the family mainly speak the language at home and require the student to do the same.

Form #2: Family hosts au pairs who speak the target language to the student for many years, and requires him/her to consistently answer in the target language.

Form #3: Student attends bona fide immersion summer sleep-away programs for years.

Form #4: Student enjoys long visits to countries where the target language is spoken and communicates in the language for hours daily.

Anonymous wrote:It's confusing to throw the word entitled around. Wouldn't a higher bar help everyone if appropriate supports and supplementation are provided across the bar, to low- and high-achieving students. Neglecting the needs of high achieving families ultimately could weaken a school.

Of course, that means starting with the feeders, so admittedly the vision will take time to achieve.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+100. It's also not entitled to want IB Diploma curriculum implemented as intended by the IB organization half a century ago. Diploma studies are supposed to serve students with an academic bent bound for competitive bachelors degree programs around the world, with particular emphasis on speaking and understanding second and third languages. The curriculum just wasn't created to serve every American capable of earning a HS diploma.

This. DCI chose to implement an IB program when they could have implemented a more traditional high school (like Latin) with more enhanced immersion offerings and AP courses. IB for all is like AP for all, it forces programs that are designed to provide advanced level work to be watered down so that everyone can handle them. But not every kid SHOULD be in AP courses or an IB program, average and below average students should be in courses that are designed to challenge students at that level. That is what an appropriate public school education should do.

I truly think a school like DCI (and the feeders TBH) serves a very specific subset of parents best. Middle class parents with average students get a "elite" education with an acceptable SES cohort, but without the true rigor that would make it clear that their kids are actually average students. So they see their kids getting As in an IB program and are thrilled, whereas parents with above average kids see their kids coasting without having to put any work in and are frustrated. I know I personally don't have the patience to watch my very smart, but very lazy, kid coast in middle or high school (I coasted and it taught me so many bad work habits that I'm still struggling to unlearn), so unless DCI changes significantly in the next few years, we'll be one of those families moving or doing private.

Anonymous wrote:+100. It's also not entitled to want IB Diploma curriculum implemented as intended by the IB organization half a century ago. Diploma studies are supposed to serve students with an academic bent bound for competitive bachelors degree programs around the world, with particular emphasis on speaking and understanding second and third languages. The curriculum just wasn't created to serve every American capable of earning a HS diploma.

Anonymous wrote:"Entitled" is code for "ambitious" in the DC public charter and DCPS spheres = unwelcome.

Off to the burbs or a private, thanks, for wanting your tax dollars spent on providing suitable challenge for your high-achieving student.

Anonymous wrote:PP above, pipe down, spare us your knee-jerk name-calling.

Entitled parents who want....an IB Diploma program on a par with those found in other public school systems in this Metro area. That's just not a tall order. WIS doesn't offer the highest-performing program in the DC Metro area, not by a long shot. The best program is at Richard Montgomery in MoCo. Second best is probably Bethesda-Chevy Chase (not test-in), third best Washington-Liberty in Arlington (not test-in either).

Apparently, your kid hasn't even hit DCI but yet you're certain that parents pushing for a full-fledged IBD program are elitist jerks. Some of us at DCI would really just like to see a lot less teacher turnover, better leadership, serious prep for IB Diploma exams, and enough course offerings to make for a well-rounded program (for now, arts offerings are paltry). We also want teachers to get in the habit of providing students with "past exam papers" to study, the norm in IBD programs, leaving families serious about scoring high to scrounge for prep materials on the Internet. Not reasonable.

Please get a grip and a clue. Better yet, go away. IB Diploma for all is something of a joke.

Anonymous wrote:DCI is one of the very few public schools anywhere offering IB for ALL. I can't believe the entitlement that some parents are showing acting like it should be a private school for highly privileged students. It seeks to provide a world-class education to everyone! If your child really needs such a rarefied set of classes, why not send them to WIS?