Earlier this week I gave Julia Toews, the Head of BASIS Tucson, an opportunity to write a post on The Range stating her views about her school. Mainly, she was responding to a post I wrote which maintained that BASIS has a highly selective student body.
I found Toews’ argument that BASIS does not have a select student body to be unconvincing. However, I understand why she tried so hard to defend the school against the “selectivity” charge. If, as she claims, BASIS truly had a representative student body which included students from across the academic spectrum, that would mean its high test scores and Top Ten ranking in U.S. News & World Report would be truly exceptional, that BASIS had figured out a remarkably successful method of educating students. However, if its student body is made up of some of the top students in the area, that would mean it is just one of many schools across the country — district schools, charter schools and private schools — that offers a rigorous, challenging education to high achieving students. If the latter is true, and I believe it is, that means BASIS’ students should not be used as an example of a charter school succeeding where district schools fail.
Toews presents some facts and figures to “prove” BASIS Tucson represents an academic cross section of Tucson area students. One bit of data she doesn’t mention, however, is the students’ AIMS scores. They provide an interesting look at the academic achievement of students entering BASIS. More on that later in the post, including a request that Ms. Toews supply some information I don’t have access to.
Toews begins by dispelling what she calls “a myth that we serve only middle and upper income students.” She’s right, I’m sure, that BASIS has lower income students. I’ve never thought differently. She isn’t able to calculate that number by counting students on Free or Reduced Lunch, because BASIS Tucson doesn’t offer free or reduced lunch. Using other indicators, however, she leaves the impression that upwards to a third of the students are from lower income families.
For the sake of argument, let’s accept her estimate. That has no bearing on whether the school is academically selective. Look at TUSD’s University High School (UHS), for example. It requires an entrance exam for admission, meaning it is academically selective by definition. About 30% of UHS students qualify for Free or Reduced Lunch. Toews didn’t offer figures for the ethnic makeup of her student body, but for the sake of completeness, here are the stats for UHS: 51 percent Anglo, 31 percent Hispanic, 11 percent Asian American and 3 percent African American. The UHS data makes it clear that a school can have an academically select group of students with high achievement scores and top national rankings and still be reasonably diverse in terms of its students’ economic status and ethnicity.
Toews argues that BASIS Tucson doesn’t have a selective student body because it is “an open-enrollment, tuition-free public charter school that is forbidden by Arizona law to be selective in our admissions.” She’s right about the school’s enrollment process, but there are lots of ways to create an academically select student body even if you have to take all applicants or hold a lottery if too many people apply. We could argue endlessly, and fruitlessly, about whether BASIS uses alternative selection processes. Instead, I want to look at a way we can use data to determine the academic makeup of the students who enter BASIS.
Clearly, household income of individual students doesn’t tell us much about their educational achievement levels. The University High stats put that issue to rest. But there’s another measure we can use. If we knew students’ AIMS scores from the year prior to their entering BASIS, we would have a reasonable idea of the academic ability levels they carry with them when they walk into the school. Much as I think the AIMS test is misused and overused, it nevertheless provides a reasonable, approximate snapshot of students’ reading and math skills, especially when applied to a group of students rather than individuals.
The earliest grade at BASIS Tucson is 5th grade, so if we had the average 4th grade AIMS scores for the incoming 5th graders, we would have an idea of what kind of academic skills they bring in when they enter the school. Unfortunately, I have no way of tracking down the scores of 4th graders who came to BASIS from a variety of schools. So the best I can do is look at the AIMS test BASIS students take in the Spring of their 5th grade year and see if we can figure backward to what their 4th grade scores might have been. It’s an imperfect measure, but since I don’t have the 4th grade scores at my disposal, it’s the best I can do.
So let’s look at those 5th grade scores, as well as scores for other 5th grade students in other schools.
In both 2012 and 2013, 99 percent of BASIS 5th graders passed the AIMS Reading test. In 2012, 93 percent passed the AIMS Math test. In 2013, 96 percent passed.
By way of comparison, statewide, 79 percent of Arizona’s 5th graders passed the AIMS Reading test and 63 percent passed AIMS Math. The BASIS passing rate is 20 percent higher than the state average in reading and a 30 percent higher in math.
BASIS Tucson is next to the Catalina Foothills School District, which is one of the state’s top achieving, and highest income, school districts. In 2013, every Cat Foothills school but one earned an “A” grade from the state, and the one exception earned a “B.” In both 2012 and 2013, 96 percent of the district’s 5th graders passed AIMS Reading and 85 percent passed AIMS Math. Even comparing BASIS Tucson with its high performing, high income neighbor, BASIS came out 3 points higher in reading and 8 to 11 points higher in math.
Looking at TUSD, 75 percent of the districts’ 5th graders passed AIMS Reading and 54 percent passed AIMS Math. That makes the BASIS scores 24 to 40 percent higher than TUSD scores.
Even when we only look at TUSD schools with “A” and “B” state grades, about 88 percent of 5th graders passed AIMS Reading and 75 percent passed AIMS Math. That’s still 10 to 20 points lower than the BASIS passing rates.
As I said earlier, I can’t go back and look at the BASIS students’ scores when they were in 4th grade, before they enrolled in BASIS. Instead, let’s look at two possible theories explaining why BASIS’ 5th grade passing rates on AIMS are so much higher anyone else’s.
First is the “Huge leap” theory, which explains the high 5th grade scores this way: The 5th grade curriculum at BASIS is so rigorous and the teaching is so spectacular, even though students began the 5th grade at a similar level to students in the greater Tucson area, after 8 months of instruction, they were able to make a huge leap in their achievement, which meant that 10 percent, 20 percent, even 30 percent of those who would not have passed AIMS if they had attended another school passed at BASIS. Frankly, the “Huge leap” theory flies in the face of everything I know about student academic growth, based on my research in the field and my experiences as a teacher. It doesn’t sound credible. I doubt it’s true.
Second is the “High achievers from the start” theory, which explains the high 5th grade scores this way: The incoming BASIS 5th graders entered the school as high achievers, and their 5th grade AIMS scores were more a reflection of their previous achievement levels than the quality of education they received during their first 8 months at BASIS. The “High achievers from the start” theory makes far more sense to me.
I’m not satisfied leaving the two theories untested, especially knowing that the students’ 4th grade AIMS scores would go a long way toward proving one of the two theories correct. That’s why I’m asking Ms. Toews if she will go through her school data and give us the average AIMS scores of her 2012 and 2013 5th grade students when they were in the 4th grade. I’m reasonably certain that information is in the transcripts BASIS Tucson receives when the students transfer into the school.
I agree with Ms. Toews that we should get beyond the question of selectivity and look at the curriculum and teaching strategies at BASIS to see what we can learn from them. But you don’t get beyond a question by ignoring it. Good education is about a systematic search for the best answers to questions we have. I would like to continue that search by employing all the information at our disposal to decide whether or not BASIS Tucson has an academically select student body.
This article appears in May 8-14, 2014.
You’re forgetting one major component that is a significant difference between the average BASIS student and the average other student. Their parents.
Parents typically go out of their way to attempt to get their children into BASIS, including myself who drive 45mins one way (and others all the way from Sahuarita) to take my kids to BASIS Tucson. Then after a full day at work I spend time each night with my child on homework… hard homework that is significantly more robust and time engaged than any of this classes he was part of at TUSD for K~4.
This type of dedication and involvement largely doesn’t exist in other schools. Parents largely don’t care and that is especially true with lower income districts. This I know first hand has my wife is a TUSD teacher who has worked at more than one Title A elementary and now middle school.
Having a parent who is invested and supportive along with having an education environment without the peers who can only be described as delinquent allows a student to jump ahead. It allows the 5th grader to not only complete but excel at the 8th grade level math their actually being taught.
Additionally, you can find great teachers everywhere. BASIS not only provides quality teaching staff, but that staff has mandatory student and parent hours. School has educational tutors/helpers to push students that are struggling. Keep in mind they are struggling with concepts that are far more advanced than their 5th grade peers in other schools.
That last line is a significant piece of logic you’re overlooking. While all the other districts are struggling to teach 5th grade AIMS level content, BASIS is teaching those 5th graders at least 6th grade and up to 8th grade content. The 5th grade content is done very quickly while the rest of the 5th grade year is focused on content no other 5th grader would likely learn. That in itself should be obvious why they score higher in AIMS. They’re already learning content surpasses AIMS 5th grade levels.
BASIS has its faults in various areas. But the education and opportunity they provide is real and significantly greater than any other school in town.
Comparing real data can be so worthwhile and enlightening when done well. Can any school, charter or otherwise, make a child more competitive for future employment? Do employers want the best educated for the best wages or do they want the best educated for the least pay? American students have been criticized as not being educationally competitive with China, yet when I taught graduate students at a prestigious science university in China their knowledge was impressive. The pay in China, however, when compared to America was paltry. Indeed “If someone in China takes an average salary of 1,500 yuan per month and they go to the bank, they will actually get $200,” according to ILO economist Patrick Belser (2012). That equates to $2400 per year. These highly educated workers then would welcome the chance to compete for any job that pays more than their present $10 per day. Could we live in Tucson on so little money or would that fall below “survival” level?
Americans are told that future employment will depend on funding competitive schools like BASIS which are selective but expensive for taxpayers. The real problem might have less to do with the competitive claims of schools. Are we willing to accept slave-wages for ourselves or our highly educated children? Maybe we should we rethink the whole economic and social investment in competitive schools like BASIS in the first place?
Let’s be honest here:
The days of the public school system are OVER. Teachers unionized, admin politicized, the parents were ostracized, so we all said our goodbyes.
Find an alternative and let the darn thing die. The Democratic Party once again found a way to destroy something that worked, and replaced it with something that has no chance in hell of working.
I want my healthcare back!
Needless to say, I completely disagree with this TW writer’s assessment. I’m Hispanic from a modest background and myself a product of TUSD so I’m confident that I’m familiar with the school district and the city. I’m also both a former Basis School and UHS parent. In terms of ethnic mix and income, Basis school is no different from the TUSD schools my child also attended. The difference is pedagogical and is especially evident in the early and middle grades: TUSD introduces serious math far too late for students to catch up in that area, whereas Basis tackles serious math study early. This is critical when it comes time to take the UHS entrance exams. Unfortunately, TUSD’s curriculum doesn’t prepare its students to test or succeed at the districts only nationally recognized high school… We’re grateful to Basis and UHS for giving our daughter the preparation to contend successfully for Harvard and several other top-tier colleges. The Weekly’s critic of UHS and Basis needs to check his prejudices; he clearly doesn’t know these schools or the backgrounds of students attending them well enough to comment.
Sorry, David, but I disagree with explanation of the “high achievers from the start” theory as to why BASIS is supposedly so successful. It is really your first theory of the “huge leap” that should be examined more closely. The founders of BASIS Schools, Olga and Michael Block, are just miracle workers. They were able to do what no other educators could do over the past hundred years. The Blocks found the way to make “huge leaps” forward with regard to educational theory and practice. They built all of this on the “basis” of an economic framework whereby the taxpayer in Arizona gets to pay for their selective educational experiments. So, your theory about the “huge leap” forward really hits its mark because BASIS schools do “simple things better than anyone else.” BASIS hires “great teachers who love kids, who have deep content knowledge, and passion for what they teach.” BASIS schools have raised “the bar to the highest global standards, so our students will rise to meet the challenge.” Its educationally sound theories, “break the hard sciences down into their essential elements in middle school: Chemistry, Physics, and Biology.” As the Blocks point out, this is an approach that “the best school systems in Europe and Asia” use because “it’s an approach that works.” BASIS recognizes “that a thorough knowledge of grammar is necessary for good writing—perhaps the most vital of basic skills, no matter what one prefers to study—a notion that builds critical-thinking and problem solving skills.” Lastly, BASIS lights “a fire in the mind, heart and soul of every child, helping them create their own path of learning, so that they can succeed in college and make their way in the adult world.” Funny, but I thought those ideas helped form the “basis” for our public education system. The only exception is that the public schools try to do it for ALL students not just the few students that are admitted to certain schools. If you’re wondering where I got all those quotes, just go to the following Olga and Michael Block website: http://www.basised.com and read how they have created something so educationally original and are now watching it grow into a major industry that is spreading its wings throughout the United States. As Olga and Michael stated on their website, “America is a land of optimism . . .” Perhaps they meant to say, “American is a land of opportunity . . .” because as Olga and Michael ask, “shouldn’t every city in America have a BASIS school?” And, the answer to that is: why not, as long as the taxpayer is willing to support a public entity that conceals itself from public scrutiny through a private partnership via its very own educational management organization known as BASIS.ed. Yes, indeed, the “huge leap” theory explains it all . . .
My son played ice hockey while in middle and high school. He attended all practices with me tagging along. In the summer he attended hockey camp. When the time came early each season he was selected for the travelling team. Other kids missed practices, did not always show up at games and no parents were to be seen at any time. Often these same youngsters mistook brawling for playing the game as intended, not as seen on TV.
I guess there’s an analogy here like worthwhile pursuits are demanding, require diligence and family support is a real step up. But don’t take my word for it, listen to sidonie and Basis Parent who obviously do get it. Common Core Standards are here folks, get ready for some really bad news coming from TUSD.
Please. As a former BASIS employee, I can tell you this. If you are an 8th grader who is able to jump into Geometry (so that you can be in AP Calculus your Senior year) — BASIS will kiss you on the forehead and say “Come in thee.” If you can’t — they will politely (not a good fit) tell you to “explore other options”. If you are “their product”, meaning coming up through the ranks (5th grade and up), they “weed” out the “weaklings” (ones who for whatever reason begin to stutter and struggle — again, “go and explore other options”). This is private school mentality via public money. Does it work for the academically top 2% of Tucson. Sure. The question is WHO is 2%, and I don’t mean SES or race, I mean ALL the factors that contribute to making sure a child stays within the 2% mark — focus, stability, stamina, interest, etc. There are many very smart capable students who fall through the cracks of BASIS — because they are slave driving elitists. Read the post by a Sahurarita mom who works with her child on hwk. Seriously? She finds it a “normal sacrifice.” Have we come to the point that PARENTS must sit and do hwk with their children EVERY night to achieve “success”? What is “normal” about that?
Good for her — she isn’t working two jobs, evening/night shifts. Her kid thus gets to be labeled “smart”. Woo hoo. Woo hoo for BASIS and the American educational meritocracy.
Mr. Safier seems to have a problem with success. Hispanic population in TUSD is 42% yet only 31% attend University High. So what’s the problem there? No outrage? You can bet that there is a heck of a lot less than 11% of Asian students in TUSD yet there is that many going to UHS.
Guess he wants quotas? Just what does he want.
Mr. Safier,
Let me see if I have this right. You write a column accusing Basis of being selective without bothering to talk to anyone from Basis or acquire any facts about the school. The head of Basis Tucson North then reaches out to you to discuss her school and agrees to post on your blog explaining the admissions process, discussing the academic support structure and pointing out the diversity of the student population, ending with an open invitation to communicate with her about the school. You then respond by rehashing your previous claims, speculating on some theories and demanding that she turn over data about her students to you.
Forgive me for asking, but isn’t the way journalism usually works is to ask for the data BEFORE you write the story, not use the story as a platform to make speculations and demand the person you are speculating about prove you wrong? Did you try calling or emailing the school directly to ask for this information?
It’s pretty clear that you are biased against Basis and have no intention of treating them fairly. I wouldn’t blame them if they aren’t very interested in working with you since you have shown no interest in being even-handed with them.
I always enjoy talking to parents who have a student at BASIS. They seem to fall into two camps – which is a generalization and meant to be taken as such. They are either rabid BASIS supports who at times will not even accept questions about BASIS methodology, or the second group which is the group I find most interesting.
These are the parents who have concerns about BASIS even though their child is attending the school. Just before they say something that is less than glowing about BASIS they will look right and left to see if anyone is listening, lean forward, lower their voice and then speak.
I kid you not.
Comparing the few students at BASIS to the many at District 16 and only finding 3 percentage points different in language and 10 in math is statistically not significant. They might as well be the same numbers.
This of course, begs your question of whether AIMS test results are indicative of anything much.
The important thing at the end of the days is YOU COULD BE RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING but it’s of no relevance of value. BASIS fills a need, and it does so extremely well. Kvetching about their selectivity or how “not awesome” their teaching methods is moot. They could be a right-wing nutso-religio school but so long as they meet a need and educate kids, that’s what counts. Fortunately they are not.
So keep tilting at them windmills. BASIS will outlive your career in “news” journalism.
E
I must say, I am enjoying this comment stream, from people on both sides (all sides?) of the issue. I’m always happy to see a post of mine generate intelligent discussion and controversy. I just want to clarify a few things I wrote which I think some people have misinterpreted.
First and most important, when I say BASIS Tucson has a select student body, that’s not a criticism. It’s a description, and I think it’s an accurate one.
University High is clearly a selective high school, and that’s fine by me. You have to pass an entrance exam to get in. The school provides its select student body with a challenging, rigorous education. To use another example, Harvard is a selective university, by definition. That’s fine as well. The university is the envy of the world. Its students receive a terrific education, and part of the reason is that it selects the top applicants from all over the country and the world, then pushes them to reach their full potential.
BASIS also gives its students a challenging, rigorous education. The difference here is, while University High and Harvard both are clear that they have a select student body, BASIS Tucson and other BASIS schools perpetrate what I think is a myth, that their students are a representative sampling of the students in the surrounding area. While University High and Harvard make it clear that their mission is to get outstanding results from a hand-picked group of students, BASIS claims to get outstanding results from a non-selective student body. I believe that misrepresentation should be cleared up. Our national discussion about the quality of our schools is distorted when BASIS is brought into the discussion as a school which has developed a method that elevates a cross section of students to the highest ranks of achievement. Based on that misstatement, the question people ask is, “Why can’t other schools be as successful as BASIS?” In fact, many other schools are as successful as BASIS, when they also have select student bodies.
Second, one commenter made it sound like I maintained UHS is more ethnically diverse than BASIS. I think you’ll find on a more careful reading that I said I don’t know the ethnic makeup of BASIS. It may be as diverse as UHS, or more so. The reason I described the ethnic makeup of UHS was to make the point that a top achieving school can be ethnically as well as economically diverse.
Finally, a commenter said I’m not concerned that UHS has more Anglos and fewer Hispanics than the general TUSD population. In fact, I’ve written about the disparity when the new, federally mandated desegregation plan for TUSD was put in place (I was writing on Blog for Arizona at the time). Part of the plan states that UHS must move toward an ethnic diversity which is more representative of the TUSD district. I agree completely.
Greetings,
My kids went to Kellond (TUSD), BASIS (For a year) and now Academy of Tucson. I think all three are great schools in their own ways. Kellond has some great teachers. They are limited by kids/parents who don’t care and thus coursework speed is moving with the average of the mass. BASIS covers quite a bit academically and was super challenging for my over achieving daughter and was too hard for my “average” son. As a note my daughter was thrilled when I told her we were moving them to Academy of Tucson. She said the high pace at Basis was stressing her out . Her pediatrician didn’t want her their either as he sees kids with stomach problems from the Basis stress. I expected Academy of Tucson to be half way between Basis and TUSD on coursework. After a year there with two kids – it looks like its slightly closer to Basis than TUSD. My kids are doing better emotionally with the slightly slower pace. Basis is a great school of the high achievers. It is selective like Darwin. The achievers will make it, all others will fall. For me personally the issue with Basis isn’t the speed or how demanding it is, its how parents are willingly sacrificing their kids social and play time (which are forms of development) for academic success. Life isn’t only about test scores and Ivy league schools. My opinion
Kudos to the honest former employee. My son was invited to BASIS in 6th grade, the first year they opened. He tested as Gifted in elementary school, and I was under the impression this was why he was chosen. I do believe the school relied more on the students than the teachers to make them appear an achieving school. The teachers did nothing to impress me as exceptional, simply presented the assignments and left it to the student (and parents) to work it out. There was not enough time in their curriculum to present the methods differently or to explain things more than once. In fact, in the beginning, there was no time for sport or exercise, just curriculum. And to expand on I. Duncan’s comment regarding the timid complainers, when I suggested perhaps more time be spent on the lesson, or exercise, it was suggested back that perhaps it was just too much for my son’s abilities. I spent far too much time on the internet learning his assignments so that I could better explain them to him. I got tired of doing the teacher’s work after one year. (And yes, he completed college.)
BASIS curriculum is data driven test preparation whose philosophical approach is rooted in Skinnerian radical behaviorism. Not the kind of curricula I want my child to participate in. Tell me, what happens to the children who are counseled out of BASIS? Where do they go?
If the BASIS formula works for any student, why isn’t there a BASIS school at Ajo and 6th instead of Oro Valley and Cat Foothills?
I think all schools should be the same. They should be publicly funded, match the ethnic makeup of the city at large, be built of the same materials, and be mediocre all the same so as not to make any one feel bad. All parents should be forced to send their kids to the school the government specifies.
Harvard and UHS are selective schools because they select their students. This is what selective means. It comes from the root “to select” and has to do with choosing. As a wordsmith, you should pay attention to what words actually mean. Who at BASIS is selecting the students that are admitted? Answer: nobody.
This is markedly different than Harvard or UHS who tell the students that they don’t select: “you can’t come. The door is shut.” You brush this difference off as though it is unimportant even though that is what the word “selective” means!
This is what I see the head of school’s comment as saying: “we take everyone and we do our best to help everyone who comes succeed.” She discusses several specific things they do to help students succeed like weekly student hours for every teacher and a full time academic support coordinator charged with making sure that struggling students get individual help.
This seems like the real story to me because it contradicts the ideas of many critics of BASIS who accuse them of trying to “weed out” students who struggle.
You don’t say anything about this, however, but just go back to flogging the “selectivity” charge.
Newsflash: nobody thinks that the BASIS student body perfectly mirrors the student population of Tucson. Furthermore, I don’t see anywhere in the head of school’s post (to which you are supposedly responding) where it said this.
Please find me one school in any of these top schools lists that does. Good luck.
The reason your post is causing heated debate is not because what you are saying is controversial. It is because you are essentially throwing red meat to the people out there who don’t like BASIS. They show up to vent and then supporters of BASIS come to its defense. This may get you attention and page views, but I don’t think it advances the conversation much.
I think a better article about improving education in Tucson was written by the Mayor and published in the Star the other day. He makes the point that improving education in Tucson will bring growth, expand the tax base and create more funding for education. BASIS and the national recognition it receives is part of this virtuous cycle and should be applauded by supporters of public education.
http://azstarnet.com/news/opinion/column/guest/mayor-jonathan-rothschild-show-arizona-s-lawmakers-that-education-means/article_ac56c8c6-190e-5e62-8bf3-f3056efe23e8.html
A reply to the comment from “a reader.” The verb “to select” means “to choose.” However, the adjective, “select,” as in “a select group of students” or “a select student body” can also mean “exclusive” or “of special excellence.” That’s the sense in which I mean it, not that BASIS has the same kind of selection process as UHS or Harvard, but that the students themselves are similar to the students at UHS in the levels of academic ability and achievement they bring into the school. If that’s true, that would make them a “select” group.
I was pleased to see you write, “Nobody thinks that the BASIS student body perfectly mirrors the student population of Tucson.” I would like to know the extent to which the student body differs academically from the larger student population in Tucson. It’s tough to pin down. That’s why I suggested that knowing the AIMS scores of students when they enter BASIS would give us some data we can use to see what the school’s student population is like before they take their first classes at the school. I began that process by comparing the BASIS students’ 5th grade AIMS scores with scores of other 5th graders in the area and around the state. It’s an imperfect measure at best, since by the time 5th graders take the AIMS test in spring, they’ve been at BASIS for about 8 months. We could learn far more if we knew the 4th grade AIMS scores of those same students.
I asked a number of specific pedagogical questions of Basis on the last article. I see no answers at yet. This is disturbing.
I asked my son, who is in the first graduating senior class in Basis Phoenix, if he thought Basis engages in some sort of student selection. He is very studious by nature and very successful at Basis. He agreed there is a selection process going on but described it as “self-selection”. Basis does not drive poorer performing students away by expelling them but they are expected to get extra (free) tutoring after school if the are having difficulty. This is extra work for the teachers but they get paid more because money that would be spent on “extras” like a school library, nice theaters and the like is instead diverted to them. And if a teacher underperforms, their contract is not renewed. The tutoring is so that “no child is left behind” but if a student is lagging, it means there is no time in their life for anything else but study; this is not some empty political slogan, it is hard work. Some students are not culturally prepared for this level of effort, and the of glitz and social functions elsewhere draw teenagers away to less rigorous schools where academic achievement is one of many things a school provides. Basis is about learning only: to paraphrase Vince Lombardi, at Basis, learning is not everything, it is the *only* thing. So for the dedicated student, there is a big leap forward, and for others, there is a big leap away. You have to wonder about these no-shades-of-gray attacks on Basis. I think they are hiding some other resentment that would not sound well in the ears of students and their parents. Some attacks mention the high levels of Asian students, which smacks of racism; these families, many recent immigrants, know the value of a great education. The rest of us could learn that from them. Have you looked at the other top-rated high schools in the U.S. News report? They do not have high drop-out rates because they are selective up front: schools for the gifted only. You don’t have to be an Einstein to do well at Basis but if you are not a genius, you have to devote much of your waking life to study. Too hard? Self-select yourself out of there, it’s a free country. Basis is not for everybody, only for those who are dedicated to being highly successful in getting into better colleges, and being successful. I asked my son what he wanted from life and he told me what he did not want: “to live an ordinary life”.
Mr. Safier’s is correct that Basis has a select incoming student body. A disproportionately large number of high achievers select Basis to get more academic challenge or to fulfill their selective college admissions ambition. And a disproportionately low number of average and below average achievers make the same selection. Of course some families have unrealistic expectations of their child’s ability or motivation and others just hear the overt Basis message that the college prep is amazing and every child is offered the support to succeed, but they miss or ignore the unspoken message that this is a place for above average and exceptional learners. Basis culls those families with the annual high stakes testing that they call their comprehensive exams.
Where Mr. Safier’s seems to go astray is in the dichotomy he creates that either we have to believe the Basis implications that they take take in ordinary students and do something exceptional with them or crtics’ implications that they take in exceptional students and doing nothing out of the ordinary with them. From my perspective, which includes visits to Basis and many other schools, the truth lies between these two poles. Basis takes in a select group of students and through their designed attrition policies, makes that group highly select to the point where virtually every child in the school is highly capable and motivated, Along the way, they challenge the children and give them educational opportunities that few other schools offer. 9th grade Algebra for 8th graders – standard practice at elite schools – for 7th graders, rare, for 6th graders – I’ve only seen it at Basis. Latin, Mandarin and Formal Logic – nice highschool courses if your school offers that kind of rich academic curriculum. At Basis, kids complete all three before leaving middle school.
There are more than 50 metropolitan areas in the US with bigger student populations than Tuscon has to draw from. There are hundreds of elite schools that have highly capable and achieving students and many have more financial resources to devote to education than does Tuscon. By most measures, whether it is a ranking like US News that is primarily based on AP test success or one that weights SAT scores or college admissions to top 50 universities more heavily, Basis ranks among the top 50 schools in the country and by some measures in the top 10.
So be happy that you have one (actually more than one) school in Tuscon that does a very good job of providing an education that helps very good students reach their potential. Just don’t buy the Basis pitch that everyone can succeed there if there are just willing to try hard. In fact, while it might not be politically feasible to overtly allow a selective school to skim the best students away from the public school system, but it would be far better for society if Basis could have a selective admissions process, accept only half the kids they accept now and use the support resources that would have gone to those non-accepted kids and try to help 95% of the kids that are accepted make it through graduation.
Please excuse the bak-to-back posts. This a separate take from the above on the discussion, and it seemed to warrant a separate post.
As ability tracking went out of style particularly in elementary grades along with the rise of the self-esteem movement and educators moved to heterogeneous ability classrooms, the brightest and hardest working quarter of the class a little below the Gifted and Talented cutoff score has been under-served by public schools. This under-serving was exacerbated with NCLB’s emphasis on bringing the weakest students to acceptable performance levels and its mainstreaming of special ed students (no argument that this has been good for those students, but there are still questions about its effect on some others in the class).
There is legitimate debate about where our school system should be between the goals of (1) bringing all students up to standard level by committing more resources to children with the least ability or the lowest starting point and thereby narrowing the achievement gap or (2) committing similar resources to each child so that each child makes a year of educational progress each year and the achievement gap stays constant of may even expand.
Currently the pendulum has swung toward a greater allocation to the slower end of the class. High standards charter schools like Basis provide a way for parents to elect to have their children receive the benefit of an equal share of educational resources without the political fallout associated with that allocation directly causing a reduction in service to the slower end of the classes. It allows tracking without any children at the public school having to recognize that there is a group of kids that are more academically capable or ready than they are. I agree with Mr. Safier that Basis should be open about who the school is serving and that their outcomes are at least partially the result of the students they take in. It is unfortunate that the politics surrounding charter schools preclude such honesty, for certainly there would be a better matching of kids with the school and a lower attrition rate if there was full transparency about what Basis is doing for students and what it is not doing.
I am a mother of 5 and I very much respect our public school teachers and administration. Having said that, most of my children do not attend public schools. We’ve attempted TUSD schools for 3 of 5 of our kids. Unfortunately the public schools are forced to be “one size fits all.” Even in our small family of 5 children, one size does not fit all. Our children have very different skills and abilities and public school was unable to accommodate. One of our children was left behind and not given adequate support for her learning disability. She now attends a charter school that focuses on serving young people between the ages of 16 and 21 who have or are at risk of dropping out of traditional high school…it’s a great fit for her! We have one who is an average student and thrives in her public school…it’s a great fit for her. Then we have one who was an average student at public school but really enjoys learning, she wasn’t a highly performing student (didn’t test anywhere close to entry for the gifted program). As mentioned above,she fell into that category that was under-serviced by TUSD. She was slightly on the high side of average – not gifted, not needing extra help – so she got nothing. She started going to BASIS in 4th grade, the same year their K – 4 school opened…it’s a great fit for her. Since you asked, I’d be happy to share her pre-BASIS AIMS scores along with those from “8 short months of instruction” at BASIS. I think you’ll find your “Huge Leap” theory deserves further consideration. I also think it would be worth following BASIS Tucson’s current 2nd grade class, the first class of students who will have been with BASIS since Kindergarten. I’d like to see how they stack up next to their peers across the state on the AIMS in future years.
In my opinion, the whole point of a charter school is to give parents/students a choice. I for one appreciate that BASIS is unwilling to lower their standards to appease anyone. Some parents/students make a choice to leave. All of these schools have their niche, no one is complaining about the “select student body” at Compass, Eastpoint, or Pima Vocational High Schools for the fact that their students self-select being there. If these schools increased their curriculum to be more inclusive, some of their current students would choose to leave. Would you complain about them?
David,
I’m actually puzzled with your response, I can’t take you seriously since much of your response is opinion and assertions. Honestly, I stopped reading your response because it couldn’t be more contorted from the truth.
I’m going to share my personal and real experience with one of my 2 children whom were accepted and attended Basis Tucson North.
I went through the process of enrolling my eldest. We were fortunate that Basis was opening Basis Tucson North and a lottery wasn’t needed. My child like every child, took the assessment test to place her properly into classes and in our case, to show where her weaknesses were to work on prior to starting school. The assessment test was just that, it was not/ is not a criteria for qualifying students into Basis. In fact, my child didn’t meet their minimum standards for Math, yet was accepted. Additionally, we received ways to supplement her learning so that moving from Fruchthendler (4th grade) to Basis Tucson North (5th grade) went as smoothly as possible.
Quite the contrary to your assumptions…
During her first year at Basis she was given several methods of additional assistance to help her catch up in Algebra; upper school tutor, her teacher during teacher hours and after-hours assistance. I can’t imagine having more support for her to learn.
Her second year was much of the same, ample assistance mastering math. I shouldn’t say math as it was Algebra in both 5th and 6th grades. The curriculum at Basis is ahead of many schools, which was the main reason my child needed the extra help. Coming from Fruchthendler, most students had a leap to make scholastically.
Her AZ Standardized test scores for math went from “Approaching the Standard” @ Fruchthendler in 4th grade to “Meeting the Standard” in 5th @ Basis Tucson North to “Exceeding the Standard” @ Tucson Basis North in 6th grade.
So let’s review the facts of my experience:
1. My child was a low performer in math before acceptance into Basis, but was still accepted
2. My child was given support, lots of support to succeed, not cast out
3. My child’s Standardized AZ tests went from “Approaching the Standards” to “Exceeding the Standards” in just 2 years @ Basis Tucson North. Her knowledge was developed through the Basis model, not selected from the population
I would expect a journalist to do proper research to report facts and not make assertions or opinions. How about putting boots on the ground and doing some real research.
Oh, I should add, I will gladly supply both of my children’s 4th (Fruchthendler), 5th (Basis Tucson North), 6th (Basis Tucson North), 7th (Basis Tucson North) & 8th (eldest child’s Esperero Middle School) AZ Standardized tests, as well I’ll give you a more in depth interview about my experiences. That way you’ve done at least some relevant research… Since this is my Facebook account, you can easily reach out to me…
It is difficult to give extra attention to top students who complete their work early in class. These kids are the future success of our country. Having them assist the slow kids in class (yes, this goes on), especially with non-academic items adversely affects their progress.
We bend too much for the “disadvantaged”