Happy Birthday CaBi!

Shamelessly lifted from www.capitolbikeshare.com

After one year, Capital Bikeshare is thriving.  They clocked their millionth ride, and one recent fall weekend, casual riders (1 and 5-day membership) took more rides than regular riders (1-month and annual memberships).  The program is wildly popular - a red and yellow CaBi bike was definitely the accessory of the summer for urban men and women.  Another symptom of its popularity -  stations have had issues with re-balancing, being all empty or all full, and thus not in circulation for either rentals or returns - a phenomenon I myself have experienced no fewer than three times at less popular stations at non-peak times.  In all honestly, while annoying, I'm secretly completely tickled by such success.  Growing success, that is, additional stations and bikes are going in this fall...including one station just two blocks from my house (I currently use 3 stations nearby, depending on my route; each one is about 4 blocks from home).

Businesses are clamoring to get (and even sponsor) a CaBi bike station at their doorstep.  Residents are demanding them of their municipalities. Montgomery County - typically cool for the suburbs - wants in; but hat tip to Arlington as the first suburban county to go in, edging our MoCo as the hipper, greener, more innovative, more visionary of the two dueling inner ring 'burbs.  You snooze, you lose, MoCo!  This makes DC - yes, DC! - the proud home of the largest public bikeshare system in North America.  It's nice to be the cool one everyone else wants to be for once. Like NYC wants to be us, too.  They just announced Alta will be their contractor for the new bike sharing program of the Big Apple.  Welcome, New York, glad you could join us.  

I'm particularly proud to be a founding member - one of the first 1000 to join CaBi, I have a black commemorative bike fob, rather than the usual red.  I'm not one of their super users.  I tend to use the bikes a few times per month for quick neighborhood jaunts from Point A to Point B, rather than walking.  Each time,  however, I feel super virtuous - clean, green, active, urban, and hip.  I even handicap my cool factor, because I'm over 40 and a mom.

Nice job!  It's only been a year, but I can't imagine life and DC without it anymore.  Happy Birthday, CaBi!!!

Heads up!

There is a 1 in 3,200 chance of getting hit by space junk now hurtling toward Earth this week.  The falling satellite, UARS, is the size of a school bus, and will likely hit Earth on Friday (give or take a day) - somewhere between the northern Newfoundland and southern South America latitudes. Or more precisely, but less dramatically, between 57 degrees N and 57 degrees South, and thus could hit just about anywhere around the fattest part of the planet.  While it is expected to break into pieces in a fiery light show, and rain across a path of up to 500 miles, with the largest debris estimated at about 300 pounds.

Scientists say it is not likely to hit a person.  The planet is well-covered with water, and even on land, we are relatively sparsely populated, except in places like New York City and Dhaka.  In order to take appropriate precautions, I will be walking around in my bike helmet starting Thursday at noon.

DC school metrics

Here's an interesting ranking of the DC's public and charter elementary, middle and high schools that looks at students achieving "advanced" scores in math and reading, rather than just "proficient." This study combined the percentage of students at each school who scored "advanced" on standardized tests.  The thinking behind this different analysis is twofold.  First, proficient just isn't good enough. But, more importantly -  because, of course, some kids at Lake Webegon will just have to be average - what are these schools doing right?

Of course - and unfortunately - poverty and privilege, have something to do with it.  So the ranking also includes the percentage in the school who are eligible for free and reduced lunch.  With this additional insight, it's not all that surprising that Janney Elementary and Key Elementary - with 0% eligible for free and reduced lunch - have very high performing students, with combined advanced math and reading scores around 80% or better.  Both schools are in tony Upper NW DC - or Upper Cupcake, as I sneeringly refer to it.  Both schools are about 70% lily white - though in the grand scheme of things, that is still pretty diverse for fanciness.

It seems that the more interesting success are in those highly ranked schools, with a signifigant percentage of kids eligible for free and reduced lunch - or poor kids.  I'm told by a reliable soucre that a school with  fewer than 40% poor kids is pretty much a middle class school.  So which schools did well against the odds - those schools that made the top 25 ranking for advanced reading and math scores and have 40%+ poor kids?  Here they are below - # is the rank; bold represents the combined percentage of students achieving advanced on math and reading standardized test; the plain font number is the percentage of poor kids; italics means it's a charter school.

#6.  Banneker High (magnet): 54, 776. 
#12 D.C. Prep Charter Middle: 77, 55
#13 Capital City Charter (elementary): 41, 49

#14 KIPP KEY (charter middle): 76, 47

#17 KIPP College Prep (charter high school): 83, 42

#18 Wilson High School: 42, 41

#19  Haynes Charter (3rd-8th): 69, 40

#20 Height Community Charter Butler (elementary): 100, 40

#21  Ellington School of Arts (high school): 42, 39

#22 Stuart-Hobson Middle: 40, 37

#24 KIPP WILL (charter middle): 82, 36

#25 Ross Elementary: 40, 36

What's one to make of all this?  Well, this education policy novice, metrics aficionado, involved parent of a DCPS second grader, and amateur blogger has a few observations to ponder further.  

First, charter schools are doing a decent job of educating poor kids.  Well, that and their engaged parents are smart enough to get them out of their failing neighborhood school, find a good charter, get them enrolled (often by winning the admission lottery), and get them there everyday.  Theese parents are also probably the same ones who check on homework and go to parent-teacher conferences, and place value on education.  This is one of the biggest criticisms of charter schools - it robs the failing schools of the good kids and parents that can lift the rest up.  See City Paper artcile "Has the Black Middle Class Given up on Neighborhood Schools."

Second, not much is happening in the way of decent elementary schools - public or charter.  Ok, maybe that's a bit unfair. There are plenty of good schools - elementary, middle, and high school - where there are dedicated (and tired) teachers, good students, and engaged parents who are scoring proficient on the tests.  This ranking focuses on high-performing "advanced" students.  Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water!

Third, only Banneker High is in the Top 10, and it's a magnet school.  Self selection is self-selection - of course, they'll do well.  But here we have a self-selection of poor kids who are high-performing, and the school is serving them well.  There is something important happening here.  Personally, I think that self-selection at the high school level - college prep, magnet schools - that start culling to make sure those students get what they need to prepare them for when they graduate as 18yo adults is just fine.  And full disclosure, I'm a product of such an inner-city, highly diverse, highly socially-economically integrated magnet school.

Fourth and fifth, and a few more observations...Standardized tests are't the greatest measurment tool of a good school.  They're also not always the best test of a student's learning and abilities.  But it's what we've got, and I'm a big believer that we have to measure something somehow - we just need to know the trade-offs we're making in that measurement.  Stuart-Hobson Middle School is my local middle school - doing fairly well, and serving good a diversity socioeconomic backgrounds.  I've got my eye on middle school for Dear Daughter - just four years away.  My own analysis and assessment will include these thoughts and many others. 

And finally, and completely unrelated, I was originally pointed to the Jay Matthews Washington Post article and school rankings through the fabulaous WaPo local politics blog "District of deBonis, " and I have a secret crush on its journalist bloggerMike deBonis :-).

Missoni for Target Hits It!

Guess I''m not the only one psyched about the Missoni collection at Target!

Target's New Missoni Collection Brings Down Site  :-)  Shame on Target for not being better prepared.  I mean you'd think they'd've realized when the pre-opening pop-up Missoni for Target store sold out in a night last week.  And when the preview for fashion editors last fall left the shelves in a "mild ravage."

Admittedly, all this rave and rage makes things more difficult for me.  Of course, I haven't had a chance to make it to Target yet, and now at best, I'll be there on the weekend with the masses.  Can't wait to see it in person!

Simple. Beautiful. True.

If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.


If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.


If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.


If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.


If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart.


-Lao Tse

OMG. MIssoni for Target! Can't wait!

Missoni - the Italian design house of richly textured geometric patterns, fabulous stripes, earthy (but punchy!) colors, elaborately-woven knits, all with a 60's vibe, - has designed a limited edition line for high brow/low price, accessibly hip/mass market store Target.  Finally, some Missoni I can afford.  I've spent so many years window licking at the boutique and drooling all over the pages of Italian Vogue.

The line of 400 items includes fabulous sweater dresses, funky tights, awesome ballet flats, cool kids' style, luxe bedding, bold dishes, and even a rad bike (perfect for a very gutsy someone).  Some nice men's stuff - socks, scarves, a refined sweater - for a handsome guy.  The full lookbook is here.  It will only be on sale from September 13 to October 22 or "while supplies last" - and given the buzz within the fashionista underground which is just fueling the mass media hype, I think that last phrase is key.  I'm already staking out Target in unhip areas  - as in not Columbia Heights - to have a fighting chance.

I'm imagining an awesome holiday outfit for G, those flats for me, and maybe a cool brown-striped cardigan, a couple of pairs of tights, a hat/scarf set, a quilted coverlet, and some cool serving pieces.  I'll have to hold back a bit though.  Head-to-toe, wall-to-wall, floor to ceiling Missoni might make me dizzy.