Why not close the achievement gap from the top down?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Achieving the goal of closing the gap by bringing the top down by implementing SGB.

Nope. If kids need “buffer” assignments to boost their grades then they were never really top students to begin with. Eliminating grade inflation doesn’t bring the top down, it thins the herd to the kids who’ve actually mastered the material.

Yep. The same can be said for reassessments and previous grades being replaced by newer assessment grades as a sign of progress on different standards. Both items showing they don’t deserve the grades they have.

I’d support SBG if they weren’t coupled with these grade inflating practices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You realize being good at math is largely genetic, right? So the smart kids would still be the smartest, even if you denied them an education in high school.

No math is not mostly genetic! There are tons of kids that are not remotely intuitive about math who excel because they have access to programs outside the school. There are also kids who are very intuitive about math but will struggle with calculation errors and formula errors because they lack rigor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You realize being good at math is largely genetic, right? So the smart kids would still be the smartest, even if you denied them an education in high school.

No math is not mostly genetic! There are tons of kids that are not remotely intuitive about math who excel because they have access to programs outside the school. There are also kids who are very intuitive about math but will struggle with calculation errors and formula errors because they lack rigor.

Yes, and height isn't mostly genetic because you won't be tall if you eat no food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of two advanced students it’s terrifying to me that people actually think like OP. OP, are you by any chance a Fairfax County school board member?

Every member of the current and incoming FCPS school board believes in closing the achievement gap from the top down.

+1. It’s the prevailing thought around the education world. No one quite comes out and says it like this, but it’s the gist of things. Rather than say it like this, schools do things like putting everyone in honors and not even having Gen Ed classes (which is what our current MS did.) Also the endless retakes and “PBL.” (project based learning which is code for how to give kids an A on a big graded assignment who could never get an A or B on an actual test of the material.) The last class day or two at the end of every quarter is spent allowing kids who didn’t turn in a bunch of their work to do it really quickly and turn it in. The kids who already did all of the their work just sit there for several days at the end of each quarter. I’ve honestly started calling my kids in sick these days. The amount of reminder emails we get from the principal about checking our kids grades, looking for missing assignments and checking in with teachers before it’s “too late.” It’s ridiculous. The only care about the bottom. The middle and top kids are just noise.

So sad to see a world-class school system like FCPS consciously plummeting in quality by following extremist, leftist-inspired ideas.

Have we learned nothing from watching what these radicals did to the Montgomery County public schools, and the county in general?

[Anonymous]

I see a schools endless retake policy as identical in practice to middle class families sending their kid to outside tutoring or a Doctor teaching their kid biology beyond their grade level.

Only the first practice gets criticism because it benefits low income kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I see a schools endless retake policy as identical in practice to middle class families sending their kid to outside tutoring or a Doctor teaching their kid biology beyond their grade level.

Only the first practice gets criticism because it benefits low income kids.

This is not remotely comparable.

That being said, I have no issue with allowing kids to raise their scores by taking later-in-time summative assessments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I see a schools endless retake policy as identical in practice to middle class families sending their kid to outside tutoring or a Doctor teaching their kid biology beyond their grade level.

Only the first practice gets criticism because it benefits low income kids.

Which schools have an "endless" retake policy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:FCPS’ equity program, SBG program and now restorative justice program are doing exactly what the OP has suggested. Sadly they are doing it to great effect. So now everyone in FCPS suffers. Congratulations Superintendent Reid, mission accomplished!

When did that start?

It is hard to stay on top of all the screwed up things Reid is doing - https://www.fcps.edu/resources/student-safety-wellness/restorative-justice

Vote republicans on to the FCPS school board and maybe they can stop Michelle Reid’s extremist “social justice” initiatives harming our school system.

If you vote for democrats again, things will only get worse. Much worse.

How can we be certain republicans wont continue the same extremist nonsense being pursued by current democratic board?

Republicans certainly have their share of bad ideas but I think the point is to have a bit of viewpoint diversity so light can be shed on bad leftist ideas. No one I'm on the board is doing that right now because they're either leftists or left enough to not want to say anything.

Illinois schoolchildren did a little better this past school year, but they are still behind where they were before the pandemic hit and put them out of their classrooms for large blocks of time.

It’s interesting timing as Illinois state lawmakers are showing too little interest in keeping the one thing that worked during the pandemic: school choice.

Scores for public schools were just released and showed only 35% of students in grades 3 through 8 could read at grade level in 2023, according to the Illinois Report Card. Only 27% met proficiency in math.

That is 3 percentage points lower in reading and 5 points lower in math than before the pandemic.

High school juniors taking the SAT posted similar proficiency: 32% could read and 27% do math at grade level.

Illinois Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders said the state has a “significant distance to travel” toward recovery after pandemic-era school closures caused record-low proficiency rates statewide.

Really? You mean Illinois shouldn’t be satisfied when roughly 2 of every 3 students are behind?

The state’s education leaders were spinning the scores as “strong progress” because both elementary reading and math increased from the prior year. They also celebrated the high school graduation rate, which sits at 87.6% for the class of 2023 – the highest it has been in 13 years.

But look back a year at when the graduating class of 2023 were tested as juniors. Just 30% met grade-level standards in reading and 29% in math when they took the state-required SAT in spring 2022.

So, our record graduation rates are basically sending 7 of every 10 young adults out into the world ill-prepared for the demands they will face.

How long will it take for college admissions officers and hiring managers to start saying: “Oh. That’s an Illinois high school diploma. Maybe we should take the Massachusetts grad.”

More: https://www.illinoispolicy.org/policy-shop/the-policy-shop-illinois-last-stand-for-school-choice/

School choice helps URM and lower SES students succeed. But the teachers unions hate the idea, and they will funnel the $$$ they collect from members to sleazy lobbyists solely to fight choice.

“School choice” is code for vouchers. You aren’t getting vouchers.

Taxpayers pay to support kids in public schools, not to subsidize kids in private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our society is already so lopsided as far as the top 1% owning practically everything.

And I’m sorry but no kid needs advanced calculus in high school.

Why not narrow the achievement gap by finding ways to lower the test results for the top performers?

There has now been created a world in which the success of others is a grievance, rather than an example.

Because that success leads to a limited number of opportunities. More for your kid = less for mine. It’s sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our society is already so lopsided as far as the top 1% owning practically everything.

And I’m sorry but no kid needs advanced calculus in high school.

Why not narrow the achievement gap by finding ways to lower the test results for the top performers?

There has now been created a world in which the success of others is a grievance, rather than an example.

Because that success leads to a limited number of opportunities. More for your kid = less for mine. It’s sad.

So the right answer is to make everyone equal, right? Only way to do that is to bring everyone down to the lowest level. Not sure that is a good idea for the human race. In a couple of generations we will be back to grunting and living in caves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You realize being good at math is largely genetic, right? So the smart kids would still be the smartest, even if you denied them an education in high school.

No math is not mostly genetic! There are tons of kids that are not remotely intuitive about math who excel because they have access to programs outside the school. There are also kids who are very intuitive about math but will struggle with calculation errors and formula errors because they lack rigor.

And even if it were true, the problem is that most kids are not given the support necessary to maximize their math potential as may be determined by their genetics. Given given such opportunities tend to do pretty well.

[Anonymous]

Society needs smart people

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of two advanced students it’s terrifying to me that people actually think like OP. OP, are you by any chance a Fairfax County school board member?

Every member of the current and incoming FCPS school board believes in closing the achievement gap from the top down.

+1. It’s the prevailing thought around the education world. No one quite comes out and says it like this, but it’s the gist of things. Rather than say it like this, schools do things like putting everyone in honors and not even having Gen Ed classes (which is what our current MS did.) Also the endless retakes and “PBL.” (project based learning which is code for how to give kids an A on a big graded assignment who could never get an A or B on an actual test of the material.) The last class day or two at the end of every quarter is spent allowing kids who didn’t turn in a bunch of their work to do it really quickly and turn it in. The kids who already did all of the their work just sit there for several days at the end of each quarter. I’ve honestly started calling my kids in sick these days. The amount of reminder emails we get from the principal about checking our kids grades, looking for missing assignments and checking in with teachers before it’s “too late.” It’s ridiculous. The only care about the bottom. The middle and top kids are just noise.

So sad to see a world-class school system like FCPS consciously plummeting in quality by following extremist, leftist-inspired ideas.

Have we learned nothing from watching what these radicals did to the Montgomery County public schools, and the county in general?

Sorry you aren’t very bright. Must be tough for those around you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Society needs smart people

And extremely well-educated people. That's what the equity brigade fails to understand and their baseball fan equity cartoon proves it. In the equity panel, the government took resources from the taller kid and gave them to the shorter kid so everyone is equal in the end. If this cartoon represents education, the taller kid is no longer able to reach the highest levels of education where science is advanced. Equity is a race to mediocrity.

[Anonymous]

^ Resources wasn't “taken” from the tall kid since it was never there's to begin with. Public education is literally the government’s responsibility.