The true meaning of "equity"

[Anonymous]

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DP. When my oldest was in 6th grade gen ed, her classroom had 28 students, the bulk of them being ESOL or below grade level. Out of the 10 hours per week spend in language arts block, my DD's above grade reading group met with the teacher at most 15 minutes per week, and often 0 minutes per week. They were expected to teach themselves via Raz kids or imagine learning, or they were expected to read quietly to themselves.

This is exactly what happened at our middle/upper middle SES elementary last year. Distance learning demanded so much from teachers to keep so many kids close to grade level, that higher level students went a month without teacher-led reading instruction. They were told to work together on books. Now we're told the bar is raised for them because they're lucky to be surrounded by smart peers and they can just learn from each other.

PP. In my DD's case, this all happened before the pandemic. Equity meant completely ignoring the above average kids and not teaching them much of anything.

That just means FCPS class sizes are too large.

+10000. This is the root of the problem. FCPS needs smaller class sizes in elementary school so all kids can get the instruction they need. That is what we need to be lobbying for as parents instead of the fight between Gen Ed and AAP. If class sizes were smaller, fewer kids would need AAP because teachers could better differentiate and spend more time with all the reading groups and math groups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
PP. In my DD's case, this all happened before the pandemic. Equity meant completely ignoring the above average kids and not teaching them much of anything.

That just means FCPS class sizes are too large.

True, but it also means that FCPS has no idea how to handle below grade level learners and not a lot of interest in teaching kids who are going to pass the SOLs even if ignored. If year after year, the below grade level kids are getting 30+ minutes per day working in small reading groups with the teacher and another 30+ minutes in even smaller groups with reading specialists, and they're still never catching up to grade level, some part of the process is malfunctioning pretty badly.

Agree. FCPS has spent the past 15+ years not actually teaching kids to read, the result of which is that there are many kids in FCPS who can’t read on grade level (imagine that). The county is finally working on adopting a reading curriculum that aligns with the Science of Reading, but it is going to take time to see the real benefit of that. Your post is exactly why my DD is at a private school that focuses on kids with dyslexia and is finally learning to read and write, and she is doing accelerated math that she wouldn’t be eligible for at her FCPS elementary school.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If we truly want this country to be great, we can’t continue to ignore talented kids who happen to be poor.

In Fairfax County, at least, this is the demographic that has been receiving the most attention and resources for a long time.

If this were true, low income students would not be so woefully underrepresented at TJ and in the AAP program.

Not necessarily. You have to take into account all that FCPS does for students who are otherwise woefully unprepared to perform even at grade level.

We’re talking about highly talented kids who happen to also be poor. These are not the students performing *below* grade level. They may not be reaching their full potential, but they also aren’t the students falling most behind.

FCPS doesn’t truly care about low income students. They only care about good press releases. Example - for TJ admissions, They are allowing any parent to claim that their child is low income based on the free meals for all policy. It’s disgusting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Agree. FCPS has spent the past 15+ years not actually teaching kids to read, the result of which is that there are many kids in FCPS who can’t read on grade level (imagine that). The county is finally working on adopting a reading curriculum that aligns with the Science of Reading, but it is going to take time to see the real benefit of that. Your post is exactly why my DD is at a private school that focuses on kids with dyslexia and is finally learning to read and write, and she is doing accelerated math that she wouldn’t be eligible for at her FCPS elementary school.

Yep. Lucy Calkins has been by far the biggest obstacle to equity in FCPS. Likewise, but to a lesser degree, whatever ad hoc version of whatever math program they're using has harmed equity so much more than using a tried and true math program, like Saxon.

[Anonymous]

There’s never been any equity in Fairfax County

[Anonymous]

The true meaning of equity is bring people down who have gone ahead for whatever reasons. Bring them down to the level of people who are unsuccessful, so that everyone is down and stays down and no one is complaining.

[Anonymous]

When kids of low socio economic status and Black and Hispanic background of equal intelligence and work ethic achieve at an equal level as middle class white and Asian kids then the system is equitable . This is because the important factors, intelligence and work ethic is what is making the difference and is equally distributed in the population. Until that standard is reached then the system isn’t equitable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: When kids of low socio economic status and Black and Hispanic background of equal intelligence and work ethic achieve at an equal level as middle class white and Asian kids then the system is equitable . This is because the important factors, intelligence and work ethic is what is making the difference and is equally distributed in the population. Until that standard is reached then the system isn’t equitable.

Then why is Stuyvesant in NYC dominated by poor Asian students? Mind you Asians in NYC have the highest poverty rate in NYC even above Blacks and Hispanics. Why are many Asians still doing well in academics even when they have no advantages in terms of wealth and income?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: This is because the important factors, intelligence and work ethic is what is making the difference and is equally distributed in the population.

Do you have any proof that intelligence and work ethic are equally distributed across all races, cultures, and income levels?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: This is because the important factors, intelligence and work ethic is what is making the difference and is equally distributed in the population.

Do you have any proof that intelligence and work ethic are equally distributed across all races, cultures, and income levels?

Revisiting The Bell Curve now, are we? Isn’t that argument a bit dated?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: This is because the important factors, intelligence and work ethic is what is making the difference and is equally distributed in the population.

Do you have any proof that intelligence and work ethic are equally distributed across all races, cultures, and income levels?

Revisiting The Bell Curve now, are we? Isn’t that argument a bit dated?

Different poster. Leave aside the intelligence argument. The level of effort in Asian students is so much higher than non-Asians that it’s ridiculous. You don’t have to look hard for hard evidence on this. So no, work ethic is definitely not equally distributed in the population. It would be odd to then have the perspective that more hours of homework, etc., don’t somehow translate into performance or shouldn’t be rewarded in our system. If you sincerely doubt this difference exists in work levels, either look for it or let me know and I will dig up some studies. The numbers are stark.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: When kids of low socio economic status and Black and Hispanic background of equal intelligence and work ethic achieve at an equal level as middle class white and Asian kids then the system is equitable . This is because the important factors, intelligence and work ethic is what is making the difference and is equally distributed in the population. Until that standard is reached then the system isn’t equitable.

Then why is Stuyvesant in NYC dominated by poor Asian students? Mind you Asians in NYC have the highest poverty rate in NYC even above Blacks and Hispanics. Why are many Asians still doing well in academics even when they have no advantages in terms of wealth and income?

Conversely, why isn’t Hawaii an academic powerhouse area?

[Anonymous]

AA and Hispanics are ahead in sports, entertainment industries like tv, movies and music. How many Asians are given a fair chance there? There is no equity in these area. Supporter of equity should ask to pull up Asians in these industries, if you are asking for equity in academics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AA and Hispanics are ahead in sports, entertainment industries like tv, movies and music. How many Asians are given a fair chance there? There is no equity in these area. Supporter of equity should ask to pull up Asians in these industries, if you are asking for equity in academics.

Poverty has nothing to do with the success of Asians in sports and entertainment. But I'm sure you already knew that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: When kids of low socio economic status and Black and Hispanic background of equal intelligence and work ethic achieve at an equal level as middle class white and Asian kids then the system is equitable . This is because the important factors, intelligence and work ethic is what is making the difference and is equally distributed in the population. Until that standard is reached then the system isn’t equitable.

Then why is Stuyvesant in NYC dominated by poor Asian students? Mind you Asians in NYC have the highest poverty rate in NYC even above Blacks and Hispanics. Why are many Asians still doing well in academics even when they have no advantages in terms of wealth and income?

That’s how white supremacy designed it