9th grade English

[Anonymous]

Can anyone help me understand the 9th grade English options at MCPS and how students are recommended for these classes? My child's 8th grade teacher recommended her for Honors English 9. It seems that is what all students are recommended for as there is no non-honors English course. Is that correct?

Just found out there is a pre-IB English course. Do 8th grade teachers recommend students for this course? If so, how do they know the student will be pursuing the IB diploma later on? Was I supposed to have my child register for this course if she wants to do IB?

I did reach out to an administrator and am waiting for a response. We moved to mcps last year so I am still learning how things work. I think the "Honors" designation is what is confusing me.

[Anonymous]

Our school does not have IB, so I can't speak to that, but the general rule is to avoid regular courses if at all possible, because in this day and age in MCPS, they're largely remedial. Do Honors or pre-IB or whatever else.

[Anonymous]

It's going to vary by school, so it's good that you contacted an administrator. Some schools have all their 9th graders take Honors English 9, because there is no regular English 9, and no Pre-IB. Other schools offer two or all three levels of these courses. It's unlikely that the 8th grade teacher would have recommended Pre-IB because that is not available at most schools, and they also probably wouldn't presume your student was interested in IB. But if they already know they are, then it seems like the course they should be taking.

[Anonymous]

At Einstein, apparently the administration were told this year that they couldn’t offer a “pre-IB English” class anymore. My kid took Pre-IB English 9 last year, and registered for it again this year, but was put in a specific section of Honors English 10 that we were assured would be “pre-IB”. They were clear that the removal of the designation came from Central Office over the summer.

I’d assumed that meant MCPS had decreed that Pre-IB English was no longer a thing, but now I’m wondering if that’s not the case (if was specific to Einstein)? OP (or anyone else), is there truly a class called Pre-IB English being taught at your child’s school this year?

FWIW, there were plenty of kids in my DD’s Pre-IB class last year that she said didn’t seem interested in the full IB diploma. For the non-magnet IB programs, lots of kids take individual IB classes only in the subjects that interest them. Einstein allows this, and I understand BCC does as well. It sounded like Pre-IB was being used as an actual honors section, when Honors was essentially on-level. Not sure how that will work in future if Pre-IB is really going away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At Einstein, apparently the administration were told this year that they couldn’t offer a “pre-IB English” class anymore. My kid took Pre-IB English 9 last year, and registered for it again this year, but was put in a specific section of Honors English 10 that we were assured would be “pre-IB”. They were clear that the removal of the designation came from Central Office over the summer.

I’d assumed that meant MCPS had decreed that Pre-IB English was no longer a thing, but now I’m wondering if that’s not the case (if was specific to Einstein)? OP (or anyone else), is there truly a class called Pre-IB English being taught at your child’s school this year?

FWIW, there were plenty of kids in my DD’s Pre-IB class last year that she said didn’t seem interested in the full IB diploma. For the non-magnet IB programs, lots of kids take individual IB classes only in the subjects that interest them. Einstein allows this, and I understand BCC does as well. It sounded like Pre-IB was being used as an actual honors section, when Honors was essentially on-level. Not sure how that will work in future if Pre-IB is really going away.

That's interesting, pp. My child said their friends are in the Pre-IB in 9th at Einstein but we didn't hear anything about it. Weird. I was under the impression that there were regular and honors English classes. That doesn't seem to be the case now. Why can't this all be communicated to parents of 8th graders? Frustrating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At Einstein, apparently the administration were told this year that they couldn’t offer a “pre-IB English” class anymore. My kid took Pre-IB English 9 last year, and registered for it again this year, but was put in a specific section of Honors English 10 that we were assured would be “pre-IB”. They were clear that the removal of the designation came from Central Office over the summer.

I’d assumed that meant MCPS had decreed that Pre-IB English was no longer a thing, but now I’m wondering if that’s not the case (if was specific to Einstein)? OP (or anyone else), is there truly a class called Pre-IB English being taught at your child’s school this year?

FWIW, there were plenty of kids in my DD’s Pre-IB class last year that she said didn’t seem interested in the full IB diploma. For the non-magnet IB programs, lots of kids take individual IB classes only in the subjects that interest them. Einstein allows this, and I understand BCC does as well. It sounded like Pre-IB was being used as an actual honors section, when Honors was essentially on-level. Not sure how that will work in future if Pre-IB is really going away.

That's interesting, pp. My child said their friends are in the Pre-IB in 9th at Einstein but we didn't hear anything about it. Weird. I was under the impression that there were regular and honors English classes. That doesn't seem to be the case now. Why can't this all be communicated to parents of 8th graders? Frustrating.

Again, why does mcps make this so unnecessarily confusing, different for different schools, different from year to year, communicated poorly? I am a parent with every ability to navigate this for my student and I find it difficult to figure out. How does mcps expect students without adults who can navigate this to have a fair chance here?

[Anonymous]

It is strange how all these changes seem to have happened over the summer, so long after students selected their courses. I am also the parent of an Einstein 9th grader, and I remembered that their counselors had presented lots of helpful info about the course pathways to 8th graders last year. This is the English course document still linked to the counseling page which indicates 3 levels of English classes.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1jOWTaPw0LNvxcxAPddVUrmGhilNYN_6c8ZVRfMTkos4/mobilepresent?slide=id.gaacabfab4f_0_185

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At Einstein, apparently the administration were told this year that they couldn’t offer a “pre-IB English” class anymore. My kid took Pre-IB English 9 last year, and registered for it again this year, but was put in a specific section of Honors English 10 that we were assured would be “pre-IB”. They were clear that the removal of the designation came from Central Office over the summer.

I’d assumed that meant MCPS had decreed that Pre-IB English was no longer a thing, but now I’m wondering if that’s not the case (if was specific to Einstein)? OP (or anyone else), is there truly a class called Pre-IB English being taught at your child’s school this year?

FWIW, there were plenty of kids in my DD’s Pre-IB class last year that she said didn’t seem interested in the full IB diploma. For the non-magnet IB programs, lots of kids take individual IB classes only in the subjects that interest them. Einstein allows this, and I understand BCC does as well. It sounded like Pre-IB was being used as an actual honors section, when Honors was essentially on-level. Not sure how that will work in future if Pre-IB is really going away.

That's interesting, pp. My child said their friends are in the Pre-IB in 9th at Einstein but we didn't hear anything about it. Weird. I was under the impression that there were regular and honors English classes. That doesn't seem to be the case now. Why can't this all be communicated to parents of 8th graders? Frustrating.

Again, why does mcps make this so unnecessarily confusing, different for different schools, different from year to year, communicated poorly? I am a parent with every ability to navigate this for my student and I find it difficult to figure out. How does mcps expect students without adults who can navigate this to have a fair chance here?

It made perfect sense last year, but this renaming certain sections is weird. Nobody really had a straight answer at BTSN.

But I’m hoping it won’t look bad to colleges if it seems like she dropped back down to honors after pre-IB in 9th. Hopefully it will be a mostly moot point if she gets the diploma, because both courses are weighted the same in the GPA, and the diploma would demonstrate she could do the work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At Einstein, apparently the administration were told this year that they couldn’t offer a “pre-IB English” class anymore. My kid took Pre-IB English 9 last year, and registered for it again this year, but was put in a specific section of Honors English 10 that we were assured would be “pre-IB”. They were clear that the removal of the designation came from Central Office over the summer.

I’d assumed that meant MCPS had decreed that Pre-IB English was no longer a thing, but now I’m wondering if that’s not the case (if was specific to Einstein)? OP (or anyone else), is there truly a class called Pre-IB English being taught at your child’s school this year?

FWIW, there were plenty of kids in my DD’s Pre-IB class last year that she said didn’t seem interested in the full IB diploma. For the non-magnet IB programs, lots of kids take individual IB classes only in the subjects that interest them. Einstein allows this, and I understand BCC does as well. It sounded like Pre-IB was being used as an actual honors section, when Honors was essentially on-level. Not sure how that will work in future if Pre-IB is really going away.

That's interesting, pp. My child said their friends are in the Pre-IB in 9th at Einstein but we didn't hear anything about it. Weird. I was under the impression that there were regular and honors English classes. That doesn't seem to be the case now. Why can't this all be communicated to parents of 8th graders? Frustrating.

Again, why does mcps make this so unnecessarily confusing, different for different schools, different from year to year, communicated poorly? I am a parent with every ability to navigate this for my student and I find it difficult to figure out. How does mcps expect students without adults who can navigate this to have a fair chance here?

I think that’s kind of the point. It’s all about ‘optics’ with MCPS.

Our non-W middle school simply put all the kids into Advanced English. Parents figure “great, my kid is advanced”. Especially parents who might be from other countries.

Then in HS, they offer an IB program, but even those English classes are not so great.

MCPS doesn’t actually want to teach, challenge and enrich our kids. They just want to make it look like the kids are actually getting a solid education, without providing the resources (strong curriculum, solid teachers) necessary to do so.

[Anonymous]

Op here. Thanks, everyone. I thought it was just me. It's confusing and a bit frustrating to hear changes were made over the summer and not communicated. Will see what the administrator says...

[Anonymous]

Is the "pre-IB" option the "IB English Literature 1 A/B" offered at only a few high schools at the bottom of page 16 of this document: http://coursebulletin.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/publications/HSCourseBulletin2023.pdf

If so, then OP, are you at one of the IB HS listed offering the course?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is the "pre-IB" option the "IB English Literature 1 A/B" offered at only a few high schools at the bottom of page 16 of this document: http://coursebulletin.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/publications/HSCourseBulletin2023.pdf

If so, then OP, are you at one of the IB HS listed offering the course?

DP. No, that class would only be available to 11th and 12th graders. The "pre-IB" classes are not officially part of the IB curriculum, and I'm guessing that's why central office didn't want them to be offered, or at least to be labeled in that way.

[Anonymous]

One of the things that will help you understand this is the programs MCPS puts on for families during their child’s eighth grade year. Our schools (we’re in the NEC) did was an evening where all classes are discussed including content and amount of expected outside work. Watch for those dates - sometimes they do it in the fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of the things that will help you understand this is the programs MCPS puts on for families during their child’s eighth grade year. Our schools (we’re in the NEC) did was an evening where all classes are discussed including content and amount of expected outside work. Watch for those dates - sometimes they do it in the fall.

Thanks, pp. My child is in 9th. We did attend the info session last year but it seems mcps made changes over the summer to English offerings, after schedules were finalized. So now she is in Honors English (which is now just regular English) unless I fight to get her into pre-IB. Probably will just have her stay put.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the "pre-IB" option the "IB English Literature 1 A/B" offered at only a few high schools at the bottom of page 16 of this document: http://coursebulletin.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/publications/HSCourseBulletin2023.pdf

If so, then OP, are you at one of the IB HS listed offering the course?

DP. No, that class would only be available to 11th and 12th graders. The "pre-IB" classes are not officially part of the IB curriculum, and I'm guessing that's why central office didn't want them to be offered, or at least to be labeled in that way.

I don't know if OP is in RM cluster, but RM has RMS English, and it's only for the IB magnet kids. As OP noted,"honors" is just the regular class.

There is another class for "repeating students", meaning they flunked it last year and need to review last year's material. They call it "hybrid", not to be confused with the virtual hybrid model.