Could MCPS please purchase an effective curriculum for English Learners?

[Anonymous]

Middle school teacher here. StudySync is a poor curriculum in so many ways for all students. It is particularly terrible for English learners (ELs). Early reading curriculum is nonexistent (no, you can't just lop off the end of readings to obtain a lower Lexile, particularly when the supporting assessment work is linked to full readings); the EL teaching guide is an ungainly mess; and the worksheets are awful.

Could we please form a workgroup of experienced English Language Development (ESOL) educators formed to choose an actual curriculum for students?

[Anonymous]

LOL I'm surprised you have the courage to post this, OP. Have you seen how they're teaching language in elementary schools? It's insanity.

[Anonymous]

Ditto for Baltimore City schools. Wit & Wisdom is above the heads of many native English speakers. It’s awful and boring for all including ESOL students.

[Anonymous]

MCPS can’t afford to purchase any instructional materials right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Middle school teacher here. StudySync is a poor curriculum in so many ways for all students. It is particularly terrible for English learners (ELs). Early reading curriculum is nonexistent (no, you can't just lop off the end of readings to obtain a lower Lexile, particularly when the supporting assessment work is linked to full readings); the EL teaching guide is an ungainly mess; and the worksheets are awful.

Could we please form a workgroup of experienced English Language Development (ESOL) educators formed to choose an actual curriculum for students?

Given that MCPS's priorities are equity and social justice, this cannot happen. Best of luck OP!

[Anonymous]

I’ve heard that Lexia for English learners (I forget the name) is good. Are you familiar with that and if so do you agree?

[Anonymous]

Part of the problem is that at least in our school, everyone takes "advanced" English, including those who don't speak English at home. They really should create different classes so they can meet the needs of students who need a different set of readings--right now it is definitely a one-size-fits-all approach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve heard that Lexia for English learners (I forget the name) is good. Are you familiar with that and if so do you agree?

NP here…I had students would’ve benefited from Lexia and sent my administrator a request for licenses for specific students along with reasons why I believed this was a good program for them. Admin wouldn’t approve and the district ran out of licenses.

Elementary schools don’t have a curriculum, even for newcomers. On top of that the district is forcing a full plug in model while increasing our caseloads making it near impossible to meet the needs of our EMLs.

[Anonymous]

As the parent of a native English speaking but language disordered kid, OP, I can say that there is a lot about the failure to educate EL kids that also applies to non-EL kids.

I was extremely uncomfortable when I volunteered as a reading aide during the pandemic in MCPS and it became clear to me that the 1st grader - whose home/native language was Spanish - I was assigned to was being given no effective reading instruction, but she was tasked to do a lot of comprehension and writing work that was completely above her skill level. She could not identify the sound/symbol association for any letters. As a parent of a dyslexic child, I cannot understand why children - whether ESL or not - have no access to effective phonologically-based decoding instruction. Kids will never be able to attend to meaning if they do not reach a place of fluent automatic decoding on a subconscious level, so that their cognitive effort can focus on meaning. This has to be achieved in K and 1st or within the first year or two of schooling for non/native speakers otherwise those kids are getting left behind.

And, explicit instruction for vocabulary acquisition, word structure, sentence structure, spelling and grammar are non-existent for all MCPS students, whether EL or not. There are many non-EL, non-disability diagnosed students who will learn without explicit instruction or get taught by parents or tutors, but many who won't/don't and whose outcomes and opportunities become more limited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a native English speaking but language disordered kid, OP, I can say that there is a lot about the failure to educate EL kids that also applies to non-EL kids.

I was extremely uncomfortable when I volunteered as a reading aide during the pandemic in MCPS and it became clear to me that the 1st grader - whose home/native language was Spanish - I was assigned to was being given no effective reading instruction, but she was tasked to do a lot of comprehension and writing work that was completely above her skill level. She could not identify the sound/symbol association for any letters. As a parent of a dyslexic child, I cannot understand why children - whether ESL or not - have no access to effective phonologically-based decoding instruction. Kids will never be able to attend to meaning if they do not reach a place of fluent automatic decoding on a subconscious level, so that their cognitive effort can focus on meaning. This has to be achieved in K and 1st or within the first year or two of schooling for non/native speakers otherwise those kids are getting left behind.

And, explicit instruction for vocabulary acquisition, word structure, sentence structure, spelling and grammar are non-existent for all MCPS students, whether EL or not. There are many non-EL, non-disability diagnosed students who will learn without explicit instruction or get taught by parents or tutors, but many who won't/don't and whose outcomes and opportunities become more limited.

I completely agree with every word you've said. Preach!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a native English speaking but language disordered kid, OP, I can say that there is a lot about the failure to educate EL kids that also applies to non-EL kids.

I was extremely uncomfortable when I volunteered as a reading aide during the pandemic in MCPS and it became clear to me that the 1st grader - whose home/native language was Spanish - I was assigned to was being given no effective reading instruction, but she was tasked to do a lot of comprehension and writing work that was completely above her skill level. She could not identify the sound/symbol association for any letters. As a parent of a dyslexic child, I cannot understand why children - whether ESL or not - have no access to effective phonologically-based decoding instruction. Kids will never be able to attend to meaning if they do not reach a place of fluent automatic decoding on a subconscious level, so that their cognitive effort can focus on meaning. This has to be achieved in K and 1st or within the first year or two of schooling for non/native speakers otherwise those kids are getting left behind.

And, explicit instruction for vocabulary acquisition, word structure, sentence structure, spelling and grammar are non-existent for all MCPS students, whether EL or not. There are many non-EL, non-disability diagnosed students who will learn without explicit instruction or get taught by parents or tutors, but many who won't/don't and whose outcomes and opportunities become more limited.

THANK YOU! This post is spot-on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a native English speaking but language disordered kid, OP, I can say that there is a lot about the failure to educate EL kids that also applies to non-EL kids.

I was extremely uncomfortable when I volunteered as a reading aide during the pandemic in MCPS and it became clear to me that the 1st grader - whose home/native language was Spanish - I was assigned to was being given no effective reading instruction, but she was tasked to do a lot of comprehension and writing work that was completely above her skill level. She could not identify the sound/symbol association for any letters. As a parent of a dyslexic child, I cannot understand why children - whether ESL or not - have no access to effective phonologically-based decoding instruction. Kids will never be able to attend to meaning if they do not reach a place of fluent automatic decoding on a subconscious level, so that their cognitive effort can focus on meaning. This has to be achieved in K and 1st or within the first year or two of schooling for non/native speakers otherwise those kids are getting left behind.

And, explicit instruction for vocabulary acquisition, word structure, sentence structure, spelling and grammar are non-existent for all MCPS students, whether EL or not. There are many non-EL, non-disability diagnosed students who will learn without explicit instruction or get taught by parents or tutors, but many who won't/don't and whose outcomes and opportunities become more limited.

But the district has invested in a phonological curriculum for ES and in Science of Reading professional development for teachers. So what’s missing? Do teachers need more PD? Is more instruction for how to teach dyslexic students needed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a native English speaking but language disordered kid, OP, I can say that there is a lot about the failure to educate EL kids that also applies to non-EL kids.

I was extremely uncomfortable when I volunteered as a reading aide during the pandemic in MCPS and it became clear to me that the 1st grader - whose home/native language was Spanish - I was assigned to was being given no effective reading instruction, but she was tasked to do a lot of comprehension and writing work that was completely above her skill level. She could not identify the sound/symbol association for any letters. As a parent of a dyslexic child, I cannot understand why children - whether ESL or not - have no access to effective phonologically-based decoding instruction. Kids will never be able to attend to meaning if they do not reach a place of fluent automatic decoding on a subconscious level, so that their cognitive effort can focus on meaning. This has to be achieved in K and 1st or within the first year or two of schooling for non/native speakers otherwise those kids are getting left behind.

And, explicit instruction for vocabulary acquisition, word structure, sentence structure, spelling and grammar are non-existent for all MCPS students, whether EL or not. There are many non-EL, non-disability diagnosed students who will learn without explicit instruction or get taught by parents or tutors, but many who won't/don't and whose outcomes and opportunities become more limited.

But the district has invested in a phonological curriculum for ES and in Science of Reading professional development for teachers. So what’s missing? Do teachers need more PD? Is more instruction for how to teach dyslexic students needed?

They've made an investment in a system that doesn't help students. So they can't just throw it in the dumpster, where it belongs. and go with something else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve heard that Lexia for English learners (I forget the name) is good. Are you familiar with that and if so do you agree?

NP here…I had students would’ve benefited from Lexia and sent my administrator a request for licenses for specific students along with reasons why I believed this was a good program for them. Admin wouldn’t approve and the district ran out of licenses.

Elementary schools don’t have a curriculum, even for newcomers. On top of that the district is forcing a full plug in model while increasing our caseloads making it near impossible to meet the needs of our EMLs.

Why did your Admin not approve the request? Is the district increasing your caseload or is there an increase in EML students but not staff to serve them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a native English speaking but language disordered kid, OP, I can say that there is a lot about the failure to educate EL kids that also applies to non-EL kids.

I was extremely uncomfortable when I volunteered as a reading aide during the pandemic in MCPS and it became clear to me that the 1st grader - whose home/native language was Spanish - I was assigned to was being given no effective reading instruction, but she was tasked to do a lot of comprehension and writing work that was completely above her skill level. She could not identify the sound/symbol association for any letters. As a parent of a dyslexic child, I cannot understand why children - whether ESL or not - have no access to effective phonologically-based decoding instruction. Kids will never be able to attend to meaning if they do not reach a place of fluent automatic decoding on a subconscious level, so that their cognitive effort can focus on meaning. This has to be achieved in K and 1st or within the first year or two of schooling for non/native speakers otherwise those kids are getting left behind.

And, explicit instruction for vocabulary acquisition, word structure, sentence structure, spelling and grammar are non-existent for all MCPS students, whether EL or not. There are many non-EL, non-disability diagnosed students who will learn without explicit instruction or get taught by parents or tutors, but many who won't/don't and whose outcomes and opportunities become more limited.

But the district has invested in a phonological curriculum for ES and in Science of Reading professional development for teachers. So what’s missing? Do teachers need more PD? Is more instruction for how to teach dyslexic students needed?

There are dyslexic students who are diagnosed and enter MCPS at all grade levels, not just ES. Same is true for EL students. Dyslexic, EL and many "neurotypical students" need evidence-based reading and language instruction beyond early phonological curriculum - spelling, handwriting, grammar, reading comprehension strategies (and "look at the picture and guess" isn't a sustainable strategy), explicit vocabulary acquisition including roots, suffix, prefix study, explicit writing instruction, etc.).