How to help MCPS' lowest performing students?

[Anonymous]

Serious answers only. How can schools raise performances of students at the lowest levels? Free meals help nourish brains and bodies, are they "healthy" is questionable. What else? It it sending home books (lots of books) for them to read? More math practice practice practice. Is it helping change their attitude towards learning, less screen time? Is it identifying learning disorders in Pre-K (if eligible) or by K? Parents/guardians of these students need assistance too but there is time and language and cultural barriers- getting them information about identifying learning issues, ELL services, attitude/views about learning?

[Anonymous]

MCPS has been helping by: (1) lowering standards so that the achievement gap is smaller and (2) "Honor-for-all"

To be honest, if Russian School of Math, AOPS are so great for high achieving students, MCPS should just sent "lower performing students" to those places.

[Anonymous]

To be honest, they need to lower the expectations in some of our more challenging schools. The idea that focus and Title 1 schools can use the same curriculum as Potomac/Bethesda schools is ridiculous. Both CKLA and Eureka are way too high for over 75% of our students. We need curriculums that are accessible and give the right level of challenge. When it’s constantly over the kids heads, they shit down and aren’t avail for learning. If we could show them success, they would want to be there and learning.

[Anonymous]

Agree to PP.

Asking a lower performing 2nd grade student to do 12-8=? in 5 different ways is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know what else you can do for them. The county has already spent a lot of money and resources trying to help the lowest learners. But you can’t help somebody who doesn’t want to help themselves.

What they need is strong family support, but the school schools help there?

[Anonymous]

For meals, I’d like to see protein for breakfast - like some sort of egg dish. The kids eat pure sugar for breakfast and are starving two hours later, when a kindly teacher might give them a carb snack.

I’d limit the screen time in lower elementary and encourage parents to do the same. More time just reading a book to the class where they sit there and develop their listening and concentration skills.

I’d continually reinforce basic math facts - simple single digit addition, substitution, multiplication way longer than you’d think necessary.

Yes - identifying issues earlier, especially for kids whose parents can’t.

Encourage kids to do their multiplication flashcards at home and test them daily on it at the correct grade level.

Additional recess or outdoor time. Both a morning and afternoon recess or daily PE. Some hard exercise in the morning might really help the kids and lower the amount of time spent on classroom management.

[Anonymous]

What are things that DO work? What results did you see when you did whatever you did?

[Anonymous]

Longer school hours, days, and 1:1 tutoring.

[Anonymous]

I think we can help them by differentiating students based on where they are. That means no trying to do the impossible thing of SIMULTANEOUSLY keeping them on grade level when they're already behind and playing catch up.

Once a student is identified as being behind, MCPS needs to pull them out and focus on intensive 1:1 or small group work to help that child get up to standard. THEN when they are up to standard, you can look to reintegrate them. But MCPS cannot keep pushing kids who are behind grade level through grade level work and classes that they cannot comprehend or engage with.

We have demonized pull outs and differentiation and that needs to stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know what else you can do for them. The county has already spent a lot of money and resources trying to help the lowest learners. But you can’t help somebody who doesn’t want to help themselves.

What they need is strong family support, but the school schools help there?

The county does very little for most kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think we can help them by differentiating students based on where they are. That means no trying to do the impossible thing of SIMULTANEOUSLY keeping them on grade level when they're already behind and playing catch up.

Once a student is identified as being behind, MCPS needs to pull them out and focus on intensive 1:1 or small group work to help that child get up to standard. THEN when they are up to standard, you can look to reintegrate them. But MCPS cannot keep pushing kids who are behind grade level through grade level work and classes that they cannot comprehend or engage with.

We have demonized pull outs and differentiation and that needs to stop.

It's like they do this so Montgomery College can continue existing. And "It's embarrassing if Larla can't be in same reading group as Karla, they're in same XYZ clubs/extra curricular activities..." But sweet Larla can't read like Karla, yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Longer school hours, days, and 1:1 tutoring.

DP. Longer school hours so kids can get their Special Activities - art, music, p.e., (maybe add drama if they can find drams teachers) everyday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know what else you can do for them. The county has already spent a lot of money and resources trying to help the lowest learners. But you can’t help somebody who doesn’t want to help themselves.

What they need is strong family support, but the school schools help there?

How do you know they don't want to help? Parents of all levels want to help in a way they can, for some it's just trying to stay alive have you met some of these families and know what kind of situation they're in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we can help them by differentiating students based on where they are. That means no trying to do the impossible thing of SIMULTANEOUSLY keeping them on grade level when they're already behind and playing catch up.

Once a student is identified as being behind, MCPS needs to pull them out and focus on intensive 1:1 or small group work to help that child get up to standard. THEN when they are up to standard, you can look to reintegrate them. But MCPS cannot keep pushing kids who are behind grade level through grade level work and classes that they cannot comprehend or engage with.

We have demonized pull outs and differentiation and that needs to stop.

It's like they do this so Montgomery College can continue existing. And "It's embarrassing if Larla can't be in same reading group as Karla, they're in same XYZ clubs/extra curricular activities..." But sweet Larla can't read like Karla, yet.

Right. I'm more concerned about the getting the child's ABILITY up to par than their hurt feelings, which are temporary and for that moment in time while they're behind. MCPS is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Universal pre-k for both 3 and 4-year-olds. It’s the only thing. We have to get them in younger. We are getting kindergarteners who don’t know colors, don’t know their names, can’t use the bathroom, can barely talk in their native language. For whatever reason, parents are just not preparing them. We cannot make up that deficit starting at age 5.