Could new MD Interim Superintendent Dr. Carey Wright stop state's habit of passing failing kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a child in MCPS that went to Pre-school and had a great foundation by MCPS standards when she entered kindergarten. As time went on, though, she fell further and further behind despite EMT meetings. We were told by MCPS at first to read with our child so we did. She was given extra homework and site word cards so we sat down with her each night so she would practice what MCPS said she would practice but she still fell behind. Teachers kept telling us in kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade that kids have tremendous growth by 3rd grade so even though she was falling further and further behind, don’t worry. Then she hit 3rd grade and was off grade level. The teacher called an IEP meeting, MCPS tested her for a Specific Disability in Reading then said the results stated that she didn’t have that so she didn’t qualify for an IEP. When I asked the 10 people team what would the school do so she could learn how to read, the Principal said that because my daughter didn’t have a disability, there were no instructional programs she qualified for. MCPS was content to keep passing a child from grade to grade who wasn’t reading on grade level without helping the child to learn how to read.

What saved my child? I paid thousands of dollars for private testing. She had a disability not identified by MCPS. When I took the 30 page report with data and instructional recommendations, MCPS recognized her disability but they couldn’t implement the instructional recommendations. So I hired a private tutor to work with my child to teach her to read with the Lindamood Bell method. My child finally was able to catch up with her peers over the next year.

Ignoring problems never solves them. Specialized interventions work. Drawing a line in the sand might encourage MCPS to not fail our children by passing them through without basic skills.

WOW! First off, I'm so sorry MCPS failed you and I wholeheartedly agree that ignoring problems never solves them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you really care so much? Until as a society we don’t put so much value in a HS diploma, it’s in all of our interests for as many people as possible to get them. That way they can get jobs. We don’t have to support people who have jobs. We don’t have to pass by people who work sleeping on the street because when you work, you can pay rent. And people who D out of HS aren’t going to take your kids’ spots in college. So I’m all for passing kids along.

It seems like what Dr. Wright did in holding kids back who needed to be held back at third grade before it's too late is working. They're getting the reinforcement and re-education they need and getting back on track.

It's far better to hold back a few kids for that one year they're behind than to set them up for failure by never stopping to address the learning gaps and shuffling them along and watching as they continue to fail year after year.

Why is 3rd grade retention a bad thing in your eyes?

NP here,

The research says that holding kids back results in test years the following year that are higher than they would have had in that grade if promoted the year before, but lower than the test grades they would have had at that point in time if promoted the year before, and that even that gain disappears and they graduate less frequently, and without more skill than they would have had.

Your data supports that. But the goal isn't to increase 4th grade test scores. It's to increase their abilities at the point at which they leave school, whether that's graduation or dropping out.

Retention is also an incredibly expensive intervention. Mississippi averages about $12K per year in per pupil spending. If you spent that $12K on implementing research based intervention into the kids most likely to fail 3rd grade before they failed, you would almost certainly see more growth, without jeopardizing their chances at graduation.

Which state or school district has done what you're suggesting and gotten better results than what Mississippi posted?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you really care so much? Until as a society we don’t put so much value in a HS diploma, it’s in all of our interests for as many people as possible to get them. That way they can get jobs. We don’t have to support people who have jobs. We don’t have to pass by people who work sleeping on the street because when you work, you can pay rent. And people who D out of HS aren’t going to take your kids’ spots in college. So I’m all for passing kids along.

It seems like what Dr. Wright did in holding kids back who needed to be held back at third grade before it's too late is working. They're getting the reinforcement and re-education they need and getting back on track.

It's far better to hold back a few kids for that one year they're behind than to set them up for failure by never stopping to address the learning gaps and shuffling them along and watching as they continue to fail year after year.

Why is 3rd grade retention a bad thing in your eyes?

I fully support retention in ES if retained children receive intensive services to remediate their gaps and lags. Otherwise it is causing them stress and shame without any real possibility of catching up.

I’m just curious where all the extra third grade ELA teachers came from.

If MCPS tried this, we couldn’t hire enough ES ELA teachers. We would just increase class sizes, producing a new crop of students who need to be retained in 3rd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had a child in MCPS that went to Pre-school and had a great foundation by MCPS standards when she entered kindergarten. As time went on, though, she fell further and further behind despite EMT meetings. We were told by MCPS at first to read with our child so we did. She was given extra homework and site word cards so we sat down with her each night so she would practice what MCPS said she would practice but she still fell behind. Teachers kept telling us in kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade that kids have tremendous growth by 3rd grade so even though she was falling further and further behind, don’t worry. Then she hit 3rd grade and was off grade level. The teacher called an IEP meeting, MCPS tested her for a Specific Disability in Reading then said the results stated that she didn’t have that so she didn’t qualify for an IEP. When I asked the 10 people team what would the school do so she could learn how to read, the Principal said that because my daughter didn’t have a disability, there were no instructional programs she qualified for. MCPS was content to keep passing a child from grade to grade who wasn’t reading on grade level without helping the child to learn how to read.

What saved my child? I paid thousands of dollars for private testing. She had a disability not identified by MCPS. When I took the 30 page report with data and instructional recommendations, MCPS recognized her disability but they couldn’t implement the instructional recommendations. So I hired a private tutor to work with my child to teach her to read with the Lindamood Bell method. My child finally was able to catch up with her peers over the next year.

Ignoring problems never solves them. Specialized interventions work. Drawing a line in the sand might encourage MCPS to not fail our children by passing them through without basic skills.

WOW! First off, I'm so sorry MCPS failed you and I wholeheartedly agree that ignoring problems never solves them.

I’m felt suckered punched by a school system that was content with watching her fall further behind each year then there was no program or concern by school administrators even when she was officially off grade level in third grade. Enough was enough and I’m thankful we had private resources to pay for help when MCPS was content with not teaching a child basic skills. How many children in MCPS don’t have parents with the financial resources for outside help?

I for one think that it’s high time that MSDE raise the bar so every child can learn to read within the state. There are warning signs and opportunities for interventions in K, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade so basic standards can be met by the end of 3rd grade. It permanently hurts the child when a school system gives up teaching reading and just passes a child through grade by grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In a write-up about the new interim state superintendent Dr. Carey Wright, WJLA digs into her major success in Mississippi, where she turned around a dire situation with reading levels by, surprise, surprise, holding back kids who didn't meet grade-level standards. Wow. What a shock.

Maryland, unbelievably, has fallen behind Mississippi in 4th grade reading levels so she's being brought in to save our sad state of afffairs:



SOURCE: https://wjla.com/news/local/can-new-interim-superintendent-of-schools-deliver-a-miracle-in-maryland-mississippi-dr-carey-wright-third-grade-reading-retention-delegate-susan-krebs#

A large part of Dr. Wright’s success in Mississippi has been attributed to a law passed by the Mississippi State legislature, in 2013, which mandated that every third-grade student must read at grade level before moving to fourth grade. These laws are often referred to as third-grade reading retention policies. They say, if a student cannot read at grade level, they either repeat third grade or receive interventions to catch up.

That law, which Wright supported, has been credited with helping jump-start the Mississippi Miracle.

Why is it called the Mississippi Miracle? Because when Dr. Wright got to Mississippi, that state was one of the lowest performing in the nation when it came to student test scores. But not anymore. In many cases, Mississippi now outperforms Maryland.

According to federal test scores, in 2013, the year the law passed, Mississippi students scored, on average, a 209 in fourth-grade reading. That was far below the national average of 221 and even farther behind Maryland at 232. But by 2022, the most recent year for results, Mississippi had passed Maryland and the national average. Mississippi students now score a 217 in fourth-grade reading. The national average sits at 216, and Maryland has fallen to 212.

Dr. Wright avoids committing to implementing a similar retention policy at this point in MD, but that's because she knows the politics of our state and that the equity/social justice warriors will fight it tooth and nail, even though retention, standards and holding kids to them completely turned Mississippi around.

Which is what we used to do in MD and MCPS, because the social justice/equity warriors decided rules and standards were tools of white supremacy that had to be eradicated.

This “miracle” seems more like an artifact of child development. They are comparing a testing cohort of 4th graders in Mississippi, a large portion of which will be 11 years old due to hold backs with a cohort in MD who will be 9-10 years old.

I would like to see the testing data by age not grade.