S/O MCPS HS "Honors" English 9/10 courses

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In most schools it is only Honors English 9A. A few schools may still have the on-level course, but that's rare. And there are no standards for what constitutes the honors version of the course. A kid could take it and read mostly below-grade level texts.

I wish I could figure out 9A vs H9A. My kid is in Bridge and he is enrolled in 9A and I’ve been told no H9A. I want someone to explain the difference. What is going on in the H9A class that warrants the extra .5 gpa bump? More in depth text analysis, more writing, higher expectations?

My kid has already complained that English is silly and it’s very easy. For now, I’m looking at outside tutoring.

Ugh, I'm sorry. There is no guidance as to how honors is different from regular. It's completely up to individual teachers. And given that people are saying that honors classes are including graphic novels, it doesn't sound like it's rigorous at many schools. Can you meet with the department head at your school to ask that he move up to honors?

[Anonymous]

My DS is in 10th “honors” and they are reading/analyzing the Odyssey . It seems to vary by school and teacher I’m sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS is in 10th “honors” and they are reading/analyzing the Odyssey . It seems to vary by school and teacher I’m sure.

That's what mine did last year in 10th honors, but they read only excerpts, not the whole book.

[Anonymous]

For us Romeo and Juliet was a video. We had to buy the book ourselves. No book at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS is in 10th “honors” and they are reading/analyzing the Odyssey . It seems to vary by school and teacher I’m sure.

Very varied, mine is not reading the Odyssey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS is in 10th “honors” and they are reading/analyzing the Odyssey . It seems to vary by school and teacher I’m sure.

That's what mine did last year in 10th honors, but they read only excerpts, not the whole book.

Oh no - they won’t have time for the whole book.

[Anonymous]

If everyone's in honors, then no one's in honors.

[Anonymous]

9th is especially bad. But it's also the one that MCPS just revised, so why couldn't they address that by choosing grade-level novels?

[Anonymous]

HS English teacher here. There is no difference anymore. Honors is on-level. They got rid of true honors because of “equity” and now everyone is in honors. There is no option to choose a non-honors course. As a result, all students get a weighted GPA for doing grade-level expectations. It’s ridiculous—and frankly—embarrassing for MCPS. Students are frustrated when they are bored or can’t keep up, and teachers are beyond exhausted trying to teach to everyone from language learns to gifted students.

PARENTS… please appeal to Dr. Taylor. We as teachers have tried without results.

MCPS needs to quit pretending that teachers have the time to make four different tiered lesson plans for each level of student for each day. Grouping kids by ability is not discriminatory it’s actually helpful to be able to tailor the learning to meet all students needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In most schools it is only Honors English 9A. A few schools may still have the on-level course, but that's rare. And there are no standards for what constitutes the honors version of the course. A kid could take it and read mostly below-grade level texts.

I wish I could figure out 9A vs H9A. My kid is in Bridge and he is enrolled in 9A and I’ve been told no H9A. I want someone to explain the difference. What is going on in the H9A class that warrants the extra .5 gpa bump? More in depth text analysis, more writing, higher expectations?

My kid has already complained that English is silly and it’s very easy. For now, I’m looking at outside tutoring.

Interesting, PP. My kid is in Connections and enrolled in English 9A. As far as I can tell it's the only non-Honors English 9A in the HS. They'll be reading All American Boys and Of Mice and Men in the next two Marking Periods, both of which are "Anchor Texts" in the new curriculum another PP circulated. Teacher mentioned considering transferring into Honors English 9A at the mid-year, suggesting there's "a lot of movement" around then even with ND kids. So I'm with you, PP -- what is going on in Honors that warrants the GPA bump?

[Anonymous]

Grouping kids by ability is not a problem. Tracking and gate keeping of courses is the problem. Students should be allowed to try a more challenging class if they feel up to the challenge and are willing to do the work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In most schools it is only Honors English 9A. A few schools may still have the on-level course, but that's rare. And there are no standards for what constitutes the honors version of the course. A kid could take it and read mostly below-grade level texts.

I wish I could figure out 9A vs H9A. My kid is in Bridge and he is enrolled in 9A and I’ve been told no H9A. I want someone to explain the difference. What is going on in the H9A class that warrants the extra .5 gpa bump? More in depth text analysis, more writing, higher expectations?

My kid has already complained that English is silly and it’s very easy. For now, I’m looking at outside tutoring.

Ugh, I'm sorry. There is no guidance as to how honors is different from regular. It's completely up to individual teachers. And given that people are saying that honors classes are including graphic novels, it doesn't sound like it's rigorous at many schools. Can you meet with the department head at your school to ask that he move up to honors?

Let’s not demonizes a book format that you clearly don’t understand. Just because a book is a graphic novel doesn’t mean it’s not worthy of inclusion in a honors class.

[Anonymous]

Honors PE, Honors Photography, Honors Home Economics, Honors Sex Education.. Given some of the recent MCPS incidents, that last one might be an AP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In most schools it is only Honors English 9A. A few schools may still have the on-level course, but that's rare. And there are no standards for what constitutes the honors version of the course. A kid could take it and read mostly below-grade level texts.

I wish I could figure out 9A vs H9A. My kid is in Bridge and he is enrolled in 9A and I’ve been told no H9A. I want someone to explain the difference. What is going on in the H9A class that warrants the extra .5 gpa bump? More in depth text analysis, more writing, higher expectations?

My kid has already complained that English is silly and it’s very easy. For now, I’m looking at outside tutoring.

Ugh, I'm sorry. There is no guidance as to how honors is different from regular. It's completely up to individual teachers. And given that people are saying that honors classes are including graphic novels, it doesn't sound like it's rigorous at many schools. Can you meet with the department head at your school to ask that he move up to honors?

Let’s not demonizes a book format that you clearly don’t understand. Just because a book is a graphic novel doesn’t mean it’s not worthy of inclusion in a honors class.

The graphic novel in question, the Magic Fish, has a Lexile level of 400HL. https://hub.lexile.com/find-a-book/book-details/9781984851598

HL is intended to be high-interest books for struggling readers. And yet MCPS is offering this to kids who were in CES and humanities magnets in 9th grade "honors" English, with no guidance to say that this should not be available in honors sections. Says all you need to know about MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For us Romeo and Juliet was a video. We had to buy the book ourselves. No book at all.

They didn’t have access to the book at school or as part of whatever English software?

I heard the same about Study Sync for MS but it actually does have lots of novels. Granted it’s not a paperback book but classes can read a full length text.

If schools aren’t providing the full text that’s where parents should start complaining and ask where funds are being spent instead.