Differences in These Elem Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just moved to the area and my child is attending Carderock Springs. We moved to this area after hearing that MoCo public schools are one of the best school systems in the country.His class has 26 students and one teacher. Reading is not divided by ability- rather it is a heterogeneous mix of students where some kids can read chapter books while some are learning to read sight words. Most of their dedicated reading period consists of students reading books to themselves for half an hour and then reading books with a buddy for the rest of the hour. I am concerned that my son, who is more advanced in reading and math, is not challenged and is very bored with school. I know of some other students that are in the same boat. Is it standard for MoCo public schools to not have reading/math groups divided according to level and guided reading groups on a weekly basis? Does anyone else have a similar experience?

What grade?

Unfortunately, the new liberalism of curriculum 2.0 means that MCPS is all about "heterogeneous" groupings of students. You see, this way, no one feels bad about being one of the worst students (and none of the best students will excel, and, therefore, won't make the slower students feel bad). According to our new superintendent, this will somehow bring about "fairness" in our educational system. Sorry if you moved into MCPS without knowing that there was a major (and ill-conceived) overhaul of the curriculum being rolled-out this year.

One piece of advice: complain, complain, complain if your kid isn't getting what he needs. The only way to get the word out is for parents to complain to principals (not teachers!). The principals need to hear the complaints and they need to be inconvenienced by dealing with them. That is the only way for the complaints to be taken seriously and to bubble up to the superintendent level. Trust me, there are parents in elementary schools across MoCo complaining every day.

[Anonymous]

agree wholeheartedly with PP. so does our neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Wow. That is terrible. I would think a child struggling w reading would feel better being in a group of kids at the same ability not better plus I would think they could improve more if not working with kids who are so far ahead. Does DC do this too?