Comparing MCPS levels of rigor between ESs

[Anonymous]

I have friends with kids in the same grade at a range of schools across Mont County and it seems that the curriculum is very similar, though homework varies a lot, as does some of the instruction. For example, my child's school doesn't 'teach' spelling -- no spelling words, no spelling tests, etc. They are supposed to "learn it on their own, through integration". A friend -- same grade, different school -- has weekly spelling lists and tests since 1st grade. On the flip side, my child had homework in K, and a lot of it. Other kids in K we know had no homework. Homework in 1-3rd grades have varied greatly across schools as well.
That's been our experience. Not sure it really answers your question, though.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, PPs. Answers so far have been helpful and seem to suggest that at the ES level at least differences in schools are more related to social or behavior/school environment issues as opposed to the academic side of it.

- OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds similar to my kids' WJ feeder ES.

When I used to compare DD's K experience to my friend's DD's K experience at a Title 1 school, I found the differences in the social activities and peer groups more than the academics. Also in her daughter's case, she found it difficult to find a group of intellectual peers in her K class of only 15-16 kids. Her daughter went into K reading and writing and was taken out for those activities. She had 3 years of preK before entering K while several of her classmates had not so she was more ready for K than the average. In my daughter's class of 25, she had no difficulty finding her peer group (she was probably below average in or ES-she was not reading or writing).

I do understand your concern but if you go to the MoCty website and look at the curriculum, you can see for yourself what is expected at each grade, by quarter. This is county-wide, so as long as your child is getting that curriculum, the academics are probably comparable.

For what it's worth, this has not been our experience with a MD focus school. While there is a wide variety in terms of levels of preparation, my daughter entered kindy reading and writing, and there were 4-5 other kids at about her level, with 1-2 above her. Interestingly enough, the other kids who entered reading and writing were not all middle class white kids. The middle class white kids primarily came out of play-based, part-time, preschool programs. So, they had all the building blocks but were learning to put them together in kindergarten. The kids who entered already knowing those skills tended to be working class, from immigrant families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds similar to my kids' WJ feeder ES.

When I used to compare DD's K experience to my friend's DD's K experience at a Title 1 school, I found the differences in the social activities and peer groups more than the academics. Also in her daughter's case, she found it difficult to find a group of intellectual peers in her K class of only 15-16 kids. Her daughter went into K reading and writing and was taken out for those activities. She had 3 years of preK before entering K while several of her classmates had not so she was more ready for K than the average. In my daughter's class of 25, she had no difficulty finding her peer group (she was probably below average in or ES-she was not reading or writing).

I do understand your concern but if you go to the MoCty website and look at the curriculum, you can see for yourself what is expected at each grade, by quarter. This is county-wide, so as long as your child is getting that curriculum, the academics are probably comparable.

For what it's worth, this has not been our experience with a MD focus school. While there is a wide variety in terms of levels of preparation, my daughter entered kindy reading and writing, and there were 4-5 other kids at about her level, with 1-2 above her. Interestingly enough, the other kids who entered reading and writing were not all middle class white kids. The middle class white kids primarily came out of play-based, part-time, preschool programs. So, they had all the building blocks but were learning to put them together in kindergarten. The kids who entered already knowing those skills tended to be working class, from immigrant families.

We had a very similar experience at our focus school. In a class of 15, DD and 3 others were reading chapter books. Her reading group was 2 white kids and 2 bllack kids, one of whom was an immigrant. Socially, the kids all socialize on the playground, but there is less socializing across SES lines outside of school. DD is in 4th grade now, and while she has friends outside of school of all races, they are all middle/upper middle class.