No More Reading Levels in Grades 3 - 5

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the upper grades - where was it stated that MIRL will be completed for everyone at the beginning of the year? It definitely wasn't in the memo to principals.

Our reading specialist said it was recommended, which means for us, it will be done this way. Maybe it’s not technically required by mcps

It would be useful information to have for everyone, so why not do it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the upper grades - where was it stated that MIRL will be completed for everyone at the beginning of the year? It definitely wasn't in the memo to principals.

Our reading specialist said it was recommended, which means for us, it will be done this way. Maybe it’s not technically required by mcps

Yes schools can ask teachers to do more but it's a fine line to walk. I will be having my staff do them on a monthly basis for all students reading below grade-level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But parents on this board complain that the bar is set too low!

And teachers complain that they have to spend all of their time on assessments and paperwork.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the upper grades (3-5), MIRL will be completed for everyone at the beginning of the year. It still will have to be done monthly (and data entered) for all students not meeting benchmark (are below grade level). There will be a new assessment that will be administered once a marking period using a rigorous text.

And MCPS teachers...EMAT and progress checks are no longer required (individual schools can decide if they will still use them). There will be a NEW math assessment that will be used this year

I don't see the problem with this. Kids who are below grade level will be identified, tracked, and monitored (and hopefully provided appropriate interventions). Kids who are at or above grade level will be given challenging reading material. Do you really need to know if they are reading at level S or level T? I can think of a lot of things I'd rather the teacher spend time on than measuring that every month.

[Anonymous]

We all float down here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and really don't understand why they're going this route. We will still have the benchmarks to determine if they're reading below, on or above grade level so why would we not share that info on the report card? Another decision made without consulting the people who actually teach the students and communicate with the parents.

I hope you will still share that info with parents even if it does not officially go on the report card...

Yes, of course I will. It's just annoying they're taking it off the report card and now there's an additional data point to report separately. MCPS always has to make things harder, not easier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WTH is wrong with this system?! Why does every kid have to read 2-3 grades above their grade level?!

Because the federal common core standards were out in place to give a kick to states like Mississippi who had standards way below Maryland’s. However Maryland saw the money attached to subscribing to common core and signed up. Massachusetts and Virginia said Hell No.

And here we are. Trying to get proficiency scores out of the bottom half of MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Side question: why can’t we just reject common core, like MA and VA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Side question: why can’t we just reject common core, like MA and VA?

Common core is fine - it is a set of standards. Curriculum 2.0, which is MCPS, is the issue.

[Anonymous]

This is ridiculous. One step forward by amending that insane N/I/P/ES grading system and two steps back by eliminating reading levels.

Are the kids going to know their reading levels? How is it that we're supposed to pick out books from the library if we have no idea of what their reading level is? My kid was reading above grade level in 1st last year, so the teacher did not send home books for reading at home (that was only for kids below grade level). We had to go get him books from the library. He complained that every book we took out was too hard, unless it was obviously too easy. This continued until I took out a whole pile of books that were listed one below his level! Without that reading level as a guide, the complaining would have continued.


I'm pulling my hair out with MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the upper grades (3-5), MIRL will be completed for everyone at the beginning of the year. It still will have to be done monthly (and data entered) for all students not meeting benchmark (are below grade level). There will be a new assessment that will be administered once a marking period using a rigorous text.

And MCPS teachers...EMAT and progress checks are no longer required (individual schools can decide if they will still use them). There will be a NEW math assessment that will be used this year

I don't see the problem with this. Kids who are below grade level will be identified, tracked, and monitored (and hopefully provided appropriate interventions). Kids who are at or above grade level will be given challenging reading material. Do you really need to know if they are reading at level S or level T? I can think of a lot of things I'd rather the teacher spend time on than measuring that every month.

FWIW, I have a reason to believe my child was rejected for a CES despite her high test scores because he was pigeonholed in a reading group one level below the top in his grade. And I also was thinking, or, do I really need to know that? Turned out, I did, because that's what they told us at the central office, your child reads at this level, and the 'geniuses' in DC's grade read one level above. All other benchmarks (MAPs and the test) were similar to those accepted, some even higher.

So, yeah, after all that BS, I became very interested in my child's reading levels. Too bad MCPS screwed that up, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is ridiculous. One step forward by amending that insane N/I/P/ES grading system and two steps back by eliminating reading levels.

Are the kids going to know their reading levels? How is it that we're supposed to pick out books from the library if we have no idea of what their reading level is? My kid was reading above grade level in 1st last year, so the teacher did not send home books for reading at home (that was only for kids below grade level). We had to go get him books from the library. He complained that every book we took out was too hard, unless it was obviously too easy. This continued until I took out a whole pile of books that were listed one below his level! Without that reading level as a guide, the complaining would have continued.


I'm pulling my hair out with MCPS.

At least one principal has responded on this thread. Can I ask a question for any MCPS administrators on here? I'm a teacher in the county and I know principals have to tout the party line and play nice with central, but are you folks secretly as appalled as we are, generally speaking? It would be comforting actually to think that principals align more with their staff's needs than the central office initiative du jour.

[Anonymous]

As the parent of a child with an IEP who is behind, this seems like another way for MCPS to deny a child is struggling.

[Anonymous]

Are they still doing MAP testing? I think the teacher's estimates of reading levels for high fliers are not spot-on, but testing can be, so long as the kid isn't having an off day for that particular test.

[Anonymous]

If parents want quarterly progress reports on reading levels, and therefore his change is not acceptable, emails have to be sent. They can make a lot of unpalatable changes and if there's no response from the parent community, they just happen.