Middle School Tech Requirement?

[Anonymous]

Hi! MS Tech teacher here. Here is the rub:

The state of Maryland is requiring all students in a school to have at least one quarter of a computational thinking elective. Most of the middle school tech classes qualify. If this is not given to all students in a school it pulls down the state report card for that school. It is not techinically requiired though. Each middle school is handling it differently.

[Anonymous]

Added to above, The tech elective must be taken each year too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a middle school tech requirement in the 80s. It is important. If your kid wants to do music, wait until 7th grade to start a foreign language.

We just found out about needing your take this in MS and my kid is going into 7th. So, we have to skip language for 7th and then go back to it in 8th?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi! MS Tech teacher here. Here is the rub:

The state of Maryland is requiring all students in a school to have at least one quarter of a computational thinking elective. Most of the middle school tech classes qualify. If this is not given to all students in a school it pulls down the state report card for that school. It is not techinically requiired though. Each middle school is handling it differently.

Thank you for this explanation.

Personally, I’m not worried about the state report card for our MS.

[Anonymous]

Is this county specific. We hear nothing of this in mcps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this county specific. We hear nothing of this in mcps.

We are in MCPS and our MS told us that it is required.

[Anonymous]

Tech teacher here again at an MCPS schools. Schools learned about this only a few months ago but were given no details or major recommendations about how to proceed then. Now we have a bit more info. Some schools will likely choose to take the hit to their state report card at least temporarily until they figure things out. Some schools may have PE or art teachers teach each student for a quarter. The state doesn’t require the teachers to be certified in technology education. In that situation I would expect a lot of use of Google coding courses affiliated with code.org. It integrates into google classroom and if very easy for the teachers to run with very little experience. Schools most likely are struggling with figuring out who wants to teach these courses and who able to due to scheduling. Schools tend to have a lot of glitches in their schedules that limit flexibility with scheduling in certain ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tech teacher here again at an MCPS schools. Schools learned about this only a few months ago but were given no details or major recommendations about how to proceed then. Now we have a bit more info. Some schools will likely choose to take the hit to their state report card at least temporarily until they figure things out. Some schools may have PE or art teachers teach each student for a quarter. The state doesn’t require the teachers to be certified in technology education. In that situation I would expect a lot of use of Google coding courses affiliated with code.org. It integrates into google classroom and if very easy for the teachers to run with very little experience. Schools most likely are struggling with figuring out who wants to teach these courses and who able to due to scheduling. Schools tend to have a lot of glitches in their schedules that limit flexibility with scheduling in certain ways.

Ah, that makes sense. We were told that we could do the tech class as a replacement for a semester of PE! Which made no sense to me.

Appreciate your input - helps me understand the situation better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this county specific. We hear nothing of this in mcps.

We are in MCPS and our MS told us that it is required.

DS just registered for 7th and none of this was told to us. I wonder when they plan to let us know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this county specific. We hear nothing of this in mcps.

We are in MCPS and our MS told us that it is required.

DS just registered for 7th and none of this was told to us. I wonder when they plan to let us know.

They told the kids in class. Ask your DC about it. Did DC bring home a registration form for you to sign? It is also printed on that form in bold print, about halfway down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this county specific. We hear nothing of this in mcps.

We are in MCPS and our MS told us that it is required.

DS just registered for 7th and none of this was told to us. I wonder when they plan to let us know.

Same here. I just reread the registration form, and there's nothing about any tech requirement. It seems to be a school-by-school decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The MS counselors are pushing the kids at our MS to take it in MS.

But for kids who play an instrument (and enjoy it), it’s a tough decision to give it up.

Plus, won’t that decimate the HS music programs?

Unlikely that a kid will take a year off from their instrument and then pick it back up in HS.

And the tech class is only a semester, I believe.

Seems like a poorly thought out initiative.

It used to be one semester and students often combined it with health during sophomore year. Now that it has been expanded to a full year, I think students might as well get it over with in MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this county specific. We hear nothing of this in mcps.

We are in MCPS and our MS told us that it is required.

DS just registered for 7th and none of this was told to us. I wonder when they plan to let us know.

Same here. I just reread the registration form, and there's nothing about any tech requirement. It seems to be a school-by-school decision.

Interesting. The form that my kid brought home had a line about being required to take a tech class, as well as a 'fine arts' class. In both English and Spanish, FWIW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this county specific. We hear nothing of this in mcps.

We are in MCPS and our MS told us that it is required.

DS just registered for 7th and none of this was told to us. I wonder when they plan to let us know.

Same here. I just reread the registration form, and there's nothing about any tech requirement. It seems to be a school-by-school decision.

Interesting. The form that my kid brought home had a line about being required to take a tech class, as well as a 'fine arts' class. In both English and Spanish, FWIW.

PP again

Also, the kids don't have to take it in 7th grade. Our counselor said it can be taken in 8th grade. Maybe it depends on what grade your child is in.

[Anonymous]

Does Digital Literacy count as a tech class? DD #1 is taking her tech class as a senior in HS.