2.0

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Actually the school has absolutely no obligation to stimulate your child. The obligation is to prepare them for the workforce/college. If your child isn't stimulated get them a hobby or tutor.

And the current job market reflects MCPS is doing a fantastic job of preparing our kids for the workforce and college. Do you know how many MCPS kids go on to college and then graduate? How many MCPS kids are getting jobs? How many MCPS kids are still home in their parents basement or on their parents dime even after College?

If MCPS doesn't provide a challenging and stimulating curriculum in the classroom (beginning at the elementary school level) for our children, the unemployment rate will continue to rise and kids will continue to enter our colleges unprepared and return to the family basement.

$2.2 billion/year must get our kids more than a 6-hour baby sitting service with teachers and their union as the Baby Sitters and the Principal--the Head Baby Sitter in Chief.

The current job market is a reflection of the curriculum from which those individuals graduated, which is not 2.0. 2.0 is advertized as addressing this very issue. We won't know whether it works for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The grade levels K through 12 have 25 to 30 students each.

Curriculum 2.0 now prohibits students in each grade level from moving up (maybe even down?) a level to get appropriate challenge. One assumes that as one goes up a Grade level (from K through 12) the content will get more challenging.

Many parents claim today their children's challenges in math are not being met at each Grade level since children can no longer move up. They were able to do so under the old curriculum. MCPS claims these needs will be met by differentiated teaching at each Grade level in curriculum 2.0. Each teacher will now teach to a wider range of aptitudes, ability, performance and exposure in the 50 min math class (per curriculum 2.0). On paper and in theory this strategy may compensate for prohibiting kids to move up; in reality and practise over the last 2 years this is not the case for many in MCPS.

Removing the current MCPS prohibition of student movement would solve this problem easily. For example, many systems around the globe and country have "block scheduling" (fundamental and basic subjects like math are held at the same time of the day in elementary school). This provides efficiencies (for instruction [teachers] and students) and allows children who have already demonstrated mastery of subject material at a particular Grade level to shift up to an appropriate level (K-8 for example). This becomes critical as the classroom sizes in MCPS continue to grow (>>> 25) and the teaching pipeline pumps out more generalists and teachers less proficient and knowledgeable about mathematics.

If MCPS does not have a prohibition regarding student movement in this regard then the trickle down message from up top flip flops all the way to the bottom. Since no human being seems capable of articulating the policy in clear English what that process, pathway and procedure. This should be transparent and not shrouded in evasion.

Same zombie post thats been killed 25 times on here... stop spamming please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Why is math so different than reading and writing? If differentiation is allowed (albeit in the same classroom) for these skills, why does math have to be treated differently?

ES teachers are better trained to evaluate and coach reading and writing. Their education degrees do not prepare them very well for math or science. Most individuals who gravitate toward teaching are not the analytical, math or science types. You have a serious skill deficiency and professional development cost if a school system wants to get serious about treating math equal to reading/writing. Private schools counter this by having a dedicated Math or Science teacher. This is someone who has a background in these fields and a teaching degree. MCPS has consistently been cutting back on what they call Specials or teachers with focus. The expectation is that one teacher does everything, with no or few aides.

Acceleration in reading and writing requires fewer resources and the upper groups are more independent and student led with teacher as coach. DD is in the higher reading/writing groups and she does this independently with feedback from the teacher rather than significant instruction. If the kids are going to break up into reading groups anyway, it really doesn't make a staffing/resource difference if one group reads an lower level and one group reads a higher level.

Math instruction in MCPS is teacher led..ie teacher up at the prometheus board doing examples, explaining concepts, and articulating the instructions (how to do it i whichever way they have chosen for that day and instructions). In order to allow acceleration in this model, more teaching staff need to be assigned to give different work to different group.

No math acceleration is driven by the desire to close the achievement gap by not documenting the higher %, reduce costs by limiting instruction, and align with the existing workforce rather than change to meet the changing world and economy.

Don't kid yourself into thinking that a private school math teacher knows any more about math than the public school teacher. I have a friend who is a recent graduate in elementary education, with no real math background, that was seriously considered for a math position at a well-known private. That same friend is now teaching math in MCPS. I am not saying she isn't capable of teaching math. She had some very current courses in school about how to teach math, I am just saying that private schools may hire a math teacher, but that person may not have a math degree and may not even have an education degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Actually the school has absolutely no obligation to stimulate your child. The obligation is to prepare them for the workforce/college. If your child isn't stimulated get them a hobby or tutor.

And the current job market reflects MCPS is doing a fantastic job of preparing our kids for the workforce and college. Do you know how many MCPS kids go on to college and then graduate? How many MCPS kids are getting jobs? How many MCPS kids are still home in their parents basement or on their parents dime even after College?

If MCPS doesn't provide a challenging and stimulating curriculum in the classroom (beginning at the elementary school level) for our children, the unemployment rate will continue to rise and kids will continue to enter our colleges unprepared and return to the family basement.

$2.2 billion/year must get our kids more than a 6-hour baby sitting service with teachers and their union as the Baby Sitters and the Principal--the Head Baby Sitter in Chief.

Huh!?!? I wish this wasn't anonymous because I'm sure you wouldn't post ridiculous stuff like this. Montgomery county has not even been affected by the recession. This is one of the best places to be in the country. Let me repeat, challenging and stimulating has nothing to do with preparing kids for college or the work force. Go to Kumon if you want to see how many grades above you work on wthout deserving it but that will not fly in our school system.

That is all.

[Anonymous]

The current job market is a reflection of the curriculum from which those individuals graduated, which is not 2.0. 2.0 is advertized as addressing this very issue. We won't know whether it works for years.

That's the point. After 2 years of curriculum 2.0 it may get much worse!

[Anonymous]

Huh!?!? I wish this wasn't anonymous because I'm sure you wouldn't post ridiculous stuff like this. Montgomery county has not even been affected by the recession. This is one of the best places to be in the country. Let me repeat, challenging and stimulating has nothing to do with preparing kids for college or the work force. Go to Kumon if you want to see how many grades above you work on wthout deserving it but that will not fly in our school system.

That is all.

So out of touch. Let's hope you are not running for office.

[Anonymous]

Huh!?!? I wish this wasn't anonymous because I'm sure you wouldn't post ridiculous stuff like this. Montgomery county has not even been affected by the recession. This is one of the best places to be in the country. Let me repeat, challenging and stimulating has nothing to do with preparing kids for college or the work force. Go to Kumon if you want to see how many grades above you work on wthout deserving it but that will not fly in our school system.

That is all.

The only enterprise that's been recession proof in Montgomery County over the last decade is Kumon. I hear the business is booming particularly over the last 2 years

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Huh!?!? I wish this wasn't anonymous because I'm sure you wouldn't post ridiculous stuff like this. Montgomery county has not even been affected by the recession. This is one of the best places to be in the country. Let me repeat, challenging and stimulating has nothing to do with preparing kids for college or the work force. Go to Kumon if you want to see how many grades above you work on wthout deserving it but that will not fly in our school system.

That is all.

The only enterprise that's been recession proof in Montgomery County over the last decade is Kumon. I hear the business is booming particularly over the last 2 years

It sure, there's lots of disposal income.... Paranoid parents paying big bucks to have there kid do workbooks in room

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The current job market is a reflection of the curriculum from which those individuals graduated, which is not 2.0. 2.0 is advertized as addressing this very issue. We won't know whether it works for years.

That's the point. After 2 years of curriculum 2.0 it may get much worse!

Unfortunately, you really won't know about 2.0 until those kids head off to college or to get a job. That's more like 10 years.

[Anonymous]

It sure, there's lots of disposal income.... Paranoid parents paying big bucks to have there kid do workbooks in room

You are jealous. We can all see that. Why are you so infatuated with Kumon? You bring it up all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It sure, there's lots of disposal income.... Paranoid parents paying big bucks to have there kid do workbooks in room

You are jealous. We can all see that. Why are you so infatuated with Kumon? You bring it up all the time.

I do? You have quite the imagination. Not surprised of the delusions of grandeur you have for your child...

[Anonymous]

Friday, September 21, 2012
Pearson - MCPS Curriculum 2.0 Deal Tanking. No Royalties until after 2014.
On Monday, September 24, 2012 at 9:30 AM, the Montgomery County Council's Education committee will hold a hearing on the Pearson-MCPS Curriculum 2.0 deal that was pushed through in 48 hours by Superintendent Jerry Weast.

MCPS parents should pay close attention to this hearing. Parents can attend the hearing in person, watch the hearing on the county cable channel or the Council's website, or parents can call in to the Council and listen to the hearing over their phones.

The Council's Education committee released a packet for the hearing. The packet is shown below. What is notable about this packet is that it contains two memos from Superintendent Joshua Starr to the Board of Education that have not been made available to the public prior to today. Why was the BOE and the Superintendent hiding these important Pearson-MCPS Curriculum 2.0 updates?

Also, noted in the Council's packet is that MCPS has received no royalties from the sale of the Pearson-MCPS Curriculum 2.0, and no royalties are even expected until after 2014. MCPS staff have already been on the convention circuit hawking this Pearson-MCPS product. Yet, no buyers so far?

The bottom line on the Pearson-MCPS-Curriculum 2.0 project is that it is just about out of cash. This is the last year of the U.S. Department of Education grant funding, and the Pearson payment to MCPS was dramatically slashed from Superintendent Weast's original proposal.

Hope everyone likes the new curriculum, because the funding for the new curriculum is just about gone.

We will have to wait to see the results of curriculum 2.0 on MCPS math education (2 years is not enough...check back in in 5 when your kid is hi high school) of this cohort said the zombie while scuba diving.

[Anonymous]

Yawl, Kumon is cheaper than curriculum 2.0 and more effective.

[Anonymous]

Huh!?!? I wish this wasn't anonymous because I'm sure you wouldn't post ridiculous stuff like this. Montgomery county has not even been affected by the recession. This is one of the best places to be in the country. Let me repeat, challenging and stimulating has nothing to do with preparing kids for college or the work force. Go to Kumon if you want to see how many grades above you work on wthout deserving it but that will not fly in our school system.

That is all.

[Anonymous]

NONE of the people on the current Montgomery County School Board are getting my future votes. Governor O'Malley (for pushing this crap on our state) will also not be getting my vote. Seriously, GOP you have a golden opportunity to speak out and Montgomery County will be in your pocket. SO MANY PARENTS ARE FED UP WITH 2.0 and the current administrations in the state and county want to spread BS propaganda instead of ending the experiment.