How to help MCPS' lowest performing students?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot has been said about what school district should do, schools can do and teachers too. How about trying to help families of these students with 1:1 counseling of some sort to make sure they understand what is expected of students, the services that are available to them, and actual guiding these families especially new families to the system from another country? Could a "host family" work? It's not a one time here you go here's the welcome to mcps folder that tells you what you need to do, but actually checking in with them very frequently (1-2x week). Does this fall under Social Worker duties, can paras do some of this?

Why are schools responsible for 1:1 counseling of families? Schools are for educating students not solving all the problems of families. And schools already have parent community coordinators to help with engagement. Not to mention there is a Parent Academy that does workshops and a Special Education committee that has meetings every month and uploads the recording to the website.

The basic expectation is that students 1)show up to school everyday on time, 2)try hard, 3)guardians review what comes home, and 4)if/when they have concerns or questions they reach out to the teacher/school. What is difficult about that expectation?

I'm not the PP, but I think this goes to a pretty fundamental difference of worldviews. You seem to see education as something that a child earns by being born to the correct parents. PP sees education as something we owe children because they are in our society.

I align with PP, not just because I think it's the American way to view education but also because it's the only way we're going to still have a functioning society in a couple of decades.

No, education is a fundamental right of all children and those who seek it. As such school should engage in education, not social work. Social Work is the vain of Health and Human services not school districts. Part of the problem in education is folks seem to believe we can keep piling on more and more responsibility to the education system that has absolutely nothing to do with education. I understand that kids who are hungry or not clothed have a harder time learning, but that doesn't mean solving that problem is the responsibility of the education system.

The expectations are really clear. Come to school, do the work, ask school staff if you have questions/concerns. Now if that model isn't working, then a different model is needed.

Example: People are calling for an early warning system to alert families that their student is falling behind. While I can certainly understand how this could be helpful and beneficial, I also challenge if it is need. Grades and a slew of standardized test scores are already provided. Those are (or should be) the early warning system that a student is falling behind. If they are not performing that function, the question is why not? Why do we need another document?

This is where you go wrong. Grades often don't provide the early warnings that they should due to grade inflation. Furthermore, the standardized tests are routinely dismissed by teachers as "unimportant" and point parents to pay attention the classroom grades instead.

This misdirection by teachers and schools, cause parents to not realize that there's a problem until it's far too late. THAT is the genesis of the Early Warning System that is being advocated for, which is very much needed because unless you FORCE MCPS to do the right thing, the system simply won't.

Actually I didn't go wrong. I indicated that if grades and the standardized testing which should be the early warning system are not showing that, the system should investigate why and correct. Not create another system. Especially since the early warning system being proposed would be based on that same data.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:For meals, I’d like to see protein for breakfast - like some sort of egg dish. The kids eat pure sugar for breakfast and are starving two hours later, when a kindly teacher might give them a carb snack.

I’d limit the screen time in lower elementary and encourage parents to do the same. More time just reading a book to the class where they sit there and develop their listening and concentration skills.

I’d continually reinforce basic math facts - simple single digit addition, substitution, multiplication way longer than you’d think necessary.

Yes - identifying issues earlier, especially for kids whose parents can’t.

Encourage kids to do their multiplication flashcards at home and test them daily on it at the correct grade level.

Additional recess or outdoor time. Both a morning and afternoon recess or daily PE. Some hard exercise in the morning might really help the kids and lower the amount of time spent on classroom management.

THANK YOU!
Such great points!!

Those are great points, but so many of those require Home support and that’s exactly what so many of these kids lack. some of these kids don’t have good parental oversight or involvement. Who is going to push them to do flashcards at home? some of these kids don’t have good parental oversight or involvement. Who is going to push them to do flashcards at home

Most of those actually do not require home support, with intention. Though home support is, of course, helpful. Maybe you’re thinking at home meals? The kids I work with often have breakfast provided at school so I’m referring to school-provided breakfast.

Yes - flash cards (and any homework) are definitely tricky without home support but do work for some kids. It would require a lot of teacher administration but you’d want to incentivize the kids to learn their math facts by ditching some of the flash cards when learned, changing their in class work and tests, etc. Most kids do want to improve. For kids whose parents don’t understand English, math flashcards are a little easier to tell your kid to do than helping with other assignments. But yeah, a lot of kids won’t get assistance at home. You could also add those things into small group or push in/out. Games could be integrated to make it more fun. For the continual reinforcement of math facts, that was intended as a daily in-class exercise.

If kids get what they need in class supported with good materials and textbooks most baring special needs can do homework just fine. People like you dumbing down things and making excuses are the problem.

Please re-read this exchange. But also, there are no textbooks in elementary school. There are math workbooks that stay at school. I don’t think you’re at MCPS?

There are some textbooks in middle and high school for history for math and history depending on the teacher. Some teachers refuse to use them. You can find the elementary workbooks online for free, or you can get copies from some schools or buy them. Or, get your own to supplement. You have options. Yes we are mcps. Our math teacher bought materials off the internet this year. They refuse to use the supplied textbook. We bought the materials to help our child.

I'm confused- does your ES not send home the Eureka workbooks for nightly homework? Why are parents expected to buy random materials to supplement when the Eureka materials should be available?

I'm a strong believer that younger kids especially should be getting most of their education at school with targeted homework provided by the school. When the burden is put on parents to search out materials to provide the majortiy of learning at home, the system is doomed to fail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So can't reduce class size. Then increase number of teachers in each classroom.

Teachers are leaving the profession in droves. You are lucky is you actually have a trained teacher in your kid’s classroom these days. So many random subs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So can't reduce class size. Then increase number of teachers in each classroom.

Teachers are leaving the profession in droves. You are lucky is you actually have a trained teacher in your kid’s classroom these days. So many random subs.

If teachers knew they were going to have an extra person in the classroom everyday, many would be happier and not looking to exit. It would ease their work load.

[Anonymous]

What do you think will happen to MCPS' lowest performing students/families with recent election results, will the county's population change, will priorities and initiatives change?

[Anonymous]

Are the the paddle and dunce caps still legal? If so, we need to institute them to bring back healthy doses of shame and fear as motivators to obey the law and work hard.

[Anonymous]

My DD's title 1 school gave out awards for reading and math achievement. Spoiler alert, pretty much everyone got one. It was the only event that was jam packed. The parents were so proud of their kids though I don't think they realized that the kids were below grade level. I think the parents do want to help their kids (and obviously want them to achieve) but may not know how. I say this as an early interventionist that goes into area homes. We have families that are coming from all kinds of backgrounds. The burden is on the schools right now which is the issues. We need to shift it more to the parents, but I am not sure how.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you think will happen to MCPS' lowest performing students/families with recent election results, will the county's population change, will priorities and initiatives change?

Nobody knows. If you are counting on mass deportation I just offer caution that this is not actually an easy thing to do. Maybe I am totally off base but I really don't see a huge reduction happening in the number of immigrant kids in the school system.

Most funding for schools comes from the county and the state, not the federal government. It's possible/likely federal education funding might reduced, but they won't eliminate it completely.

I think more than any issues at the federal level, the local funding issues are going to continue to erode resources for kids. Nobody likes to talk about this but pension costs are exploding and it's really eating into everything else.

[Anonymous]

Grouping by ability and dedicating the entire math and reading block to active instruction rather than forcing the teacher to race through multiple groups while kids mostly “work” independently.

Adjusting the schedules so there is time for actual grammar instruction. It’s critical for a solid foundation.

Investing in the spelling/vocabulary workbooks that private schools use. This is useful busy work in the classroom or independent homework.

Slow down the math. Private high schools start with Algebra 1.

Instead of wasting a special on the Media room, offer Spanish. Foreign language instruction must start in Kindergarten, not middle school.

Essentially model the curriculum on what private schools do. It works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you think will happen to MCPS' lowest performing students/families with recent election results, will the county's population change, will priorities and initiatives change?

Nobody knows. If you are counting on mass deportation I just offer caution that this is not actually an easy thing to do. Maybe I am totally off base but I really don't see a huge reduction happening in the number of immigrant kids in the school system.

Most funding for schools comes from the county and the state, not the federal government. It's possible/likely federal education funding might reduced, but they won't eliminate it completely.

I think more than any issues at the federal level, the local funding issues are going to continue to erode resources for kids. Nobody likes to talk about this but pension costs are exploding and it's really eating into everything else.

Every district in MD receives federal funds in Title 1 funding. It’s not a small amount.

[Anonymous]

Districts are twisting themselves into pretzels to avoid admitting what is obvious to observers (including teachers): schools are high performing when parents are educated and middle class or higher. Schools are low performing when parents are uneducated and poor. Districts are unwilling to admit this, so they work teachers harder and harder and harder.

[Anonymous]

No one wants to teach the poor kids bc admin will hold the sociological problem of poverty against a teachers career . Many teachers that teach poor students are poor themselves so when an admin destroys a teachers career bc the teacher won't play fraud, do they think alit if people are lining up to do this job??? So they blame the teachers, they blame society and then they get promoted for negatively influencing so many teachers, systems, and students

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grouping by ability and dedicating the entire math and reading block to active instruction rather than forcing the teacher to race through multiple groups while kids mostly “work” independently.

Adjusting the schedules so there is time for actual grammar instruction. It’s critical for a solid foundation.

Investing in the spelling/vocabulary workbooks that private schools use. This is useful busy work in the classroom or independent homework.

Slow down the math. Private high schools start with Algebra 1.

Instead of wasting a special on the Media room, offer Spanish. Foreign language instruction must start in Kindergarten, not middle school.

Essentially model the curriculum on what private schools do. It works.

I agree with a lot of this. Especially the math grouping. Small groups are tough and don’t accomplish a lot, especially in classrooms with behavioral issues. Though the Chromebooks are handy for keeping kids quiet during this time.

Re Spanish, I’d love to see this but it would be difficult for three reasons. One, money. The librarian is already on payroll - media special is a teacher break that’s close to free. Two, we can barely find able Spanish teachers for middle and high school schools so hiring would be tough. Three, the kids only get media once a week for a short time so it’s not consistent language instruction. Better than nothing though. But they still need some media center time to check out their books.
I’m guessing they could do online Spanish lessons - like a twenty minute daily lesson on the Chromebook. That might be worth exploring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one wants to teach the poor kids bc admin will hold the sociological problem of poverty against a teachers career . Many teachers that teach poor students are poor themselves so when an admin destroys a teachers career bc the teacher won't play fraud, do they think alit if people are lining up to do this job??? So they blame the teachers, they blame society and then they get promoted for negatively influencing so many teachers, systems, and students

I teach in Baltimore City and I don’t feel this is the case at all. My only beef is with attendance. As a teacher, I have very little control over it. Part of my EOY evaluation is my SLO which is student test scores. I have quite a few students who miss more than 18 days of school each year. They are chronically absent. It isn’t until they reach 50+ days (from November-March) absent that their test scores become exempt from my SLO. I can’t teach them if they don’t come to school. My raise shouldn’t depend on attendance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you think will happen to MCPS' lowest performing students/families with recent election results, will the county's population change, will priorities and initiatives change?

Nobody knows. If you are counting on mass deportation I just offer caution that this is not actually an easy thing to do. Maybe I am totally off base but I really don't see a huge reduction happening in the number of immigrant kids in the school system.

Most funding for schools comes from the county and the state, not the federal government. It's possible/likely federal education funding might reduced, but they won't eliminate it completely.

I think more than any issues at the federal level, the local funding issues are going to continue to erode resources for kids. Nobody likes to talk about this but pension costs are exploding and it's really eating into everything else.

Every district in MD receives federal funds in Title 1 funding. It’s not a small amount.

It's not the majority of school funding either. They may reduce it, but won't eliminate it.