Achievement gap continues to grow between high- and low-income schools

[Anonymous]

Latin culture trusts the institution? Have they seen their kid's tests scores? They just go with the flow. What a load of crap.

Not crap. You have to accept that parents frame their school expectations based on their experiences. There are cultural differences that impact how students perform in a school system that has different unstated rules.

MCPS is weird. It simultaneously minimizes parental involvement but the high scores it take credit for come from parents who supplement and teach at home. It took me a while to realize that you really have to teach your kids at home. This is not the expectation at all in Latin American or South American countries. Its strange to have to be this involved with my child's education and school work. Its hard to do with both parents working. I can completely understand why many immigrants don't catch on to this.

You also have parents that don't have a strong education and can barely read english. At some point, MCPS needs to start actually teaching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In Asian communities you do not see the academic achievement gap between high and low SES students. Low SES students perform just as well and much of this is cultural expectations that given the opportunity you must do well. Asian communities put less emphasis on being born gifted and see academic achievement as a product of hard work.

This attitude is NOT present in american culture. American educational education expects that you are either born smart or you are not. There is an acceptance that US education is bad so if you work in US education whatever you do is good enough. The super smart kids will still succeed and the wealthy will opt out for private schools.

MCPS takes this one step forward and does nothing to reward or incentivize achievement for the middle class, immigrants, low, average, or bright students. I've never seen a school system that shuts out parental involvement, demotivates students, and acts to minimize or restrict achievement to the extent that 2.0 and MCPS does. The focus is clearly on the bottom bar and this is exactly why MCPS will never solve the achievement gap.

Latin american cultures trust the institution. Parental involvement in schools is very uncommon in latin american countries. It isn't an issue that they do not care about education but its a foreign concept to think you need to constantly supplement your child's education at home or push to be aware of how your child is performing in school.

If MCPS focused more on achievement of the individual student and delivered a quality curriculum the latin american students would do much better.

See bold part... you are right in that situation the "S" socio trumps the "E" economic piece for poor families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In Asian communities you do not see the academic achievement gap between high and low SES students. Low SES students perform just as well and much of this is cultural expectations that given the opportunity you must do well. Asian communities put less emphasis on being born gifted and see academic achievement as a product of hard work.

MCPS teacher here. With the new standards, hard work isn't enough to achieve academically. I have 6 Asian American students who are struggling. All are native English speakers with highly educated parents. They spend hours working on relatively simple assignments and still don't earn the A. Why? They haven't mastered the skill of applying what they've learned to a new situation/problem. When I speak with these students and their parents, they are studying through the old methods of drilling and memorization.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In Asian communities you do not see the academic achievement gap between high and low SES students. Low SES students perform just as well and much of this is cultural expectations that given the opportunity you must do well. Asian communities put less emphasis on being born gifted and see academic achievement as a product of hard work.

MCPS teacher here. With the new standards, hard work isn't enough to achieve academically. I have 6 Asian American students who are struggling. All are native English speakers with highly educated parents. They spend hours working on relatively simple assignments and still don't earn the A. Why? They haven't mastered the skill of applying what they've learned to a new situation/problem. When I speak with these students and their parents, they are studying through the old methods of drilling and memorization.

No offense but the new way is bullsh*t. 2.0 blows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are unequal because they are illegal. They broke the law and feed off of our taxes to survive in this country. Oh and hold all our kids back in their education. Sorry, you don't speak English, you are not equal in an English speaking American schools. I can not walk into a school in Spain and receive free Spanish classes so I can eventually learn the language and move forward. I have to learn Spanish before going to school. But then again, Spain doesn't let illegals run across their borders and enter school for free either.

I think you don't know much about Spain.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/05/world/europe/as-desperation-mounts-more-migrants-cast-their-lot-on-a-troubled-sea.html?_r=0

From this article: The impact was immediate: In 2006, a record 39,180 people reached Spain illegally by boat. Last year, the total was 3,804.

Wow. Almost 4000 people in all of Spain! We probably have 10 times that many just in MoCo.

I think even higher than that. Estimated 12.5% of MOCO polulation is illegal immigrants or anchor babies. That was 2012.

[Anonymous]

MCPS teacher here. With the new standards, hard work isn't enough to achieve academically. I have 6 Asian American students who are struggling. All are native English speakers with highly educated parents. They spend hours working on relatively simple assignments and still don't earn the A. Why? They haven't mastered the skill of applying what they've learned to a new situation/problem. When I speak with these students and their parents, they are studying through the old methods of drilling and memorization.

Oh bull shit. 2.0 is an idiots approach to math. I bet those kids would score higher than you on the SAT math and not have to take Remedial Math 101 for Education Majors in college.

[Anonymous]

Oooh! Let me explain! The new standards are deeper, just so much deeper. Its hard to explain because its just so deep. Trust us, our shit smells like roses, really it does!

You won't even recognize math now and the answer doesn't matter. In fact, if you try to learn math MCPS teachers will make sure that you struggle. We'll make you write essays and call it math. We understand it better and its all about us. Did I mention its deeper? Why yes, much deeper.

Its the deeper process ..brought to you by brilliant underachievers who went into education and couldn't take real math classes in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

MCPS teacher here. With the new standards, hard work isn't enough to achieve academically. I have 6 Asian American students who are struggling. All are native English speakers with highly educated parents. They spend hours working on relatively simple assignments and still don't earn the A. Why? They haven't mastered the skill of applying what they've learned to a new situation/problem. When I speak with these students and their parents, they are studying through the old methods of drilling and memorization.

Oh bull shit. 2.0 is an idiots approach to math. I bet those kids would score higher than you on the SAT math and not have to take Remedial Math 101 for Education Majors in college.

I wasn't an education major, but thanks for stereotyping. I had two Masters, neither in education, before coming to teaching. Nor do I teach math.

But none of this changes that fact that hard work doesn't always equal academic success.

[Anonymous]

MCPS teacher here. With the new standards, hard work isn't enough to achieve academically.

WTH?? Hard work absolutely is enough to achieve academically. Its horrific to see a teacher posting this bias. Only a lazy instructor expects kids to fall wherever they land. Hard work, access to excellent teaching not sub par instructors, commitment, motivation, and dedication to learning yields success an a real academic environment much more than IQ. If you have high IQ and hard working students who are struggling look in the mirror!!!! Heck if you have average IQ and very hard working students who are struggling look in the mirror! Its you not the standard or the kid!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

MCPS teacher here. With the new standards, hard work isn't enough to achieve academically.

WTH?? Hard work absolutely is enough to achieve academically. Its horrific to see a teacher posting this bias. Only a lazy instructor expects kids to fall wherever they land. Hard work, access to excellent teaching not sub par instructors, commitment, motivation, and dedication to learning yields success an a real academic environment much more than IQ. If you have high IQ and hard working students who are struggling look in the mirror!!!! Heck if you have average IQ and very hard working students who are struggling look in the mirror! Its you not the standard or the kid!

I think that you have never been a teacher or a coach if you think that hard work is enough. I am thrilled with my students who show perseverance and I will always make time to work with them on strengthening their skills. But I can't award an A if they don't show me that they have mastered what they are supposed to learn. It would be unfair to them to pretend that they are at the top.

[Anonymous]

But none of this changes that fact that hard work doesn't always equal academic success.

Very untrue. Education is about meritocracy. Hard work does equal academic success if the class is conducted by a professional. Teaching is harder than people realize and you have a huge impact on what your students take away from the class. The first few years that I taught, my students worked really hard and didn't produce great work. I could have chalked this up to well the material is too hard. In reality, it was me. I added more feedback so students would know what I expect and were incentivized to learn from their mistakes. I gave students examples of what would be considered successful. I gave them access to outside resources so that as long as they were willing to work, and work hard, they could do as well as the students who just magically got what I was babbling about in lecture.

As someone with a STEM background, the 2.0 standards are lower not higher. There is a real problem though that the teachers have not had ample time to understand how to teach the new material. Even a lower standard with a different method requires substantial work to change the materials. The curriculum office has failed teachers and not provided basic let alone rich materials for them to use. The worksheets are poorly constructed and many miss the mark on the concept that is being attempted to be taught.

Its a bad situation and we'll have several years of students with a very sub par education as a result.

[Anonymous]

None of this BS this "teacher" is posting is relevant to the issue of achievement gap.

And the poster who said the Asian kids "struggling" with 2.0 but would beat the teacher in SAT's is dead on right. Lol

[Anonymous]

I think that you have never been a teacher or a coach if you think that hard work is enough. I am thrilled with my students who show perseverance and I will always make time to work with them on strengthening their skills. But I can't award an A if they don't show me that they have mastered what they are supposed to learn. It would be unfair to them to pretend that they are at the top.

You really don't understand math or STEM. Perseverance is one is the most important traits in STEM. Its not dance class. Too many people lack perseverance and this is why so few people succeed in STEM (and end up with a liberal arts degree).

If you have high IQ students with strong work habits and perseverance then the problem is the way you are teaching. You give the grade for what is produced in the end. No need to inflate it but you need to take some responsibility for what you are delivering to your class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I think that you have never been a teacher or a coach if you think that hard work is enough. I am thrilled with my students who show perseverance and I will always make time to work with them on strengthening their skills. But I can't award an A if they don't show me that they have mastered what they are supposed to learn. It would be unfair to them to pretend that they are at the top.

You really don't understand math or STEM. Perseverance is one is the most important traits in STEM. Its not dance class. Too many people lack perseverance and this is why so few people succeed in STEM (and end up with a liberal arts degree).

If you have high IQ students with strong work habits and perseverance then the problem is the way you are teaching. You give the grade for what is produced in the end. No need to inflate it but you need to take some responsibility for what you are delivering to your class.

Again, I don't teach math or any STEM-related courses, but why bother to read what I wrote when you can focus on insulting me.

The problem isn't the work ethic. The problem is how they approach the work. Memorization will only get you so far.

I know it is fashionable to see teachers as just "content deliverers", but that isn't how I teach.

[Anonymous]

None of this BS this "teacher" is posting is relevant to the issue of achievement gap.

And the poster who said the Asian kids "struggling" with 2.0 but would beat the teacher in SAT's is dead on right. Lol

Agree the teacher is full of BS but I do think its relevant that if teachers can't teach, it will only exasperate the achievement gap. My kids take math outside MCPS. They know far more than what is being taught in class. The math exercises are often poorly chosen examples to showcase a particular strategy. I've had to explain to my kids that its an exercise in following instructions and figuring out what the teacher wants you to do not finding the most efficient or intuitive way to solve he problem. Sadly, the math component is secondary to the english component. I've had to tell my kids to construct a story and pretend they are explaining math to someone who doesn't understand it or to try to repeat words that the teacher has said in class. This yields success and the teachers have raved at their math ability. Sadly, this isn't math at all.

Its not a bad business skill. Much of what I do at work is figuring out how to present things in ways that will sell it and be understandable to the audience. This is a great skill for funding a bridge but you REALLY do not want to use this approach in building a bridge!! I guess the plan is to just outsource all science and engineering to countries that teach STEM in school.

In terms of the achievement gap, it must be impossible for someone who is ESL and doesn't the same background to figure out this is the way to succeed in the strange new system. Even if the lower income parents try to work with their kids, what are they going to do? There are no textbooks or clear explanations for any of this nonsense. The teachers barely understand what they are supposed to be doing. How on earth can a parent working several jobs with limited english and education figure it out.