Amplify CKLA pilot to replace ELC?

[Anonymous]

I was a PP whose 3rd grade DD is getting CKLA plus enrichment in 3rd grade. More specifically it's being done during WIN time with about 8 other students. There seems to be other groups meeting during this time but since she is at the 97th percentile, I am assuming she is in one of the higher groups. She's at a title 1 school. Do other non title 1 schools have WIN time?

Anonymous wrote:I think they will be getting rid of ELC next year. It'll be CKLA + enrichment (likely in WIN time).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was a PP whose 3rd grade DD is getting CKLA plus enrichment in 3rd grade. More specifically it's being done during WIN time with about 8 other students. There seems to be other groups meeting during this time but since she is at the 97th percentile, I am assuming she is in one of the higher groups. She's at a title 1 school. Do other non title 1 schools have WIN time?

Anonymous wrote:I think they will be getting rid of ELC next year. It'll be CKLA + enrichment (likely in WIN time).

I think my 3rd grader has [school mascot] time once a week but it’s not for enrichment (I think that’s when they do SEL work). As far as I know she gets enrichment in math (ie gets some worksheets to do if she chooses) but that’s it…there have been no small groups or anything for reading this year for her (she says the students who are struggling do meet with the teacher and she does partner reading but not with the teacher).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was a PP whose 3rd grade DD is getting CKLA plus enrichment in 3rd grade. More specifically it's being done during WIN time with about 8 other students. There seems to be other groups meeting during this time but since she is at the 97th percentile, I am assuming she is in one of the higher groups. She's at a title 1 school. Do other non title 1 schools have WIN time?

Anonymous wrote:I think they will be getting rid of ELC next year. It'll be CKLA + enrichment (likely in WIN time).

Yes. We are at a non-Title I, non-focus school and our kid has WIN time 4 days a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So yesterday the CES/Central Review document section about kids who don't get picked for CES had some language in it talking about the ELC, but it appears to have been deleted and now just says "All elementary schools will provide literacy enrichment for students who met the central review criteria and are not placed in the CES by lottery. Models of enrichment may vary by school. Please contact your local school to learn more.". Do we think that means that the ELC will not be available next year? Or that it will be up to schools whether they want to use the ELC or not?

I still see that note under question 13 in the FAQ. What that says to me is that parents should get completely clear from their school on the model currently in use for ELC and what model they are planning to use next year. ALSO that clarity should be distributed in an email/paper message to all 3rd and 4th grade students AND published on the school’s website either in a section about Literacy or Parent Resource.

The above clarifications questions should be asked of the following persons :
1) Principal
2) School Gifted Coordinator
3) School Reading Specialist
4) Optional: School Staff Development Teacher

Yes, the note is still there. But on Thursday there were two paragraphs, one a description of the ELC (maybe the same as last year) and then the language above or something like it was the second paragraph. So between Thursday and Friday that first paragraph was deleted. Not sure if they cut the ELC paragraph because some schools won't be doing ELC, or because all schools will be prohibited from doing ELC...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good luck, folks. I have no dog in this fight because my kids are in middle school. But from personal experience, anytime MCPS has said there are “built in” extensions in the regular curriculum that can be offered to students to provide enrichment, they do not generally get offered. Or, in the rare instance they do, the teacher will say, “If you’re finished early you can do this extra work on your own, or you may read to yourself or play XYZ game on the Chromebook.” The ELC is a good curriculum that advocates fought hard to bring to all schools. I have no intel about the actual plan, but it would be really unfortunate to remove it if the alternative won’t provide equivalent enrichment with fidelity.

+100. People worked hard to be sure that all schools could offer ELC. Before letting them get rid of it, I would suggest current ES parents be REALLY SURE that “Extras” from CKLA will match the same level as ELC contentAND have a clear understanding how the model will be to deliver extras. ELC was/is not something extra it’s an actual class and that makes a big difference.

Example questions :
1) Do all grade 4&5 teachers have access to the extras?
2) How have teachers been using the extra this year?
3)What model will be used for kids who should be in ELC?
4) Will the students who should be getting ELC be doing the supplemental questions/work initially or will they be having to do it as extra work?
5) If it’s not a separate class how will school ensure ELC level students are getting time for book discussion, review, and supplemental work feedback?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good luck, folks. I have no dog in this fight because my kids are in middle school. But from personal experience, anytime MCPS has said there are “built in” extensions in the regular curriculum that can be offered to students to provide enrichment, they do not generally get offered. Or, in the rare instance they do, the teacher will say, “If you’re finished early you can do this extra work on your own, or you may read to yourself or play XYZ game on the Chromebook.” The ELC is a good curriculum that advocates fought hard to bring to all schools. I have no intel about the actual plan, but it would be really unfortunate to remove it if the alternative won’t provide equivalent enrichment with fidelity.

+100. People worked hard to be sure that all schools could offer ELC. Before letting them get rid of it, I would suggest current ES parents be REALLY SURE that “Extras” from CKLA will match the same level as ELC contentAND have a clear understanding how the model will be to deliver extras. ELC was/is not something extra it’s an actual class and that makes a big difference.

Example questions :
1) Do all grade 4&5 teachers have access to the extras?
2) How have teachers been using the extra this year?
3)What model will be used for kids who should be in ELC?
4) Will the students who should be getting ELC be doing the supplemental questions/work initially or will they be having to do it as extra work?
5) If it’s not a separate class how will school ensure ELC level students are getting time for book discussion, review, and supplemental work feedback?

It's not extras from CKLA. CKLA is CKLA. It's extras from MCPS that are I believe based off of ELC. So kids would do their normal 90 minute CKLA block and then have a separate 30 min WIN time where those who need enrichment would get it based on ELC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good luck, folks. I have no dog in this fight because my kids are in middle school. But from personal experience, anytime MCPS has said there are “built in” extensions in the regular curriculum that can be offered to students to provide enrichment, they do not generally get offered. Or, in the rare instance they do, the teacher will say, “If you’re finished early you can do this extra work on your own, or you may read to yourself or play XYZ game on the Chromebook.” The ELC is a good curriculum that advocates fought hard to bring to all schools. I have no intel about the actual plan, but it would be really unfortunate to remove it if the alternative won’t provide equivalent enrichment with fidelity.

+100. People worked hard to be sure that all schools could offer ELC. Before letting them get rid of it, I would suggest current ES parents be REALLY SURE that “Extras” from CKLA will match the same level as ELC contentAND have a clear understanding how the model will be to deliver extras. ELC was/is not something extra it’s an actual class and that makes a big difference.

Example questions :
1) Do all grade 4&5 teachers have access to the extras?
2) How have teachers been using the extra this year?
3)What model will be used for kids who should be in ELC?
4) Will the students who should be getting ELC be doing the supplemental questions/work initially or will they be having to do it as extra work?
5) If it’s not a separate class how will school ensure ELC level students are getting time for book discussion, review, and supplemental work feedback?

It's not extras from CKLA. CKLA is CKLA. It's extras from MCPS that are I believe based off of ELC. So kids would do their normal 90 minute CKLA block and then have a separate 30 min WIN time where those who need enrichment would get it based on ELC.

You believe meaning you aren’t sure. Which is exactly my point, that folks should be sure what exactly the extra is or isn’t. Further, WIN time is not the same as having the entire ELA block be at a better level/appropriate level.

What if what the child needs during WIN time is work on math?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good luck, folks. I have no dog in this fight because my kids are in middle school. But from personal experience, anytime MCPS has said there are “built in” extensions in the regular curriculum that can be offered to students to provide enrichment, they do not generally get offered. Or, in the rare instance they do, the teacher will say, “If you’re finished early you can do this extra work on your own, or you may read to yourself or play XYZ game on the Chromebook.” The ELC is a good curriculum that advocates fought hard to bring to all schools. I have no intel about the actual plan, but it would be really unfortunate to remove it if the alternative won’t provide equivalent enrichment with fidelity.

+100. People worked hard to be sure that all schools could offer ELC. Before letting them get rid of it, I would suggest current ES parents be REALLY SURE that “Extras” from CKLA will match the same level as ELC contentAND have a clear understanding how the model will be to deliver extras. ELC was/is not something extra it’s an actual class and that makes a big difference.

Example questions :
1) Do all grade 4&5 teachers have access to the extras?
2) How have teachers been using the extra this year?
3)What model will be used for kids who should be in ELC?
4) Will the students who should be getting ELC be doing the supplemental questions/work initially or will they be having to do it as extra work?
5) If it’s not a separate class how will school ensure ELC level students are getting time for book discussion, review, and supplemental work feedback?

It's not extras from CKLA. CKLA is CKLA. It's extras from MCPS that are I believe based off of ELC. So kids would do their normal 90 minute CKLA block and then have a separate 30 min WIN time where those who need enrichment would get it based on ELC.

You believe meaning you aren’t sure. Which is exactly my point, that folks should be sure what exactly the extra is or isn’t. Further, WIN time is not the same as having the entire ELA block be at a better level/appropriate level.

What if what the child needs during WIN time is work on math?

It doesn’t really matter what complaining parents do. MCPS is going to do what it wants to do anyway. It is the MCPS way. At least now there is a decent base curriculum. Benchmark was awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good luck, folks. I have no dog in this fight because my kids are in middle school. But from personal experience, anytime MCPS has said there are “built in” extensions in the regular curriculum that can be offered to students to provide enrichment, they do not generally get offered. Or, in the rare instance they do, the teacher will say, “If you’re finished early you can do this extra work on your own, or you may read to yourself or play XYZ game on the Chromebook.” The ELC is a good curriculum that advocates fought hard to bring to all schools. I have no intel about the actual plan, but it would be really unfortunate to remove it if the alternative won’t provide equivalent enrichment with fidelity.

+100. People worked hard to be sure that all schools could offer ELC. Before letting them get rid of it, I would suggest current ES parents be REALLY SURE that “Extras” from CKLA will match the same level as ELC contentAND have a clear understanding how the model will be to deliver extras. ELC was/is not something extra it’s an actual class and that makes a big difference.

Example questions :
1) Do all grade 4&5 teachers have access to the extras?
2) How have teachers been using the extra this year?
3)What model will be used for kids who should be in ELC?
4) Will the students who should be getting ELC be doing the supplemental questions/work initially or will they be having to do it as extra work?
5) If it’s not a separate class how will school ensure ELC level students are getting time for book discussion, review, and supplemental work feedback?

It's not extras from CKLA. CKLA is CKLA. It's extras from MCPS that are I believe based off of ELC. So kids would do their normal 90 minute CKLA block and then have a separate 30 min WIN time where those who need enrichment would get it based on ELC.

You believe meaning you aren’t sure. Which is exactly my point, that folks should be sure what exactly the extra is or isn’t. Further, WIN time is not the same as having the entire ELA block be at a better level/appropriate level.

What if what the child needs during WIN time is work on math?

It doesn’t really matter what complaining parents do. MCPS is going to do what it wants to do anyway. It is the MCPS way. At least now there is a decent base curriculum. Benchmark was awful.

And this attitude is why public education is the way it is. You can either choose to be engaged or choose to be disengaged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good luck, folks. I have no dog in this fight because my kids are in middle school. But from personal experience, anytime MCPS has said there are “built in” extensions in the regular curriculum that can be offered to students to provide enrichment, they do not generally get offered. Or, in the rare instance they do, the teacher will say, “If you’re finished early you can do this extra work on your own, or you may read to yourself or play XYZ game on the Chromebook.” The ELC is a good curriculum that advocates fought hard to bring to all schools. I have no intel about the actual plan, but it would be really unfortunate to remove it if the alternative won’t provide equivalent enrichment with fidelity.

+100. People worked hard to be sure that all schools could offer ELC. Before letting them get rid of it, I would suggest current ES parents be REALLY SURE that “Extras” from CKLA will match the same level as ELC contentAND have a clear understanding how the model will be to deliver extras. ELC was/is not something extra it’s an actual class and that makes a big difference.

Example questions :
1) Do all grade 4&5 teachers have access to the extras?
2) How have teachers been using the extra this year?
3)What model will be used for kids who should be in ELC?
4) Will the students who should be getting ELC be doing the supplemental questions/work initially or will they be having to do it as extra work?
5) If it’s not a separate class how will school ensure ELC level students are getting time for book discussion, review, and supplemental work feedback?

It's not extras from CKLA. CKLA is CKLA. It's extras from MCPS that are I believe based off of ELC. So kids would do their normal 90 minute CKLA block and then have a separate 30 min WIN time where those who need enrichment would get it based on ELC.

You believe meaning you aren’t sure. Which is exactly my point, that folks should be sure what exactly the extra is or isn’t. Further, WIN time is not the same as having the entire ELA block be at a better level/appropriate level.

What if what the child needs during WIN time is work on math?

It doesn’t really matter what complaining parents do. MCPS is going to do what it wants to do anyway. It is the MCPS way. At least now there is a decent base curriculum. Benchmark was awful.

And this attitude is why public education is the way it is. You can either choose to be engaged or choose to be disengaged.

Oh I've been engaged, but I've seen it make absolutely no difference.

[Anonymous]

Is there any advocacy happening to keep a separate ELC in place? If so, how do I get involved?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there any advocacy happening to keep a separate ELC in place? If so, how do I get involved?

No one has said that a separate ELC is not going to be in place. What was noted in a a paragraph is that different schools have different models. This is why it’s suggested people get clear as to what their school is currently and in the future planning for the model to be. Until you do that there is nothing to advocate on.

[Anonymous]

Some schools never implemented ELC.

[Anonymous]

Could somebody from MCPS—teacher, admin, etc. explain why ES curriculum is such a mess and we keep changing. Buying a good curriculum and implementing equally across all schools seems like something MCPS could get done. Why have we had so much flux since curriculum 2.0 was implemented?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this also honors for all?

Actually CKLA is teaching all kids to read. With Benchmark they weren't teaching anybody to read except those in ELC.

Some kids figured it out on their own, many families supplemented/hired tutors. Many did not learn to read. Disgraceful.

Okay this is an exaggeration. ELC doesn’t start until 4th grade and Benchmark only was introduced during the pandemic and RGR was added for the last 2-3 years. Obviously many kids were being taught to read, some knew beforehand, some families hired tutors, and some struggled.

Personally if they aren’t going to adopt Core Knowledge overall, I hope they omit the Science and Social Studies CKLA units and instead give that time back to the actual Science and SS curricula. Curricula which should still include vocabulary and thinking questions.

Benchmark did not provide explicit reading instruction. So during the time and in the classrooms they used Benchmark they were not teaching kids to read.

However there was a supplemental phonics curriculum for the last two years. (Really Great Reading)

Not all MCPS schools actually used RGR. In practice, it varied a lot.