Level IV clustering

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have one kid getting the cluster model and another at the center. IME, the center is more rigorous.

Can you expand on this? Our school uses the clustering model and we don’t see the benefit -whether it is the AAP kid, the gen Ed kid or the teacher. It doesn’t seem effective. We would have moved to Center but it is the last year of ES.

For DS, who is in local level IV, the math component is a separate class that combines level IV students with the level III kids who are strong in math (about a 50-50 split). DD's center classes are level IV-only and seem to move faster. One of DS's friends started in LLIV and transferred to the center for 5th grade. Per the mom, he was behind and had lots of catching up to do. Center has significantly more math homework.

Other level IV material is provided only three days a week via pull-out for DS. The rest of the time he does the same things Gen Ed does. DD gets level IV content in all subjects, full-time.

That is a nice way at least to do the math and LLIV, and I would find that a decent option while acknowledging full time LIV still seems better.

However, our base (newly offering LLIV this year) is doing cluster model and very explicitly is NOT doing a LIII push-in like this. It is truly just mixed gen ed. - including for math. (This is a base that formerly started adv math in 5th grade incidentally.) I just do not see that as a good replacement for the center system. AAP kids get less and so does everyone else in the classroom where the teacher suddenly has to differentiate (somehow) even more but with the same resources.

NP. There is hostility towards center schools by some in the administration and they've been trying to get rid of them for a while. Rolling out Local Level IV in every elementary school is clearly a way to end center schools - but if the LLIV experience is so unsatisfactory, parents will continue to choose center schools and it will be a difficult sell for close them entirely.

[Anonymous]

The quality of the LLIV experience seems to vary tremendously. I worry that they'll start restricting center access to kids from schools without a LLIV program. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see this happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have one kid getting the cluster model and another at the center. IME, the center is more rigorous.

Can you expand on this? Our school uses the clustering model and we don’t see the benefit -whether it is the AAP kid, the gen Ed kid or the teacher. It doesn’t seem effective. We would have moved to Center but it is the last year of ES.

For DS, who is in local level IV, the math component is a separate class that combines level IV students with the level III kids who are strong in math (about a 50-50 split). DD's center classes are level IV-only and seem to move faster. One of DS's friends started in LLIV and transferred to the center for 5th grade. Per the mom, he was behind and had lots of catching up to do. Center has significantly more math homework.

Other level IV material is provided only three days a week via pull-out for DS. The rest of the time he does the same things Gen Ed does. DD gets level IV content in all subjects, full-time.

That is a nice way at least to do the math and LLIV, and I would find that a decent option while acknowledging full time LIV still seems better.

However, our base (newly offering LLIV this year) is doing cluster model and very explicitly is NOT doing a LIII push-in like this. It is truly just mixed gen ed. - including for math. (This is a base that formerly started adv math in 5th grade incidentally.) I just do not see that as a good replacement for the center system. AAP kids get less and so does everyone else in the classroom where the teacher suddenly has to differentiate (somehow) even more but with the same resources.

NP. There is hostility towards center schools by some in the administration and they've been trying to get rid of them for a while. Rolling out Local Level IV in every elementary school is clearly a way to end center schools - but if the LLIV experience is so unsatisfactory, parents will continue to choose center schools and it will be a difficult sell for close them entirely.

Well having a more consistent LLIV would be helpful. Instead it seems a principal can do whatever they want. So if you are already stick somewhere with a bad principal it gets compounded that you also get a bad program into the bargain. As a parent one big benefit of the center system is the (relative) consistency - that principals can’t just do it however they’d like. I think parents understandably have hostility towards that. This cluster model sort of embodies it for how different it is from one school to another. Students in different ones can have very different set-up and experiences that have nothing to do with the students in the room or their abilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The quality of the LLIV experience seems to vary tremendously. I worry that they'll start restricting center access to kids from schools without a LLIV program. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see this happen.

I agree. I bet this will happen. Helps with bus issues too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The quality of the LLIV experience seems to vary tremendously. I worry that they'll start restricting center access to kids from schools without a LLIV program. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see this happen.

I agree. I bet this will happen. Helps with bus issues too.

Not really. There are still hundreds of schools in the district. And a limited number of drivers and buses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The quality of the LLIV experience seems to vary tremendously. I worry that they'll start restricting center access to kids from schools without a LLIV program. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see this happen.

I agree. I bet this will happen. Helps with bus issues too.

Not really. There are still hundreds of schools in the district. And a limited number of drivers and buses.

It would free up a good number of busses if they don’t have to have routes to Center schools, which would reduce pressure on the limited number of drivers and busses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The quality of the LLIV experience seems to vary tremendously. I worry that they'll start restricting center access to kids from schools without a LLIV program. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see this happen.

I agree. I bet this will happen. Helps with bus issues too.

Not really. There are still hundreds of schools in the district. And a limited number of drivers and buses.

It would free up a good number of busses if they don’t have to have routes to Center schools, which would reduce pressure on the limited number of drivers and busses.

I think you over estimate the impact since many of those students on center buses would the need space on a base bus. I know at my base ES that would require adding bus(es) because the current ones are at or close enough to capacity they could not handle all kids going to center.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The quality of the LLIV experience seems to vary tremendously. I worry that they'll start restricting center access to kids from schools without a LLIV program. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see this happen.

I agree. I bet this will happen. Helps with bus issues too.

Just so long as they grandfather in the kids who are already there. Would be awful for the kids who just adjusted to a new school in 3rd grade to be forced back again only a year or two later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The quality of the LLIV experience seems to vary tremendously. I worry that they'll start restricting center access to kids from schools without a LLIV program. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see this happen.

I agree. I bet this will happen. Helps with bus issues too.

Just so long as they grandfather in the kids who are already there. Would be awful for the kids who just adjusted to a new school in 3rd grade to be forced back again only a year or two later.

Agreed.

I don’t care if they keep the Centers or not, we choose to defer because we didn’t want our child to change schools and most of the people we knew who did send their kids to the Center regretted the decision. Since then, the school started a LLIV and is using the clustering method. We have a solid base and have been happy with the education our son is getting.

In the long run, we know AAP is not the end all and that DS will do fine in high school either way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The quality of the LLIV experience seems to vary tremendously. I worry that they'll start restricting center access to kids from schools without a LLIV program. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see this happen.

I agree. I bet this will happen. Helps with bus issues too.

Just so long as they grandfather in the kids who are already there. Would be awful for the kids who just adjusted to a new school in 3rd grade to be forced back again only a year or two later.

It's for the greater good and they'll understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The quality of the LLIV experience seems to vary tremendously. I worry that they'll start restricting center access to kids from schools without a LLIV program. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see this happen.

I agree. I bet this will happen. Helps with bus issues too.

Just so long as they grandfather in the kids who are already there. Would be awful for the kids who just adjusted to a new school in 3rd grade to be forced back again only a year or two later.

It's for the greater good and they'll understand.

IKR? Lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The quality of the LLIV experience seems to vary tremendously. I worry that they'll start restricting center access to kids from schools without a LLIV program. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see this happen.

A better solution would be to have a firm curriculum and pacing goals that need to be met in an AAP classroom. That would keep the Center experiences more similar and help LLIV teachers stay on track.

[Anonymous]

Is there a teacher willing to chime in regarding the cluster model in a diverse school setting? It seems like a massive undertaking to properly instruct the level IV curriculum while supporting the learning needs of ELLs, SWD, struggling learners, and those on grade level. How does this possibly work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The quality of the LLIV experience seems to vary tremendously. I worry that they'll start restricting center access to kids from schools without a LLIV program. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see this happen.

I agree. I bet this will happen. Helps with bus issues too.

Yup - bus issues are 100% caused by AAP. There is a bus that transfers ONE CHILD between the AAP Center and our base school for SACC every day. What a huge waste.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there a teacher willing to chime in regarding the cluster model in a diverse school setting? It seems like a massive undertaking to properly instruct the level IV curriculum while supporting the learning needs of ELLs, SWD, struggling learners, and those on grade level. How does this possibly work?

I am interested in this, too. We have a second grader and our school offers this model with a similar demographic.