MD new literacy curriculun

[Anonymous]

Did anyone actually read the draft? I am a teacher. I am a third grade teacher. It is saying that students must read at or above grade level at the end of third grade in order to be promoted to fourth grade. It needs to be demonstrated by an assessment. If they do not show they are at or above grade level then they repeat third grade. My students last year came in VERY low and they left VERY low. 60 percent of my students left third grade below grade level in Reading. How do we retain that many students? Are parents ok with retaining their child in third grade? Students at that age know and will talk about the students that are retained because they won’t be in their grade next year. I am not sure I like this plan. There will be so much pressure on a child to do well on a test in third grade in order to pass to the next grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone actually read the draft? I am a teacher. I am a third grade teacher. It is saying that students must read at or above grade level at the end of third grade in order to be promoted to fourth grade. It needs to be demonstrated by an assessment. If they do not show they are at or above grade level then they repeat third grade. My students last year came in VERY low and they left VERY low. 60 percent of my students left third grade below grade level in Reading. How do we retain that many students? Are parents ok with retaining their child in third grade? Students at that age know and will talk about the students that are retained because they won’t be in their grade next year. I am not sure I like this plan. There will be so much pressure on a child to do well on a test in third grade in order to pass to the next grade.

Schools should be able to teach kids to read by third grade. They chose to abdicate that responsibility and a lot of kids are suffering. There has to be some incentive to actually teach kids how to read. Of course, this answer may not be practical but the impact of failing kids like this should not be understated or compared to hurting their feelings by holding them back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone actually read the draft? I am a teacher. I am a third grade teacher. It is saying that students must read at or above grade level at the end of third grade in order to be promoted to fourth grade. It needs to be demonstrated by an assessment. If they do not show they are at or above grade level then they repeat third grade. My students last year came in VERY low and they left VERY low. 60 percent of my students left third grade below grade level in Reading. How do we retain that many students? Are parents ok with retaining their child in third grade? Students at that age know and will talk about the students that are retained because they won’t be in their grade next year. I am not sure I like this plan. There will be so much pressure on a child to do well on a test in third grade in order to pass to the next grade.

Yes. Not reading successfully by the end of third grade means a child will struggle in the 4th and 5th grade and likely later because being reading becomes such a critical skill. Whether for doing math word problems, reading the instructions for a science experiment, or reading a history text. Certainly there needs to be nuance like what should happen for students with disability plans but otherwise students need to be reading on grade level by end of 3rd grade. It does not need to be one test one day either. Most schools take MAP 3 times a year, there is Dibels in K-2, the are normal teacher given test. Also, students that age know who in their class can and can’t read well just by the types of lessons and books in small group and those who get pulled out for intervention lessons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone actually read the draft? I am a teacher. I am a third grade teacher. It is saying that students must read at or above grade level at the end of third grade in order to be promoted to fourth grade. It needs to be demonstrated by an assessment. If they do not show they are at or above grade level then they repeat third grade. My students last year came in VERY low and they left VERY low. 60 percent of my students left third grade below grade level in Reading. How do we retain that many students? Are parents ok with retaining their child in third grade? Students at that age know and will talk about the students that are retained because they won’t be in their grade next year. I am not sure I like this plan. There will be so much pressure on a child to do well on a test in third grade in order to pass to the next grade.

Schools should be able to teach kids to read by third grade. They chose to abdicate that responsibility and a lot of kids are suffering. There has to be some incentive to actually teach kids how to read. Of course, this answer may not be practical but the impact of failing kids like this should not be understated or compared to hurting their feelings by holding them back.

I completely agree with you. As a third grade teacher, I can not play catch up though. I had too many students on a first grade level. Repeating third grade will not help those students. I just do not think that retention is the answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone actually read the draft? I am a teacher. I am a third grade teacher. It is saying that students must read at or above grade level at the end of third grade in order to be promoted to fourth grade. It needs to be demonstrated by an assessment. If they do not show they are at or above grade level then they repeat third grade. My students last year came in VERY low and they left VERY low. 60 percent of my students left third grade below grade level in Reading. How do we retain that many students? Are parents ok with retaining their child in third grade? Students at that age know and will talk about the students that are retained because they won’t be in their grade next year. I am not sure I like this plan. There will be so much pressure on a child to do well on a test in third grade in order to pass to the next grade.

Schools should be able to teach kids to read by third grade. They chose to abdicate that responsibility and a lot of kids are suffering. There has to be some incentive to actually teach kids how to read. Of course, this answer may not be practical but the impact of failing kids like this should not be understated or compared to hurting their feelings by holding them back.

I completely agree with you. As a third grade teacher, I can not play catch up though. I had too many students on a first grade level. Repeating third grade will not help those students. I just do not think that retention is the answer.

Our ES is crowded & has 5 classes for 3rd graders. My kid is fine for reading, but I am wondering if there are quite many kids need to repeat 3rd grade due to failing reading tests, how could school handle it? Adding 1 more classes for 3rd graders to make it 6 classrooms?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone actually read the draft? I am a teacher. I am a third grade teacher. It is saying that students must read at or above grade level at the end of third grade in order to be promoted to fourth grade. It needs to be demonstrated by an assessment. If they do not show they are at or above grade level then they repeat third grade. My students last year came in VERY low and they left VERY low. 60 percent of my students left third grade below grade level in Reading. How do we retain that many students? Are parents ok with retaining their child in third grade? Students at that age know and will talk about the students that are retained because they won’t be in their grade next year. I am not sure I like this plan. There will be so much pressure on a child to do well on a test in third grade in order to pass to the next grade.

Schools should be able to teach kids to read by third grade. They chose to abdicate that responsibility and a lot of kids are suffering. There has to be some incentive to actually teach kids how to read. Of course, this answer may not be practical but the impact of failing kids like this should not be understated or compared to hurting their feelings by holding them back.

I completely agree with you. As a third grade teacher, I can not play catch up though. I had too many students on a first grade level. Repeating third grade will not help those students. I just do not think that retention is the answer.

Our ES is crowded & has 5 classes for 3rd graders. My kid is fine for reading, but I am wondering if there are quite many kids need to repeat 3rd grade due to failing reading tests, how could school handle it? Adding 1 more classes for 3rd graders to make it 6 classrooms?

Yes, because there would be fewer kids in 4th. However, I suspect there is some sort of an ease-in period. If they really think these new interventions are going to work, then every year kids should arrive better prepared than the year before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it's possible to mess this up, MCPS will do so.

They'll buy some 3rd rate curriculum because it's the only one that has a version in Spanish instead of buying what will serve all children. Then two years from now someone will realize this is a horrible curriculum and the process will repeat.

I hope this won't be the case. I just don't see why it's necessary to buy a curriculum that covers both Spanish and English with the same texts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone actually read the draft? I am a teacher. I am a third grade teacher. It is saying that students must read at or above grade level at the end of third grade in order to be promoted to fourth grade. It needs to be demonstrated by an assessment. If they do not show they are at or above grade level then they repeat third grade. My students last year came in VERY low and they left VERY low. 60 percent of my students left third grade below grade level in Reading. How do we retain that many students? Are parents ok with retaining their child in third grade? Students at that age know and will talk about the students that are retained because they won’t be in their grade next year. I am not sure I like this plan. There will be so much pressure on a child to do well on a test in third grade in order to pass to the next grade.

Schools should be able to teach kids to read by third grade. They chose to abdicate that responsibility and a lot of kids are suffering. There has to be some incentive to actually teach kids how to read. Of course, this answer may not be practical but the impact of failing kids like this should not be understated or compared to hurting their feelings by holding them back.

I teach kindergarten and the only students I have that read below grade level fall into these groups (in order of the number of numbers): 1) chronically absent (about 30-35% of this year's students), 2) students who clearly have intellectual or learning problems, 3) severe behavior issues. The biggest group are the chronically absent students and when all of my students live within walking distance, this is a parenting issue. Ditto for most (if not all ) of the behavior issues.

[Anonymous]

Haven't they tried this in states like FL where students have to repeat 3rd grade? In some cases, yes, retention works but not for kids who are chronically absent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone actually read the draft? I am a teacher. I am a third grade teacher. It is saying that students must read at or above grade level at the end of third grade in order to be promoted to fourth grade. It needs to be demonstrated by an assessment. If they do not show they are at or above grade level then they repeat third grade. My students last year came in VERY low and they left VERY low. 60 percent of my students left third grade below grade level in Reading. How do we retain that many students? Are parents ok with retaining their child in third grade? Students at that age know and will talk about the students that are retained because they won’t be in their grade next year. I am not sure I like this plan. There will be so much pressure on a child to do well on a test in third grade in order to pass to the next grade.

Schools should be able to teach kids to read by third grade. They chose to abdicate that responsibility and a lot of kids are suffering. There has to be some incentive to actually teach kids how to read. Of course, this answer may not be practical but the impact of failing kids like this should not be understated or compared to hurting their feelings by holding them back.

I teach kindergarten and the only students I have that read below grade level fall into these groups (in order of the number of numbers): 1) chronically absent (about 30-35% of this year's students), 2) students who clearly have intellectual or learning problems, 3) severe behavior issues. The biggest group are the chronically absent students and when all of my students live within walking distance, this is a parenting issue. Ditto for most (if not all ) of the behavior issues.

And all the data should start to match this. #2 can be helped with appropriate in school intervention and resources.#3 requires counseling and social work support along with parent involvement. #1 is a parent/guardian issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone actually read the draft? I am a teacher. I am a third grade teacher. It is saying that students must read at or above grade level at the end of third grade in order to be promoted to fourth grade. It needs to be demonstrated by an assessment. If they do not show they are at or above grade level then they repeat third grade. My students last year came in VERY low and they left VERY low. 60 percent of my students left third grade below grade level in Reading. How do we retain that many students? Are parents ok with retaining their child in third grade? Students at that age know and will talk about the students that are retained because they won’t be in their grade next year. I am not sure I like this plan. There will be so much pressure on a child to do well on a test in third grade in order to pass to the next grade.

Yes. Not reading successfully by the end of third grade means a child will struggle in the 4th and 5th grade and likely later because being reading becomes such a critical skill. Whether for doing math word problems, reading the instructions for a science experiment, or reading a history text. Certainly there needs to be nuance like what should happen for students with disability plans but otherwise students need to be reading on grade level by end of 3rd grade. It does not need to be one test one day either. Most schools take MAP 3 times a year, there is Dibels in K-2, the are normal teacher given test. Also, students that age know who in their class can and can’t read well just by the types of lessons and books in small group and those who get pulled out for intervention lessons.

That's nonsense! At our MCPS MS kids barely read a book a year. Being bad at reading is par for the course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it's possible to mess this up, MCPS will do so.

They'll buy some 3rd rate curriculum because it's the only one that has a version in Spanish instead of buying what will serve all children. Then two years from now someone will realize this is a horrible curriculum and the process will repeat.

They bought a different curriculum for Spanish immersion programs than for English for next year. -Someone who participated in the RFP review

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone actually read the draft? I am a teacher. I am a third grade teacher. It is saying that students must read at or above grade level at the end of third grade in order to be promoted to fourth grade. It needs to be demonstrated by an assessment. If they do not show they are at or above grade level then they repeat third grade. My students last year came in VERY low and they left VERY low. 60 percent of my students left third grade below grade level in Reading. How do we retain that many students? Are parents ok with retaining their child in third grade? Students at that age know and will talk about the students that are retained because they won’t be in their grade next year. I am not sure I like this plan. There will be so much pressure on a child to do well on a test in third grade in order to pass to the next grade.

Schools should be able to teach kids to read by third grade. They chose to abdicate that responsibility and a lot of kids are suffering. There has to be some incentive to actually teach kids how to read. Of course, this answer may not be practical but the impact of failing kids like this should not be understated or compared to hurting their feelings by holding them back.

I teach kindergarten and the only students I have that read below grade level fall into these groups (in order of the number of numbers): 1) chronically absent (about 30-35% of this year's students), 2) students who clearly have intellectual or learning problems, 3) severe behavior issues. The biggest group are the chronically absent students and when all of my students live within walking distance, this is a parenting issue. Ditto for most (if not all ) of the behavior issues.

And all the data should start to match this. #2 can be helped with appropriate in school intervention and resources.#3 requires counseling and social work support along with parent involvement. #1 is a parent/guardian issue.

Right but that first group is something like 30% of students in the state of Maryland! That's a lot of kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone actually read the draft? I am a teacher. I am a third grade teacher. It is saying that students must read at or above grade level at the end of third grade in order to be promoted to fourth grade. It needs to be demonstrated by an assessment. If they do not show they are at or above grade level then they repeat third grade. My students last year came in VERY low and they left VERY low. 60 percent of my students left third grade below grade level in Reading. How do we retain that many students? Are parents ok with retaining their child in third grade? Students at that age know and will talk about the students that are retained because they won’t be in their grade next year. I am not sure I like this plan. There will be so much pressure on a child to do well on a test in third grade in order to pass to the next grade.

Schools should be able to teach kids to read by third grade. They chose to abdicate that responsibility and a lot of kids are suffering. There has to be some incentive to actually teach kids how to read. Of course, this answer may not be practical but the impact of failing kids like this should not be understated or compared to hurting their feelings by holding them back.

I teach kindergarten and the only students I have that read below grade level fall into these groups (in order of the number of numbers): 1) chronically absent (about 30-35% of this year's students), 2) students who clearly have intellectual or learning problems, 3) severe behavior issues. The biggest group are the chronically absent students and when all of my students live within walking distance, this is a parenting issue. Ditto for most (if not all ) of the behavior issues.

And all the data should start to match this. #2 can be helped with appropriate in school intervention and resources.#3 requires counseling and social work support along with parent involvement. #1 is a parent/guardian issue.

Right but that first group is something like 30% of students in the state of Maryland! That's a lot of kids.

I thought kids were resilient

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone actually read the draft? I am a teacher. I am a third grade teacher. It is saying that students must read at or above grade level at the end of third grade in order to be promoted to fourth grade. It needs to be demonstrated by an assessment. If they do not show they are at or above grade level then they repeat third grade. My students last year came in VERY low and they left VERY low. 60 percent of my students left third grade below grade level in Reading. How do we retain that many students? Are parents ok with retaining their child in third grade? Students at that age know and will talk about the students that are retained because they won’t be in their grade next year. I am not sure I like this plan. There will be so much pressure on a child to do well on a test in third grade in order to pass to the next grade.

Yes. Not reading successfully by the end of third grade means a child will struggle in the 4th and 5th grade and likely later because being reading becomes such a critical skill. Whether for doing math word problems, reading the instructions for a science experiment, or reading a history text. Certainly there needs to be nuance like what should happen for students with disability plans but otherwise students need to be reading on grade level by end of 3rd grade. It does not need to be one test one day either. Most schools take MAP 3 times a year, there is Dibels in K-2, the are normal teacher given test. Also, students that age know who in their class can and can’t read well just by the types of lessons and books in small group and those who get pulled out for intervention lessons.

That's nonsense! At our MCPS MS kids barely read a book a year. Being bad at reading is par for the course.

Which only affirms that MS curriculum needs to be better implemented as students should be reading at least one book per quarter as noted by CO Secondary ELA team. That doesn't change would should be happening in the primary grades with learning to read.