What are schools doing for 4th/5th literacy enrichment next year? Are any keeping ELC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The school based elc was a joke did they improve with yet another pilot?

Maybe at your school. I am happy with the ELC at my child’s school. Like the creativity, books, and teacher is wonderful.

What type of "creativity" was in your program?

My son went from hating writing to loving it. Especially likes creative writing.

To me, creative writing is the last thing that schools need to be doing when kids don't have basic writing, grammar, spelling, etc. Creative writing is easy to do at home (not to mention that they will be doing a lot of this in middle and high school English classes.)

How easy is it to do at home? Just get the kid a notebook?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the PP. I spoke with a 4th grade teacher who is/was the ELA teacher. It sounded like it came from the principal (and maybe the principal got it from Central).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just talked to our school. Title 1 (if that makes a difference). Said that MCPS paid a lot of money for CKLA and they will be doing that in place of ELC (but maybe with some ELC elements thrown in). Said that kids are grouped according to abilities, above grade level, grade level, below, etc.

Could you tell if central office told them they had to stop offering ELC, or if they had the choice to keep ELC but chose not to? (Getting ready for my convo with our school and want to be prepared.)

I don’t know - there really some principals who really don’t like ELC because they want to offer just one level (or is easier for them — don’t have to deal with parents who are pushing for their kid to get into the advanced class). This could be coming from the principal or central office

[Anonymous]

Bumping this... any more info about schools' plans? It sounds like some schools are doing a new version of ELC based on CKLA, does anyone have details on what will be added fo the CKLA? And are any schools keeping the old ELC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just talked to our school. Title 1 (if that makes a difference). Said that MCPS paid a lot of money for CKLA and they will be doing that in place of ELC (but maybe with some ELC elements thrown in). Said that kids are grouped according to abilities, above grade level, grade level, below, etc.

You may want to ask what they mean by "grouped." The thing that made ELC special was that it was delivered to a specific cohort of kids. Grouping kids within the heterogeneous classroom, particularly in a Title I school, will result in almost zero differentiation unless the teacher is very gifted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not think very many decisions about next year have been made yet. There is still so much shuffling and uncertainty in CO and staffing for school based has not been given to principals. It would be hard for any school team to plan much for next school year with so much uncertainty.

But how will families be able to make decisions about whether to accept CES spots if they don't know what their home school will be doing for enrichment? Obviously some would pick CES no matter what, but others would prefer to stay at the home school if they know the child will be in ELC but maybe not if they are just getting some occasional pullout time...

You should take the CES spot. ELC is good if it’s delivered with fidelity, but CES is still better. It wraps around to science and social studies. My middle schooler who did CES came in better prepared for those subjects in middle school compared to peers who did ELC and had spotty/limited coverage of those subjects in 4th and 5th. I am also reading between the MCPS lines and it’s obvious you are not going to be guaranteed ELC or cohorting or anything enriched or accelerated at the ES level. It seems like they are probably going to get rid of it, which is a huge shame.

This person is correct. What CES offers is a curriculum that is aligned, and project-based learning. So you learn about Greek history in Social Studies, mythology in English, and, like, ancient canal techniques or astronomy in science.

ELC is better than putting all kids in on-level English, but it's just not the same as the wrap-around CES option.

[Anonymous]

There are schools that literally never got ELC. Principal did not want it. We are supposed to trust teachers to differentiate in the classroom. I do not understand why MCPS is so bureaucratic and top down yet also allows so much autonomy for principals. It is like the worst of both worlds in some schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are schools that literally never got ELC. Principal did not want it. We are supposed to trust teachers to differentiate in the classroom. I do not understand why MCPS is so bureaucratic and top down yet also allows so much autonomy for principals. It is like the worst of both worlds in some schools.

If everyone is in the same classroom like they have been since kindergarten, I would not hold my breath about differentiation happening. Will be honors for all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are schools that literally never got ELC. Principal did not want it. We are supposed to trust teachers to differentiate in the classroom. I do not understand why MCPS is so bureaucratic and top down yet also allows so much autonomy for principals. It is like the worst of both worlds in some schools.

If everyone is in the same classroom like they have been since kindergarten, I would not hold my breath about differentiation happening. Will be honors for all.

Yep, and then if you speak out about it/ask questions in a PTA meeting you are villainized for "not trusting teachers." lol

[Anonymous]

Either the reading department or AEI office essentially pushed the head of the ELC to retire. Our school will not provide ELC next year. It has already been phased out in 4th grade.

I loved the ELC program as a teacher (well... most parts of it). It was wonderful reading ACTUAL books and not snippets here and there. My biggest issue with Benchmark was that there was never any dedicated time to have novel studies. Haven't taught CKLA but i know there have been some serious concerns across the county with the rollout and implementation. I would bank on NOT having ELC at your home school if offered the CES spot. I would take it and if there's more information, change that decision later on. Teachers won't know until at least the end of the school year.

[Anonymous]

Based on the mcps professional development listed, with CKLA with enrichment, it seems that ELC is going away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Either the reading department or AEI office essentially pushed the head of the ELC to retire. Our school will not provide ELC next year. It has already been phased out in 4th grade.

I loved the ELC program as a teacher (well... most parts of it). It was wonderful reading ACTUAL books and not snippets here and there. My biggest issue with Benchmark was that there was never any dedicated time to have novel studies. Haven't taught CKLA but i know there have been some serious concerns across the county with the rollout and implementation. I would bank on NOT having ELC at your home school if offered the CES spot. I would take it and if there's more information, change that decision later on. Teachers won't know until at least the end of the school year.

What do you mean the head of the ELC? It is not a department, it’s a curriculum

[Anonymous]

Bumping this to see if anyone has gotten answers from schools on this. Are they keeping ELC, which is based on the CES curriculum, or moving to something else? Will the class still be cohorted, even if it uses a new curriculum? It's important to know given that CES offers are out now.

[Anonymous]

I was just told that our elementary school is keeping ELC for next year for 4th and 5th graders who qualified for the CES but did not get a spot.

[Anonymous]

I received the following response from a supervisor in the the accelerated and enriched instruction unit regarding enrichment for next year: Local school enrichment for next school year will be through curriculum enrichment overlays that are added to the CKLA curriculum. Enrichment will also be available through Focused Instructional Time (FIT) which is a 30 minute block that schools can use daily for math and literacy enrichment and/or interventions.

[Anonymous]

CES is better than ELC, ELC is better than CKLA, CKLA is better than benchmark. Am I right