Achievement gap will worsen with refusal to provide distance learning

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good grief - it's been three days. Give them time to figure out what and how. You can't just magically throw a switch to convert 12,000 teachers and 165,000 students from an analog to a digital system.

+100

They're working on it JFC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you go on the Private Schools board you'll read that many of the schools have online teaching happening, up and running with teachers and other students logging in and actively pursuing new material.

I had thought MCPS was in the same boat as everyone but this just makes me realize how ill prepared they are and then how slow as molasses they are to respond to need.

Its devastating.

Well when you have hundreds of thousands vs 500, it'll take longer. Calm down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you go on the Private Schools board you'll read that many of the schools have online teaching happening, up and running with teachers and other students logging in and actively pursuing new material.

I had thought MCPS was in the same boat as everyone but this just makes me realize how ill prepared they are and then how slow as molasses they are to respond to need.

Its devastating.

The number one reason they aren’t moving forward is the legal reason (as it usually dictates what happens everywhere). They are trying to figure out how to provide an education to students with accommodations on their IEPs. Those are legal documents. This is what is stopping them from a plan.

[Anonymous]

It will worsen because the achievement gap starts at home. We all know this.

[Anonymous]

I'm so irritated that MCPS can't get with the times. I'm paying for tutors to meet with my kids on zoom and provide some instruction. Other counties are still holding classes, just online. Maybe the dinosaurs running mcps can try to figure out how to do their jobs.

[Anonymous]

My students who fit in this category are about two grade levels below their peers in at least one area, have an IEP, usually English is not their first language, parents do not speak English, etc. These kids need one-on-one or small group teaching, modified for their specific needs. They will not receive help from their parent(s) because their parent(s) do not speak the language. A video or work posted online isn’t going to help them bridge the gap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My students who fit in this category are about two grade levels below their peers in at least one area, have an IEP, usually English is not their first language, parents do not speak English, etc. These kids need one-on-one or small group teaching, modified for their specific needs. They will not receive help from their parent(s) because their parent(s) do not speak the language. A video or work posted online isn’t going to help them bridge the gap.

I understand this. But for the rest of the students, we should do nothing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My students who fit in this category are about two grade levels below their peers in at least one area, have an IEP, usually English is not their first language, parents do not speak English, etc. These kids need one-on-one or small group teaching, modified for their specific needs. They will not receive help from their parent(s) because their parent(s) do not speak the language. A video or work posted online isn’t going to help them bridge the gap.

I understand this. But for the rest of the students, we should do nothing?

And what about the most vulnerable students?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you go on the Private Schools board you'll read that many of the schools have online teaching happening, up and running with teachers and other students logging in and actively pursuing new material.

I had thought MCPS was in the same boat as everyone but this just makes me realize how ill prepared they are and then how slow as molasses they are to respond to need.

Its devastating.

The number one reason they aren’t moving forward is the legal reason (as it usually dictates what happens everywhere). They are trying to figure out how to provide an education to students with accommodations on their IEPs. Those are legal documents. This is what is stopping them from a plan.

Interesting, I would have thought the teachers' union was the reason for delay/legal uncertainty.

[Anonymous]

IEP’s, ESOL, copyright issues (You can’t just put anything you want online. If you teach new material, then how will it be accessed? If you follow the curriculum then how will you handle all the state assessments? Training teachers en mass. Training students en mass. So many issues. Let’s be realistic as well. Half the students won’t really bother doing any of it. I am sure they have enough data from the current online work to get a sense of work completion from students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My students who fit in this category are about two grade levels below their peers in at least one area, have an IEP, usually English is not their first language, parents do not speak English, etc. These kids need one-on-one or small group teaching, modified for their specific needs. They will not receive help from their parent(s) because their parent(s) do not speak the language. A video or work posted online isn’t going to help them bridge the gap.

I understand this. But for the rest of the students, we should do nothing?

And what about the most vulnerable students?

what's your recommendation for the most vulnerable students?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you go on the Private Schools board you'll read that many of the schools have online teaching happening, up and running with teachers and other students logging in and actively pursuing new material.

I had thought MCPS was in the same boat as everyone but this just makes me realize how ill prepared they are and then how slow as molasses they are to respond to need.

Its devastating.

The number one reason they aren’t moving forward is the legal reason (as it usually dictates what happens everywhere). They are trying to figure out how to provide an education to students with accommodations on their IEPs. Those are legal documents. This is what is stopping them from a plan.

Interesting, I would have thought the teachers' union was the reason for delay/legal uncertainty.

Yes, blame the teachers. It’s always their fault.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My students who fit in this category are about two grade levels below their peers in at least one area, have an IEP, usually English is not their first language, parents do not speak English, etc. These kids need one-on-one or small group teaching, modified for their specific needs. They will not receive help from their parent(s) because their parent(s) do not speak the language. A video or work posted online isn’t going to help them bridge the gap.

I understand this. But for the rest of the students, we should do nothing?

And what about the most vulnerable students?

what's your recommendation for the most vulnerable students?

I don’t have an answer. I’m guessing the county is in the process of trying to figure this out as well. There is so much to consider...kids with IEPs, speech services, OT services, etc. What about students who are vision impaired and EVERYTHING that is used with them at school is enlarged so they can read it? Whatever is eventually put in place in MCPS, it needs to be uniform, with ALL staff following the orders given from above.

[Anonymous]

If one educational system has 180,000 students in the same curriculum across the board then it is in reality a lot easier and more straight forward to organize online learning according to that curriculum than it would be for one school to organize learning for 12 grades across 500 kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IEP’s, ESOL, copyright issues (You can’t just put anything you want online. If you teach new material, then how will it be accessed? If you follow the curriculum then how will you handle all the state assessments? Training teachers en mass. Training students en mass. So many issues. Let’s be realistic as well. Half the students won’t really bother doing any of it. I am sure they have enough data from the current online work to get a sense of work completion from students.

And yet several privates and even other publics are managing it. Stop making excuses. This school system is generously funded. There are thousands of teachers doing nothing right now and we are burning through money. Taxpayers spend $15,000 per kid for mcps and they cannot manage this. It’s unacceptable. We would be getting a better return on our dollar by firing the entire admin and sending all the kids to privates.