How do you supplement if public school education not meeting student's needs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The comments about Deal ELA are discouraging. I am a teacher and it is not that difficult to craft a decent and thematic or otherwise integrated course of study in these subject areas (reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar etc). Ugh.

I also find they’re a bit misleading: even in virtual 7th grade last year, my kid’s ELA class read four books as a group (same as in-person 6th grade) and many many short stories (especially for the sci-fi unit) and nonfiction writing, and they did all kinds of writing of more than a paragraph, which they were also required to quite frequently for history last year (invent your own religion, talk about sociopolitical aspects of ancient civilizations etc.) Additionally, there’s the National History Day project for which research is required; in my kid’s case, reading two nonfiction books and a series of articles. Some of the experience, as always, depends on the teacher and the student. It was really easy to do nothing and make up work all summer but that isn’t on the teachers, but on DCPS which sets that policy.

In terms of the language, though, I can’t fathom why my kid got an A in French when he’s clearly not all that proficient after two years, and his pronunciation is painfully bad. That seems like grade inflation to me.

I do think American schools in general simply do not teach grammar at all and that’s been going on for a while. I studied a foreign language in college and I had a good understanding of English grammar, which made learning grammar in another language much easier.

My Deal 8th grader last year did not read a single book. There were none assigned. The kids read a few online passages (less than 5 pages each) in Canvas. That was it. She/He never got under a 98% in any quarter. I know because I followed along closely last year and we just bought the books for private 9th grade (7 of them) and she/he discussed at length how little she/he read last year. I like Deal and I love public school but the ELA is not good. She/he is coming out way ahead in math but is barely able to write, even as a very top A student.

I agree these posts are very misleading. All middle school ELA classes at Deal are assigned 4 books throughout the year. It’s true that expectations vary among teachers- but that does mean there are not full length texts in the curriculum.

My kids have not read 4 full length books at Deal. They haven't. My kid did not read ONE last year. He did in 6th grade but not in 7th or 8th. Ask your kid what they read.

I'm not making this up. I think the standard is 4 books but the reality is that it doesn't happen every year or in many sections of the class. There are a lot of parents with their heads in the sand regarding what is actually being taught (or not taught).
For instance, last year the 8th graders were supposed to read "Raisin in the Sun". My kid was assigned a total of 2 chapters (the first 2). He was never given the full text online and was not required to read it. He watched the movie to see what happened in the end (although I offered to buy him the book on Amazon and he declined--lol). Then his class read ONE CHAPTER of a book called "Chains". That was it for the year. 3 Chapters. Not a single full book.
Massive contrast to the private school he is entering for 9th for which I bought 8 books including Great Expectations, The Odyssey, the Tempest, etc.

[Anonymous]

This is where you can look to see which texts your child should have read for any given year https://dcps.dc.gov/page/english-language-arts-01

[Anonymous]

I have had students attend summer programs at John Hopkins gifted and talented program. They also offer classes during the school year from grade 2-12.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is where you can look to see which texts your child should have read for any given year https://dcps.dc.gov/page/english-language-arts-01

This is interesting. My kid at Deal this year interacted with 4/4 of the required texts in 6th, 2/4 in 7th and 3/4 in 8th.
I just showed her the list. She had 12 quarters of A's in ELA at Deal.

I say "interacted with" because she didn't actually READ the entire books. They read passages from each of them----this year several chapters (3?) from Raisin in the Sun. Several pages from Chains. Two chapters from "To Kill a Mockingbird".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The comments about Deal ELA are discouraging. I am a teacher and it is not that difficult to craft a decent and thematic or otherwise integrated course of study in these subject areas (reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar etc). Ugh.

I also find they’re a bit misleading: even in virtual 7th grade last year, my kid’s ELA class read four books as a group

Can you share the titles of the four books?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is where you can look to see which texts your child should have read for any given year https://dcps.dc.gov/page/english-language-arts-01

Thank you for the link. This is pretty thin gruel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is where you can look to see which texts your child should have read for any given year https://dcps.dc.gov/page/english-language-arts-01

Thank you for the link. This is pretty thin gruel.

Oh my. They’re not even expected to read the whole book?! This is disconcerting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is where you can look to see which texts your child should have read for any given year https://dcps.dc.gov/page/english-language-arts-01

This is interesting. My kid at Deal this year interacted with 4/4 of the required texts in 6th, 2/4 in 7th and 3/4 in 8th.
I just showed her the list. She had 12 quarters of A's in ELA at Deal.

I say "interacted with" because she didn't actually READ the entire books. They read passages from each of them----this year several chapters (3?) from Raisin in the Sun. Several pages from Chains. Two chapters from "To Kill a Mockingbird".

What? Can someone explain to me why that's a good idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is where you can look to see which texts your child should have read for any given year https://dcps.dc.gov/page/english-language-arts-01

This is interesting. My kid at Deal this year interacted with 4/4 of the required texts in 6th, 2/4 in 7th and 3/4 in 8th.
I just showed her the list. She had 12 quarters of A's in ELA at Deal.

I say "interacted with" because she didn't actually READ the entire books. They read passages from each of them----this year several chapters (3?) from Raisin in the Sun. Several pages from Chains. Two chapters from "To Kill a Mockingbird".

What? Can someone explain to me why that's a good idea.

You should call Mr. Rottman, head of the ELA department, and ask him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is where you can look to see which texts your child should have read for any given year https://dcps.dc.gov/page/english-language-arts-01

Thank you for the link. This is pretty thin gruel.

I think, in theory, the way this is supposed to work is that all students across the district will engage (hopefully read) with the listed text. This ensures some continuity across the district. Then, each school/teacher has the ability to select additional texts based on their preferences, student preferences, community, etc. This allows for creativity, and differentiation depending on class demographics, abilities, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is where you can look to see which texts your child should have read for any given year https://dcps.dc.gov/page/english-language-arts-01

Thank you for the link. This is pretty thin gruel.

I think, in theory, the way this is supposed to work is that all students across the district will engage (hopefully read) with the listed text. This ensures some continuity across the district. Then, each school/teacher has the ability to select additional texts based on their preferences, student preferences, community, etc. This allows for creativity, and differentiation depending on class demographics, abilities, etc.

So, these lists are supposed to be the floor. Not the ceiling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is where you can look to see which texts your child should have read for any given year https://dcps.dc.gov/page/english-language-arts-01

Thank you for the link. This is pretty thin gruel.

I think, in theory, the way this is supposed to work is that all students across the district will engage (hopefully read) with the listed text. This ensures some continuity across the district. Then, each school/teacher has the ability to select additional texts based on their preferences, student preferences, community, etc. This allows for creativity, and differentiation depending on class demographics, abilities, etc.

So, these lists are supposed to be the floor. Not the ceiling.

A book a term sounds about right.
How many books have you read recently?
Remember students will be working on these books with analysis, discussion, writing etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is where you can look to see which texts your child should have read for any given year https://dcps.dc.gov/page/english-language-arts-01

Thank you for the link. This is pretty thin gruel.

I think, in theory, the way this is supposed to work is that all students across the district will engage (hopefully read) with the listed text. This ensures some continuity across the district. Then, each school/teacher has the ability to select additional texts based on their preferences, student preferences, community, etc. This allows for creativity, and differentiation depending on class demographics, abilities, etc.

So, these lists are supposed to be the floor. Not the ceiling.

A book a term sounds about right.
How many books have you read recently?
Remember students will be working on these books with analysis, discussion, writing etc.

Do you have a kid at Deal? I have 3 and this past year they did not even read the books. My 8th grader was assigned a CHAPTER of 3 of the 4.

A SINGLE CHAPTER of each book. There was no analysis, discussion, etc. That would require the school require the kids read the books.

It was pretty pathetic. Some of this was pandemic related---the school watered down stuff to the point of nothing in the name of equity
as not all kids had reliable internet, supervision, etc. But it was really bad.
My kid read a few chapters total all year and got almost 100% each quarter in ELA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is where you can look to see which texts your child should have read for any given year https://dcps.dc.gov/page/english-language-arts-01

Thank you for the link. This is pretty thin gruel.

I think, in theory, the way this is supposed to work is that all students across the district will engage (hopefully read) with the listed text. This ensures some continuity across the district. Then, each school/teacher has the ability to select additional texts based on their preferences, student preferences, community, etc. This allows for creativity, and differentiation depending on class demographics, abilities, etc.

So, these lists are supposed to be the floor. Not the ceiling.

A book a term sounds about right.
How many books have you read recently?
Remember students will be working on these books with analysis, discussion, writing etc.

Um, I read like a book a week. We can expect way more than this list from our kids.

[Anonymous]

We read way more than that when I was at Deal thirty years ago. Heck, we had to read whole books starting in fourth or fifth grade back then.