MCPS is cuttting compacted math and cohorted literacy enrichment

[Anonymous]

You know what graph you will never get from MCPS?

MCAP scores corrated to what out of school math education the student does, and parent level of math ability.

[Anonymous]

I'd like to see if Niki Porter and all the math teachers could pass the Algebra MCAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The teachers will feel like they have their hands tied on this so parents will have to advocate. Can MCEA survey the elementary teachers about unrealistic expectations here?

The teachers are still ultimately evaluated based on mcap scores. They have two students, one who understands fraction multiplication and really should move on to fraction division and one who still doesn’t understand what a fraction even is. Who is the teacher going to focus on?

Whichever one she has a script to read from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do teachers feel about teaching a classroom of one-level math to teaching up to five levels in a single classroom?

We wouldn't know, becuase MCPS didn't bother to ask them.

Par for the course. Nor were teachers asked about the new curriculum. I understand compacted math may not be the perfect solution, but it’s been effective with moving students and keeping them engaged in math.

Keep in mind that there will be a brand new curriculum next school year. There will always be a learning curve when implementing anything brand new. Now imagine a class of 24+ students in an upper elementary classroom. Some of those students will be EML students with varying levels of English. There will be students with IEPs in the classroom. Accommodations must be provided by the general education teacher. Some students may have human reader and scribe accommodations. There will be students with behavioral issues that must be addressed. There will be students who are enriched outside of school and will be comfortable with the grade level material. There will be one teacher in the classroom. It is simply not possible for one teacher to meet every student where they are, providing remediation and enrichment simultaneously and seamlessly, while delivering the grade level content using a brand new curriculum.

Why do they constantly change the curriculum?

They reassess each curriculum every 5 years. It just feels like it happens all the time because a bunch of different ones have been switched over in the last few years, and they've all changed rather than stayed the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do teachers feel about teaching a classroom of one-level math to teaching up to five levels in a single classroom?

We wouldn't know, becuase MCPS didn't bother to ask them.

Par for the course. Nor were teachers asked about the new curriculum. I understand compacted math may not be the perfect solution, but it’s been effective with moving students and keeping them engaged in math.

Keep in mind that there will be a brand new curriculum next school year. There will always be a learning curve when implementing anything brand new. Now imagine a class of 24+ students in an upper elementary classroom. Some of those students will be EML students with varying levels of English. There will be students with IEPs in the classroom. Accommodations must be provided by the general education teacher. Some students may have human reader and scribe accommodations. There will be students with behavioral issues that must be addressed. There will be students who are enriched outside of school and will be comfortable with the grade level material. There will be one teacher in the classroom. It is simply not possible for one teacher to meet every student where they are, providing remediation and enrichment simultaneously and seamlessly, while delivering the grade level content using a brand new curriculum.

Why do they constantly change the curriculum?

They reassess each curriculum every 5 years. It just feels like it happens all the time because a bunch of different ones have been switched over in the last few years, and they've all changed rather than stayed the same.

Why can't they pick a curriculum that works and stick with it? Do math and reading change every 5 years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do teachers feel about teaching a classroom of one-level math to teaching up to five levels in a single classroom?

We wouldn't know, becuase MCPS didn't bother to ask them.

Par for the course. Nor were teachers asked about the new curriculum. I understand compacted math may not be the perfect solution, but it’s been effective with moving students and keeping them engaged in math.

Keep in mind that there will be a brand new curriculum next school year. There will always be a learning curve when implementing anything brand new. Now imagine a class of 24+ students in an upper elementary classroom. Some of those students will be EML students with varying levels of English. There will be students with IEPs in the classroom. Accommodations must be provided by the general education teacher. Some students may have human reader and scribe accommodations. There will be students with behavioral issues that must be addressed. There will be students who are enriched outside of school and will be comfortable with the grade level material. There will be one teacher in the classroom. It is simply not possible for one teacher to meet every student where they are, providing remediation and enrichment simultaneously and seamlessly, while delivering the grade level content using a brand new curriculum.

Teachers were involved in the curriculum selection. They were not, however, consulted at all about the changes to acceleration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do teachers feel about teaching a classroom of one-level math to teaching up to five levels in a single classroom?

We wouldn't know, becuase MCPS didn't bother to ask them.

Par for the course. Nor were teachers asked about the new curriculum. I understand compacted math may not be the perfect solution, but it’s been effective with moving students and keeping them engaged in math.

Keep in mind that there will be a brand new curriculum next school year. There will always be a learning curve when implementing anything brand new. Now imagine a class of 24+ students in an upper elementary classroom. Some of those students will be EML students with varying levels of English. There will be students with IEPs in the classroom. Accommodations must be provided by the general education teacher. Some students may have human reader and scribe accommodations. There will be students with behavioral issues that must be addressed. There will be students who are enriched outside of school and will be comfortable with the grade level material. There will be one teacher in the classroom. It is simply not possible for one teacher to meet every student where they are, providing remediation and enrichment simultaneously and seamlessly, while delivering the grade level content using a brand new curriculum.

Why do they constantly change the curriculum?

They reassess each curriculum every 5 years. It just feels like it happens all the time because a bunch of different ones have been switched over in the last few years, and they've all changed rather than stayed the same.

Why can't they pick a curriculum that works and stick with it? Do math and reading change every 5 years?

Reading definitely needed to change-- Benchmark was awful (and not aligned with the science of reading) as was StudySync in middle school so I heard.

Eureka I think they extended a couple extra years past the 5 but I also think they said Eureka wasn't able to make the tweaks needed to align with the new Maryland math standards. Also Amplify Desmos is apparently based off the current Illustrative Math curriculum they use in middle school so not much change there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do teachers feel about teaching a classroom of one-level math to teaching up to five levels in a single classroom?

We wouldn't know, becuase MCPS didn't bother to ask them.

Par for the course. Nor were teachers asked about the new curriculum. I understand compacted math may not be the perfect solution, but it’s been effective with moving students and keeping them engaged in math.

Keep in mind that there will be a brand new curriculum next school year. There will always be a learning curve when implementing anything brand new. Now imagine a class of 24+ students in an upper elementary classroom. Some of those students will be EML students with varying levels of English. There will be students with IEPs in the classroom. Accommodations must be provided by the general education teacher. Some students may have human reader and scribe accommodations. There will be students with behavioral issues that must be addressed. There will be students who are enriched outside of school and will be comfortable with the grade level material. There will be one teacher in the classroom. It is simply not possible for one teacher to meet every student where they are, providing remediation and enrichment simultaneously and seamlessly, while delivering the grade level content using a brand new curriculum.

Why do they constantly change the curriculum?

They reassess each curriculum every 5 years. It just feels like it happens all the time because a bunch of different ones have been switched over in the last few years, and they've all changed rather than stayed the same.

Why can't they pick a curriculum that works and stick with it? Do math and reading change every 5 years?

Reading definitely needed to change-- Benchmark was awful (and not aligned with the science of reading) as was StudySync in middle school so I heard.

Eureka I think they extended a couple extra years past the 5 but I also think they said Eureka wasn't able to make the tweaks needed to align with the new Maryland math standards. Also Amplify Desmos is apparently based off the current Illustrative Math curriculum they use in middle school so not much change there.

Why did they pick Benchmark? Also it seems like CKLA isn't awesome either. Can't they pilot a curriculum before rolling it out to everyone?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do teachers feel about teaching a classroom of one-level math to teaching up to five levels in a single classroom?

We wouldn't know, becuase MCPS didn't bother to ask them.

Par for the course. Nor were teachers asked about the new curriculum. I understand compacted math may not be the perfect solution, but it’s been effective with moving students and keeping them engaged in math.

Keep in mind that there will be a brand new curriculum next school year. There will always be a learning curve when implementing anything brand new. Now imagine a class of 24+ students in an upper elementary classroom. Some of those students will be EML students with varying levels of English. There will be students with IEPs in the classroom. Accommodations must be provided by the general education teacher. Some students may have human reader and scribe accommodations. There will be students with behavioral issues that must be addressed. There will be students who are enriched outside of school and will be comfortable with the grade level material. There will be one teacher in the classroom. It is simply not possible for one teacher to meet every student where they are, providing remediation and enrichment simultaneously and seamlessly, while delivering the grade level content using a brand new curriculum.

Teachers were involved in the curriculum selection. They were not, however, consulted at all about the changes to acceleration.

Nice teacher appreciation week surprise for 4th grade teachers. In any other profession, this would require a significant raise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do teachers feel about teaching a classroom of one-level math to teaching up to five levels in a single classroom?

We wouldn't know, becuase MCPS didn't bother to ask them.

Par for the course. Nor were teachers asked about the new curriculum. I understand compacted math may not be the perfect solution, but it’s been effective with moving students and keeping them engaged in math.

Keep in mind that there will be a brand new curriculum next school year. There will always be a learning curve when implementing anything brand new. Now imagine a class of 24+ students in an upper elementary classroom. Some of those students will be EML students with varying levels of English. There will be students with IEPs in the classroom. Accommodations must be provided by the general education teacher. Some students may have human reader and scribe accommodations. There will be students with behavioral issues that must be addressed. There will be students who are enriched outside of school and will be comfortable with the grade level material. There will be one teacher in the classroom. It is simply not possible for one teacher to meet every student where they are, providing remediation and enrichment simultaneously and seamlessly, while delivering the grade level content using a brand new curriculum.

Why do they constantly change the curriculum?

They reassess each curriculum every 5 years. It just feels like it happens all the time because a bunch of different ones have been switched over in the last few years, and they've all changed rather than stayed the same.

Why can't they pick a curriculum that works and stick with it? Do math and reading change every 5 years?

Reading definitely needed to change-- Benchmark was awful (and not aligned with the science of reading) as was StudySync in middle school so I heard.

Eureka I think they extended a couple extra years past the 5 but I also think they said Eureka wasn't able to make the tweaks needed to align with the new Maryland math standards. Also Amplify Desmos is apparently based off the current Illustrative Math curriculum they use in middle school so not much change there.

Why did they pick Benchmark? Also it seems like CKLA isn't awesome either. Can't they pilot a curriculum before rolling it out to everyone?

For CKLA, I’ve watched the approval process last year. They chose it over ELC mainly for its being much cheaper, and also it is strongly endorsed by Louisiana state superintendent who later became Maryland school superintendent or something similar. The fact that it worked as a miracle in Louisiana was because firstly, the average score was lower there so a positive growth in score is more visible. And secondly, that state held back students that were likely not going to pass the tests. So one actually couldn’t attribute the rising trend to CKLA. But who cares.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You know what graph you will never get from MCPS?

MCAP scores corrated to what out of school math education the student does, and parent level of math ability.

Ding ding ding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do teachers feel about teaching a classroom of one-level math to teaching up to five levels in a single classroom?

We wouldn't know, becuase MCPS didn't bother to ask them.

Par for the course. Nor were teachers asked about the new curriculum. I understand compacted math may not be the perfect solution, but it’s been effective with moving students and keeping them engaged in math.

Keep in mind that there will be a brand new curriculum next school year. There will always be a learning curve when implementing anything brand new. Now imagine a class of 24+ students in an upper elementary classroom. Some of those students will be EML students with varying levels of English. There will be students with IEPs in the classroom. Accommodations must be provided by the general education teacher. Some students may have human reader and scribe accommodations. There will be students with behavioral issues that must be addressed. There will be students who are enriched outside of school and will be comfortable with the grade level material. There will be one teacher in the classroom. It is simply not possible for one teacher to meet every student where they are, providing remediation and enrichment simultaneously and seamlessly, while delivering the grade level content using a brand new curriculum.

Why do they constantly change the curriculum?

They reassess each curriculum every 5 years. It just feels like it happens all the time because a bunch of different ones have been switched over in the last few years, and they've all changed rather than stayed the same.

Why can't they pick a curriculum that works and stick with it? Do math and reading change every 5 years?

Reading definitely needed to change-- Benchmark was awful (and not aligned with the science of reading) as was StudySync in middle school so I heard.

Eureka I think they extended a couple extra years past the 5 but I also think they said Eureka wasn't able to make the tweaks needed to align with the new Maryland math standards. Also Amplify Desmos is apparently based off the current Illustrative Math curriculum they use in middle school so not much change there.

Eureka definitely has a version of Eureka Squared that is aligned with MD standards. But MCPS didn't choose it.

[Anonymous]

Serious question- do other counties like Howard County still do meaningful differentiation even at younger grades (e.g. before high school?) I don’t think we can move realistically but if we could I would be looking at Howard County elementary schools tonight. I really thought we were making a good choice for our kids when we bought in MOCO but every year it seems to disappoint more for gifted kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What an utter mess. I can’t believe how bad Taylor has proved to be, at basically everything.

It seems like no one at central office or the board of ed cares about what families or teachers think. It’s very depressing. We keep voting out board of education members and nothing improves. It’s a constant merry go round of curriculum and the only people who benefit are the ones who sell the curricula.

I’ve been in McPS for 15 years now — another 3 and we are done. But as a member of the community, it makes me very sad that the goal is to dumb down public education. So now only the ultra rich that can pay for private school get a top tier education? Talk about an equity problem. This is not the way to build a workforce that can compete with AI and foreign workers. It’s not just the math — the ELA situation is even worse.

That’s exactly how I see it. I predict this new model will produce even lower mcap scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Serious question- do other counties like Howard County still do meaningful differentiation even at younger grades (e.g. before high school?) I don’t think we can move realistically but if we could I would be looking at Howard County elementary schools tonight. I really thought we were making a good choice for our kids when we bought in MOCO but every year it seems to disappoint more for gifted kids.

Would love additional perspective on this. The slide deck makes it seem like they are doing this to align to state requirements to stop “tracking” kids. Just trying to figure out who to direct advocacy/outrage…and if moving to hoco would even help avoid this issue.