How to help MCPS' lowest performing students?

[Anonymous]

We should cut the loss and move on. Who said life guarantees success to everyone?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not all students are capable of high achievement.
There. I said it.

And not all kids have parents that will do the work to push them to what ever their full capabilities are. Rich schools simply have more parents who push and facilitate their kids at a higher level. Expecting the schools to pick up the slack is unrealistic. Schools are a piece not the solution and if we are being honest not really as important as many people make them out to be, its one path of many.

Close but one point is backwards here. Rick schools don’t happen to have parents who push their kids. It’s the other way around. Parents who push their kids end up with rich kids who end up doing well financially and then move to rich areas. But they have to keep going- push the next generation. There’s no free lunch so to speak.

I’m rich (self-made) and every day after work, even though I’m tired, while I cook dinner, kid is at kitchen table doing homework and I keep track, make sure they complete everything and make sure they have a good understanding. I spend time EVERY evening teaching them stuff, sitting with them, quizzing them etc. Every single evening. I rarely go out in the evenings without them. I make a lot of sacrifices so I can teach them every day. This is how “rich” parents parent if they want successful kids.

Just moving a low performing kid to a “rich” school still misses out on the main and most important determinant of achievement - parent involvement every single night. Throwing more resources at a school won’t help either. Those schools already get more resources and yet this conversation continues.

One idea is 1:1 tutoring in person for each kid. More than once a week. With the same tutor. Basically mimic involved parenting.

You have to look at the research . There are a number of private schools that were funded by billionaires, that tried every possible trick under the sun to get kids to perform better. Every. Single. School. Failed. To. Perform.
Theres a very liberal mindset that kids will do better if we just---
But its backward. You can't force potential and character on others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not all students are capable of high achievement.
There. I said it.

And not all kids have parents that will do the work to push them to what ever their full capabilities are. Rich schools simply have more parents who push and facilitate their kids at a higher level. Expecting the schools to pick up the slack is unrealistic. Schools are a piece not the solution and if we are being honest not really as important as many people make them out to be, its one path of many.

Close but one point is backwards here. Rick schools don’t happen to have parents who push their kids. It’s the other way around. Parents who push their kids end up with rich kids who end up doing well financially and then move to rich areas. But they have to keep going- push the next generation. There’s no free lunch so to speak.

I’m rich (self-made) and every day after work, even though I’m tired, while I cook dinner, kid is at kitchen table doing homework and I keep track, make sure they complete everything and make sure they have a good understanding. I spend time EVERY evening teaching them stuff, sitting with them, quizzing them etc. Every single evening. I rarely go out in the evenings without them. I make a lot of sacrifices so I can teach them every day. This is how “rich” parents parent if they want successful kids.

Just moving a low performing kid to a “rich” school still misses out on the main and most important determinant of achievement - parent involvement every single night. Throwing more resources at a school won’t help either. Those schools already get more resources and yet this conversation continues.

One idea is 1:1 tutoring in person for each kid. More than once a week. With the same tutor. Basically mimic involved parenting.

You have to look at the research . There are a number of private schools that were funded by billionaires, that tried every possible trick under the sun to get kids to perform better. Every. Single. School. Failed. To. Perform.
Theres a very liberal mindset that kids will do better if we just---
But its backward. You can't force potential and character on others.

Very true. As long as you are supporting the best you can that’s what matters. Some parents do not provide the right kind of support (enable), perhaps do not know how to support, or don’t support at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of these kids (if not all) simply don’t care, their parents don’t care, their siblings don’t care, and even their cats and dogs don’t care. I don’t know why we are wasting resources on them.

+1. Assign a social worker to cover each school to go chase the parents.

When I saw ES kids in the local playground at 10 PM on a school night, you know their parents just destroyed any hope of an academic future for them.

Ok and?

When the kids are falling asleep at their desks, go knock on the door with a social worker. You'd be surprised what's happening at home with these kids.

Not a social workers job. This is the least of the concerns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of you should visit the homes if an opportunity allows of a student who may be low performing. Some need help. Help them.

You may be surprised to learn that schools aren't able to police the life choices of private families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you should visit the homes if an opportunity allows of a student who may be low performing. Some need help. Help them.

You may be surprised to learn that schools aren't able to police the life choices of private families.

Does each elementary school have adult reading volunteers (or enough staff) who can come in to read with students who are struggling? Maybe that could help the lowest performing students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you should visit the homes if an opportunity allows of a student who may be low performing. Some need help. Help them.

You may be surprised to learn that schools aren't able to police the life choices of private families.

Does each elementary school have adult reading volunteers (or enough staff) who can come in to read with students who are struggling? Maybe that could help the lowest performing students.

This could help if MCPS actually had a reading curriculum that extended beyond first grade and teaching kids initial letter sounds. but without that, reading to kids, ad nauseam no matter who does it or how much really doesn’t produce students with strong reading skills.

In my experience, it would also help if schools actually identified kids with learning disabilities, dyslexia, autism, and ADHD, depression and anxiety and provided adequate special instruction and accommodations instead of stigmatizing kids with these issues as lazy, unmotivated or stupid.

I’m not holding my breath for any of that to happen in MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not all students are capable of high achievement.
There. I said it.

And not all kids have parents that will do the work to push them to what ever their full capabilities are. Rich schools simply have more parents who push and facilitate their kids at a higher level. Expecting the schools to pick up the slack is unrealistic. Schools are a piece not the solution and if we are being honest not really as important as many people make them out to be, its one path of many.

Close but one point is backwards here. Rick schools don’t happen to have parents who push their kids. It’s the other way around. Parents who push their kids end up with rich kids who end up doing well financially and then move to rich areas. But they have to keep going- push the next generation. There’s no free lunch so to speak.

I’m rich (self-made) and every day after work, even though I’m tired, while I cook dinner, kid is at kitchen table doing homework and I keep track, make sure they complete everything and make sure they have a good understanding. I spend time EVERY evening teaching them stuff, sitting with them, quizzing them etc. Every single evening. I rarely go out in the evenings without them. I make a lot of sacrifices so I can teach them every day. This is how “rich” parents parent if they want successful kids.

Just moving a low performing kid to a “rich” school still misses out on the main and most important determinant of achievement - parent involvement every single night. Throwing more resources at a school won’t help either. Those schools already get more resources and yet this conversation continues.

One idea is 1:1 tutoring in person for each kid. More than once a week. With the same tutor. Basically mimic involved parenting.

You have to look at the research . There are a number of private schools that were funded by billionaires, that tried every possible trick under the sun to get kids to perform better. Every. Single. School. Failed. To. Perform.
Theres a very liberal mindset that kids will do better if we just---
But its backward. You can't force potential and character on others.

Actual you can which is why boarding schools, community schools, and parenting are effective. You can’t achieve perfection in anything all the time, even molding people.

[Anonymous]

Students should sleep earlier.
Cut off excess sugary foods when at home.
Homework and more other skills (reading, math. Etc.) provided outside core school hours by trained professionals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not all students are capable of high achievement.
There. I said it.

And not all kids have parents that will do the work to push them to what ever their full capabilities are. Rich schools simply have more parents who push and facilitate their kids at a higher level. Expecting the schools to pick up the slack is unrealistic. Schools are a piece not the solution and if we are being honest not really as important as many people make them out to be, its one path of many.

Close but one point is backwards here. Rick schools don’t happen to have parents who push their kids. It’s the other way around. Parents who push their kids end up with rich kids who end up doing well financially and then move to rich areas. But they have to keep going- push the next generation. There’s no free lunch so to speak.

I’m rich (self-made) and every day after work, even though I’m tired, while I cook dinner, kid is at kitchen table doing homework and I keep track, make sure they complete everything and make sure they have a good understanding. I spend time EVERY evening teaching them stuff, sitting with them, quizzing them etc. Every single evening. I rarely go out in the evenings without them. I make a lot of sacrifices so I can teach them every day. This is how “rich” parents parent if they want successful kids.

Just moving a low performing kid to a “rich” school still misses out on the main and most important determinant of achievement - parent involvement every single night. Throwing more resources at a school won’t help either. Those schools already get more resources and yet this conversation continues.

One idea is 1:1 tutoring in person for each kid. More than once a week. With the same tutor. Basically mimic involved parenting.

You have to look at the research . There are a number of private schools that were funded by billionaires, that tried every possible trick under the sun to get kids to perform better. Every. Single. School. Failed. To. Perform.
Theres a very liberal mindset that kids will do better if we just---
But its backward. You can't force potential and character on others.

Actual you can which is why boarding schools, community schools, and parenting are effective. You can’t achieve perfection in anything all the time, even molding people.

So sending kids away is effective?? I don’t know if I like that but definitely schools need to just focus on education. If kids aren’t ready to learn, then other services must be available outside of the school environment. What is that saying ….a jack of all trades, but a master of none? That’s how I feel about public education right now. They just are barely making it because they are spread so thin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you should visit the homes if an opportunity allows of a student who may be low performing. Some need help. Help them.

You may be surprised to learn that schools aren't able to police the life choices of private families.

Does each elementary school have adult reading volunteers (or enough staff) who can come in to read with students who are struggling? Maybe that could help the lowest performing students.

Our ES didn't allow parent volunteers.

[Anonymous]

The biggest issue to solve with the lowest performing schools is attendance. Most of these kids miss school frequently. You can’t learn when you are not in school. I have some students who have already been absent for 45 days. MCPS doesn’t care about attendance now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The biggest issue to solve with the lowest performing schools is attendance. Most of these kids miss school frequently. You can’t learn when you are not in school. I have some students who have already been absent for 45 days. MCPS doesn’t care about attendance now

They skip school because whats the point of going when you don't understand whats going on?

[Anonymous]

The curriculum moves too quickly for some kids and there is no way to slow it down and repeat stuff for the kids that need it. I think there needs to be an after school "homework club". I also think that many of the parents are not involved in the academic side of things and the parents need training on how to best help their kids with homework, getting reading practice in.
Many of the title 1 schools have free summer school - but it's a half day. That's tough for families. A few have after school clubs of sorts - but no transportation - that's tough for families. We need to make these services accessible. The learning can't be done in a school day, not enough time with how things are structured. We also need more wrap around services for families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you should visit the homes if an opportunity allows of a student who may be low performing. Some need help. Help them.

You may be surprised to learn that schools aren't able to police the life choices of private families.

Does each elementary school have adult reading volunteers (or enough staff) who can come in to read with students who are struggling? Maybe that could help the lowest performing students.

Our ES didn't allow parent volunteers.

You would be surprised to see how skilled and knowledgeable a teacher has to be for any child who doesn’t pick up reading quickly. Mild dyslexia is extremely common and probably a huge part of the problem here. The good news is the mcps curriculum is much better for this now. However, random volunteers wouldn’t make a big difference without intensive training and ideally years of experience. In fact, lack of training can sometimes make the problem worse.