Literacy in DC Public Schools

[Anonymous]

Not every school uses the same curriculum

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fundations is a Science of Reading-aligned curriculum that the Sold a Story podcast would support, FYI. It is explicit phonics instruction intended to be used on a whole class basis — exactly the sort of thing the podcast talks about going on in the Florida classroom she fawns over.

Yes - but no one is certified in it.

The school may have purchased the program - but not the next step of getting teachers certified in the program. They send 1 or 2 people from each school to a DCPS training session that is for 2 days - and those people are supposed to train all the other teachers.

OP was criticizing the DCPS curricula from a science of reading/phonics perspective, which is nonsensical.

What's nonsensical is 69% of students reading below grade level. In 2015 DCPS was in the news for revamping their curricula to teach dramatically more knowledge. They also were using Fundations to teach phonics (along with guided reading). This was all before "science of reading" became a buzzword and legislation began to pass. Sounds like they had the right evidence-based ingredients to have some success, but that hasn't been the case. Whether it's the curriculum or the teacher training, something isn't adding up. No achievement gaps have closed.

I don’t think a persistent achievement gap is a Fundations problem. I think it’s a school attendance problem.

+1

OP and others are ascribing the test results to choice of curriculum when in DCPS, the primary problem is getting kids into the classroom and actually engaging with the curriculum on a regular basis. If a child misses 5-8 days a month of kindergarten (which is common in DC), you could have the very best curriculum taught by a literal expert in it and the child would still not be reading at grade level unless they are getting lots of support at home (which a kid missing 25-40% of their school year is not likely getting).

I was actually surprised by how good DCPS's reading curriculum is because based on what I knew of the district, I expected them to be way behind the curve in terms of pedagogy. They aren't. Also, DCPS teachers are, on average, extremely well qualified as compared to other districts. If every student in DCPS was middle or UM class, I think our reading scores would be phenomenal.

I have bigger questions about the math curriculum, and I think kids are not doing enough writing and there is an over-reliance on app-based programs. But those issues would also apply to many of the suburban school districts. If you have a kid without special needs who has good support at home, they will likely do well with DCPS's curriculum. If changes are needed, that's not where they are. Likely we need more outreach/support for at risk kids, additional tutoring resources via after school programs, and a better intervention program that identifies kids who are falling behind and gets them the resources they need. But we actually have all that, it just doesn't always work.

All of this, well said. And we don't have enough of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fundations is a Science of Reading-aligned curriculum that the Sold a Story podcast would support, FYI. It is explicit phonics instruction intended to be used on a whole class basis — exactly the sort of thing the podcast talks about going on in the Florida classroom she fawns over.

Yes - but no one is certified in it.

The school may have purchased the program - but not the next step of getting teachers certified in the program. They send 1 or 2 people from each school to a DCPS training session that is for 2 days - and those people are supposed to train all the other teachers.

Not surprised. Program changes but no training, poor implementation, no follow thru, etc….

Sure if your kid picks up testing fast or you read to your kids and have books at home, etc.. they will learn to read anywhere. Also anecdotal.

But majority of kids in DCPS don’t fit above and struggle to read. It’s obvious whatever program they have is not working well with such abysmally low proficiency stats. Social promotion instead of more support doesn’t help either and the kids get further behind.

Because of equity, there are no required reading list in middle school. We can’t have that because some kids won’t do it so no kid needs to do it.

Except that none of the above nonsense about equity is actually true. My kid read tons of required books in middle school and had required summer reading every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fundations is a Science of Reading-aligned curriculum that the Sold a Story podcast would support, FYI. It is explicit phonics instruction intended to be used on a whole class basis — exactly the sort of thing the podcast talks about going on in the Florida classroom she fawns over.

Yes - but no one is certified in it.

The school may have purchased the program - but not the next step of getting teachers certified in the program. They send 1 or 2 people from each school to a DCPS training session that is for 2 days - and those people are supposed to train all the other teachers.

Not surprised. Program changes but no training, poor implementation, no follow thru, etc….

Sure if your kid picks up testing fast or you read to your kids and have books at home, etc.. they will learn to read anywhere. Also anecdotal.

But majority of kids in DCPS don’t fit above and struggle to read. It’s obvious whatever program they have is not working well with such abysmally low proficiency stats. Social promotion instead of more support doesn’t help either and the kids get further behind.

Because of equity, there are no required reading list in middle school. We can’t have that because some kids won’t do it so no kid needs to do it.

I’m a 10+ dcps teacher. Our instructional coaches have never been trained and not a single teacher. I have colleagues who cut chapters because it’s “boring” to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fundations is a Science of Reading-aligned curriculum that the Sold a Story podcast would support, FYI. It is explicit phonics instruction intended to be used on a whole class basis — exactly the sort of thing the podcast talks about going on in the Florida classroom she fawns over.

Yes - but no one is certified in it.

The school may have purchased the program - but not the next step of getting teachers certified in the program. They send 1 or 2 people from each school to a DCPS training session that is for 2 days - and those people are supposed to train all the other teachers.

Not surprised. Program changes but no training, poor implementation, no follow thru, etc….

Sure if your kid picks up testing fast or you read to your kids and have books at home, etc.. they will learn to read anywhere. Also anecdotal.

But majority of kids in DCPS don’t fit above and struggle to read. It’s obvious whatever program they have is not working well with such abysmally low proficiency stats. Social promotion instead of more support doesn’t help either and the kids get further behind.

Because of equity, there are no required reading list in middle school. We can’t have that because some kids won’t do it so no kid needs to do it.

Except that none of the above nonsense about equity is actually true. My kid read tons of required books in middle school and had required summer reading every year.

Name the middle school and when exactly did your kid attend it……..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fundations is a Science of Reading-aligned curriculum that the Sold a Story podcast would support, FYI. It is explicit phonics instruction intended to be used on a whole class basis — exactly the sort of thing the podcast talks about going on in the Florida classroom she fawns over.

Yes - but no one is certified in it.

The school may have purchased the program - but not the next step of getting teachers certified in the program. They send 1 or 2 people from each school to a DCPS training session that is for 2 days - and those people are supposed to train all the other teachers.

Not surprised. Program changes but no training, poor implementation, no follow thru, etc….

Sure if your kid picks up testing fast or you read to your kids and have books at home, etc.. they will learn to read anywhere. Also anecdotal.

But majority of kids in DCPS don’t fit above and struggle to read. It’s obvious whatever program they have is not working well with such abysmally low proficiency stats. Social promotion instead of more support doesn’t help either and the kids get further behind.

Because of equity, there are no required reading list in middle school. We can’t have that because some kids won’t do it so no kid needs to do it.

Except that none of the above nonsense about equity is actually true. My kid read tons of required books in middle school and had required summer reading every year.

Name the middle school and when exactly did your kid attend it……..

Yeah, Deal English teachers lost autonomy in the last 10 years.

[Anonymous]

DCPS needs to focus on phonics, there is a ton of tried-and-true curriculum around it, has been for decades. It's baffling why at some point so many schools abandoned phonics for sight words and a bunch of other garbage that leaves kids crippled in their literacy. Hell, even TV programming like "Between the Lions" did a better job with literacy than DCPS has.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCPS needs to focus on phonics, there is a ton of tried-and-true curriculum around it, has been for decades. It's baffling why at some point so many schools abandoned phonics for sight words and a bunch of other garbage that leaves kids crippled in their literacy. Hell, even TV programming like "Between the Lions" did a better job with literacy than DCPS has.

What do you think Fundations and Heggerty are, other than phonics programs?

[Anonymous]

Make sure to check charters if you go to one, some still seem reliant on guided reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are your thoughts on DC Public Schools reading curriculum? They use a DCPS created curriculum called Units of Study for content and in grades K-3 Fundations and Heggerty for phonics instruction. I'm curious why DCPS refuses to adopt High Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) when many neighboring districts have made this a priority. Our literacy rate is abysmal and nobody seems to care enough to change course at a pace that matters. 31% of students were reading at or above grade level according to PARCC data. Where is the outrage? Research tells us that 95% of students CAN read with high quality evidence aligned instruction. Do we not think our students can achieve this? I feel frustrated and I want to do something about it. Listen to Sold a Story and The Knowledge Matters podcast if you haven't already!

I have heard the podcast and its fascinating. There should be outrage about a lot of things in DCPS aside from ELA PARCC scores. At my daughters school, I do remember "fundations" but there was also a lot of phonics. My kid reads well above grade level in english and spanish (not a native speaker). But honestly OP, reading ability is tied a lot closer to the education and income levels of the parents, no matter what is taught in DCPS.

[Anonymous]

PP here, my biggest issue in DCPS (kid is a 5th grader) is the lack of teaching writing and grammar.