Science as a special?
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Anonymous
| Whoever lumped MCPS into this, is wrong. Most 4th and 5th grades are departmentalized meaning there is a dedicated science and social studies teacher that students see daily. It's true K-3 switch on and off each quarter for science/social studies, but it's done daily during that dedicated block. MCPS might not be the best district either, but we don't simply focus on reading/math at the elementary level. |
Anonymous
If you read the thread, you would know many DCPS schools departmentalize like this starting in 3rd, with a dedicated science/social studies teacher kids see daily. I sense this thread was started by and maybe populated by parents of K/1st/2nd kids, when elementary tends to focus heavily on reading and math so that kids have a foundational basis. Most elementary schools work this way. Doing lots of science and social studies before kids can read or add/subtract doesn't actually make sense. |
Anonymous
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I have a rising 3rd grader at a DCPS immersion school. I noticed that many of their units in Spanish or English had them studying and writing about insects or other biology or environmental science related stuff. He has science as a dedicated special once a week. He also has library, music, art, and PE.
From what I can tell from friends whose kids go to different charter schools all over the city, that the cirriculum is not that different. |
Anonymous
What made you choose CHML? We're at a DCPS elementary EOTP and science is a once a week special for pre-k and Kindergarten, but it's daily starting in first grade. What is your in-bound school? |
Anonymous
Let's start with the fact that the teacher's union is a very powerful union that demand teachers have extended planning periods to train and prepare lessons. This leaves less time for teaching and Math and English Language Arts will always stay in front. Unfortunately, Science and Social Studies may get moved around. a bit. It's not the end of the world in the lower grades. Supplement, you will be fine. |
Anonymous
Why not just homeschool? Or send your kid to private school? Why complain about PUBLIC SCHOOL that is designed to meet the needs of everyone? Just homeschool where you can teach what you want, when you want. Problem solved. |
Anonymous
DP but wow, you're a HUGE part of the problem with DCPS schools. Newsflash: all neighboring districts are better in every single way. I never thought I'd say I miss MCPS parents, but I do now. They FIGHT for their children and their education. This thread has just shown me what I've seen teaching in DCPS- apathetic parents which is why student behaviors are terrible and why student achievement is abysmal at best. If your response to legitimate problems is, homeschool or private, you have no real solutions. Public school children deserve the best and meeting the needs of all students includes providing elementary students with more than just reading and math. Do some work on yourself before posting here. |
Anonymous
So many DCPS parents are afraid to ask for excellence in their schools. I think it has something to do with a knee-jerk equity instinct that having high academic standards and asking for excellence is somehow unfair to lower performing kids? (When actually they would probably benefit the most from being held to high standards.) I don't know. But it's a problem. I've seen it myself, and it's the absolute worst in "gentrifying" schools bc the gentrifier parents are all dealing with their guilt. |
Anonymous
It seems like this particular issue is mostly at charters, not at DCPS. Multiple DCPS parents have come in to say their schools do offer it daily. There's certainly a discussion about charter oversight and regulation. I also think saying parents are apathetic because some elementary schools lack daily science class is a little much. I went to a top school district and don't at all remember having science daily until middle school. Are you a current DCPS parent? |
Anonymous
Oh give it a break. It is not a charter issue. The reality is that schools with lots of low performing kids (DCPS or charter) don’t focus on science. The big focus is on math and reading to try to get these kids at least doing better who are so behind which is as it should be. Sure some topics may be introduced but it’s not the focus. My kid is at a charter in elementary. They do group science projects where they will learn and research the topic, write a presentation on it, edit this writing work, then do a poster and presentation to the parents of what they learned. They spend a few weeks on this. That is real science. Hands on, group project, researching, analyzing, presenting, etc…. But you can’t get to this stage if the kids can’t even read the research, let alone write a coherent paper and do a presentation. |
Anonymous
Not all DCPS schools have lots of low performing students. Not all charters have lots of high performing students. You are right that schools with a lot of kids below grade level are going to focus much more on ELA and math, even in upper grades, because they need to get those kids up to grade level if at all possible before middle school. It's important. But it's not actually a DCPS v. charter issue. Also, my kid's DCPS holds a science fair every year. One early grades, the projects are done on a classroom basis and they do it all together, research, create a presentation, and present it. Starting in 3rd kids do it on an individual basis, so by then they're all familiar with the process. And yes, they are expected to write coherently on their scientific project topic, synthesizing what they are learning in ELA about composition and applying it to their topic. I think there was a time when DCPS schools didn't do much of this kind of thing, but at this point a decent number of DCPS are valid competitors for high achieving kids that 10-15 years ago might have gone to charters. Meanwhile, the bloom is off the rose at many charter schools. And even the ones that continue to be highly regarded are not necessarily doing science daily. For instance, at immersion programs, science and social studies often take a back seat to the target language, and students sometimes have to spend more time on math and ELA at these schools because the immersion process can delay skill acquisition in key areas (to be clear, I don't view this as a problem, kids are learning a second language and that's worthwhile, I'm just pointing out that the idea that all charters are offering more science than all DCPS is simply incorrect). |
Anonymous
I never said that charters are offering more science. I said that schools with majority low performing kids do not focus on science which is true. I was refuting you saying it’s a particular issue at charters just because some DCPS parents have chimed in. I gave an example of what my charter was doing, because I am an actual parent there. Contrast this to you, who obviously have an issue with charters because you are making incorrect assumptions again. My kid goes to an immersion charter and learning the science stuff I said above every year and also a second language. Also kids at my school are not spending more time in math and ELA than non-immersion school. They actually spend 50% less time in ELA. Math same amount. You lose credibility when you make broad statements and assumptions about schools where you don’t have kids. |
Anonymous
I'm the direct PP, and (1) You are assuming you are talking to one person when you are actually talking to several -- half of what you wrote here isn't even in my comment, (2) You totally misunderstood my point about immersion charters which was not that none of them do science, but that some of them have to balance science against the immersion language. There are only so many hours in the day. Your school does less ELA and therefore has time for science and the target language. Other schools will balance that differently. My broader point was just that assuming a school is "bad" because they don't do science every day misses the point that elementary schools have multiple priorities, and (3) You assume I'm anti charter when my comment treats DCPS and charters the same. I have zero problem with charters. But some do science better than others, just like some DCPS schools do science better than others. It depends, as I said, on the school's individual challenges and priorities. You and I are actually in agreement that schools with a lot of underperforming kids can rarely focus on science because of the need to emphasize math and ELA. My only addition to your comment (not contradiction, just addition) is that this is true of DCPS schools and charters. Some DCPS schools have very few underperforming kids and do not need to maintain focus on math and reading into upper grades. Some charters do and must. I get annoyed when people act like charters are all full of high performing kids and DCPS are all full of low performing kids because that's demonstrably not the case -- many DCPS outperform many charters in test scores. I don't care if you think I have "credibility" or not, but maybe if you climb off your high, high horse for a minute you'd see that the rest of us are having a discussion based in fact, not just blindly attacking schools our kids don't go to for sport. |
Anonymous
You clearly have a reading comprehension issue because no one, including myself, said charters are full of high performing kids and DCPS low. The only person on this thread who thinks it’s an issue is you. I specifically said “ The reality is that schools with lots of low performing kids (DCPS or charter) don’t focus on science.”. Also no one is saying charters do science daily. Only you are making that assumption and feeling you have to justify it. Just like you feel you have to justify that claim above about only high performing kids are in charters. You are not having a discussion based on facts. Direct quote from you. “For instance, at immersion programs, science and social studies often take a back seat to the target language, and students sometimes have to spend more time on math and ELA.”. They are not spending more time on it at all. You make assumptions and it’s not facts. You clearly have a beef with charters and feel the need to justify things in DCPS. I don’t have a beef with DCPS and don’t need to justify charters. I responded with facts about my school. You did not and made assumptions and now are trying to walk them back. |
Anonymous
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It's dumb to forego social studies, science, art, etc, to concentrate almost exclusively on reading and math. One of the necessary skills for reading is having enough general knowledge about the world for texts in reading class to make sense and be slightly interesting. Moreover, subject interests provide motivation for reading.
It's understandable why people panicked about reading progress would double-down (or triple-down) on decoding skills and phonics and what not. But DCPS should know the research. |