Any programming or teaching differences at the Upper NW Elementary Schools?

[Anonymous]

Oh, I almost forgot--the situation for social studies is similar, and science has recently adopted what are known as the "Next Generation Science Standards" with instructional units being developed around these.

[Anonymous]

I think the DCPS elementary school program is weak in the humanities -- history, literature, geography. Art history, music appreciation, and science.

[Anonymous]

How do you know that, PP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you know that, PP?

Parent of DCPS student and DCPS teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a DCPS teacher who has taught in schools in 4 different wards, including Murch, I can tell you that there is really no programmatic difference in any DCPS elementary school.

Other than the extracurriculars, which are extra, the curriculum is virtually the same in every school. It's pretty anemic. As a teacher, I try to enrich the curriculum as much as I can, by teaching more history, geography, literature, art, and science. But I'm limited by the mandates handed down by the central office and strictly enforced by my building leadership. Perhaps there are some building leaders who give their teachers more freedom to teach a more enriched curriculum.

But I've also noticed that most DCPS parents really aren't that interested in curriculum. They are obsessed with test scores, student demographics, sports, foreign language and feeding into Deal.

As a parent who has had children in a charter, a highly regarded EOTP school and a JKLMM I can tell you that you are completely wrong. None of them used the same curriculum. We found that in both DCPS schools the leadership allowed teachers the freedom to explore ways to teach the topics. There were no heavy mandates in either one. There is a bit of a change this year with Common Core but nothing drastic coming down from central office.

I am surprised by your observation of parents too. Feeding to Deal was important to us (and why we moved) but at our current school I haven't heard parents talking about test scores or sports. What grades did you teach? It seems weird aster spending time with multiple kids in three different settings to have a completely different experience.

Highly regarded EOTP DCPS school. Heh.

[Anonymous]

And the fact that I get smart students during summer school who go to JKLM schools who can't identify 7 continents and 4 oceans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And the fact that I get smart students during summer school who go to JKLM schools who can't identify 7 continents and 4 oceans.

Like it or not, that kind of party trick (list 15 things out of context! Go!!) is exactly what Google is for

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And the fact that I get smart students during summer school who go to JKLM schools who can't identify 7 continents and 4 oceans.

Yes, none of the 3000 kids in these schools could possible answer those questions. BTW, mine knew that stuff in Montessori school.

[Anonymous]

My PKer at a HRCS can also give you the answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And the fact that I get smart students during summer school who go to JKLM schools who can't identify 7 continents and 4 oceans.

Does that mean they will never learn the continents??

[Anonymous]

Just an indicator of some serious gaps in knowledge

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the fact that I get smart students during summer school who go to JKLM schools who can't identify 7 continents and 4 oceans.

Like it or not, that kind of party trick (list 15 things out of context! Go!!) is exactly what Google is for

It's not really a party trick when you're trying to understand 4th grade US history content such as exploration of the New World, settlement patterns of the first immigrants, logistics of the Revolutionary War or 5th grade US history content such as old and new immigration, World War I, World War II, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the fact that I get smart students during summer school who go to JKLM schools who can't identify 7 continents and 4 oceans.

Does that mean they will never learn the continents??

Depends on who their next teacher is

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh, I almost forgot--the situation for social studies is similar, and science has recently adopted what are known as the "Next Generation Science Standards" with instructional units being developed around these.

OMG the NexGen science standards are nutty -- way too many standards per grade, too specific, totally unaligned with the developmental level of elementary school students. The folks who developed these standards must have been on drugs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the fact that I get smart students during summer school who go to JKLM schools who can't identify 7 continents and 4 oceans.

Like it or not, that kind of party trick (list 15 things out of context! Go!!) is exactly what Google is for

It's not really a party trick when you're trying to understand 4th grade US history content such as exploration of the New World, settlement patterns of the first immigrants, logistics of the Revolutionary War or 5th grade US history content such as old and new immigration, World War I, World War II, etc.

You can learn the list as you go, on as as-needed basis. Context. 4th graders learning about the settlement patterns of Jamestown fdon't need to be able to rattle off "Indian ocean" or Antarctica as part of a list.

This reminds me of the pro-"academic preschool" Parents who are so proud that their 24 month old can sing the alphabet -- as if that = a useful learning tool.