How are class assignments done?

[Anonymous]

In a normal base school with average kids, gifted kids, ESOL kids and special needs, how are class assignments done?

Do they try to make the classes even?
Who actually does these assignments?

I imagine a bunch of teachers doing a playground picking of dodgeball but probably not the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In a normal base school with average kids, gifted kids, ESOL kids and special needs, how are class assignments done?

Do they try to make the classes even?
Who actually does these assignments?

I imagine a bunch of teachers doing a playground picking of dodgeball but probably not the case.

In our school it is done at a meeting of the previous year's teachers (ie: the first grade teachers place the kids into second grade classes.) They attempt to spread out the advanced readers, advanced math, behavior problems, and attempt some sense of gender and ethnicity balance. Obviously it's not perfect. Also the principal places the kids whose parents filled out a form - you are not allowed to request a teacher but can describe your child's strengths/weaknesses/best learning environment, etc.

[Anonymous]

When I taught we did class assignments at the end of the school year and then the principal added new kids during the summer. We met as a gradelevel team and also met with the teachers a grade ahead to discuss. Here were the factors discussed:

1.) Teacher style. Very structured and strict teachers are amazing for some kids and can be a bad match for others. Some teachers are really good at accommodating certain needs and not others so that is a factor too.

2.) Break up friends who either get cliquey and mean together or who get into trouble together constantly. You want kids to always be open to making new friends. It's fine to keep friends together as long as they are open to new people and aren't trouble together.

3.) Ideally you want the number of boys and girls to be in the same general ballpark and it's nice to have a mix of backgrounds.

4.) Keep kids apart where there's bad blood-e.g. one bullied the other or there was a nasty mean girl episode.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I taught we did class assignments at the end of the school year and then the principal added new kids during the summer. We met as a gradelevel team and also met with the teachers a grade ahead to discuss. Here were the factors discussed:

1.) Teacher style. Very structured and strict teachers are amazing for some kids and can be a bad match for others. Some teachers are really good at accommodating certain needs and not others so that is a factor too.

2.) Break up friends who either get cliquey and mean together or who get into trouble together constantly. You want kids to always be open to making new friends. It's fine to keep friends together as long as they are open to new people and aren't trouble together.

3.) Ideally you want the number of boys and girls to be in the same general ballpark and it's nice to have a mix of backgrounds.

4.) Keep kids apart where there's bad blood-e.g. one bullied the other or there was a nasty mean girl episode.

OP here. I thought it was weird that they pulled apart DS's closest friends! They got put into 3 different classes. I guess it was done on purpose. I was also grateful that the one child who pushed DS a few times was also placed in a different class.

[Anonymous]

Hey I started a similar thread on this issue over here earlier today whose answers might interest you: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/498397.page;jsessionid=BCBB5D9AD265C1807ABABEB1344CD70F.dcum2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I taught we did class assignments at the end of the school year and then the principal added new kids during the summer. We met as a gradelevel team and also met with the teachers a grade ahead to discuss. Here were the factors discussed:

1.) Teacher style. Very structured and strict teachers are amazing for some kids and can be a bad match for others. Some teachers are really good at accommodating certain needs and not others so that is a factor too.

2.) Break up friends who either get cliquey and mean together or who get into trouble together constantly. You want kids to always be open to making new friends. It's fine to keep friends together as long as they are open to new people and aren't trouble together.

3.) Ideally you want the number of boys and girls to be in the same general ballpark and it's nice to have a mix of backgrounds.

4.) Keep kids apart where there's bad blood-e.g. one bullied the other or there was a nasty mean girl episode.

The friend thing is what is confusing to us. There was a group of three really well-behaved girls in class together last year and 2 of them stayed together while the other was put into a class with no girls she had ever been in class with before. That seems weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I taught we did class assignments at the end of the school year and then the principal added new kids during the summer. We met as a gradelevel team and also met with the teachers a grade ahead to discuss. Here were the factors discussed:

1.) Teacher style. Very structured and strict teachers are amazing for some kids and can be a bad match for others. Some teachers are really good at accommodating certain needs and not others so that is a factor too.

2.) Break up friends who either get cliquey and mean together or who get into trouble together constantly. You want kids to always be open to making new friends. It's fine to keep friends together as long as they are open to new people and aren't trouble together.

3.) Ideally you want the number of boys and girls to be in the same general ballpark and it's nice to have a mix of backgrounds.

4.) Keep kids apart where there's bad blood-e.g. one bullied the other or there was a nasty mean girl episode.

The friend thing is what is confusing to us. There was a group of three really well-behaved girls in class together last year and 2 of them stayed together while the other was put into a class with no girls she had ever been in class with before. That seems weird.

They don't care about keeping friends together, unless the child has other issues. It doesn't surprise me at all that a group of 3 well behaved girls were not kept together.

[Anonymous]

At our school I know teachers meet and decide how to best meet all students' needs. You don't place all IEP students in the same class or all advanced kids in the same class. Also, if you know that a certain child works well with some kids, put them together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In a normal base school with average kids, gifted kids, ESOL kids and special needs, how are class assignments done?

Do they try to make the classes even?
Who actually does these assignments?

I imagine a bunch of teachers doing a playground picking of dodgeball but probably not the case.

They divide them so that the classes are even in the amount of advanced, average, SN, struggling, and the "misbehaved" kids. My daughter was in the advanced table last year and she became very good friends with 4 other girls on her table. The 5 girls are divided into the 5 classrooms this year. There were 3 really misbehaved kids (hitting other kids, saying the F bomb and other colorful words, one kicked the PE teacher in the butt). They have been divided also. I have a few friends who are FCPS teachers, they told me they "pass along" their favorites to their teacher friends.