Small Group Differentiation

[Anonymous]

At what point in the school year does your school start this? Our school uses responsive classroom and at our parent-teacher conference two weeks ago for an upper elementary grade, they said that they were just about to start forming the small groups for math and reading. They didn't explicitly say the delay is due to but the sense they conveyed is that the delay is due to focusing on building classroom community and waiting for testing (DIBELS, TRC, I-ready) results.

It strikes me as rather late in the game but perhaps this is the norm?

We go to a well-regarded school on Capitol Hill.

[Anonymous]

That's at least a little late compared to my daughter's class. I reviewed work she had done in small groups at the PT conference.

(DD is in 2nd grade in a Ward 3 DCPS that also uses responsive classroom.)

[Anonymous]

Our JKLMM started after Columbus day, I think. Kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

Our K class is already doing this reading. Not sure about math - I didn't ask, was more concerned with reading since my child is reading ahead of grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our K class is already doing this reading. Not sure about math - I didn't ask, was more concerned with reading since my child is reading ahead of grade.

Should add, we are a charter school.

[Anonymous]

All DCPS elementary schools are expected to offer small group differentiation--at least in reading. Maybe not every school in K but certainly in the higher grades. This is where you might see Junior Great Book instruction or other programs. If your school isn't doing small group differentiation (at least in literacy) then you should inquire what the deal is. (And ask what the deal is with math while you're at it as that should ideally have a similar set up.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At what point in the school year does your school start this? Our school uses responsive classroom and at our parent-teacher conference two weeks ago for an upper elementary grade, they said that they were just about to start forming the small groups for math and reading. They didn't explicitly say the delay is due to but the sense they conveyed is that the delay is due to focusing on building classroom community and waiting for testing (DIBELS, TRC, I-ready) results.

It strikes me as rather late in the game but perhaps this is the norm?

We go to a well-regarded school on Capitol Hill.

Not too late. The first 6 weeks are for community building. Toss in testing for all of the aforementioned assessments and you are around late October or early November. As long as the teacher is doing literacy consistently little Johnny will make progress by the end of the year. It isn't a race.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our JKLMM started after Columbus day, I think. Kindergarten.

Our JKLMM K has not started and discussed some the possibilities with us at the parent teacher conference.

[Anonymous]

Exactly why I like our Montessori school. Our Lower Elementary gudes are fantastic at not just small group, but individual differentiation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At what point in the school year does your school start this? Our school uses responsive classroom and at our parent-teacher conference two weeks ago for an upper elementary grade, they said that they were just about to start forming the small groups for math and reading. They didn't explicitly say the delay is due to but the sense they conveyed is that the delay is due to focusing on building classroom community and waiting for testing (DIBELS, TRC, I-ready) results.

It strikes me as rather late in the game but perhaps this is the norm?

We go to a well-regarded school on Capitol Hill.

What grade is your child in? IME it starts earlier in the year as your child ages.

[Anonymous]

My child is not yet in Kindergarten. What will he be expected to do (reading and math) at the start of K? Sounds like your kids are reading already?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child is not yet in Kindergarten. What will he be expected to do (reading and math) at the start of K? Sounds like your kids are reading already?

Some kids are, many are not. Hence the need for differentiation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child is not yet in Kindergarten. What will he be expected to do (reading and math) at the start of K? Sounds like your kids are reading already?

Some kids are, many are not. Hence the need for differentiation.

And by first grade, there will be a new mix of reading levels among the same children, which is why small group differentiation is better than tracking by class. Same thing at second, third, and even fourth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At what point in the school year does your school start this? Our school uses responsive classroom and at our parent-teacher conference two weeks ago for an upper elementary grade, they said that they were just about to start forming the small groups for math and reading. They didn't explicitly say the delay is due to but the sense they conveyed is that the delay is due to focusing on building classroom community and waiting for testing (DIBELS, TRC, I-ready) results.

It strikes me as rather late in the game but perhaps this is the norm?

We go to a well-regarded school on Capitol Hill.

OP...to the lay person, like yourself, forming differentiated small groups in October is late. However, to the professional educator, it makes sense to wait until you have collected and analyzed student data before you plan for small groups. DIBELS, TRC, i-ready, ANet, etc are standards based assessments that are generally scheduled after the third week of school. For example, if your child's Capitol Hill school calendared the TRC for the week of 9/24/15, and it is reasonable to expect a week for testing, then your child's Capitol Hill school won't get the data until the first week in October. So, it makes perfect sense that your child's well-regarded Capitol Hill school would form differentiated small groups this late in the year.