Amplify Science is terrible...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that Amplify has lots of issues.

However, my hot take is that DCPS providing a full science curriculum with units mapped out, resources ready etc is actually extremely valuable to science in DCPS as a whole. It’s a big improvement from years ago when there was essentially nothing for teachers to work off of except standards.

I admit it likely does not help the strongest science teachers in DCPS. However I think providing a full curriculum is a huge step forward for many newer science teachers, and will help many students learn science in classes with less experienced teachers. Science teacher is also a hard-to-fill position, so sometimes an inexperienced teacher might really need a curriculum to work off, and adjust as needed.

Before the flaming commences, yes there still needs to be improvements and the strongest science teachers need to be vocal with ways to adjust the curriculum.

There was a (bad but not quite as horrible) curriculum before Amplify.

Nothing you said justifies picking Amplify.

What you said is DCPS's excuse for everything: We don't trust our teachers, so we'll centralize everything (even though we don't know what we're doing), and then all students can have the same bad experience. Equity!

That's not quite true, the curriculum before had Cornerstone assessments and a scope and sequence, but really no day-to-day materials or resources. So teachers had to create or find those on their own. And yes, having been a middle school teacher in DCPS for close to 20 years, I would say at least 50% of science teachers that I've known greatly benefit from having a pre-made curriculum.

Nothing stops a strong science teacher from supplementing Amplify materials with other resources. Literally no one checks science classes that they are on a specific activity within Amplify. Maybe some administrators pay lip service to "are you implementing Amplify?" so teachers need to do enough to be able to say yes, which basically just means doing the End-of-Unit tests. They do check more specifically for math, but really not for science from what I've seen.

It’s not just one end-of-unit test. According to DCPS Central Office, teachers must administer three Amplify tests per unit (a pre, middle, and post). There are six Amplify units in sixth grade, so that’s an additional 18 tests on top of all the other tests schools are required to administer. It takes students at my school an average of 45 minutes (almost one class period) to complete one Amplify test. That’s more than three weeks of lost instructional time.

You should maybe think about adjusting, no one really cares about the pre-test (or the mid-test, I've never done one of those at all). The pre-test is literally the same as the end-of-unit test, but the kids haven't learned the topic yet, so doesn't make much sense to spend anywhere near as much time on the pre-test. If anyone checks anything, it's just the multiple choice, which is usually like 12 questions. Give them 20 minutes, say it's an engagement grade for trying, and keep it moving.

Does oversight vary by principal and IS?

It does.

Sure, you need to figure out exactly how to balance the whole “ask for forgiveness instead of permission” situation for yourself. But no principal is going to get you in hot water for like “hey all your students took the pre-test but you only let them have 20 minutes so you could teach a short lesson too?!?”

PP said they’re at a middle school, and the IS for middle school really DNGAF about amplify

I’ve been literally yelled at over not doing it enough before.

So have I. See previous re: docked on CSC.

[Anonymous]

This whole thread is nightmare bedtime reading

[Anonymous]

Can we get a petition going to get this bullshit out of DCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can we get a petition going to get this bullshit out of DCPS?

Yes please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...and families need to be asking questions about it.

I'm a DCPS science teacher. Amplify is almost entirely screen-based and hands-on activities are simple and poorly-designed. Assessments are long (15 pages printed), numerous (at least two dozen a year), and poorly-written. There are critical omissions in the actual content. Kids hate it. Teacher concerns have been ignored.

Ask your kids and your principal - or, better yet, your cluster instructional superintendent. Ask to see the assessments. Ask to observe an Amplify class. We're going to be stuck with it if families don't start learning about it and speaking up. Charter families - you too. My understanding is that it's already in several charter schools.

Since when did any school admin listen to parental input?

Now if you could get a lab to weigh in about how poorly a DCPS intern was - now you’re talking action.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...and families need to be asking questions about it.

I'm a DCPS science teacher. Amplify is almost entirely screen-based and hands-on activities are simple and poorly-designed. Assessments are long (15 pages printed), numerous (at least two dozen a year), and poorly-written. There are critical omissions in the actual content. Kids hate it. Teacher concerns have been ignored.

Ask your kids and your principal - or, better yet, your cluster instructional superintendent. Ask to see the assessments. Ask to observe an Amplify class. We're going to be stuck with it if families don't start learning about it and speaking up. Charter families - you too. My understanding is that it's already in several charter schools.

Since when did any school admin listen to parental input?

Now if you could get a lab to weigh in about how poorly a DCPS intern was - now you’re talking action.

This is a petition that needs to be sent to the mayor. DCPS will screw it up no matter what.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can we get a petition going to get this bullshit out of DCPS?

Yes please.

Not an organizer but would follow

[Anonymous]

Not only is it alarming that Amplify is worst than the previous science curriculum which was not very good to begin with but that DCPS has also gotten rid of the science CAPE testing.

[Anonymous]

They have canceled Map testing that provided immediate feedback three times a year. However, Cape science the end of 8th grade is still taken. They don’t always release the scores though.

Also, 40% of dcps middle schoolers attend Hardy, Stuart-Hobson, Oyster-Adams, or Deal. I think the science teachers at these schools (of which I’m one) are in agreement that this program is atrocious. Why are we being held back by someone in the pocket of a tech company? The last required rct from downtown in my grade had multiple questions with multiple scientifically answers. Unless a teacher went through the online portal one by one, kids were cheated out of points.

[Anonymous]

This is an opportune moment for parents to raise concerns, given the mayoral campaign. Bring it up at their town halls, raise with their surrogates, tell canvassers, write something for 51st directed at the candidates, tell all the surveys we are being constantly harangued by, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is an opportune moment for parents to raise concerns, given the mayoral campaign. Bring it up at their town halls, raise with their surrogates, tell canvassers, write something for 51st directed at the candidates, tell all the surveys we are being constantly harangued by, etc.

The problem is that this issue isn’t widely known or discussed except here on DCUM. So if you bring up your concerns IRL, you’re outing yourself as someone who reads this board which is considered a horrid cesspool by “normal” people (maybe not unfairly).

If teachers really don’t like it, why isn’t the union raising concerns??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is an opportune moment for parents to raise concerns, given the mayoral campaign. Bring it up at their town halls, raise with their surrogates, tell canvassers, write something for 51st directed at the candidates, tell all the surveys we are being constantly harangued by, etc.

The problem is that this issue isn’t widely known or discussed except here on DCUM. So if you bring up your concerns IRL, you’re outing yourself as someone who reads this board which is considered a horrid cesspool by “normal” people (maybe not unfairly).

If teachers really don’t like it, why isn’t the union raising concerns??

I could care less if people assume I read here, hell, I would openly admit it. Stop caring about what other people think. Just the other day a parent mentioned reading here and asked me if I read here too. I said I did and we discussed some of the similar things we have read here. That said, it would be nice if the union got involved but maybe this isn’t on their radar yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...and families need to be asking questions about it.

I'm a DCPS science teacher. Amplify is almost entirely screen-based and hands-on activities are simple and poorly-designed. Assessments are long (15 pages printed), numerous (at least two dozen a year), and poorly-written. There are critical omissions in the actual content. Kids hate it. Teacher concerns have been ignored.

Ask your kids and your principal - or, better yet, your cluster instructional superintendent. Ask to see the assessments. Ask to observe an Amplify class. We're going to be stuck with it if families don't start learning about it and speaking up. Charter families - you too. My understanding is that it's already in several charter schools.

Since when did any school admin listen to parental input?

Now if you could get a lab to weigh in about how poorly a DCPS intern was - now you’re talking action.

When my kid was in DCPS, parental input removed a principal and also blocked a proposed boundary change. Parental input is pretty powerful.

[Anonymous]

*scientifically correct answers (from 5:59)

[Anonymous]

The WTU doesn’t have control over curricula, which comes from DCPS Central Office. That said, staff concerns about screen time and programs like Amplify are on the radar of union leadership.