Half of K class is ESOL
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Anonymous
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You can always tell at Back to School Night, especially if there's a translator.
happened to my friend . . . She requested a change in classrooms and got it.
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Anonymous
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http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02772.pdf
Viers Mill ES: 48% ESOL, 71% FARMS, >95% MSA passing in all grades http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02774.pdf Highland ES: 60% ESOL, 82% FARMS, 85-92% MSA passing High ESOL/High FARMS =/= poor performing school in all cases. |
Anonymous
No, actually, I don't speak Spanish, but agree that communication with other parents can be an issue. At my school, you tend to see friendship groups forming around neighborhoods, not necessarily classrooms (one reason why I find these "invite the whole class to the birthday party" threads baffling!). To answer another question posted about who goes into ESOL, in MCPS all new students (usually at K orientation) are given a home language survey, asking what languages are spoken at home. If there's a language other than English, the student will be given a one-on-one listening and speaking test once school starts. This can sometimes result in a shy kid getting placed in ESOL in kindergarten because he or she didn't want to talk during the test, even though their English is on par with English-only peers. The end of year test is more thorough (and presented like a game) and accurate, so it's not unusual for that same shy kid to test out after only one year. Parents can also refuse ESOL service, but in my experience, that's pretty rare once they understand the model at my school. |
Anonymous
This post is the epitome of the lack of sophistication on DCUM. I dont have the stomach for this thread, so apologies if this PP's flaws have been covered, but... one on my best friends to this day (I'm 40) came to this country in second grade not speaking any english. Her parents were/are both PhD economists - US degrees - at the World Bank, both of whom went on to Cabinet level positions in a developed South American country. They read to her and her siblings, did math with them at home etc...but she was ESOL. I don't understand the implied speaking Spanish = lower education/ SES arguments. You do realize most people outside of the US speak multiple languages, right? and that exposing your children to other languages/cultures is beneficial? |
Anonymous
Really? I'll let you in on a secret; the Hispanic ESOL kids in MoCo don't tend to be kids of world bank employees. 25% of Hispanic students in MoCo don't graduate high school. |
Anonymous
Are you for real? Nothing circular at all $40,000 may be average somewhere else but earning it here may make them lower than average BUT IT DOES NOT MSKE THEM STUPID OR LOSE THE ABILITY TO EARN MORE. |
Anonymous
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I really enjoy reading the posts by the people who jump to the defense of ESOL children that they don't know. Every imaginable excuse has been given for their poor performance and eventual outcome.
The same people are the same parents who will rush to the principals office to get a class change if there is someone named Gomez or Gonzales in their darlings class. |
Anonymous
The above poster has very limited brain power. I am surprised that the two PhD Economists working at the World Bank, who read to their kids each nights, and had US degrees, so obviously could speak English...allowed their kids to be friends with this poster. I said " The kids doing well in MCPS are those with highly educated parents and with families that give importance to enrichment and learning outside of school. This is not what is true of the majority of the ESOL kids. " And I know a lot of parents who come from other countries, highly educated, who will only speak to their children in their native language so that they can become fluent in it. They choose to speak to their kids in a foreign language because they know that the kids can pick up English easily (through ESOL). These parents can talk to other parents and the school administrators in English. They are not getting FARMS, they are educated, they are invested in their kids education and thus their kids did well. They are not representative of the majority of ESOL parents. They probably lived in Bethesda as well. Though I am surprised that they let the village idiot befriend their kids...oh well, these foreigners are crazy! |
Anonymous
Does that happen often and quite openly? Seems quite surprising, and as racist as if they profiled AA or others that way. |
Anonymous
Yes, I'm wondering how the PP knows that the posters who are saying, "ESOL kids are not necessarily all stupid and hopeless" also rush to get a class change if there is somebody with a Hispanic name in their class. Does the PP have all of our IP addresses, and files on our kids from MCPS? |
Anonymous
Huh? What a stupid assumption. Why would I do that ? I don't know all FARMS kids and neither do you. But I do know they are not all stupid, all of their parents are not stupid or will only work at McDonald's as their only career option. Some of educated parents with low incomes ( for various reasons) and some of uneducated and uninvolved parents. Some may even have educated uninvolved parents. What I do know is the generalizing and ignorance on this thread is amazing. |
Anonymous
| to the poster who takes issue with the generalizations of educational backgrounds of FARMS families etc. I'm not the poster you're responding to, but I am one of the posters who has elected, after visiting the school and researching my options, decided not to send my kid to an almost exclusively poor/ESOL school. Of course you're right that generalizations will sometimes miss the mark, but at least at our school, the fact is that you are dealing with a largely uneducated immigrant population who live in the nearby apartment complexes. I know of families who don't fit the profile and it's surprising to learn that they are eligible for FARMS (somebody lost a job; they work in social services and have a career but not much earning potential etc.), but when you're at a school that is predominately ESOL and FARMS (and by predominately, I mean hitting or at least inching towards the 90% mark), and you interact with those parents at school events etc., and just look around, it isn't racist or prejudicial/animus leading you to these conclusions. It's a readily apparent fact. It won't always be the case, but the poster who makes some of those generalizations is dealing with established and documented demographics of the poorer side of the montgomery county (or at least that's the part of maryland I'm talking about) and it's not a secret or in legitimate dispute. It's one of the big challenges faced by the school district and they know it, and as far as I know they acknowledge it, because the teachers will confirm it. |
Anonymous
| I am super liberal and in favor of ESOL. But I would not sent my child to a class that was majority ESOL, unless there were literally two full time teachers. The MCPS ESOL teacher who posted earlier seemed to indicate that that was more or less how they handle it. But I would want to be very careful and observe to make sure that my child was getting appropriate instruction. |
Anonymous
| Spanish immersion |
Anonymous
Do you have evidence to back this up or are you just spouting well worn dogma? |