S/0 if you could improve low school performance, what would you do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you don't speak English - you need to learn before you attend an MCPS school. have one or two schools in the county that cater to those that don't speak English. If they can't pass a standardized entrance exam into MCPS school system after 1-2 years instruction, they need to pay for additional english lessons. If you are disruptive, you get sent to another school - maybe taught by rehabilited ex-inmates.

Well said by someone who probably cannot even speak another language besides English -- and probably doesn't do too well with that.

SMH!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised no one has mentioned improving services for special needs children. As a parent with a special needs child, I can tell you that it is a nightmare to get basic services for a child that is obviously struggling and obviously has a learning disability. Even with two parents who are lawyers and clear/cut expensive outside testing, the time required to keep the local schools from dropping the ball is intense. The local schools see para-educators as coverage and reserve staffing for covering meetings and many non special needs functions. As long as the local school has enough of a caseload to justify the existing staff, more cases are just more work. There is a real problem with schools not providing services that are required by federal law and in the end position kids not to fail later on. The local ES schools could care less if a child doesn't get the services they need and later fails in middle or high school.

I can't imagine what happens to kids with parents who can't advocate at this level and don't have the money for expensive outside testing to prove to the school that the child has a problem. Prematurity and learning disabilities are more prevalent in lower SES children than higher SES children. The higher SES children with LDs are more likely to come from older parents that are more likely to be financially established. The gap here is extreme between low SES and high SES.

If MCPS was compliant with federal law and held responsible for reporting and serving special needs children across the county, scores would improve for this population.

Totally agree with this. As mom to a SN child with a language learning disability, I saw a couple of other kids in my DC's first grade class whom I suspected also had LDs, but because they were minorities they were treated as "bad" behavior problems instead of getting the academic help they needed. It was pretty shocking to me. Even as an attorney with financial resources, I had a very difficult time getting my DC appropriate help. I can't imagine how someone who doesn't speak the language, doesn't have money for private assessment, and can't research the law, gets help.

I cannot tell you how many times I've seen parents decline to have a child evaluated. Some have even cursed a teacher out for suggesting it. It is a sad situation. Without parental endorsement it is very hard to get an iep

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Remediate them at one location. don't mix these kids with the kids that are higher performers if they can't keep up. no one wins.

And what is your proposal for kids who fail the Math MSA but are on grade level for Reading??

Do you just bus them to their "special remediation school" for one subject but bus them back to their neighborhood school to be with their peers for the other subjects?

Or does everyone who ever fails the MSA get sent to the "remediation" school? Do you realize how much this would cost in busing? And that the "special remediation schools" would be about 90% brown skinned children?

This is why you can't expect parents to envision decent policy. As long as their kid is in hgc/magnets they would be hwpoy.