Jan. 9 BOE Business Meeting Discussion Thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The math team definitely needs more explaining and planning for what they are going to do system wide. The ELA team however has a multi year plan that they can show implementation progress as well as improvement in overall reading progress.

Does that include the ELA team using standards and MCAP testing to determine reading progress? Since this is the first year of CKLA, how can they determine improvement in overall reading progress(winter assessments haven't even been given yet). Since you know, what measures are being used to determine overall reading progress?

I know that is supposed to be a snark based on one comment made during the entire presentation. However, I’ll answer as I did watch the entire presentation and have actually been following along on the situation. CKLA curriculum was only part of the plan. Moving to Science of Reading and changing ELA started three years back. They added the use of Really Great Reading for K-2 to ensure direct phonics instruction. They also added mandatory professional development for Science of Reading and the CKLA curriculum. Those kids won’t take the MCAP until next year. The cohort of Kindergartners starting this year with CKLA won’t take MCAP for another three years. So for now they look at Dibels data, MAP data, and internal benchmarks established to align with MCAP. MCAP is only taken once a year so clearly it can’t be the only measure of progress.

At the secondary level there is a review of the curriculum l, changes made to ensure the grade level books are being used and that the entire writing process is being undertaken. This level is going to need more attention and work because part of what’s needed is planning and grading time for teachers such that they can provide meaningful feedback and support, which is hard to do when you have 30+ students.

Just following along? Sounds like you work in OCIP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The math team definitely needs more explaining and planning for what they are going to do system wide. The ELA team however has a multi year plan that they can show implementation progress as well as improvement in overall reading progress.

Does that include the ELA team using standards and MCAP testing to determine reading progress? Since this is the first year of CKLA, how can they determine improvement in overall reading progress(winter assessments haven't even been given yet). Since you know, what measures are being used to determine overall reading progress?

I know that is supposed to be a snark based on one comment made during the entire presentation. However, I’ll answer as I did watch the entire presentation and have actually been following along on the situation. CKLA curriculum was only part of the plan. Moving to Science of Reading and changing ELA started three years back. They added the use of Really Great Reading for K-2 to ensure direct phonics instruction. They also added mandatory professional development for Science of Reading and the CKLA curriculum. Those kids won’t take the MCAP until next year. The cohort of Kindergartners starting this year with CKLA won’t take MCAP for another three years. So for now they look at Dibels data, MAP data, and internal benchmarks established to align with MCAP. MCAP is only taken once a year so clearly it can’t be the only measure of progress.

At the secondary level there is a review of the curriculum l, changes made to ensure the grade level books are being used and that the entire writing process is being undertaken. This level is going to need more attention and work because part of what’s needed is planning and grading time for teachers such that they can provide meaningful feedback and support, which is hard to do when you have 30+ students.

Just following along? Sounds like you work in OCIP!

Is there a link to the presentation? I'd love to watch it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since you have been just "following along" regarding this transition, if this transition started three years ago, wouldn't we see some elements of growth on MCAP OR MAP already? The current fourth and fifth grade students have been part of that shift three years ago so shouldn't we see gains? The philosophy that we should only be following this cohort of K students to see the impact of the change is flawed.
Also, in my opinion, the one comment made was a pretty big comment regarding beliefs about standards and assessment. I believe the comment was "I don't want to get on my soapbox about MCAP.....". Big belief statement from the head of literacy in MCPS.

DP, but for the current 4th and 5th graders, the switch to Science of Reading only starting in 2nd or 3rd grade. I don't think they even really used it much for 3rd graders so I would expect to see practically zero impact for current 5th graders. Maybe a little for current 4th graders, but honestly changing directions in 2nd grade isn't likely to have a huge impact for them either. Even my 3rd grader, who started RGR in 1st grade and I think was bound to be a proficient reader regardless, still shows some notable negative effects of doing kindergarten under the old system (she's a good reader but still jumps right to guessing words she doesn't know rather than sounding them out, which is what she got taught to do in that formative kindergarten year when she started learning to read)... I would definitely expect some big changes for this year's 3rd graders but I don't think we'll see the full effects on MCAP until we get to the kids who started with the Science of Reading from Day 1 in kindergarten.