Innovative Ideas to reduce educational disparity

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately, parental involvement is something that cannot be solved by re-engineering the districts. I live in a wealthy public school district in the NYC suburbs and even with the relatively homoegeneous student population (racially diverse but not economically diverse), it is the students whose parents feel the school district should raise and educate their kids that have the worst outcomes.

Single parents and poor parents are struggling to put food on the plate, maybe working 2 jobs, or are suffering because they are unemployed and thus for a variety of reasons they cannot instill educational virtue into their children. Do we let such disadvanged children of disadvantaged parents (not saying being a single parent is a disadvantage, it’s a blessing of course but single parents will on average be more busy). No, by mixing the advanced students with the disadvanged... the disadvanged can watch, learn, see from the well performing peers how to be a better student. Better students get the benefit of being a role model. Also we can use the SSL requirement to our advantage. We can assign underperforming students to high achieving students and for SSL hours, they can tutor and assist with homework the academically challenged. Since the under performers need SSL hits too, since they too are experiencing a multicultural experience... they can get SSL hours for this type of learning. Since perhaps these children would be working after school to support the family, and not doing homework and now we’ve restricted their free time in this SSL-tutor model. We can pay these students a SSL credit ‘cash award’. Thus they learns that education pays dividends. A great lesson. This would be affordable because as they become better students, the county will spend much less on all the special programs.
Then think of the social benefits. New opportunity for boyfriend and girlfriend relationships outside the static stale undiverse options now available. Kids will learn poor kids are people too, learn rich kids aren’t so bad after all, colors religions creeds and cultural barriers break down as children enjoy their shared human experience. I know this sounds cheesy but point is these are real word lessons many don’t learn until they are an adult, now they can learn them when their life is dedicated to learning. When these kids grow up they will likely be more harmonious with ‘others’ more open minded, ideally less likely to partake in the divisive and partisan political behavior the current crop in office our forcing upon society. This isn’t ‘hope and change’ rhetoric but change we can work on to hopefully bring more peaceful and prosperous future for all of our children.

Isn’t this worth a try? You say it failed in NYC, their failure is our opportunity to improve. MoCo is growing and expanding with increases of immigrants and diverse peoples, do we throw our hands up and say it can be done, so we build more walls to live behind? Or do we embrace our new neighbors, friends, and in time,our new family members. Now is the time to embrace the future for our county.

Reading what you wrote makes me realize how idealistic you are. What you describe is a utopian society where the Larlos and Larlas collaboratively work together, all the time. There are so many issues involved: (1) do parents of poor children want their kids spending more time on the bus being truck across the county? (2) Does diversifying the school truly equally help both sides? (3) You are trying to fix an academic disparity issue with something that seems superficial rather than something that has deeper roots (4) To me, education starts at home. Parents of kids who prioritize education will likely have children who do well in school. (5) you are describing what I consider a socialist society.

I think the best way to close the achievement gap is to start early even before kids start Kindergarten. Provide programs in poorer areas during after school hours to motive kids and instill curiosity.

Great says! I agree it should start early. Provide free pre-school education to families who need it and free after school programs to school aged kids with needs! That's why MCPS should do rather than spending all the money on busing kids around to make disparity disappear by mixing low achievers with high achievers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay here's the thing.. most kids from poor families with uneducated parents grow up not thinking that college or some type of higher education is a reality for them. It's not even in their thought process. We need to change that culture- for the kids AND for the parents.

So that we can saddle more kids with crushing student loan debt. Great idea...not.

So I don't get it. In DCUMland of the overachievers, we're all about where our little Larlas will be applying to college. Are you discouraging this for those who are poor?

Agreed... for the most part, college is the way out of poverty around here.

If you have good grades/test scores, are low income, then more than likely you can get some scholarships, bonus if you are a minority.

Lots of good colleges now give out great financial aid for low income, first in family to go to college, great grades .. type students.

[Anonymous]

instead of universal free Pre-K, how about free aftercare for FARM kids and pay teachers to help/check on their homeworks and give remedial lessons.

[Anonymous]

There is a whole body of research devoted to this subject. Researchers disagree on what causes the "achievement gap" and how to reduce it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread sounds like OP is crowdsourcing ideas/input for some sort of a school project. Are you, OP?

Total troll trying to whip up a frenzy. Maybe the Russians have found DCUM!! FInally!!!

OP here, not trolling. Jeez would I write so much if I was? And I know ‘bussing’ isn’t innovative... did you read my post? Thanks to everyone else for the civil engaged and additive dialogue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:instead of universal free Pre-K, how about free aftercare for FARM kids and pay teachers to help/check on their homeworks and give remedial lessons.

I believe there is some nature involved too. Some kids are bright and some kids are not. There is also research that talks about the detrimental effect on poverty on kid's intellect.

[Anonymous]

WHen my family and I came to this country, the first thing that my mother bought us was a set of encyclopedia. She made us do homework and more everyday. THen she told us that she wanted us (her kids) to have a better life than hers and that the only way to do that was to go to college. College was always in our minds. It was never optional; it was required. My parents saved most of the money they made to save for college. We didn't go on vacations or have new toys and clothes as a result.
To me, the only way to close the achievement gap is if more families start acquiring this value system. But it won't happen easily due to differences in our culture. I do think schools can do something about it though.
This school did in CA: https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/12/08/14colleges_ep.h30.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Busing kids arbitrarily is not going to dramatically improve student achievement. Instead of struggling students you'll have tired, struggling students. It's a major inconvenience for minimal returns.

What you describe is like the desegregation busing that did impact achievement significanty because there were subatantial differences in resource allotment. If one group has current textbooks, lots of lab equipment, and well maintained facilities and the other doesn't, busing the haves to the have-nots school provides an incentive to make up the shortfall. I don't think anyone is suggesting that's the problem here.

Clearly the correlation between academic achievement and SES is complex and tied to a multitude of factors. The best way to address it, however, is to strengthen academics. I think there are 3 key areas that need to be addressed:

1. Curriculum - An independent audit has concluded that MCPS'S curriculum is awful. We need a rigorous, content rich curriculum. We need to teach phonics explicitly. We need to have content rich courses in Science and Social Studies which will also help with reading comprehension by supplying context. We need to have a mathematic curriculum developed by mathematical experts (and eliminate calculators before high school). We need to teach grammar, spelling, and handwriting. We need to have textbooks that are prepared and reviewed by subject matter experts, with topics that progress in a logical order, with explanations and examples (especially vital for those who have the least academic support at home), and with convenient features like glossaries and indexes. (Ideally, I'd like for everyone to learn a foreign language and have a comprehensive health class starting in 1st grade, but those are wants, not need.)

2. Grading - The grading system needs to be overhauled. Every assignment should be graded for correctness and all errors should be marked. I'd like to see a percentage based grading scale as that seems the most straightforward indicator of a child's academic performance. Take away the 50% credit for an attempt. Take away test retakes. If you want to allow retakes, it should be at the assignment level where learning is supposed to occur, not at the assessment level. If the child's grade is low they can do extra course-related work to bring up their grade which will give them a chance to inprove their understanding and/or develop an interest in the subject. Restore cumulative finals.

3. Grouping - Have FLEXIBLE ability grouping (not tracking). With MCPS's preferred heterogeneous grouping, high performance students are often largely ignored, struggling students don't get as much help as they need, and on-level students aren't encouraged to reach their potential. Unless you're going to completely ignore grade level and above grade level students, any attention and class time spent addressing their needs is less that can be devoted to those who need help the most. Sometimes, higher achieving students are set to peer tutor struggling atudents which shortchanges them both. The high achieving student should be given the opportunity to learn. If not, why do they need to be at school? Further, the high achieving student, whatever the reading and math level, will not be as effective as a well-trained, licensed teacher.

Flexible ability grouping has been done, successfully in MCPS.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/03/AR2007110301167.html?sid=ST2007110301386

The fact is that education in MCPS is broken. A lot of times, teachers may go outside the curriculum to make up the deficiencies, but this would be teacher dependent. There could possibly be a correlation by school if more experienced teachers who know what supplemental instruction children need and are secure enough in their jobs to go outside the curriculum are drawn to certain schools. The key is not to shuffle around the students so that students might happen to get one of these gems. The key is to change the curriculum so that all teachers are providing all necessary content.

Going to a high SES school is no guarantee that academic conditions will be better, as amply demonstrated in this recent thread concerning math instruction at Churchill:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/749557.page

I've long been convinced that a large part of MCPS's "success" is that it has a large percentage of well-educated parents. These parents know what is vital for academic success, and where they see shortfalls, will either tutor the child at home or high a tutor from the locally booming tutor industry. Bussing a child to another school "to instill educational virtue", is unlikely to be successful if the key to being a "better student" is to get supplemental instruction outside the school. I think you'd get a better return if you spent the bussing fund on vouchers to Sylvan, Kumon, Mathnasium, Orton Gillingham, Lindamood Bell, etc. They can learn to harmonize there, where they're actually learning.

+1000

+1,000,000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Kumbaya my loooooord, Kumbayaaaaaa.
Kumbaya my loooooord, Kumbayaaaaaa.

Through labor protests, folk masses, civil rights marches, student uprisings, postprandial programs at church spaghetti suppers, the song was treated in a straightforward manner, held up without irony as a ritual of reverence, a soft-voice anthem of togetherness, a choral group hug.

Then something changed in the American psyche, and "Kumbaya" — along with the unity it represents — began to be mocked, especially by political figures and the people who cover them. The song became sneering shorthand for blissful agreement...The fuzzily translated word has become crystal clear code in the world of politics. As Vanderbilt University political scientist John G. Geer said to Freedman in The New York Times, invoking kumbaya "lets you ridicule the whole idea of compromise."

https://www.npr.org/2012/01/13/145059502/when-did-kumbaya-become-such-a-bad-thing

Today I think Kumbaya means blissful, idealistic ignorance of reality. Prime example: OP's post.
Only question I have is if OP is a teenager or not trying to race-bait.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to get the parents involved. If parents can't or won't be involved, the school will never get better for most of those kids.

Involved, how?

DP.. care about the kids' education. Make sure the kids do their HW and tell the kids to get a good education. A parent doesn't necessarily have to be able to help with HW, though that definitely helps. MCPS provides Saturday school and summer classes for struggling students. I took a math summer class once in MS (not in MCPS). It enabled me to take more advanced math class in HS.

I grew up low income with parents who didn't speak English. And I was a latch key kid.

Most parents care about their kids' education, don't they?

Actions speak louder than words.

What actions, specifically, are you listening to?

demonstrable evidence that one "cares about their kids' education."

you know, like reading together at the library, going to free museums, talking about life to young child, instilling values like working hard/studying/not being absent from school, discipline, talking with teachers/working with teachers as a team.

stop the excuse, you had a child, now raise him or her. that's your job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay here's the thing.. most kids from poor families with uneducated parents grow up not thinking that college or some type of higher education is a reality for them. It's not even in their thought process. We need to change that culture- for the kids AND for the parents.

Central american countries only mandate school until 6th grade. Not a value. Not a concept.
That plus zero assimilation here = Still not a value.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My child is in one of the local CES programs. His BFF lives in our neighborhood, but only because his parent is on disability housing program. The BFF doesn't go to the local school (which is an excellent es) but is bussed OUT to a much "lesser" school for either behavioral problems, special reading program or both. The BFF has no observable behavior problems in the neighborhood, in fact the opposite.

BFFs parent has not had the same opportunities and privileges in life as I have. The parent does not understand the importance of advocating for the children, does not go to the school events like back to school night. Does not supplement the education the child gets at school by adding extra books, talking about the curriculum and connecting the child to additional resources, etc. The BFF accused my child of "showing off" for using mildly advanced words in conversation. The parent does not speak "proper queens English" conversationally.

The fundamental difference between where my child is, academically, and the BFF is related to what goes on at home.

We can bus kids all over the state, but that will not solve the root of the problem. I would rephrase the initial question to: how can we solve the education barrier by enabling more parents at home.

I went to back-to-school nights out of a sense of duty. This is what good, involved, middle-class, educated parents are supposed to do, after all! I never got anything out of them. Back-to-school nights have seen the last of me.

That's not true, and you know it.

Imagine the empty line on the sign-in sheet next to YOUR child's name??
If the teacher thinks you are under achieving parents they might think you have an underachiever child and might, subconsciously, smudge their grade lower. Worse, what if they think you are uninvolved?? They could slack off on educating YOUR child.
Not on MY watch!!
But PP's neighbor parent hasn't been socialized to think that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a whole body of research devoted to this subject. Researchers disagree on what causes the "achievement gap" and how to reduce it.

gosh, common sense has really gone out the window.

[Anonymous]

DC is a stellar MCPS student who would love to have study buddies of different race/SEC status. Where to find such opportunities? Classmates are either uninterested or unwill.

[Anonymous]

I tend to think the residential segregation piece has to come first. Communities are geographically defined. We tend to create community with people who we live close to. Because it is very easy for me to pick up another neighborhood kid when I pick mine up and drop them home. Because it is easier to socialize close to home. Because it is easier to go to PTA meetings when they are close to home. I think if housing is more integrated racially and by SES, then those are people you see and get to know over the years. From preschoolers playing at the neighborhood park to school and after school activities, to faith communities, etc. A community can wrap around a child in need. A school can't do it alone.