Innovative Ideas to reduce educational disparity

[Anonymous]

Trying to think outside the box to resolve the educational disparities of MCPS, seems some schools consistently perform better, likely due to the insular nature of the well to population attending those schools.

It’s time we finally do something instead of complaining about it. Children of lesser means should have the same educational opportunity as the wealthy and the well off children would really grow if they expanded their multicultural experiences and exposures.

So this isn’t really an innovation because it’s been done before in other places but should we start to advocate for diversified schools... we already have a robust busing system all we need to do is end the practice of local based schooling (which sadly has its roots in segregation, yet has persisted). Amazing how that segregation remains today in schools, albeit more ‘economic’ than race based but we all know pervasive institutional racial discrimination leads to economic disparities and that translates to the reduced educational opportunity in the local school where the victims of systemic generational racism attend.

It cannot be that hard to develop a computer model which will place students in schools to create a balance in the schools of the wonderful diversity we have in the county. What a truly enriching experience it would be for all our young students. The only challenges I see would be potentially longer school bus commutes but I think this one is workable. We already have many of the ‘gifted’ program students traveling cross county. Sure another challenge will be some will complain, but like all change once instituted they’d get used to it.

Let’s have a good discussion and start to make our schools better for all. Please no haters here, the first step to advantageous change is constructive dialogue.

[Anonymous]

Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. Great accomplishments depend not so much on ingenuity as on hard work. This is a saying of the American inventor Thomas Edison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:all we need to do is end the practice of local based schooling

Sure. And all I need to go is get my 15-year-old to realize on her own that procrastination is an ineffective strategy and going to bed at 11 pm (or later) on school nights is a bad idea. Who will succeed first?

[Anonymous]

If you did not have access to a car, would you want your child transported to a distant school based on a computer model? What if they needed a sick pick up? What if they missed the bus? How about friends and community building near home? I believe NYC attempted to open up their HSs to all students and it has been successful. Most of the kids taking advantage of the program are not the ones that the system hoped to help.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/05/nyregion/school-choice-new-york-city-high-school-admissions.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you did not have access to a car, would you want your child transported to a distant school based on a computer model? What if they needed a sick pick up? What if they missed the bus? How about friends and community building near home? I believe NYC attempted to open up their HSs to all students and it has been successful. Most of the kids taking advantage of the program are not the ones that the system hoped to help.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/05/nyregion/school-choice-new-york-city-high-school-admissions.html

NYC attempted to open up their HSs to all students and it has not been successful.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

How silly for parents to think that schools are responsible for educating children!

Wait, what?

[Anonymous]

What if MCPC buse s whitman 9 and 10 th grade rs to Kennedy and Kennedy 9t&10 th graders to whitman, move the faculties as well? Will this practice make Kennedy a better school? Yes, but will the low performing students suddenly become better students?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What if MCPC buse s whitman 9 and 10 th grade rs to Kennedy and Kennedy 9t&10 th graders to whitman, move the faculties as well? Will this practice make Kennedy a better school? Yes, but will the low performing students suddenly become better students?

No, because they would still be segregated schools, just in swapped buildings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What if MCPC buse s whitman 9 and 10 th grade rs to Kennedy and Kennedy 9t&10 th graders to whitman, move the faculties as well? Will this practice make Kennedy a better school? Yes, but will the low performing students suddenly become better students?

No

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

You realize that even in a diverse school, struggling students are usually in very different classes than successful students...right? The opportunity for role models is small. When MCPS looked at the differences between Twinbrook ES and the other schools in the RM cluster, Twinbrook parents were (understandably)not convinced their kids would be better off removed from small Title 1 classes to be bussed to a different school where they would have classes 2x the size. It is a very complex issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You realize that even in a diverse school, struggling students are usually in very different classes than successful students...right? The opportunity for role models is small. When MCPS looked at the differences between Twinbrook ES and the other schools in the RM cluster, Twinbrook parents were (understandably)not convinced their kids would be better off removed from small Title 1 classes to be bussed to a different school where they would have classes 2x the size. It is a very complex issue.

Peoviding equal opportunity means open all AP and IB classes to every student in MCPS, regardless the grade and classes a student took. Wellbeing students will sit in the same classroom with the other students. All students will learn and success!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You realize that even in a diverse school, struggling students are usually in very different classes than successful students...right? The opportunity for role models is small. When MCPS looked at the differences between Twinbrook ES and the other schools in the RM cluster, Twinbrook parents were (understandably)not convinced their kids would be better off removed from small Title 1 classes to be bussed to a different school where they would have classes 2x the size. It is a very complex issue.

Not a Twinbrook parent, but I don't disagree with them.

OP, how would you convince them or me?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You realize that even in a diverse school, struggling students are usually in very different classes than successful students...right? The opportunity for role models is small. When MCPS looked at the differences between Twinbrook ES and the other schools in the RM cluster, Twinbrook parents were (understandably)not convinced their kids would be better off removed from small Title 1 classes to be bussed to a different school where they would have classes 2x the size. It is a very complex issue.

+1 For ES, is it better for a low performing student to be in a large class size with more income diversity or to be in a small class size with less such diversity? 28 students and 1 teacher vs 15 students and 1 teacher and an aid.

As far as MS goes - other than math, they could be mixed in, but for those MS now with the "sort of magnet" classes, the students will not be mixed, and apparently MCPS wants to put these types of classes in all the non magnet MS, so the separation will exist everywhere. Also, once you hit HS, that's when higher performing kids really split off from the lower performing ones.

I grew up lower income, and my school was a high FARMs/ESOL school. When I hit the point where I could take AP classes, most of my classes were separated from the lower performing kids. The kids who were in my AP classes were pretty high performing from earlier on. Some were lower income like me. These students were generally high performing from early on. There was no magic formula busing scheme that got us there.