Reply to Equity model editorial

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[quote=Anonymous]I love that Montgomery County is really looking into what works for struggling students.  As the UMC parent of high-achieving kids, here are my (possibly selfish) thoughts:

1) I wish they didn't have so much testing. I get why they're doing it - data is the answer! it will tell us who we're failing and how - but it's too much.  Two MAPs, three times a year.  Two PARCCs, in multiple parts, yearly.  Two district assessments, some of them in multiple parts, four times a year.  Plus whatever classroom assessments they do just as part of regular teaching and learning.  Plus CoGat some years.  And science testing some years.  When do they have time to actually teach anything?  We came from far less diverse schools.  One kid had two MAPs, twice a year, plus two PARCCs, once a year.  The other had three MAPs (they also used the Language Usage piece, which MoCo does not use), twice a year, and nothing else.  The testing is definitely disruptive, and when all you find out from it is that your kid is a high achiever, which you already knew, it hardly seems worth it.  Surely there's a way to get baselines for all the kids and follow up more on the kids most at risk?  Or would that just put them further behind because they'd spend more time testing and less time learning than the other kids?

2)  "Equity does not require equal results and achievement. [b]Equity requires equal access and opportunity[/b] so that success cannot be predicted by race or socioeconomic status."  This will NEVER work unless the school is willing to offer underperforming students the types of extracurricular learning that UMC kids get.  UMC kids are not increasing the achievement gap at school; they're increasing it through parentally provided enrichment.  The schools can not solve this problem.[/quote]

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