Reply to Oyster Adams versus DCI

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Reply to "Oyster Adams versus DCI"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]A bigger part of the problem is that DCI doesn't offer tough enough classes for high achievers at both the middle school and high school levels.

Why should teachers be forced to differentiate to educate students working one, two, even three years ahead of grade level sitting in the same classes as kids working, one, two even three years behind grade level in both the DCI middle school and high school? With social promotion, DCI passes the stragglers up the chain, so gap widens as you go up, particularly for ELA, social studies and science.

There's even too little challenge too late for the strongest students in high school IB Diploma classes. The arrangement motivates the highest achievers to leave along the way. It also motivates the better teachers, who aren't paid as much in DCPS or the burbs, to leave. You see the writing on the wall for your high achiever and start eyeing suburban real estate.[/quote]

There are many reasons why teachers should differentiate. It’s what is best for students. Having tracked classes is not an actual solution and only serves as segregation. This prevents students from receiving the instruction they actually need based at a broken down standards-based level since there is no one who is a uniform “one/two/three/etc year” ahead or below grade level in all aspects of a subject area. Having students in heterogenous classes allows for flexibility day to day so students aren’t tracked for the entirety of a year. There could be a student who needs work 5 years above/below grade level for a particular topic and having a tracked class will not address this issue.

It’s a teacher’s job to differentiate. The issue is teachers are not necessarily taught how to do it, and aren’t given the coaching necessary to meet their students’ needs. [/quote]

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