Reply to Why is there no levelling for middle school English/ELA (is there a backstory?), and is that possible to change?

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Reply to "Why is there no levelling for middle school English/ELA (is there a backstory?), and is that possible to change?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Can someone speak to OPs other questions about how to advocate for it to be changed back? What has already been done, and does it seem like changing back is possible/ there is enough support?[/quote]

A couple of thoughts on advocacy.

First, I know the MCC PTA gifted committee was looking to take this on and wanted parent volunteers.

Second, look for an ally on the school board. This discussion around the Middle School curriculum provides a perfect opportunity to open the conversation. Know what you were advocating for. In this case, the most realistic request is probably an open door policy. Any kid can opt into honors or regular, without any gatekeeping

Ask that ally to officially inquire about whether test scores have gone up for target communities since the advent of honors for all ELA. By now, they should have at least 4 years of data for Middle School, and they will soon have 2 years of data for high school. Basically, did the hypothesis work? I'm guessing no.

This is a good time to be doing the advocacy because there does seem to be some swing back to common sense approaches that meet kids where they are. [/quote]

Who would be the best board ally for this?  Yang and Stewart both seemed pretty interested in this issue/skeptical about the challenges of differentiating in heterogenous classrooms (also the SMOB but obviously that doesn't help much.). Maybe Wolff too although I couldn't entirely tell where she was coming from on this.  There might be others who care too but didn't speak about it last week (anyone know?)[/quote]

There are no allies to be had on the school board. They collude and work in unision behind closed doors. Even if they personally are sympathetic to your cause or issue, they won't go it alone. They will only back what they think a majority of the board will go along with.[/quote]

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