Reply to Did Dr. McKnight's antiracist speech fall flat?

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Did Dr. McKnight's antiracist speech fall flat?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Does this mean they are getting rid of compacted to make sure that all kids receive the same curriculum?:

A change to the elementary mathematics course
structure and grouping practices that support all
students’ developing a solid mathematics foundation,
with increased rigor through heterogeneous grouping
(Special Education, Emergent Multilingual Learners, and
Focus Group Students)[/quote]

Probably Yes. Check out this
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EtpLRvaotYP5T0UgqQZ7mMtAH_6OMyKHs1ulZtZNhSc/edit

3.0
A change to the elementary mathematics course structure and grouping practices that support all students’ developing a solid mathematics foundation, with increased rigor through heterogeneous grouping (Special Education, Emergent Multilingual Learners, and Focus Group Students).

3.1
Develop new guidance for mathematics course placement in Grades 4&5. (Aligns with Recommendation 4.2)

3.2
Identify students in schools with small numbers of accelerated students to enter the virtual academy for Mathematics. (Aligns with Recommendation 4.2)
[/quote]
As a parent of 3 advanced math kids (who ended up in magnet ES, MS, and HS) and also a middle school teacher, I'm happy to see this. In grades K-3 I thought our ES did a very good job with heterogeneous classes and subgroups within the math lessons. I asked about how they taught the "same" lesson to different levels within the class and was impressed with the differentiation. Although the topic was 3 digit addition, the advanced group had more complex problems. It wasn't just about getting the answer. The kids had to solve it using multiple models, explain their models to the others, generate pros and cons as a group for all of the methods, and then be able to explain other student's thinking. While my kids ended up in a magnet, other kids equally mathy didn't and the level and methods of instruction in 4th and 5th grade (compacted) didn't have the same depth of thinking. It was more about rushing through the content.

In middle school I see kids who are bright and capable, but because there weren't enough kids to form a compacted math class, they weren't accelerated. And I see others who got accelerated but shouldn't have been because their parents pushed or the principal was trying to fill a class. Having a virtual academy option for kids who need acceleration but aren't getting it would be great. And then emphasizing better math instruction in 4th and 5th to manage heterogeneous groups will also help everyone else.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics