Reply to How to help MCPS' lowest performing students?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]A lot has been said about what school district should do, schools can do and teachers too. How about trying to help families of these students with 1:1 counseling of some sort to make sure they understand what is expected of students, the services that are available to them, and actual guiding these families especially new families to the system from another country? Could a "host family" work? It's not a one time here you go here's the welcome to mcps folder that tells you what you need to do, but actually checking in with them very frequently (1-2x week). Does this fall under Social Worker duties, can paras do some of this? [/quote]

Why are schools responsible for 1:1 counseling of families?  Schools are for educating students not solving all the problems of families.  And schools already have parent community coordinators to help with engagement.  Not to mention there is a Parent Academy that does workshops and a Special Education committee that has meetings every month and uploads the recording to the website.

The basic expectation is that students 1)show up to school everyday on time, 2)try hard, 3)guardians review what comes home, and 4)if/when they have concerns or questions they reach out to the teacher/school. What is difficult about that expectation?[/quote]

I'm not the PP, but I think this goes to a pretty fundamental difference of worldviews. You seem to see education as something that a child earns by being born to the correct parents. PP sees education as something we owe children because they are in our society.

I align with PP, not just because I think it's the American way to view education but also because it's the only way we're going to still have a functioning society in a couple of decades. [/quote]

No, education is a fundamental right of all children and those who seek it.  As such school should engage in education, not social work.  Social Work is the vain of Health and Human services not school districts.  Part of the problem in education is folks seem to believe we can keep piling on more and more responsibility to the education system that has absolutely nothing to do with education.  I understand that kids who are hungry or not clothed have a harder time learning, but that doesn't mean solving that problem is the responsibility of the education system.

The expectations are really clear.  Come to school, do the work, ask school staff if you have questions/concerns.  Now if that model isn't working, then a different model is needed.

Example: People are calling for an early warning system to alert families that their student is falling behind.  While I can certainly understand how this could be helpful and beneficial, I also challenge if it is need.  [b]Grades and a slew of standardized test scores are already provided.  Those are (or should be) the early warning system that a student is falling behind.  If they are not performing that function, the question is why not? Why do we need another document?[/b][/quote]

This is where you go wrong. Grades often don't provide the early warnings that they should due to grade inflation. Furthermore, the standardized tests are routinely dismissed by teachers as "unimportant" and point parents to pay attention the classroom grades instead.

This misdirection by teachers and schools, cause parents to not realize that there's a problem until it's far too late. THAT is the genesis of the Early Warning System that is being advocated for, which is very much needed because unless you FORCE MCPS to do the right thing, the system simply won't.[/quote]

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