Reply to Raising AAP standards

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

Thank you for being honest!!!  I think our principal has a PC agenda.  I'm not unsympathetic that the kids in the lower groups feels stuck there (and one of my kids sometimes ends up in the lower groups) and I think the teachers need to be flexible about grouping, but to entirely eliminate ability grouping and then try to tell me that there will still be differentiation is insulting to my intelligence.[/quote]

I teach elementary students for FCPS. I have two classes (one during each half of the day), so let's compare:

Class one has 24 students. The LD teacher comes into the classroom for an hour during language arts. The ESOL teacher is in for a half hour (and it overlaps the LD teacher's hour, so there are three adults in the room at one point). During the half hour when three teachers are in the room, we are able to meet with 3 guided reading (lower reading) and literature discussion groups (higher reading). The LD and ESOL teachers do not work solely with LD and ESOL students, so we are able to group kids with similar needs. The LD teacher then pulls her students to her room for an additional 45 minutes and they work with a language program. One day a week, at the same time the LD students are out of the room, my AAP students leave. That leaves me with about 13 students with whom I can do an additional reading or writing lesson. There is a wide range of abilities in this class, but we have noted progress and I am genuinely excited about how well they are doing. I fell like I know this class well.

Class two has 29 students. While there is still a range of reading levels, none of these students get additional support, so the student:teacher ratio remains 29:1.  I have yet to be able to effectively manage small groups with this class. It's more "mass instruction". I don't feel I know the students as well as it is tougher to touch base with them individually. With this class I feel as though I am teaching more towards the middle.

Class one gets more differentiation, no question.[/quote]

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