Reply to Differentiation in MCPS elementary

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Differentiation in MCPS elementary"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Once all the MCPS Elem schools start using the new curriculum Benchmark Advance, you will see there is very little (if any) time for small-group reading. I think Benchmark is great for kids that are on or above grade level, but is very challenging for kids that are struggling and unable to work independently. Unfortunately -- at least for the k, 1st and 2nd grade classes, there will ALWAYS be (at least) several students below grade level, and (at least) several more students barely on grade level, so the teacher will spend the majority of the time of the reading / writing block working with the students who are struggling.

Even though the prior method of utilizing reading groups were not always super beneficial for the "top" readers, it was better than the new curriculum, which doesn't allow for small groups. Parents of students who are not yet using the new curriculum may not be aware of the changes.

My children are at a private school and I work in MCPS. Although in the school my kids attend I have not seen much  official math or reading differentiation, they are definitely getting individual attention during math and reading. Many people do public for elementary and middle, with the hope of going to a private high school, but I have found the opposite to be true and plan on going to public high school.

If your child is truly gifted, I think MCPS has a lot to offer if they test into a CES or magnet middle / high school, and I would focus on supplementing math and reading (and writing) at home or with a tutor in the early years of elementary school. My kids are smart but not exceptionally gifted, so being in a private school where they can receive individual attention has been beneficial for them. [/quote]

Re: benchmark - I have two kids in (high performing W cluster) MCPS.  One is in K and is an above-average (for K) student, the other is in 3rd and is more average.  The K Benchmark, at least the homework, is RIDICULOUSLY easy.  It's like "circle the word TO" whereas my kid - who's advanced but not ridiculously so, like there are a bunch of others in his class at his level - can easily read the whole sentence the TO is in.

3rd seems a little harder comparatively, but my 3rd grader is also more on grade level vs above.[/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