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]In the discussion about the new middle school ELA curriculum at last week's BOE meeting, a number of board members talked about the challenges of having mixed levels in the same middle school English classes-- that it seems like not the most helpful option either for students who are behind, for students who are gifted/advanced, or for teachers who have to try to differentiate for such a wide range of students.

Why is it like this?  Is there a backstory?  Did there used to be differences in levels?  Are there good reasons MCPS/schools have articulated not to do this?  (If you're going to say "it's about equity," can you explain some of the specifics of why?  Because it seems like for English you don't have the same "tracking" concerns you might have in subjects like math where a kid gets locked into a pathway early and it's harder to go up or down-- it should be pretty easy to change English levels from year to year-- and besides, in math where that might be more of a real concern, that hasn't stopped them from having different levels! So why not English?)

Assuming this is a better pathway, is this something where there's room to advocate for changes?  Board members seem supportive, could a group of people lobby them to push the issue and get MCPS to make changes?  Or is this something that they basically defer to central office on and so it would be better to lobby central office on this?  (And if so, what offices are the most sympathetic/opposed and what arguments might they be most responsive to?  How does change actually get made at Central Office?)   Is this something MCCPTA has done in the past or could do now, and/or are there other parent groups MCPS might listen to more?[/quote]

By bringing every one down to the LCD they can consider the achievement gap closed![/quote]

And that is the goal. [/quote]

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