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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I agree that Amplify has lots of issues.

However, my hot take is that DCPS providing a full science curriculum with units mapped out, resources ready etc is actually extremely valuable to science in DCPS as a whole. It’s a big improvement from years ago when there was essentially nothing for teachers to work off of except standards.

I admit it likely does not help the strongest science teachers in DCPS. However I think providing a full curriculum is a huge step forward for many newer science teachers, and will help many students learn science in classes with less experienced teachers. Science teacher is also a hard-to-fill position, so sometimes an inexperienced teacher might really need a curriculum to work off, and adjust as needed.

Before the flaming commences, yes there still needs to be improvements and the strongest science teachers need to be vocal with ways to adjust the curriculum. [/quote]

There was a (bad but not quite as horrible) curriculum before Amplify.

Nothing you said justifies picking Amplify.

What you said is DCPS's excuse for everything: We don't trust our teachers, so we'll centralize everything (even though we don't know what we're doing), and then all students can have the same bad experience. Equity![/quote]

That's not quite true, the curriculum before had Cornerstone assessments and a scope and sequence, but really no day-to-day materials or resources. So teachers had to create or find those on their own. And yes, having been a middle school teacher in DCPS for close to 20 years, I would say at least 50% of science teachers that I've known greatly benefit from having a pre-made curriculum.

Nothing stops a strong science teacher from supplementing Amplify materials with other resources. Literally no one checks science classes that they are on a specific activity within Amplify. Maybe some administrators pay lip service to "are you implementing Amplify?" so teachers need to do enough to be able to say yes, which basically just means doing the End-of-Unit tests. They do check more specifically for math, but really not for science from what I've seen.[/quote]

It’s not just one end-of-unit test. According to DCPS Central Office, teachers must administer three Amplify tests per unit (a pre, middle, and post). There are six Amplify units in sixth grade, so that’s an additional 18 tests on top of all the other tests schools are required to administer. It takes students at my school an average of 45 minutes (almost one class period) to complete one Amplify test. That’s more than three weeks of lost instructional time. [/quote]

You should maybe think about adjusting, no one really cares about the pre-test (or the mid-test, I've never done one of those at all). The pre-test is literally the same as the end-of-unit test, but the kids haven't learned the topic yet, so doesn't make much sense to spend anywhere near as much time on the pre-test. If anyone checks anything, it's just the multiple choice, which is usually like 12 questions. Give them 20 minutes, say it's an engagement grade for trying, and keep it moving.[/quote]

Does oversight vary by principal and IS?[/quote]

It does.[/quote]

Sure, you need to figure out exactly how to balance the whole “ask for forgiveness instead of permission” situation for yourself. But no principal is going to get you in hot water for like “hey all your students took the pre-test but you only let them have 20 minutes so you could teach a short lesson too?!?”

PP said they’re at a middle school, and the IS for middle school really DNGAF about amplify [/quote]

I’ve been literally yelled at over not doing it enough before.  [/quote]

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