Reply to Achievement gap will worsen with refusal to provide distance learning

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If MCPS went forward with on-line instruction for say a month — in this example assume a 7th grade math reacher posts the lectures she  would normally give, teachers are available to try to answer questions, and they figure out a way to give a test of the material.  What should MCPS do when they re-open the schools?  Not all students will have been able to participate in the on-line learning.  So should the same material be taught again in the classroom?  [/quote]

Students that transfer from other school districts or countries get evaluated at the beginning of the year. We may have to do that for everyone next year. Students that are prepared, perhaps because they studied over the summer or continued with instruction somehow should NOT be penalized simply because others did not; those who can move forward should, and those who cannot move forward should not; they should be placed in the appropriate class no matter what. Whatever is done, it will be unfair to some; as a society I want the decision that is best for SOCIETY, not necessarily what is best for each and every individual. Society will be better off with at least SOME students continuing to learn NOW, rather than enacting a policy where NO STUDENT learns. Fair to all? No. Best for society? Most certainly.[/quote]

The evaluation you are describing may work if there were no school for a year.  But what if the school is closed for only one month or the rest of the academic year?  Are you going to create extra classes to accommodate the students who had access to the internet and those who did not.  What are your practical solutions to the problem the school would face?

[/quote]
PP here. I don't have all the answers; unlike "Jackanniny" Smith, no one is paying me $315,000, giving me 55 days of leave (scratch that, maybe they are, LoL!), a free car, or (most importantly) indemnity from lawsuits over my incompetence. So I don't have all the answers.  But here goes 10 seconds worth of thought. 
MCPS already has the problem that all students are going have missed an entire quarter/marking period of instruction. The chance school reopens this year is small and diminishing; let assume the chance is zero. i'm also assuming that even as incompetent as MCPS is, they will have something  up and running for Fall 2020/21; either we are back in school, or actual on line lessons have been worked out.

One solution is to ignore the missed instruction and advance students without preparation; I think this is the worst worst solution, but the one I expect MCPS to make. That is I expect MCPS to do this and just give teachers yet another "unfunded mandate" to "catch students up" without any adjustments to curriculum and lesson timing. yup, pretty certain this is what MCPS will do.

2nd, MCPS could make everyone repeat the entire grade; also a terrible solution. Logistically simple, so probably pretty appealing to MCPS. And as all the top students leave in droves for private school, on paper MCPS' achievement gaps will diminish. So a win-win for MCPS bureaucracy. Hmm, now I'm beginning to wonder if this will be what the county does...

3rd, MCPS could pick up where we left off in the curriculum when schools reopen, possibly in the fall. So MP1 of 2020/21 school year is the material that should have been MP4 of 2019/20.  To get everyone "back on schedule" MCPS would need to extend the school year (done summer of 2021 and not summer 2020). So by Fall 2021/2022 we are "back to normal".  Politically painful, but these are strange and unprecedented times and business as usual will not work.

Just like we have differentiation of honors vs on level classes, MCPS could add sections that are "on time" or "one quarter behind". So, for instance, instead of a school having, for instance 12 sections of "Geometry", that becomes 8 sections of "MP4 Algebra" and 4 sections of "MP1 Geometry". Logistically difficult, but not undo-able. Where a student needs to be placed would depend on above metioned testing; county could adapt its already existing "Progress Checks" via Performance Matters to do this. Alternatively, it could write or commission tests that aren't crap.  Chunking will be by an entire, not smaller units. No 1000 different levels, depending on whether little Johnny or sweet Jane covered "Unit 5, Topic 3, SLT 4" but not "Unit 5, Topic 3, SLT 5".

These scenarios would work for middle and high school. I admit I've done nothing to think about elementary school. But if you give ME $315,000 in salary and a free car loaded with lots of other taxpayer-funded perks, I'll spend more time thinking about this!

Love to hear what other long term solutions people have. And yes, I know there are TONS of issues, especially equity. But you don't force everyone on the sinking ship to drown just because your Titanic-sized school district didn't build enough lifeboats. [/quote]

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