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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think MCPS would benefit if:

They broke up into two school districts.  Gaithersburg and north in one and Rockville south in another.  The county is just too big.

They need to get rid of every program that busses a child away from their home school.  All kids go to the school closest to them.

Anyone within 1 mile of school does not get a bus, even if there is a busy road.  Set up crossing guards just like cities do.  The amount of money spent on busses in MCPS is obscene.

Get back to tracking kids in school instead of this reading and math group nonsense.  So much time is wasted on this concept, so much time.  Give the lower tracked kids, smaller ratios AND a full time aide in the class, for every grade K-5th.  Pull those kids out of the bottom IMMEDIATELY.  Stop leaving them in the dust during "busy" work times.  It is too hard to bridge the gap in later grades.  Bridge the f'ing gap in K.  Nip it in the bud.  [b]Do you know what a class with 15 kids and 2 teachers could do? [/b] It would be amazing to see.

And on the flip side, tracking brings the gifted kids together and even with higher ratios, the teacher can accelerate and challenge these kids.  They tend to have parents who can come in and volunteer if needed to.  No need for HGC and bussing kids around.

The kids working at grade level would have current ratios, can take home additional acceleration sheets for optional homework and can benefit by direct teaching without the struggling kids receiving more help and the know-it alls with their hands raised 24/7, which leaves the on-grade level students currently ignored.  That needs to change.

[/quote]

I know first hand what a class like this can do....it's amazing.  My kid was in PEP and was told that he no longer qualified for an IEP going into K.  The accommodation he needed was a space with less human beings in it.  It was just the sheer number of bodies that overwhelmed him and would cause him to hide under a table or run into the halls for quiet space.  A class of 1:28 would still be 29 people in the class room.  15:2 is only 17 people.

To get that ratio though, I had to go private.  I can say for him, it's been worth it.  In addition to the smaller number of people, the teachers know my child.  They can see the melt down coming and head it off before it even hits.  He gets differentiated instruction in math, reading, and writing which sounds a lot like the tracking you described above.  There is no busy work.  There is no homework because questions are answered in class and then the teachers can walk around and assist as necessary.  Especially for K, with 2 teachers, there is always someone to teach and someone to assist.  Assist may mean helping to open the juice box, decoding a word, tying a shoe, teaching multiple groups simultaneously, or the ability to walk a child out of the class that is being disruptive.  [/quote]

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