Reply to Equity model editorial

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Here's why the achievement gap has grown:

Because kids...all kids...barely receive instruction at their level. Most of the elementary school day is dedicated to reading and math blocks, but kids are broken into groups within the classroom and teachers rush through each group quickly addressing/assessing and then sending them on their way to work independently.

Instead, kids should switch classrooms for math and reading and spelling and grammar (noting that grammar currently isn't part of the mcps curriculum) to receive actual teacher instruction at their level.

Spelling should be expanded to include vocabulary. That's the old school way we learned in private school (which actual drills/exercises).

And grammar must be taught. It's mind boggling that it isn't! Name a 1st world country that doesn't teach grammar.

Kids can't magically learn grammar through reading...particularly when the kids who aren't achieving don't read for pleasure. Can they read and pass the ridiculous mcps literacy benchmarks? Sure. Will they excel in HS, college and the workforce? Nope. You can't write well if you haven't mastered spelling, vocabulary and grammar. I believe that fact is supported by "No duh!"
[/quote]

I agree with this and I am a teacher. FYI- teachers do not make these decisions. We are told how it is going to be by our admins. The three ring circus (actually I have 5 reading and math groups) is a very ineffective model for students and teachers. I have a feeling that we won't be going back to ability grouping though. It's one of the reasons I took my DS out of public school and out him in a Catholic school. He was always in the high group and his teachers would meet with his group once or maybe twice a week for 15-20 mins. The rest of the time was his group doing busy work while the teacher met with the on-grade level and below grade level groups everyday. In Catholic school, students are divided into two groups per grade for all subjects and students can move between them if necessary. Now he isn't sitting for days filling out worksheets. [/quote]

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