Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Advanced English for All” is an utter failure & a farce. There are many students in my kid’s class who are limited English speakers or who can barely write a coherent sentence. It’s not fair to lump everyone together and it helps no one in the end. MCPS tracks for math. Why are they doing this in English? It’s disastrous

When our school put everyone in Advanced English classes a couple years ago, we got this letter from the principal:

The purpose of this letter is to share an exciting change that is occurring in regards to our English classes. Starting in School Year 20-21, all students will be enrolled in the Advanced English course, collapsing our two-tier course structure into one. After analyzing our school performance data, soliciting student and staff feedback, and working with our leadership and supervisors in Central Office, we believe this move to heterogeneous Advanced English classes will allow all students access to rigorous instruction and better match the progressive levels of student performance we experienced this year. As part of this process, a primary focus of the English Department will be to strengthen our capacity to differentiate instruction in heterogeneous classes using the features of the new StudySync curriculum. We are eager to embark on this journey with our students as they grow as readers, writers and speakers.

Anonymous wrote:“Advanced English for All” is an utter failure & a farce. There are many students in my kid’s class who are limited English speakers or who can barely write a coherent sentence. It’s not fair to lump everyone together and it helps no one in the end. MCPS tracks for math. Why are they doing this in English? It’s disastrous

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There have been other threads out this. Middle school English stinks. Even my middle schooler knows how horrible it is. She gets more writing in her HIGH class.

I’ll preface this with the fact that we are not at a W middle-school, so could be better in Potomac.

My kid is in 8th and they rarely read novels. They read The Pact (which is also read and was crap) and they do very little writing. Barely any focus on grammar. It’s a huge waste of time.

No differentiation. Everyone is in Honors English. Even the kids who struggle, so it’s a joke. The kids who struggle are required to take an additional support class, but are also still kept in Honors English.

It's "Advanced English" in middle school. For everyone. No "Honors English" until high school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, there was a curriculum implementation update the BOE meeting last week, and the memo included this about StudySync, the middle school English curriculum:

Secondary Literacy: StudySync
The StudySync curriculum resources provide modules that include anchor texts, paired readings, and learning activities that completely are aligned to grade-level standards. The first four units address all of the Maryland College and Career Readiness Standards for English Language Arts that are expected for Grades 6–8. Additionally, all units also include Extended Oral Projects and Extended Writing Projects, as well as assessments that are aligned to the units of study. The StudySync curriculum includes instructional resources and assessments that address the language learning needs of English Learners/Emergent Multilingual Learners (ELs/EMLs) at all proficiency levels. MCPS students have access to online and print resources and novels for instructional purposes. Additional instructional resources were developed to support ELs/EMLs at lower proficiency levels in collaboration with the vendor and English Language Development (ELD) teachers at the middle school level. Additionally, OCIP continues to work with StudySync on the addition of diverse texts.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/CAGLA904C8AC/$file/Curr%20Implement%20Eval%20Review%20220113.pdf

Maybe someone else speaks bureaucrat, but that seems to be telling us that StudySync is exactly at grade level, and geared to meeting the needs of ELLs. That's great for emerging English learners, and I'm glad they have access to a curriculum that meets their needs.

But using a curriculum designed for ELLs, and that relies on "anchor texts and paired readings" rather than BOOKS is really frustrating for kids who need more engagement.

My 8th grader has been using StudySync all three years, and they've read one or two books each year in addition to the shorter readings that are accessed online. It's nothing fabulous, but there are real books. They just read The Outsiders.

And I don't think that it's mainly for ELLs. There are supposed to be ways for the teacher to differentiate for advanced readers. How well that works for them, I don't know.

https://www.mheducation.com/prek-12/program/studysync-ela/MKTSP-ROA01M0.html

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, there was a curriculum implementation update the BOE meeting last week, and the memo included this about StudySync, the middle school English curriculum:

Secondary Literacy: StudySync
The StudySync curriculum resources provide modules that include anchor texts, paired readings, and learning activities that completely are aligned to grade-level standards. The first four units address all of the Maryland College and Career Readiness Standards for English Language Arts that are expected for Grades 6–8. Additionally, all units also include Extended Oral Projects and Extended Writing Projects, as well as assessments that are aligned to the units of study. The StudySync curriculum includes instructional resources and assessments that address the language learning needs of English Learners/Emergent Multilingual Learners (ELs/EMLs) at all proficiency levels. MCPS students have access to online and print resources and novels for instructional purposes. Additional instructional resources were developed to support ELs/EMLs at lower proficiency levels in collaboration with the vendor and English Language Development (ELD) teachers at the middle school level. Additionally, OCIP continues to work with StudySync on the addition of diverse texts.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/CAGLA904C8AC/$file/Curr%20Implement%20Eval%20Review%20220113.pdf

Maybe someone else speaks bureaucrat, but that seems to be telling us that StudySync is exactly at grade level, and geared to meeting the needs of ELLs. That's great for emerging English learners, and I'm glad they have access to a curriculum that meets their needs.

But using a curriculum designed for ELLs, and that relies on "anchor texts and paired readings" rather than BOOKS is really frustrating for kids who need more engagement.

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, there was a curriculum implementation update the BOE meeting last week, and the memo included this about StudySync, the middle school English curriculum:

Secondary Literacy: StudySync
The StudySync curriculum resources provide modules that include anchor texts, paired readings, and learning activities that completely are aligned to grade-level standards. The first four units address all of the Maryland College and Career Readiness Standards for English Language Arts that are expected for Grades 6–8. Additionally, all units also include Extended Oral Projects and Extended Writing Projects, as well as assessments that are aligned to the units of study. The StudySync curriculum includes instructional resources and assessments that address the language learning needs of English Learners/Emergent Multilingual Learners (ELs/EMLs) at all proficiency levels. MCPS students have access to online and print resources and novels for instructional purposes. Additional instructional resources were developed to support ELs/EMLs at lower proficiency levels in collaboration with the vendor and English Language Development (ELD) teachers at the middle school level. Additionally, OCIP continues to work with StudySync on the addition of diverse texts.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/CAGLA904C8AC/$file/Curr%20Implement%20Eval%20Review%20220113.pdf

Anonymous wrote:There have been other threads out this. Middle school English stinks. Even my middle schooler knows how horrible it is. She gets more writing in her HIGH class.

I’ll preface this with the fact that we are not at a W middle-school, so could be better in Potomac.

My kid is in 8th and they rarely read novels. They read The Pact (which is also read and was crap) and they do very little writing. Barely any focus on grammar. It’s a huge waste of time.

No differentiation. Everyone is in Honors English. Even the kids who struggle, so it’s a joke. The kids who struggle are required to take an additional support class, but are also still kept in Honors English.