Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a native English speaking but language disordered kid, OP, I can say that there is a lot about the failure to educate EL kids that also applies to non-EL kids.

I was extremely uncomfortable when I volunteered as a reading aide during the pandemic in MCPS and it became clear to me that the 1st grader - whose home/native language was Spanish - I was assigned to was being given no effective reading instruction, but she was tasked to do a lot of comprehension and writing work that was completely above her skill level. She could not identify the sound/symbol association for any letters. As a parent of a dyslexic child, I cannot understand why children - whether ESL or not - have no access to effective phonologically-based decoding instruction. Kids will never be able to attend to meaning if they do not reach a place of fluent automatic decoding on a subconscious level, so that their cognitive effort can focus on meaning. This has to be achieved in K and 1st or within the first year or two of schooling for non/native speakers otherwise those kids are getting left behind.

And, explicit instruction for vocabulary acquisition, word structure, sentence structure, spelling and grammar are non-existent for all MCPS students, whether EL or not. There are many non-EL, non-disability diagnosed students who will learn without explicit instruction or get taught by parents or tutors, but many who won't/don't and whose outcomes and opportunities become more limited.

But the district has invested in a phonological curriculum for ES and in Science of Reading professional development for teachers. So what’s missing? Do teachers need more PD? Is more instruction for how to teach dyslexic students needed?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve heard that Lexia for English learners (I forget the name) is good. Are you familiar with that and if so do you agree?

NP here…I had students would’ve benefited from Lexia and sent my administrator a request for licenses for specific students along with reasons why I believed this was a good program for them. Admin wouldn’t approve and the district ran out of licenses.

Elementary schools don’t have a curriculum, even for newcomers. On top of that the district is forcing a full plug in model while increasing our caseloads making it near impossible to meet the needs of our EMLs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a native English speaking but language disordered kid, OP, I can say that there is a lot about the failure to educate EL kids that also applies to non-EL kids.

I was extremely uncomfortable when I volunteered as a reading aide during the pandemic in MCPS and it became clear to me that the 1st grader - whose home/native language was Spanish - I was assigned to was being given no effective reading instruction, but she was tasked to do a lot of comprehension and writing work that was completely above her skill level. She could not identify the sound/symbol association for any letters. As a parent of a dyslexic child, I cannot understand why children - whether ESL or not - have no access to effective phonologically-based decoding instruction. Kids will never be able to attend to meaning if they do not reach a place of fluent automatic decoding on a subconscious level, so that their cognitive effort can focus on meaning. This has to be achieved in K and 1st or within the first year or two of schooling for non/native speakers otherwise those kids are getting left behind.

And, explicit instruction for vocabulary acquisition, word structure, sentence structure, spelling and grammar are non-existent for all MCPS students, whether EL or not. There are many non-EL, non-disability diagnosed students who will learn without explicit instruction or get taught by parents or tutors, but many who won't/don't and whose outcomes and opportunities become more limited.

But the district has invested in a phonological curriculum for ES and in Science of Reading professional development for teachers. So what’s missing? Do teachers need more PD? Is more instruction for how to teach dyslexic students needed?

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a native English speaking but language disordered kid, OP, I can say that there is a lot about the failure to educate EL kids that also applies to non-EL kids.

I was extremely uncomfortable when I volunteered as a reading aide during the pandemic in MCPS and it became clear to me that the 1st grader - whose home/native language was Spanish - I was assigned to was being given no effective reading instruction, but she was tasked to do a lot of comprehension and writing work that was completely above her skill level. She could not identify the sound/symbol association for any letters. As a parent of a dyslexic child, I cannot understand why children - whether ESL or not - have no access to effective phonologically-based decoding instruction. Kids will never be able to attend to meaning if they do not reach a place of fluent automatic decoding on a subconscious level, so that their cognitive effort can focus on meaning. This has to be achieved in K and 1st or within the first year or two of schooling for non/native speakers otherwise those kids are getting left behind.

And, explicit instruction for vocabulary acquisition, word structure, sentence structure, spelling and grammar are non-existent for all MCPS students, whether EL or not. There are many non-EL, non-disability diagnosed students who will learn without explicit instruction or get taught by parents or tutors, but many who won't/don't and whose outcomes and opportunities become more limited.

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a native English speaking but language disordered kid, OP, I can say that there is a lot about the failure to educate EL kids that also applies to non-EL kids.

I was extremely uncomfortable when I volunteered as a reading aide during the pandemic in MCPS and it became clear to me that the 1st grader - whose home/native language was Spanish - I was assigned to was being given no effective reading instruction, but she was tasked to do a lot of comprehension and writing work that was completely above her skill level. She could not identify the sound/symbol association for any letters. As a parent of a dyslexic child, I cannot understand why children - whether ESL or not - have no access to effective phonologically-based decoding instruction. Kids will never be able to attend to meaning if they do not reach a place of fluent automatic decoding on a subconscious level, so that their cognitive effort can focus on meaning. This has to be achieved in K and 1st or within the first year or two of schooling for non/native speakers otherwise those kids are getting left behind.

And, explicit instruction for vocabulary acquisition, word structure, sentence structure, spelling and grammar are non-existent for all MCPS students, whether EL or not. There are many non-EL, non-disability diagnosed students who will learn without explicit instruction or get taught by parents or tutors, but many who won't/don't and whose outcomes and opportunities become more limited.

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a native English speaking but language disordered kid, OP, I can say that there is a lot about the failure to educate EL kids that also applies to non-EL kids.

I was extremely uncomfortable when I volunteered as a reading aide during the pandemic in MCPS and it became clear to me that the 1st grader - whose home/native language was Spanish - I was assigned to was being given no effective reading instruction, but she was tasked to do a lot of comprehension and writing work that was completely above her skill level. She could not identify the sound/symbol association for any letters. As a parent of a dyslexic child, I cannot understand why children - whether ESL or not - have no access to effective phonologically-based decoding instruction. Kids will never be able to attend to meaning if they do not reach a place of fluent automatic decoding on a subconscious level, so that their cognitive effort can focus on meaning. This has to be achieved in K and 1st or within the first year or two of schooling for non/native speakers otherwise those kids are getting left behind.

And, explicit instruction for vocabulary acquisition, word structure, sentence structure, spelling and grammar are non-existent for all MCPS students, whether EL or not. There are many non-EL, non-disability diagnosed students who will learn without explicit instruction or get taught by parents or tutors, but many who won't/don't and whose outcomes and opportunities become more limited.

Anonymous wrote:I’ve heard that Lexia for English learners (I forget the name) is good. Are you familiar with that and if so do you agree?

Anonymous wrote:Middle school teacher here. StudySync is a poor curriculum in so many ways for all students. It is particularly terrible for English learners (ELs). Early reading curriculum is nonexistent (no, you can't just lop off the end of readings to obtain a lower Lexile, particularly when the supporting assessment work is linked to full readings); the EL teaching guide is an ungainly mess; and the worksheets are awful.

Could we please form a workgroup of experienced English Language Development (ESOL) educators formed to choose an actual curriculum for students?