Anonymous
03/09/2014 08:08
Subject: I barely have an idea what is being taught in child's 1st grade class
Anonymous wrote:A Brown Center report released this month found that grouping children by ability — a practice that fell out of favor in the 1980s — is on the rise again, and that tracking persists in some guises. A 2013 report on a study conducted in Dallas schools found that teaching students in groups of like ability improved achievement for fast and slow learners alike — and who wouldn't want bright kids to be able to move ahead, or strugglers to get the help they need?
This is the paper:
http://www.nber.org/papers/w18848
But I can only get the abstract for free. Unfortunately the abstract really doesn't say what they did.
Anonymous
03/09/2014 01:57
Subject: I barely have an idea what is being taught in child's 1st grade class
A Brown Center report released this month found that grouping children by ability — a practice that fell out of favor in the 1980s — is on the rise again, and that tracking persists in some guises. A 2013 report on a study conducted in Dallas schools found that teaching students in groups of like ability improved achievement for fast and slow learners alike — and who wouldn't want bright kids to be able to move ahead, or strugglers to get the help they need?
Anonymous
03/08/2014 19:18
Subject: I barely have an idea what is being taught in child's 1st grade class
1. Learn to use paragraphs.
2. You are a salaried employee, so time worked outside of the actual teaching time is *paid* time, not "personal" time. You are not a clock-puncher, you are a professional - right? Professionals are exempt from clock-punching and do what it takes to get the job done.
3. I do know how hard teachers work. My husband of 20 years is a teacher. He works far fewer hours than I (a lawyer) do, MUCH less. He is home by 5 every day and has plenty of vacation time. If you broke down our salaries by the hour, he makes more, no question.
4. He meets with parents before or after school at their request, no problem. (What are you doing that you cannot do that, that you must communicate with them in the evenings and cannot meet with them?)
5. He will be the first to tell you that his pay is fair, his benefits are good, and his hours are reasonable. If you have 20 years of experience I imagine you make a similar amount to what he does.
If you think you are underpaid, or any more stressed-out than any other working professional, you are deluded.
2. You are a salaried employee, so time worked outside of the actual teaching time is *paid* time, not "personal" time. You are not a clock-puncher, you are a professional - right? Professionals are exempt from clock-punching and do what it takes to get the job done.
3. I do know how hard teachers work. My husband of 20 years is a teacher. He works far fewer hours than I (a lawyer) do, MUCH less. He is home by 5 every day and has plenty of vacation time. If you broke down our salaries by the hour, he makes more, no question.
4. He meets with parents before or after school at their request, no problem. (What are you doing that you cannot do that, that you must communicate with them in the evenings and cannot meet with them?)
5. He will be the first to tell you that his pay is fair, his benefits are good, and his hours are reasonable. If you have 20 years of experience I imagine you make a similar amount to what he does.
If you think you are underpaid, or any more stressed-out than any other working professional, you are deluded.
1. Apologies for the long paragraph.
2. I addressed your second point already in a previous post.
3. Based on your comments, you clearly DO NOT have any idea how hard (most) teachers work, and are simply basing them on your husband and what, 1-2 other teachers? I must know at least over 50 teachers pretty well.
4. Your husband is either an ineffective elementary classroom teacher, works beyond his 8 hours but doesn't mind, or is otherwise a middle/high school teacher where the workload is much more tolerable. He gets home by 5pm every day, and what time does he have to be at work? Because we both know it isn't 9am. When did I say that I didn't meet with parents? Only that it is difficult because every single minute before/after school is precious sacred planning time. (What am I doing? Spend ONE day in an elementary classroom by yourself with 25 kids teaching multiple subjects to children of all ethnicities, abilities, personalities, etc. and you MIGHT have the slightest inkling what it's like. I don't blame you or anyone who isn't a teacher for not knowing. I don't really know what it's like to be a lawyers either because I am not a lawyer.
5. Your husband is an anomaly. I know of no other teacher who is satisfied with their pay. Never complained about benefits.
6. I never compared myself to other professions. That's what you have been doing throughout this thread and I am just responding, which is probably useless because we don't seem to be getting anywhere.
7. Please consider re-reading earlier posts. I only posted in the first place to try to enlighten some of you, as to why some of the earlier comments on here were unfair to teachers, coming from a teacher's perspective. I'm trying to figure out why you are so passionate on this topic. Well aware that other jobs are stressful and underpaid. That has nothing to do with the common knowledge that teaching is one of the highest burnout jobs there is in this country, along with air traffic controllers. The only delusion I have is thinking I can somehow change what people know and think about teachers and public education on this forum so I think I'm giving up now.
Anonymous
03/07/2014 17:11
Subject: I barely have an idea what is being taught in child's 1st grade class
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
I'm another PP who finds this system of mixed reading groups ridiculous. I'm sure one of these days someone will do a study showing how much time gets wasted in class due to this crap, and then we'll change everything around again. Sure, parents aren't experts. But, like the other PP, I also volunteer in my kids' classrooms and see how the kids are just goofing off during that reading group time. And, I also do not blame the teachers. There is simply no efficient way to teach 6 different groups of ability levels and give equal attention to all of them. AND, to do ALL of the other stuff that teachers are expected to do.
You still haven't offered up a solution for how a teacher can teach all these different reading groups effectively in one classroom, without wasting the other kids times. Please feel free to do so - I'd be interested in hearing it.
Google "within-class ability grouping".
If it so great why don't they use it for math too?
"They" who? "They", schools in general? Schools in general do. "They", MCPS? MCPS does, too. DCUM screams about it regularly.
Anonymous
03/07/2014 17:07
Subject: I barely have an idea what is being taught in child's 1st grade class
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
I'm another PP who finds this system of mixed reading groups ridiculous. I'm sure one of these days someone will do a study showing how much time gets wasted in class due to this crap, and then we'll change everything around again. Sure, parents aren't experts. But, like the other PP, I also volunteer in my kids' classrooms and see how the kids are just goofing off during that reading group time. And, I also do not blame the teachers. There is simply no efficient way to teach 6 different groups of ability levels and give equal attention to all of them. AND, to do ALL of the other stuff that teachers are expected to do.
You still haven't offered up a solution for how a teacher can teach all these different reading groups effectively in one classroom, without wasting the other kids times. Please feel free to do so - I'd be interested in hearing it.
Google "within-class ability grouping".
If it so great why don't they use it for math too?