Anonymous wrote:Hopefully Taylor et al taking notes of many fabulous feedback here. Educators seeing it first hand and know what works and doesn't.

Nothing "works." These are antidote.

Look at LeBron James' school and the amount of money that has been poured into it
The outcome?

The "I Promise" School, established by LeBron James, has seen mixed academic outcomes despite its substantial resources and support services. While the school’s mission is commendable—serving students from challenging backgrounds with additional resources like tutoring, counseling, and extended school days—test results and graduation rates have not fully met expectations.

In 2023, reports showed that only about 8% of seventh-grade students at I Promise were proficient in English, and math proficiency was very low across multiple grades. For example, proficiency rates were 1% in fifth and seventh grades, with no sixth graders meeting the math proficiency standard. This puts the school well below the Ohio state average proficiency rates, which range from approximately 45% to over 60%, depending on grade and subject area.


If the county wants to have impact on underperforming students they should focus on neurodivergent students, instead. Students with adhd, anxiety and autism are dropping out of school at alarming rates. They are also highly likely to be unemployed and economically disadvantaged. The difference is that with much simpler modifications, they excel.

Here is the cold, hard truth. Even when billionaires like Paul Tudor Jones and LeBron James put in big money and resources to helping to improve the outcomes of low performing students, they can't. What makes you think mcps can do any better, other than with feel-good, do nothing programming?

The absolute only way that child do well is when their parents are well-educated.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS has been helping by: (1) lowering standards so that the achievement gap is smaller and (2) "Honor-for-all"

To be honest, if Russian School of Math, AOPS are so great for high achieving students, MCPS should just sent "lower performing students" to those places.

This. MCPS has been doing it for decades. What are you talking about OP?!?! Gap gets narrower and narrower every year!!

And when those kids get to college and fork over tuition, they're in for a big surprise

I've read this post and there are a lot of really naive responses here. I lived in a part of the County where the Elementary School children were permitted by their parents to play outside at 11 PM on school nights. Never once did I see someone from MCPS speaking to either the kids or their parents, so don't delude yourselves that you're fixing any issues going back-and-forth on DCUMS.
Start with these as a foundation for decision-making:
1. The school is not a social worker program, it's for public education of basics (ex. reading writing and arithmetic).
2. Many of these comments only focus on the bottom performers without regard to the welfare of their peers. That's a problem if you want to impact the kids that are keeping MCPS afloat.
3. Smaller class size helps only if kids are at about the same performance level. If they vary widely, the bottom performers either need 1:1 tutoring, or moved into a class of peers on-level.
4. The school cannot control parents or remove the children from their home environments. If the home environments are ambivalent towards education, it tends to influence their children. Hopefully MCPS is not proposing to open up boarding schools.
5. Lowering grading standards, making easier assignments, etc. doesn't help anyone.
6. Children worried about safety are less likely to academically focus.
7. Basing any decision on race, ethnicity, poverty or color is, in itself, a form of racism versus equality. Anything to do with children should be for the benefit of all children equally.
8. Don't expect parental support when their children are moved around schools without their consent. This includes boundary studies and programs.
9. Funding MCPS boondoggles (ex. million+ Kid Museum, electric buses, Leader in Me, bocci ball, etc.) will not earn anyone's respect.
10. Funding attorneys (over health and safety, like SROs at schools that need them or asbesdos remediation) will not earn anyone's respect.
11. The "healthy food" suggestions (egg, milk, meat vs sugar, carbs) are great ideas.
12. It's a fact that if the children haven't been impacted in ES, it's a steep climb in MS/HS.
13. There is a grain of truth that having paper dictionaries and books forces children to see topics in a logical sequence (versus jumping around on google). That needs to be factored into the overall learning process using technology.
14. Shifting around "disadvantaged kids" to other schools can backfire, since it can isolate and alienate kids struggling to succeed. The solution is to use MAP scores to group kids of similar capabilities into class assignments so they have a peer group and fits programs to needs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you think will happen to MCPS' lowest performing students/families with recent election results, will the county's population change, will priorities and initiatives change?

Nobody knows. If you are counting on mass deportation I just offer caution that this is not actually an easy thing to do. Maybe I am totally off base but I really don't see a huge reduction happening in the number of immigrant kids in the school system.

Most funding for schools comes from the county and the state, not the federal government. It's possible/likely federal education funding might reduced, but they won't eliminate it completely.

I think more than any issues at the federal level, the local funding issues are going to continue to erode resources for kids. Nobody likes to talk about this but pension costs are exploding and it's really eating into everything else.

Less students, less funding.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Longer school hours, days, and 1:1 tutoring.

DP. Longer school hours so kids can get their Special Activities - art, music, p.e., (maybe add drama if they can find drams teachers) everyday.

Fine Arts teacher here who had been in the sane school for numerous years and various administrators.
Years ago, my principal encouraged me to do chorus and musicals. With the next principal, musicals were aced. axed. Now we don’t even have chorus.

Longer school hours = more pay for teachers. There is no money. There is no funding for students who need a 1:1. Materials are seriously lacking. There is no paper available for staff to use to make copies. Teachers are buying their own copy paper.

There is money. It’s how mcps spends it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grouping by ability and dedicating the entire math and reading block to active instruction rather than forcing the teacher to race through multiple groups while kids mostly “work” independently.

Adjusting the schedules so there is time for actual grammar instruction. It’s critical for a solid foundation.

Investing in the spelling/vocabulary workbooks that private schools use. This is useful busy work in the classroom or independent homework.

Slow down the math. Private high schools start with Algebra 1.

Instead of wasting a special on the Media room, offer Spanish. Foreign language instruction must start in Kindergarten, not middle school.

Essentially model the curriculum on what private schools do. It works.

I agree with a lot of this. Especially the math grouping. Small groups are tough and don’t accomplish a lot, especially in classrooms with behavioral issues. Though the Chromebooks are handy for keeping kids quiet during this time.

Re Spanish, I’d love to see this but it would be difficult for three reasons. One, money. The librarian is already on payroll - media special is a teacher break that’s close to free. Two, we can barely find able Spanish teachers for middle and high school schools so hiring would be tough. Three, the kids only get media once a week for a short time so it’s not consistent language instruction. Better than nothing though. But they still need some media center time to check out their books.
I’m guessing they could do online Spanish lessons - like a twenty minute daily lesson on the Chromebook. That might be worth exploring.

Spoiler alert…There are no breaks for teachers during school hours. At the elementary level, when students are in a specials class, teachers are in a meeting. There are math planning meetings, ELA planning meetings (with a new curriculum to navigate), and team meetings. All meetings require detailed note taking (accessible to all) and are usually attended by people outside of the immediate grade level teachers (reading specialist, focus teacher, admin, ELD teacher, etc.)

We leave these meetings with a general idea of what we are planning to teach for the following week. However, then teachers need to spend hours figuring out what that will look like for their individual students. We’re creating supplementary supports and resources, as well as figuring out how to differentiate it for learners of all abilities. There are many students with IEPs and 504 plans in classrooms, as well as other students who may be struggling and working below grade level. There are also students who are excelling and need enrichment opportunities. I usually work several hours in the evenings and (always) spend several hours during the weekend, working to prepare for the upcoming week.

It’s all consuming and never-ending. I will return to prepping for the upcoming week only after I have completed mandatory paperwork due this week for upcoming IEP and EMT meetings. (I currently have seven students with an IEP in my homeroom, as well as two students with 504 plans). There will never be time during the day to work on documentation and mandatory paperwork needed for these students. That’s what weekends are for these days.

I work in an elementary school - I meant it’s a break from the kids. We don’t always have meetings during those times. But that means they’re after school. However the time is used, I meant it’s important for the teachers and not something just to be dismissed as media time. Among other uses, it may be the only time a pregnant teachers gets to use the bathroom in four hours.

Hopefully Taylor et al taking notes of many fabulous feedback here. Educators seeing it first hand and know what works and doesn't.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grouping by ability and dedicating the entire math and reading block to active instruction rather than forcing the teacher to race through multiple groups while kids mostly “work” independently.

Adjusting the schedules so there is time for actual grammar instruction. It’s critical for a solid foundation.

Investing in the spelling/vocabulary workbooks that private schools use. This is useful busy work in the classroom or independent homework.

Slow down the math. Private high schools start with Algebra 1.

Instead of wasting a special on the Media room, offer Spanish. Foreign language instruction must start in Kindergarten, not middle school.

Essentially model the curriculum on what private schools do. It works.

I agree with a lot of this. Especially the math grouping. Small groups are tough and don’t accomplish a lot, especially in classrooms with behavioral issues. Though the Chromebooks are handy for keeping kids quiet during this time.

Re Spanish, I’d love to see this but it would be difficult for three reasons. One, money. The librarian is already on payroll - media special is a teacher break that’s close to free. Two, we can barely find able Spanish teachers for middle and high school schools so hiring would be tough. Three, the kids only get media once a week for a short time so it’s not consistent language instruction. Better than nothing though. But they still need some media center time to check out their books.
I’m guessing they could do online Spanish lessons - like a twenty minute daily lesson on the Chromebook. That might be worth exploring.

Spanish class once a week is what I had in catholic elementary school K-6; then we had it twice a week for 7 and 8 which was enough to cover Spanish 1. I went into Spanish 2 freshman year of HS.

I recognize the cost issue. Fwiw, hand me the mcps budget and I’ll find the money.

As a longtime mcps parent, I’ve been shocked by the subpar Spanish teachers who have been a mixed bag of white Americans who learned Spanish as a second language and cannot pronounce words correctly OR Puerto Ricans who speak the language far too quickly to teach it. Bizarrely, they rely on online learning with videos that also go too fast and often use vocabulary that comes from Mexico or El Salvador rather than a more traditional vocabulary.

With this in mind, it would be rather easy to develop a video-based curriculum that could be shown during media. Supplemental handouts and classroom activities would be cheap and easy—and effective when it comes to learning basic vocabulary. Think: a worksheet where you read then write then color pictures of a dozen fruits and veggies or household items.

I’m so depressed by how far mcps has devolved.

While we are focused on fixing schools, will someone for the love of god please do something so students feel comfortable using bathrooms in middle and high school? The bathrooms are disgusting and unsafe. At this point I’d be thrilled if they hired bathroom attendants to retrain delinquents about proper bathroom etiquette. ICYMI: we didn’t have such issues in private schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Longer school hours, days, and 1:1 tutoring.

DP. Longer school hours so kids can get their Special Activities - art, music, p.e., (maybe add drama if they can find drams teachers) everyday.

Fine Arts teacher here who had been in the sane school for numerous years and various administrators.
Years ago, my principal encouraged me to do chorus and musicals. With the next principal, musicals were aced. axed. Now we don’t even have chorus.

Longer school hours = more pay for teachers. There is no money. There is no funding for students who need a 1:1. Materials are seriously lacking. There is no paper available for staff to use to make copies. Teachers are buying their own copy paper.

Aced= axed

Sane= same.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Longer school hours, days, and 1:1 tutoring.

DP. Longer school hours so kids can get their Special Activities - art, music, p.e., (maybe add drama if they can find drams teachers) everyday.

Fine Arts teacher here who had been in the sane school for numerous years and various administrators.
Years ago, my principal encouraged me to do chorus and musicals. With the next principal, musicals were aced. axed. Now we don’t even have chorus.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grouping by ability and dedicating the entire math and reading block to active instruction rather than forcing the teacher to race through multiple groups while kids mostly “work” independently.

Adjusting the schedules so there is time for actual grammar instruction. It’s critical for a solid foundation.

Investing in the spelling/vocabulary workbooks that private schools use. This is useful busy work in the classroom or independent homework.

Slow down the math. Private high schools start with Algebra 1.

Instead of wasting a special on the Media room, offer Spanish. Foreign language instruction must start in Kindergarten, not middle school.

Essentially model the curriculum on what private schools do. It works.

I agree with a lot of this. Especially the math grouping. Small groups are tough and don’t accomplish a lot, especially in classrooms with behavioral issues. Though the Chromebooks are handy for keeping kids quiet during this time.

Re Spanish, I’d love to see this but it would be difficult for three reasons. One, money. The librarian is already on payroll - media special is a teacher break that’s close to free. Two, we can barely find able Spanish teachers for middle and high school schools so hiring would be tough. Three, the kids only get media once a week for a short time so it’s not consistent language instruction. Better than nothing though. But they still need some media center time to check out their books.
I’m guessing they could do online Spanish lessons - like a twenty minute daily lesson on the Chromebook. That might be worth exploring.

Spoiler alert…There are no breaks for teachers during school hours. At the elementary level, when students are in a specials class, teachers are in a meeting. There are math planning meetings, ELA planning meetings (with a new curriculum to navigate), and team meetings. All meetings require detailed note taking (accessible to all) and are usually attended by people outside of the immediate grade level teachers (reading specialist, focus teacher, admin, ELD teacher, etc.)

We leave these meetings with a general idea of what we are planning to teach for the following week. However, then teachers need to spend hours figuring out what that will look like for their individual students. We’re creating supplementary supports and resources, as well as figuring out how to differentiate it for learners of all abilities. There are many students with IEPs and 504 plans in classrooms, as well as other students who may be struggling and working below grade level. There are also students who are excelling and need enrichment opportunities. I usually work several hours in the evenings and (always) spend several hours during the weekend, working to prepare for the upcoming week.

It’s all consuming and never-ending. I will return to prepping for the upcoming week only after I have completed mandatory paperwork due this week for upcoming IEP and EMT meetings. (I currently have seven students with an IEP in my homeroom, as well as two students with 504 plans). There will never be time during the day to work on documentation and mandatory paperwork needed for these students. That’s what weekends are for these days.

Anonymous wrote:MCPS has been helping by: (1) lowering standards so that the achievement gap is smaller and (2) "Honor-for-all"

To be honest, if Russian School of Math, AOPS are so great for high achieving students, MCPS should just sent "lower performing students" to those places.

This. MCPS has been doing it for decades. What are you talking about OP?!?! Gap gets narrower and narrower every year!!