Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: What would you do to actually raise the performance of the lower performing students? Not lower the gap by hoping others would drop but actually raise the performance of lower performing students and schools?

# 1) Put lower performing kids in a different class completely - I mean obviously, they need extra time and focus on certain skills they are lacking.

2) That separate class would focus more on preparing for standardized testing

3) That separate class would de-emphasize homework (at home) - and even provide a class time for homework. I can guarantee you many of these kids do not have the same resources or quiet places for homework. More single parents, more english as a second language, not as much access to computers, etc. I can attest that this can be just as good, because I switched from a top public to a private, and the private did not emphasize homework (at home) so much, plus we had an extra period for doing homework, and all but 2 kids went to college, and mine wasn't even a top school.

4) That separate class would add extra computer instruction or computer class time use.

This and also expelling unruly kids that refuse to change. Disruptive classes affect everyone.

Where would you send them? The school is legally obligated to educate a child unruly or not.

Anonymous wrote:We moved from a DCC school to a W school. Teacher quality was the same, the admin. was similar, the curriculum was nearly identical. The DCC school had smaller class sizes and more children being pulled out for help with English and with reading. From what I saw, the teachers and admin were dedicated to having these children read and achieve English fluency. What I also saw however was low turnout on back to school nights. When I volunteered, I encountered children who did not have books at home or even crayons. Now, I did not know most of these families personally, but I find it hard to believe that it would beyond the ability of most families in MoCo to purchase a few used books and a packet of crayons for their child. We can throw tons of resources (because smaller class sizes, additional teaching staff, free breakfasts all cost a lot) at the children but unless this effort is reinforced by parents who partner with the schools to educate their children, it will not help these children achieve their full potential. I'm not sure how you "legislate" this! If there was one other thing the county could do, it might be universal preschool. Again though, the benefits of universal preschool would ideally be magnified and leveraged by parents.

We can throw tons of resources (because smaller class sizes, additional teaching staff, free breakfasts all cost a lot) at the children but unless this effort is reinforced by parents who partner with the schools to educate their children, it will not help these children achieve their full potential.

Anonymous wrote:We moved from a DCC school to a W school. Teacher quality was the same, the admin. was similar, the curriculum was nearly identical. The DCC school had smaller class sizes and more children being pulled out for help with English and with reading. From what I saw, the teachers and admin were dedicated to having these children read and achieve English fluency. What I also saw however was low turnout on back to school nights. When I volunteered, I encountered children who did not have books at home or even crayons. Now, I did not know most of these families personally, but I find it hard to believe that it would beyond the ability of most families in MoCo to purchase a few used books and a packet of crayons for their child. We can throw tons of resources (because smaller class sizes, additional teaching staff, free breakfasts all cost a lot) at the children but unless this effort is reinforced by parents who partner with the schools to educate their children, it will not help these children achieve their full potential. I'm not sure how you "legislate" this! If there was one other thing the county could do, it might be universal preschool. Again though, the benefits of universal preschool would ideally be magnified and leveraged by parents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: What would you do to actually raise the performance of the lower performing students? Not lower the gap by hoping others would drop but actually raise the performance of lower performing students and schools?

# 1) Put lower performing kids in a different class completely - I mean obviously, they need extra time and focus on certain skills they are lacking.

2) That separate class would focus more on preparing for standardized testing

3) That separate class would de-emphasize homework (at home) - and even provide a class time for homework. I can guarantee you many of these kids do not have the same resources or quiet places for homework. More single parents, more english as a second language, not as much access to computers, etc. I can attest that this can be just as good, because I switched from a top public to a private, and the private did not emphasize homework (at home) so much, plus we had an extra period for doing homework, and all but 2 kids went to college, and mine wasn't even a top school.

4) That separate class would add extra computer instruction or computer class time use.

This and also expelling unruly kids that refuse to change. Disruptive classes affect everyone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised no one has mentioned improving services for special needs children. As a parent with a special needs child, I can tell you that it is a nightmare to get basic services for a child that is obviously struggling and obviously has a learning disability. Even with two parents who are lawyers and clear/cut expensive outside testing, the time required to keep the local schools from dropping the ball is intense. The local schools see para-educators as coverage and reserve staffing for covering meetings and many non special needs functions. As long as the local school has enough of a caseload to justify the existing staff, more cases are just more work. There is a real problem with schools not providing services that are required by federal law and in the end position kids not to fail later on. The local ES schools could care less if a child doesn't get the services they need and later fails in middle or high school.

I can't imagine what happens to kids with parents who can't advocate at this level and don't have the money for expensive outside testing to prove to the school that the child has a problem. Prematurity and learning disabilities are more prevalent in lower SES children than higher SES children. The higher SES children with LDs are more likely to come from older parents that are more likely to be financially established. The gap here is extreme between low SES and high SES.

If MCPS was compliant with federal law and held responsible for reporting and serving special needs children across the county, scores would improve for this population.

SN kids should be put i
n a specific class.

I agree, it's great for SN kids but you are punishing the "normal" and advanced kids.

No thank you! My SN child needs to be in a mainstream class. In fact, many kids would benefit from being taught in the same way my SN needs to be taught -- explicit, multi-sensory instruction helps many kids. SN kids are quite different and need to be provided instruction that addresses their specific needs, not just warehoused together and subject to low expectations.

Anonymous wrote:We moved from a DCC school to a W school. Teacher quality was the same, the admin. was similar, the curriculum was nearly identical. The DCC school had smaller class sizes and more children being pulled out for help with English and with reading. From what I saw, the teachers and admin were dedicated to having these children read and achieve English fluency. What I also saw however was low turnout on back to school nights. When I volunteered, I encountered children who did not have books at home or even crayons. Now, I did not know most of these families personally, but I find it hard to believe that it would beyond the ability of most families in MoCo to purchase a few used books and a packet of crayons for their child. We can throw tons of resources (because smaller class sizes, additional teaching staff, free breakfasts all cost a lot) at the children but unless this effort is reinforced by parents who partner with the schools to educate their children, it will not help these children achieve their full potential. I'm not sure how you "legislate" this! If there was one other thing the county could do, it might be universal preschool. Again though, the benefits of universal preschool would ideally be magnified and leveraged by parents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised no one has mentioned improving services for special needs children. As a parent with a special needs child, I can tell you that it is a nightmare to get basic services for a child that is obviously struggling and obviously has a learning disability. Even with two parents who are lawyers and clear/cut expensive outside testing, the time required to keep the local schools from dropping the ball is intense. The local schools see para-educators as coverage and reserve staffing for covering meetings and many non special needs functions. As long as the local school has enough of a caseload to justify the existing staff, more cases are just more work. There is a real problem with schools not providing services that are required by federal law and in the end position kids not to fail later on. The local ES schools could care less if a child doesn't get the services they need and later fails in middle or high school.

I can't imagine what happens to kids with parents who can't advocate at this level and don't have the money for expensive outside testing to prove to the school that the child has a problem. Prematurity and learning disabilities are more prevalent in lower SES children than higher SES children. The higher SES children with LDs are more likely to come from older parents that are more likely to be financially established. The gap here is extreme between low SES and high SES.

If MCPS was compliant with federal law and held responsible for reporting and serving special needs children across the county, scores would improve for this population.

SN kids should be put in a specific class.

Anonymous wrote:
SN kids should be put in a specific class.

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised no one has mentioned improving services for special needs children. As a parent with a special needs child, I can tell you that it is a nightmare to get basic services for a child that is obviously struggling and obviously has a learning disability. Even with two parents who are lawyers and clear/cut expensive outside testing, the time required to keep the local schools from dropping the ball is intense. The local schools see para-educators as coverage and reserve staffing for covering meetings and many non special needs functions. As long as the local school has enough of a caseload to justify the existing staff, more cases are just more work. There is a real problem with schools not providing services that are required by federal law and in the end position kids not to fail later on. The local ES schools could care less if a child doesn't get the services they need and later fails in middle or high school.

I can't imagine what happens to kids with parents who can't advocate at this level and don't have the money for expensive outside testing to prove to the school that the child has a problem. Prematurity and learning disabilities are more prevalent in lower SES children than higher SES children. The higher SES children with LDs are more likely to come from older parents that are more likely to be financially established. The gap here is extreme between low SES and high SES.

If MCPS was compliant with federal law and held responsible for reporting and serving special needs children across the county, scores would improve for this population.