Anonymous
Post 07/06/2024 08:20     Subject: Re:MD new literacy curriculun
Anonymous wrote:Actually Maryland’s reading rates have been declining rapidly and other poorer states like Mississippi have overtaken Maryland, due to their approach of a strong curriculum and implementation practices. https://marylandreads.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/MDREADS_StateofReadingInMaryland_Report2024.pdf

AmplifyCKLA has been around awhile and gotten good results if it is rolled out well. That is a big if. The phonics instruction is good (for the parent worried about that) and there also is a lot of knowledge building - kids actually read about science, history, mythology, etc., the kinds of things they will need to know to understand different texts. That’s where Benchmark was weak but AmplifyCKLA shines.


but those states are just using some curriculum to fudge their numbers
Anonymous
Post 07/06/2024 06:45     Subject: MD new literacy curriculun
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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Anonymous wrote:I have been telling people for years how embarrassing it is for Maryland, and specifically MCPS, to be so far behind in reading compared to states like Mississippi and Alabama. Glad our new state superintendent is known as the Mississippi Miracle and is bringing the science of reading to Maryland. This is long overdue!

Well, you've been telling them wrong. No wonder they have not been paying attention to you.



How is it wrong? Other states have figured out how to successfully teach ALL students to read by using methods proven by science since the Vietnam era except for Maryland.


Umm what. Plenty of states and districts had been wrongly doing balanced literacy. And if with implementing Science of reading that it still only one piece of Balanced Literacy.


“Balanced Literacy” is that Lucy Calkins crap. it has repeatedly been shown to be ineffective in multiple studies. Thank God we are doing Science of Reading instead of BL.


No. Balanced Literacy was turned into the Lucy Calkins. Balanced literacy should always have included phonics for teaching kids to read. It should also include a balance amount ans appropriate of all the components of literacy(reading, grammar, spelling, comprehension, analysis, verbal and written expression).


Your description of BL matches Lycy Calkins - a little if this, a little of that, including a lot of stuff that doesn't work.


What was named that doesn’t work? Kids need to be taught phonics in order to read. The need to learn all phonemes in order to be able to spell. The need to be taught root word and affixes in order to spell bigger words and be able to ascertain meanings of words they don’t know, which then allows for comprehension and context. They need grammar and punctuation in order to express themselves coherently. If you don’t want all of the above taught to your kid in a balanced way then that would explain the illiteracy rate is this country.


None of what you describe is explicitly taught in BL/Lucy Calkins methods. If you have a kid in MCPS you know they haven’t taught spelling in many, many years. They don’t even teach handwriting anymore.
Anonymous
Post 07/05/2024 21:31     Subject: MD new literacy curriculun
I wish my middle schooler had had CKLA in ES. We downloaded the free curriculum to supplement because Benchmark was so bad.
Anonymous
Post 07/05/2024 21:08     Subject: MD new literacy curriculun
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Did anyone actually read the draft? I am a teacher. I am a third grade teacher. It is saying that students must read at or above grade level at the end of third grade in order to be promoted to fourth grade. It needs to be demonstrated by an assessment. If they do not show they are at or above grade level then they repeat third grade. My students last year came in VERY low and they left VERY low. 60 percent of my students left third grade below grade level in Reading. How do we retain that many students? Are parents ok with retaining their child in third grade? Students at that age know and will talk about the students that are retained because they won’t be in their grade next year. I am not sure I like this plan. There will be so much pressure on a child to do well on a test in third grade in order to pass to the next grade.


Schools should be able to teach kids to read by third grade. They chose to abdicate that responsibility and a lot of kids are suffering. There has to be some incentive to actually teach kids how to read. Of course, this answer may not be practical but the impact of failing kids like this should not be understated or compared to hurting their feelings by holding them back.


I completely agree with you. As a third grade teacher, I can not play catch up though. I had too many students on a first grade level. Repeating third grade will not help those students. I just do not think that retention is the answer.


The folks who don't believe in retention have had their way for a number of decades. It is much more painful to graduate someone from high school who has been faking their way through the last ten years of school. That is NOT compassion. Yes, special intervention will be needed for this class, not just a repetition of 3rd grade, and they should be put together in an intensively staffed 3+ classroom that focuses on literacy (and more than likely remedial math as well.) It would be even better to have focused attention on these kids BEFORE 3rd grade, but maybe that is too much to ask for

Anonymous
Post 07/05/2024 19:03     Subject: MD new literacy curriculun
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I have been telling people for years how embarrassing it is for Maryland, and specifically MCPS, to be so far behind in reading compared to states like Mississippi and Alabama. Glad our new state superintendent is known as the Mississippi Miracle and is bringing the science of reading to Maryland. This is long overdue!

Well, you've been telling them wrong. No wonder they have not been paying attention to you.



How is it wrong? Other states have figured out how to successfully teach ALL students to read by using methods proven by science since the Vietnam era except for Maryland.


Umm what. Plenty of states and districts had been wrongly doing balanced literacy. And if with implementing Science of reading that it still only one piece of Balanced Literacy.


“Balanced Literacy” is that Lucy Calkins crap. it has repeatedly been shown to be ineffective in multiple studies. Thank God we are doing Science of Reading instead of BL.


No. Balanced Literacy was turned into the Lucy Calkins. Balanced literacy should always have included phonics for teaching kids to read. It should also include a balance amount ans appropriate of all the components of literacy(reading, grammar, spelling, comprehension, analysis, verbal and written expression).


Your description of BL matches Lycy Calkins - a little if this, a little of that, including a lot of stuff that doesn't work.


What was named that doesn’t work? Kids need to be taught phonics in order to read. The need to learn all phonemes in order to be able to spell. The need to be taught root word and affixes in order to spell bigger words and be able to ascertain meanings of words they don’t know, which then allows for comprehension and context. They need grammar and punctuation in order to express themselves coherently. If you don’t want all of the above taught to your kid in a balanced way then that would explain the illiteracy rate is this country.
Anonymous
Post 07/05/2024 16:02     Subject: MD new literacy curriculun
Anonymous wrote:Can someone summarize the pros or cons for this new English curriculum?


Pro: nearly all children will learn to read

Con: many teachers will need a lot of re-training on how to teach reading correctly. For past 20 years, many education schools have been pushing Balanced Literacy / Whole Language, which are methods shown not to work. So we gave at least one generation of teachers who were mis-taught in college. This retraining is the tricky bit. Expect the early results to be uneven as a direct result.
Anonymous
Post 07/05/2024 15:58     Subject: MD new literacy curriculun
Anonymous wrote:Wait MCPS is still using balanced literacy in 2024? How has there not been more outcry about this?
-parent of rising K kid who recently listened to Sold a Story


They have been using BL. MD state board of education is forcing a state-wide change. See the WTOP article.
Anonymous
Post 07/05/2024 15:56     Subject: MD new literacy curriculun
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I have been telling people for years how embarrassing it is for Maryland, and specifically MCPS, to be so far behind in reading compared to states like Mississippi and Alabama. Glad our new state superintendent is known as the Mississippi Miracle and is bringing the science of reading to Maryland. This is long overdue!

Well, you've been telling them wrong. No wonder they have not been paying attention to you.



How is it wrong? Other states have figured out how to successfully teach ALL students to read by using methods proven by science since the Vietnam era except for Maryland.


Umm what. Plenty of states and districts had been wrongly doing balanced literacy. And if with implementing Science of reading that it still only one piece of Balanced Literacy.


“Balanced Literacy” is that Lucy Calkins crap. it has repeatedly been shown to be ineffective in multiple studies. Thank God we are doing Science of Reading instead of BL.


No. Balanced Literacy was turned into the Lucy Calkins. Balanced literacy should always have included phonics for teaching kids to read. It should also include a balance amount ans appropriate of all the components of literacy(reading, grammar, spelling, comprehension, analysis, verbal and written expression).


Your description of BL matches Lycy Calkins - a little if this, a little of that, including a lot of stuff that doesn't work.
Anonymous
Post 07/05/2024 13:58     Subject: MD new literacy curriculun
Can someone summarize the pros or cons for this new English curriculum?
Anonymous
Post 07/05/2024 12:55     Subject: MD new literacy curriculun
The new curriculum is Amplify CKLA. Reputable and well-reviewed. One of the few that consistently receives strong ratings from different groups (ie Ed Reports, the Reading League, Curriculum Matters). All MCPS teachers are being trained directly by the publisher this summer. As with any curriculum, it will take a year or two for teachers to get comfortable and implement it fully. It has shown incredible results in the thousands of districts that use this program across the country, reducing the need for literacy intervention and remediation services in the long term.

~educator in DC who lives in MoCo who wishes DCPS would adopt CKLA!
Anonymous
Post 07/05/2024 00:11     Subject: Re:MD new literacy curriculun
Actually Maryland’s reading rates have been declining rapidly and other poorer states like Mississippi have overtaken Maryland, due to their approach of a strong curriculum and implementation practices. https://marylandreads.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/MDREADS_StateofReadingInMaryland_Report2024.pdf

AmplifyCKLA has been around awhile and gotten good results if it is rolled out well. That is a big if. The phonics instruction is good (for the parent worried about that) and there also is a lot of knowledge building - kids actually read about science, history, mythology, etc., the kinds of things they will need to know to understand different texts. That’s where Benchmark was weak but AmplifyCKLA shines.
Anonymous
Post 07/04/2024 22:07     Subject: MD new literacy curriculun
MD is an average state with average performance, like almost every other state.

https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/profiles/stateprofile/overview/MD?chort=2&sub=RED&sj=MD&sfj=NP&st=MN&year=2022R3&cti=PgTab_OT


And with this data not adjusted for English Language Learner immigrants, comparisons are nonsense.

Kids who don't read with parents, can't read. Kids who raised by iPad trash can't read.
Kids who are learning two languages take longer.
Kids with learning disabilities don't move the needle on statewide stats, and the overall curriculum isn't relevant to them.
Anonymous
Post 07/04/2024 21:51     Subject: MD new literacy curriculun
Anonymous wrote:Simply put, is this new adopted curriculum better or worse for rising kindergardener in the fall? He is likely to have some reading disorder or dyslexia. Any advice? He knows all letters & some phonics, but he can't decode to read any words on books, except he memorizes a few word spellings. We have tried for many years.


For a rising kindergartner? He's fine.
Anonymous
Post 07/04/2024 21:32     Subject: MD new literacy curriculun
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Did anyone actually read the draft? I am a teacher. I am a third grade teacher. It is saying that students must read at or above grade level at the end of third grade in order to be promoted to fourth grade. It needs to be demonstrated by an assessment. If they do not show they are at or above grade level then they repeat third grade. My students last year came in VERY low and they left VERY low. 60 percent of my students left third grade below grade level in Reading. How do we retain that many students? Are parents ok with retaining their child in third grade? Students at that age know and will talk about the students that are retained because they won’t be in their grade next year. I am not sure I like this plan. There will be so much pressure on a child to do well on a test in third grade in order to pass to the next grade.


Schools should be able to teach kids to read by third grade. They chose to abdicate that responsibility and a lot of kids are suffering. There has to be some incentive to actually teach kids how to read. Of course, this answer may not be practical but the impact of failing kids like this should not be understated or compared to hurting their feelings by holding them back.




I teach kindergarten and the only students I have that read below grade level fall into these groups (in order of the number of numbers): 1) chronically absent (about 30-35% of this year's students), 2) students who clearly have intellectual or learning problems, 3) severe behavior issues. The biggest group are the chronically absent students and when all of my students live within walking distance, this is a parenting issue. Ditto for most (if not all ) of the behavior issues.


And all the data should start to match this. #2 can be helped with appropriate in school intervention and resources.#3 requires counseling and social work support along with parent involvement. #1 is a parent/guardian issue.




Right but that first group is something like 30% of students in the state of Maryland! That's a lot of kids.


I thought kids were resilient

Resiliency is a skill taught in SEL. Oh, wait...
Anonymous
Post 07/04/2024 16:36     Subject: MD new literacy curriculun
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Did anyone actually read the draft? I am a teacher. I am a third grade teacher. It is saying that students must read at or above grade level at the end of third grade in order to be promoted to fourth grade. It needs to be demonstrated by an assessment. If they do not show they are at or above grade level then they repeat third grade. My students last year came in VERY low and they left VERY low. 60 percent of my students left third grade below grade level in Reading. How do we retain that many students? Are parents ok with retaining their child in third grade? Students at that age know and will talk about the students that are retained because they won’t be in their grade next year. I am not sure I like this plan. There will be so much pressure on a child to do well on a test in third grade in order to pass to the next grade.


Schools should be able to teach kids to read by third grade. They chose to abdicate that responsibility and a lot of kids are suffering. There has to be some incentive to actually teach kids how to read. Of course, this answer may not be practical but the impact of failing kids like this should not be understated or compared to hurting their feelings by holding them back.




I teach kindergarten and the only students I have that read below grade level fall into these groups (in order of the number of numbers): 1) chronically absent (about 30-35% of this year's students), 2) students who clearly have intellectual or learning problems, 3) severe behavior issues. The biggest group are the chronically absent students and when all of my students live within walking distance, this is a parenting issue. Ditto for most (if not all ) of the behavior issues.


And all the data should start to match this. #2 can be helped with appropriate in school intervention and resources.#3 requires counseling and social work support along with parent involvement. #1 is a parent/guardian issue.




Right but that first group is something like 30% of students in the state of Maryland! That's a lot of kids.
. It is. But solving that problem is not just on teachers, beyond establishing good relationships with students and working together with administration to create a welcoming environment for all. Teachers can't be expected to teach people not in class.