When you do an about face with curriculum change one should proceed cautiously. It would have made much more sense to not eliminate potential pathways for advancement during the transition that will take at least five years to fully implement. This would have made for a smoother transition (in our large County system) while not punishing students ahead of the implementation curve.

Right now Starr and his knights have a darling disaster on their hands secondary to lack of planning and foresight. The tragedy is the MCPS leadership appears clueless and doesn't even recognise this. If they do, even sadder, no one has the guts to take control and do something about it.

-Leadership 101

I read the Gazette article about RM. Doesn't seem like a huge issue to me...an office error..all the parents and kids knew what they were getting and had a choice in the matter. No not ideal but there are many not ideal circumstances reulsting from budget contrictions. It does not seem to me that the school purposely did this to inflate their numbers.

Anonymous wrote:So is the point of Curriculum 2.0 to develop yet another product for sale? After selling the previous curriculum to Pearson, no less.

Part of the reason why people get so up in arms is because people post about things they have no idea about like it is true. Curriculum 2.0 is the same curriculum that is being developed with Pearson. It's not "yet another product for sale". MCPS isn't selling anything....they received a grant based on the partnership with Pearson. Please stop spreading inaccuracies.

So is the point of Curriculum 2.0 to develop yet another product for sale? After selling the previous curriculum to Pearson, no less.

Anonymous wrote:Ok - found the article. In short, for those who are wondering, there was a class listed as AP American History, that was made up of both student in the IB program and students who wanted to take the AP course. It appears the the IB curriculum for be class (which covers from 1860s to the presnt) was used instead of the AP curriculum (which covers from the 1600's to the present). Bottom line, beside the obvious , that the problem should have be corrected months ago, is hat he AP students will nt be prepared for the AP exam.

My first question is, why did be teacher wait so long to file a compliant with the administration?

I thnk this demonstrates a problem not with the central administration, but that principals have too much independence. They should have fixed he problem in August.

You miss the point--a teacher had the courage to stand up for what is right. Parents need to inundate MCPS with their opinions on Curriculum 2.0. If you can't tell the truth to power--DON'T COMPLAIN. Here again are the emails:
BOE@mcpsmd.org
Roland_Ikheloa@mcpsmd.org (Ombudsman)
Joshua_Starr@mcpsmd.org
Marty_Creel@mcpsmd.org
Erick_J_Lang@mcpsmd.org

Here's the story about the teacher: http://www.gazette.net/article/20120425/NEWS/704259527/1007/teacher-speaks-out-against-combining-advanced-courses-at-richard&template=gazette

Ok - found the article. In short, for those who are wondering, there was a class listed as AP American History, that was made up of both student in the IB program and students who wanted to take the AP course. It appears the the IB curriculum for be class (which covers from 1860s to the presnt) was used instead of the AP curriculum (which covers from the 1600's to the present). Bottom line, beside the obvious , that the problem should have be corrected months ago, is hat he AP students will nt be prepared for the AP exam.

My first question is, why did be teacher wait so long to file a compliant with the administration?

I thnk this demonstrates a problem not with the central administration, but that principals have too much independence. They should have fixed he problem in August.

What did this brave teacher do?

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Please make sure your comments have value and will be heard. Send an email to those who can and/or should make a difference.

There are recent news reports about a teacher who took a courageous stance on history classes at RM high school. It is time parents showed similar courage to stand up for their beliefs. So write to:

BOE@mcpsmd.org
Roland_Ikheloa@mcpsmd.org (Ombudsman)
Joshua_Starr@mcpsmd.org
Marty_Creel@mcpsmd.org
Erick_J_Lang@mcpsmd.org

Please write a well-thought opinion on Curriculum 2.0 and make a difference for your child and mine.
[/quote]

FYI: Any parent who wants to contact the above mentioned people in MCPS, feel free but don't be disillusioned that your time and effort will achieve anything. I have contacted these people on another issue and all they did was circle the wagons, give the company line, and not solve the problem which had an easy solution.

Instead, I would encourage throwing parental support behind the teacher at RM. She may need it or be faced with losing her job, an unfortunate transfer, and/or loose any type of advancement if parents do not back her up. A teacher that is bold enough to speak up and fight for the children in her classroom is a rare commodity now a day when so many teachers are just happy to get a paycheck. How could MCPS ignore both parent and teacher groups if they united and supported each other to fix what is wrong with our school system?[/quote]

First, the teacher was a he and not a she. Second, it is different when one person pursues an issue as opposed to many having the same issue. Circling the wagons is common and making a huge public outcry is the answer.

of course, my "there" should have been "their".

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:10:17, the mandate is that the curriculum be revised. Not that it be completely replaced. The Common Core was unique in that it required a lot of "replacement", but in some subject areas like science and social studies, the content isn't different, it was just upgraded in places and has all been put online for teachers so that there is more of a professional learning community among teachers in the county, since again it's so large and before, teachers from different schools did not have a way to communicate, share resources, lesson ideas, etc easily.

10:17 again. PP, it is my understanding that teachers did have a place to "post" things that were working for them, but have stopped because they do not believe MCPS assurances that their work product won't be misappropriated into the package for sale. This, we need to work on.

I work for MCPS (which was probably obviously in my previous posts) and the content that teachers are posting is not included in what is being packaged for sale. There is a disclaimer when the post something that clearly states anything posted by teachers is for use by other MCPS teachers only. Only the people who are being paid to write the central office version of the curriculum are creating what is being packaged for sale.

10:17 again. I understand that the teachers have been given assurances that what teachers post will not be used in the package for sale, but I heard first hand from a teacher that she does not believe it and that fellow teachers have stopped posting. It is sad that the teachers don't trust the school system. I am not sure if you are a teacher or elsewhere in the system, but if you can funnel the message that teachers don't believe that there hard work will not be co-opted, then please do so. It's only fair to our kids and their teachers. I also bet the teachers with great content would appreciate being offered compensation for it to be included in the package.

[quote=Anonymous]Please make sure your comments have value and will be heard. Send an email to those who can and/or should make a difference.

There are recent news reports about a teacher who took a courageous stance on history classes at RM high school. It is time parents showed similar courage to stand up for their beliefs. So write to:

BOE@mcpsmd.org
Roland_Ikheloa@mcpsmd.org (Ombudsman)
Joshua_Starr@mcpsmd.org
Marty_Creel@mcpsmd.org
Erick_J_Lang@mcpsmd.org

Please write a well-thought opinion on Curriculum 2.0 and make a difference for your child and mine.
[/quote]

FYI: Any parent who wants to contact the above mentioned people in MCPS, feel free but don't be disillusioned that your time and effort will achieve anything. I have contacted these people on another issue and all they did was circle the wagons, give the company line, and not solve the problem which had an easy solution.

Instead, I would encourage throwing parental support behind the teacher at RM. She may need it or be faced with losing her job, an unfortunate transfer, and/or loose any type of advancement if parents do not back her up. A teacher that is bold enough to speak up and fight for the children in her classroom is a rare commodity now a day when so many teachers are just happy to get a paycheck. How could MCPS ignore both parent and teacher groups if they united and supported each other to fix what is wrong with our school system?

[quote=Anonymous]I did not receive a letter from Starr. My child's school often does not send home vital information so I have nothing to back up the validity of 10:24's post.

If the quote is valid, my questions for Starr are as follows:

1) Why do MCPS children have to be the guinea pigs?

2) Why do the taxpayers of Montgomery County have to pay the price tag to come up with the curriculum if other jurisdictions just need to wait for us to spend the money to develop it, try it out on our kids, and fix what doesn't work when it isn't successful because they can buy the curriculum at a later date?

3) Finally, what happens if the curriculum 2.0 that Starr is pushing is so flawed that no one wants to buy it? The county eats the loss?

4) Meanwhile, what happens to our children who are no longer receiving a differentiated education that meets their needs?

Starr always has the out of getting another job in another state but our children ultimately will pay the price for the problems with Curriculum 2.0.
[/quote]

My wife, a teacher who is implementing 2.0, has had exactly this reaction to it.

Our kids are in middle and high school and she commented to me that she feels like they got the last train out before this disaster arrived (re: your point #4). :-(

Anonymous wrote:Please make sure your comments have value and will be heard. Send an email to those who can and/or should make a difference.

There are recent news reports about a teacher who took a courageous stance on history classes at RM high school. It is time parents showed similar courage to stand up for their beliefs. So write to:

BOE@mcpsmd.org
Roland_Ikheloa@mcpsmd.org (Ombudsman)
Joshua_Starr@mcpsmd.org
Marty_Creel@mcpsmd.org
Erick_J_Lang@mcpsmd.org

Please write a well-thought opinion on Curriculum 2.0 and make a difference for your child and mine.

what was the stand?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:10:17, the mandate is that the curriculum be revised. Not that it be completely replaced. The Common Core was unique in that it required a lot of "replacement", but in some subject areas like science and social studies, the content isn't different, it was just upgraded in places and has all been put online for teachers so that there is more of a professional learning community among teachers in the county, since again it's so large and before, teachers from different schools did not have a way to communicate, share resources, lesson ideas, etc easily.

10:17 again. PP, it is my understanding that teachers did have a place to "post" things that were working for them, but have stopped because they do not believe MCPS assurances that their work product won't be misappropriated into the package for sale. This, we need to work on.

I work for MCPS (which was probably obviously in my previous posts) and the content that teachers are posting is not included in what is being packaged for sale. There is a disclaimer when the post something that clearly states anything posted by teachers is for use by other MCPS teachers only. Only the people who are being paid to write the central office version of the curriculum are creating what is being packaged for sale.

Please make sure your comments have value and will be heard. Send an email to those who can and/or should make a difference.

There are recent news reports about a teacher who took a courageous stance on history classes at RM high school. It is time parents showed similar courage to stand up for their beliefs. So write to:

BOE@mcpsmd.org
Roland_Ikheloa@mcpsmd.org (Ombudsman)
Joshua_Starr@mcpsmd.org
Marty_Creel@mcpsmd.org
Erick_J_Lang@mcpsmd.org

Please write a well-thought opinion on Curriculum 2.0 and make a difference for your child and mine.