Anonymous
09/04/2025 17:36
Subject: Dcps new ELA curriculum
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Hmm.. just looked at Hardy’s lists from the AP’s… I can see 6th just has one book: “a long walk to water” and 8th has “to kill a mockingbird”, “a raisin in the sun” and then they pick another book from a provided list and have something like a book club with kids who pick the same book from the list. So looks like 8th grade at Hardy will be doing at least 3 (plus a book of their choice for the start of the year to write a book report on). Looks like 6th is only one book.
Hardy 7th graders are reading: Call of the Wild, Warriors Don’t Cry, and Animal Farm.
DCPS ELA standards are exactly why I moved mine to private for HS. Math is more objective and it’s easier to find additional support/tutoring to supplement the DCPS curriculum…but if students aren’t challenged and/or miss milestones in reading, writing and critical thinking - difficult to overcome the gaps as they progress in HS
Interesting take. I would have said English is the easiest subject to supplement. All you have to do is let your kid grab your books off the shelf, and then discuss! It’s free, it’s flexible, and obviously you’d be having conversations with your kids anyway.
English class should be much more than "read and discuss." My non-DCPS middle school kid also learns grammar, how to annotate, how to write all different forms of writing, as well as analysis.
We did DCPS for elementary but I couldn't do it for middle. Though we would consider it again for high school.
+1 I teach in VA and they did not have a writing component to the state assessment until 8th grade. Teachers basically didn't teach writing. It was absolutely horrible. Now 5th graders have to take the writing assessment, but they are all so behind. Good writing instruction is crucial in late elementary grades and up.
They teach writing in DCPS and there’s a writing assessment on the CAPE exam starting in third grade. The PP who said “English class should be more than reading and discussion” was not describing ELA classes. They were responding to my earlier assertion that reading novels (which is the one thing being reduced with the introduction with this otherwise strong curriculum) is the easiest possible thing to supplement. I stand by that position. If the main flaw in the school’s curriculum is that, in your eyes, it doesn’t include enough novels, simply let your kids take yours off your shelf and read them.
Anonymous
09/04/2025 15:32
Subject: Re:Dcps new ELA curriculum
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What is the best way to get the word out about this change in curriculum to the Deal parent population?
It needs to come from the ADCA. Admin won’t let teachers write about it in the weekly newsletters.
That's troubling.
Anonymous
09/04/2025 14:41
Subject: Re:Dcps new ELA curriculum
Anonymous wrote:What is the best way to get the word out about this change in curriculum to the Deal parent population?
It needs to come from the ADCA. Admin won’t let teachers write about it in the weekly newsletters.
Anonymous
09/04/2025 14:31
Subject: Dcps new ELA curriculum
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Hmm.. just looked at Hardy’s lists from the AP’s… I can see 6th just has one book: “a long walk to water” and 8th has “to kill a mockingbird”, “a raisin in the sun” and then they pick another book from a provided list and have something like a book club with kids who pick the same book from the list. So looks like 8th grade at Hardy will be doing at least 3 (plus a book of their choice for the start of the year to write a book report on). Looks like 6th is only one book.
Hardy 7th graders are reading: Call of the Wild, Warriors Don’t Cry, and Animal Farm.
DCPS ELA standards are exactly why I moved mine to private for HS. Math is more objective and it’s easier to find additional support/tutoring to supplement the DCPS curriculum…but if students aren’t challenged and/or miss milestones in reading, writing and critical thinking - difficult to overcome the gaps as they progress in HS
Interesting take. I would have said English is the easiest subject to supplement. All you have to do is let your kid grab your books off the shelf, and then discuss! It’s free, it’s flexible, and obviously you’d be having conversations with your kids anyway.
English class should be much more than "read and discuss." My non-DCPS middle school kid also learns grammar, how to annotate, how to write all different forms of writing, as well as analysis.
We did DCPS for elementary but I couldn't do it for middle. Though we would consider it again for high school.
+1 I teach in VA and they did not have a writing component to the state assessment until 8th grade. Teachers basically didn't teach writing. It was absolutely horrible. Now 5th graders have to take the writing assessment, but they are all so behind. Good writing instruction is crucial in late elementary grades and up.
Anonymous
09/04/2025 13:47
Subject: Re:Dcps new ELA curriculum
What is the best way to get the word out about this change in curriculum to the Deal parent population?
Anonymous
09/04/2025 10:51
Subject: Re:Dcps new ELA curriculum
Anonymous wrote:This is honestly pathetic. Are any Deal parents reading this voicing any concern to the admin? Is the wider parent population there even aware of this? Maybe the 6th grade parents don’t know any better but the 7th and 8th grade parents must be appalled that their kids are reading LESS books than the year before. How can that possibly prepare one for high school? I just don’t understand how any parent could shrug their shoulders at this and say oh well.
FEWER not LESS
Anonymous
09/04/2025 10:09
Subject: Dcps new ELA curriculum
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Hmm.. just looked at Hardy’s lists from the AP’s… I can see 6th just has one book: “a long walk to water” and 8th has “to kill a mockingbird”, “a raisin in the sun” and then they pick another book from a provided list and have something like a book club with kids who pick the same book from the list. So looks like 8th grade at Hardy will be doing at least 3 (plus a book of their choice for the start of the year to write a book report on). Looks like 6th is only one book.
Hardy 7th graders are reading: Call of the Wild, Warriors Don’t Cry, and Animal Farm.
DCPS ELA standards are exactly why I moved mine to private for HS. Math is more objective and it’s easier to find additional support/tutoring to supplement the DCPS curriculum…but if students aren’t challenged and/or miss milestones in reading, writing and critical thinking - difficult to overcome the gaps as they progress in HS
Interesting take. I would have said English is the easiest subject to supplement. All you have to do is let your kid grab your books off the shelf, and then discuss! It’s free, it’s flexible, and obviously you’d be having conversations with your kids anyway.
English class should be much more than "read and discuss." My non-DCPS middle school kid also learns grammar, how to annotate, how to write all different forms of writing, as well as analysis.
We did DCPS for elementary but I couldn't do it for middle. Though we would consider it again for high school.
Anonymous
09/04/2025 09:59
Subject: Dcps new ELA curriculum
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Hmm.. just looked at Hardy’s lists from the AP’s… I can see 6th just has one book: “a long walk to water” and 8th has “to kill a mockingbird”, “a raisin in the sun” and then they pick another book from a provided list and have something like a book club with kids who pick the same book from the list. So looks like 8th grade at Hardy will be doing at least 3 (plus a book of their choice for the start of the year to write a book report on). Looks like 6th is only one book.
Hardy 7th graders are reading: Call of the Wild, Warriors Don’t Cry, and Animal Farm.
DCPS ELA standards are exactly why I moved mine to private for HS. Math is more objective and it’s easier to find additional support/tutoring to supplement the DCPS curriculum…but if students aren’t challenged and/or miss milestones in reading, writing and critical thinking - difficult to overcome the gaps as they progress in HS
Interesting take. I would have said English is the easiest subject to supplement. All you have to do is let your kid grab your books off the shelf, and then discuss! It’s free, it’s flexible, and obviously you’d be having conversations with your kids anyway.
The reading part but not the grammer, composition, and writing. Plus analysis.
It’s no secret. The public school kids are terrible in above as compared to private school kids.
I say this as a public school parent.
To be fair, as a college professor here and at a top state school before out west, this is most public school kids everywhere. They’re so far behind private and rich public school kids they don’t make it through the engineering major, and make up a minuscule proportion of kids who get into apply-in/competitive majors.
As an example, at my old place we had done a really good job of increasing representation for rural counties overall, but the junior finance or engineering majors were still 90% products of private schools and 3-4 of the top schools from rich suburbs.
Anonymous
09/04/2025 09:49
Subject: Dcps new ELA curriculum
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Hmm.. just looked at Hardy’s lists from the AP’s… I can see 6th just has one book: “a long walk to water” and 8th has “to kill a mockingbird”, “a raisin in the sun” and then they pick another book from a provided list and have something like a book club with kids who pick the same book from the list. So looks like 8th grade at Hardy will be doing at least 3 (plus a book of their choice for the start of the year to write a book report on). Looks like 6th is only one book.
Hardy 7th graders are reading: Call of the Wild, Warriors Don’t Cry, and Animal Farm.
DCPS ELA standards are exactly why I moved mine to private for HS. Math is more objective and it’s easier to find additional support/tutoring to supplement the DCPS curriculum…but if students aren’t challenged and/or miss milestones in reading, writing and critical thinking - difficult to overcome the gaps as they progress in HS
Interesting take. I would have said English is the easiest subject to supplement. All you have to do is let your kid grab your books off the shelf, and then discuss! It’s free, it’s flexible, and obviously you’d be having conversations with your kids anyway.
The reading part but not the grammer, composition, and writing. Plus analysis.
It’s no secret. The public school kids are terrible in above as compared to private school kids.
I say this as a public school parent.
Also adding that you can’t do analysis by reading exerpts. It’s ridiculous. They need to be reading books.
Anonymous
09/04/2025 09:48
Subject: Dcps new ELA curriculum
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Hmm.. just looked at Hardy’s lists from the AP’s… I can see 6th just has one book: “a long walk to water” and 8th has “to kill a mockingbird”, “a raisin in the sun” and then they pick another book from a provided list and have something like a book club with kids who pick the same book from the list. So looks like 8th grade at Hardy will be doing at least 3 (plus a book of their choice for the start of the year to write a book report on). Looks like 6th is only one book.
Hardy 7th graders are reading: Call of the Wild, Warriors Don’t Cry, and Animal Farm.
DCPS ELA standards are exactly why I moved mine to private for HS. Math is more objective and it’s easier to find additional support/tutoring to supplement the DCPS curriculum…but if students aren’t challenged and/or miss milestones in reading, writing and critical thinking - difficult to overcome the gaps as they progress in HS
Interesting take. I would have said English is the easiest subject to supplement. All you have to do is let your kid grab your books off the shelf, and then discuss! It’s free, it’s flexible, and obviously you’d be having conversations with your kids anyway.
The reading part but not the grammer, composition, and writing. Plus analysis.
It’s no secret. The public school kids are terrible in above as compared to private school kids.
I say this as a public school parent.
Anonymous
09/04/2025 09:33
Subject: Dcps new ELA curriculum
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Hmm.. just looked at Hardy’s lists from the AP’s… I can see 6th just has one book: “a long walk to water” and 8th has “to kill a mockingbird”, “a raisin in the sun” and then they pick another book from a provided list and have something like a book club with kids who pick the same book from the list. So looks like 8th grade at Hardy will be doing at least 3 (plus a book of their choice for the start of the year to write a book report on). Looks like 6th is only one book.
Hardy 7th graders are reading: Call of the Wild, Warriors Don’t Cry, and Animal Farm.
DCPS ELA standards are exactly why I moved mine to private for HS. Math is more objective and it’s easier to find additional support/tutoring to supplement the DCPS curriculum…but if students aren’t challenged and/or miss milestones in reading, writing and critical thinking - difficult to overcome the gaps as they progress in HS
Interesting take. I would have said English is the easiest subject to supplement. All you have to do is let your kid grab your books off the shelf, and then discuss! It’s free, it’s flexible, and obviously you’d be having conversations with your kids anyway.
Anonymous
09/04/2025 07:48
Subject: Dcps new ELA curriculum
Anonymous wrote:Hmm.. just looked at Hardy’s lists from the AP’s… I can see 6th just has one book: “a long walk to water” and 8th has “to kill a mockingbird”, “a raisin in the sun” and then they pick another book from a provided list and have something like a book club with kids who pick the same book from the list. So looks like 8th grade at Hardy will be doing at least 3 (plus a book of their choice for the start of the year to write a book report on). Looks like 6th is only one book.
Hardy 7th graders are reading: Call of the Wild, Warriors Don’t Cry, and Animal Farm.
DCPS ELA standards are exactly why I moved mine to private for HS. Math is more objective and it’s easier to find additional support/tutoring to supplement the DCPS curriculum…but if students aren’t challenged and/or miss milestones in reading, writing and critical thinking - difficult to overcome the gaps as they progress in HS
Anonymous
09/04/2025 06:48
Subject: Dcps new ELA curriculum
We can write to our principal.
We can write to our state board rep (for whatever that’s worth)
We can write to our city council member.
But who do we write to at DCPS central office? They are the epicenter of the decision.
We can write to our state board rep (for whatever that’s worth)
We can write to our city council member.
But who do we write to at DCPS central office? They are the epicenter of the decision.
Anonymous
09/03/2025 21:35
Subject: Re:Dcps new ELA curriculum
This is honestly pathetic. Are any Deal parents reading this voicing any concern to the admin? Is the wider parent population there even aware of this? Maybe the 6th grade parents don’t know any better but the 7th and 8th grade parents must be appalled that their kids are reading LESS books than the year before. How can that possibly prepare one for high school? I just don’t understand how any parent could shrug their shoulders at this and say oh well.
Anonymous
09/03/2025 19:06
Subject: Re:Dcps new ELA curriculum
Anonymous wrote:One of the APs at Deal insists the new curriculum will result in more reading than last year. Hard to believe that. And even if it is more reading in the aggregate, the point is that kids need to build up endurance to read long books. Excerpts and passages as the basis for ELA just feeds into the general trajectory of kids reading small snippets as they do in social media. Are DCPS kids really going to be able to come out of the school system prepared as well as NOVA or MOCO kids? Those districts have novels incorporated into their ELA curriculum. As usual, this seems like a way for DCPS to achieve equity by dumbing down the standards.
I wish teachers, admin and families would stand up to downtown more.
Please write to your school's leadership, your SBOE, DCPS Central on this.