Wow. So glad we didnt move to Moco. I dont understand why looking at data by race sets everyone off so easily. This is already done at the federal level and by many jurisdictions across a host of measures. This is basic really.

And if you are in a high performing group and live in desirable zipcode with high mortality and levels of education, WTF are you worried about?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
+1 Right? Some people demand we not look at race, and yet, here's MCPS.. breaking equity and achievement down by race.

Again.. why is MCPS (and others) so determined to focus on race rather than simply income status. Do people think there are no Asian or white families who are lower income in this county? I feel like this group gets lost in the shuffle.

Because both race/ethnicity and income are relevant factors.

No, none of these are relevant factors. Sure, there is correlation with educational performance, but not nearly as strong as the correlation of past educational performance. The strongest predictor of poor grades and test scores in 4th grade, is poor grades and test scores in 3rd grade. There is no reason to rely on any grouping other than performance itself.

I don't know what country you live in, but in this country, they are.

Anonymous wrote:Here's why the achievement gap has grown:

Because kids...all kids...barely receive instruction at their level. Most of the elementary school day is dedicated to reading and math blocks, but kids are broken into groups within the classroom and teachers rush through each group quickly addressing/assessing and then sending them on their way to work independently.

Instead, kids should switch classrooms for math and reading and spelling and grammar (noting that grammar currently isn't part of the mcps curriculum) to receive actual teacher instruction at their level.

Spelling should be expanded to include vocabulary. That's the old school way we learned in private school (which actual drills/exercises).

And grammar must be taught. It's mind boggling that it isn't! Name a 1st world country that doesn't teach grammar.

Kids can't magically learn grammar through reading...particularly when the kids who aren't achieving don't read for pleasure. Can they read and pass the ridiculous mcps literacy benchmarks? Sure. Will they excel in HS, college and the workforce? Nope. You can't write well if you haven't mastered spelling, vocabulary and grammar. I believe that fact is supported by "No duh!"

Of course it is. There just isn't an explicit curriculum for punctuation and spelling. And arguably there shouldn't be, because they are generally ineffective.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
+1 Right? Some people demand we not look at race, and yet, here's MCPS.. breaking equity and achievement down by race.

Again.. why is MCPS (and others) so determined to focus on race rather than simply income status. Do people think there are no Asian or white families who are lower income in this county? I feel like this group gets lost in the shuffle.

Because both race/ethnicity and income are relevant factors.

No, none of these are relevant factors. Sure, there is correlation with educational performance, but not nearly as strong as the correlation of past educational performance. The strongest predictor of poor grades and test scores in 4th grade, is poor grades and test scores in 3rd grade. There is no reason to rely on any grouping other than performance itself.

Here's why the achievement gap has grown:

Because kids...all kids...barely receive instruction at their level. Most of the elementary school day is dedicated to reading and math blocks, but kids are broken into groups within the classroom and teachers rush through each group quickly addressing/assessing and then sending them on their way to work independently.

Instead, kids should switch classrooms for math and reading and spelling and grammar (noting that grammar currently isn't part of the mcps curriculum) to receive actual teacher instruction at their level.

Spelling should be expanded to include vocabulary. That's the old school way we learned in private school (which actual drills/exercises).

And grammar must be taught. It's mind boggling that it isn't! Name a 1st world country that doesn't teach grammar.

Kids can't magically learn grammar through reading...particularly when the kids who aren't achieving don't read for pleasure. Can they read and pass the ridiculous mcps literacy benchmarks? Sure. Will they excel in HS, college and the workforce? Nope. You can't write well if you haven't mastered spelling, vocabulary and grammar. I believe that fact is supported by "No duh!"

Anonymous wrote:
+1 Right? Some people demand we not look at race, and yet, here's MCPS.. breaking equity and achievement down by race.

Again.. why is MCPS (and others) so determined to focus on race rather than simply income status. Do people think there are no Asian or white families who are lower income in this county? I feel like this group gets lost in the shuffle.

Because both race/ethnicity and income are relevant factors.

Anonymous wrote:MCPS stereotypes:

Admin: mostly black and white
Students:
Asian and white: most meet acadamic bench marks
Black: most cannot reach acadamic bench marks
Hispanics: most esol and cannot reach acadamic bench marks.

If you see a black student in a school hallway, your first reaction is: this student is poor and cannot read and do math at on grade level.
If this not racism, tell me what is.

You only have this view if you are ignorant, racist or a combination of both. Unsurprisingly, this is the view of a significant portion of people in this country, regardless of any data.

For those of us who are not ignorant or racist, we understand that MCPS is focusing on these groups because they have the data to show that they are not performing at the level they should be.

Is this the school's fault? No
Can they unilaterally solve the problem (close the achievement gap)? No

But what they can do is ensure that those that are falling behind academically have the resources to catch up. Their job is to educate the children in their jurisdiction and for such a large system, I think they are trying to do the best they can.

Anonymous wrote:MCPS stereotypes:

Admin: mostly black and white
Students:
Asian and white: most meet acadamic bench marks
Black: most cannot reach acadamic bench marks
Hispanics: most esol and cannot reach acadamic bench marks.

If you see a black student in a school hallway, your first reaction is: this student is poor and cannot read and do math at on grade level.
If this not racism, tell me what is.

Jack Smith did try to say that poor blacks test worse than non-poor blacks.... And poor Hispanics test worse than non-poor hispanics.

WaPo only ran this in the digital version and made it virtually impossible to find unless you do very specific word searches.

Anonymous wrote:

? Black or African American students affected by poverty

? Black or African American students not in poverty

? Hispanic or Latino students affected by poverty

? Hispanic or Latino students not in poverty

? White, Asian and students of two or more races who are affected by poverty.

and this - lol, from the article:

There is also a monitoring group that includes white, Asian and students of two or more races who are not in poverty.

So . . . the system has basically returned to tracking but in the worst way possible by labeling kids and reinforcing stereotypes!

Great job, MCPS!

agree this is worse and more racist than the P for Proficient or Proficiency Bar. Now it's the Asian White Kid Bar. Go get 'em!

MCPS stereotypes:

Admin: mostly black and white
Students:
Asian and white: most meet acadamic bench marks
Black: most cannot reach acadamic bench marks
Hispanics: most esol and cannot reach acadamic bench marks.

If you see a black student in a school hallway, your first reaction is: this student is poor and cannot read and do math at on grade level.
If this not racism, tell me what is.

Anonymous wrote:

? Black or African American students affected by poverty

? Black or African American students not in poverty

? Hispanic or Latino students affected by poverty

? Hispanic or Latino students not in poverty

? White, Asian and students of two or more races who are affected by poverty.

and this - lol, from the article:

There is also a monitoring group that includes white, Asian and students of two or more races who are not in poverty.

So . . . the system has basically returned to tracking but in the worst way possible by labeling kids and reinforcing stereotypes!

Great job, MCPS!

+1 Right? Some people demand we not look at race, and yet, here's MCPS.. breaking equity and achievement down by race.

Again.. why is MCPS (and others) so determined to focus on race rather than simply income status. Do people think there are no Asian or white families who are lower income in this county? I feel like this group gets lost in the shuffle.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many people on this board talk about how they pay hundreds of thousands more for homes in specific neighborhoods because of the schools. They believe they are so vastly superior to other neighborhoods because they confer an advantage to the children who attend them. This appears to be a mainstream belief that the county has addressed with its cohort criteria.

People are dis cussing MCPS ‘s equity initiative here. No one talked about there house.

It's the elephant in the room and should be a part of the discussion.

DP... you are reading into things that don't exist. Read the report. What does living in a W cluster have to do with this report?

I don't live in a W cluster, and I am Asian American.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many people on this board talk about how they pay hundreds of thousands more for homes in specific neighborhoods because of the schools. They believe they are so vastly superior to other neighborhoods because they confer an advantage to the children who attend them. This appears to be a mainstream belief that the county has addressed with its cohort criteria.

People are dis cussing MCPS ‘s equity initiative here. No one talked about there house.

It's the elephant in the room and should be a part of the discussion.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone think Dr. Smith could bring some of the low performing kids up in a year if he was a classroom teacher? If he could, he can let others know the secrets.

Ha! Zero chance of that

Dude if Dr. Smith had that cool robot from the TV show he'd PWN the classroom.

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone think Dr. Smith could bring some of the low performing kids up in a year if he was a classroom teacher? If he could, he can let others know the secrets.

Ha! Zero chance of that