Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:OP – I cannot speak toward other DCPS elementary schools except that they follow a set of core standards (measured via PARCC/CAPE). Brent’s curriculum is made up by its teachers and does not follow coherent sequence of lessons. The assignments are not the same between two classes, which leads to one teacher being more desired than another. The curriculum also fails to take into account different learning styles and intelligences. Brent teaches to the “median” student; students above or below are supplementing outside of school, which helps Brent students reach 4/5s on standardized tests (skews the appearance of the quality of the curriculum/teaching).
This. My kids went to different DCPS elementaries, and they learned entirely different things. The math was the same because they followed the same Eureka books, but reading, writing, science, and social studies were completely different.
Hmm, I think this might be a bit of a misperception.
Math and ELA curriculums are pretty standard across DCPS. There is some leeway among schools (and individual teachers) in terms of emphasis and time. Some schools will augment these curriculums with additional work. Some will emphasize writing more or less (as a PP noted, with 15 minutes versus 30 minutes of writing at different schools). But the materials, the standards, the grading -- it's all standardized.
Science and social studies technically have standardized curriculums but the reality is that these areas are not tested and not as emphasized in elementary, so you do see huge differences between schools in how they are approached. In my opinion, the best approach is when teachers and schools find ways to incorporate these subjects into the math and ELA instruction. Consistently my child's best teachers will find ways to incorporate science, especially, into reading and writing practice, or use a science lesson to reinforce math concepts. This is basically the only way you can get substantive science and social studies into DCPS curriculum because the testing and targets for reading and math require a lot of time and many teachers just don't feel they have any left over for these subjects that are not tested. Especially true at schools trying to lift test scores.
What WILL impact kids is peer levels. DCPS schools generally teach to the median student, good-to-great teachers will do some differentiation to help meet needs across a spectrum. But if most of the kids in class are below grade level, that will impact what material an on-grade level student sees. Likewise if there just is not a substantial above-grade level cohort that can impact it. The mix of kids in the classroom matters a lot, especially when it comes to what gets repeated and reinforced.
I don't have a kid at Brent and can't say with any authority what is going on, but the idea that they "teach to the median" is not itself cause for alarm. These reports about rampant supplementing are relevant, but not necessarily in the way people might think. One thing that can happen when say a third to half the class is supplementing, especially in math, is that teacher introduce concepts only to discover half their kids not only understand already, but are bored with them. This creates problems for teachers in terms of teaching the kids who aren't supplementing (but may still be on grade level -- just not doing math after school 3 days a week) and also dealing with disengagement from kids who are getting inundated with math curriculum even outside of school. Supplementing can be a godsend for a kid who is behind, has a learning disorder, or simply loves the subject matter. Supplementing can be problematic for kids who are generally average/on target.