Public School Quality of curriculum between districts (Dallas, Plano: low income, apartments)

[frisco19542]

My kids goes to schools in Frisco. I am noticing that it harder and harder to see what material they using in class.

Do any schools still use textbooks and what material do they cover. I am noticing that there is a lot more video in the classroom and there is not a well defined course they go through. The main material seems to be a website developed by Rice University for STEM learning. At first I thought this was perhaps a school issue but I noticed Propers and other school districts use he same material. I think the material is very weakly produced.

I am wondering is there is a big difference in public school in materials given out or this something widespread. It would be nice to know what other states give out for material.

This is a very general statement but I noticed Texas in General does not rank as high as other states. Obviously Frisco, Plano, Prosper and other districts rank better. But is this because of tutoring and parents or is the district teaching them?

It's easy to compare test scores and SAT between districts but I am finding it really hard to compare curriculum between districts.

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by frisco19542

My kids goes to schools in Frisco. I am noticing that it harder and harder to see what material they using in class.

Do any schools still use textbooks and what material do they cover. I am noticing that there is a lot more video in the classroom and there is not a well defined course they go through. The main material seems to be a website developed by Rice University for STEM learning. At first I thought this was perhaps a school issue but I noticed Propers and other school districts use he same material. I think the material is very weakly produced.

I am wondering is there is a big difference in public school in materials given out or this something widespread. It would be nice to know what other states give out for material.

This is a very general statement but I noticed Texas in General does not rank as high as other states. Obviously Frisco, Plano, Prosper and other districts rank better. But is this because of tutoring and parents or is the district teaching them?

It's easy to compare test scores and SAT between districts but I am finding it really hard to compare curriculum between districts.

Highland Park does Common Core. Not sure whether any of the other suburbs do it.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by frisco19542

My kids goes to schools in Frisco. I am noticing that it harder and harder to see what material they using in class.

Do any schools still use textbooks and what material do they cover. I am noticing that there is a lot more video in the classroom and there is not a well defined course they go through. The main material seems to be a website developed by Rice University for STEM learning. At first I thought this was perhaps a school issue but I noticed Propers and other school districts use he same material. I think the material is very weakly produced.

I am wondering is there is a big difference in public school in materials given out or this something widespread. It would be nice to know what other states give out for material.

This is a very general statement but I noticed Texas in General does not rank as high as other states. Obviously Frisco, Plano, Prosper and other districts rank better. But is this because of tutoring and parents or is the district teaching them?

It's easy to compare test scores and SAT between districts but I am finding it really hard to compare curriculum between districts.

I think it has a lot more to do with the fact that students in Frisco, Plano, and Prosper are far more likely to come from middle to upper class families (in terms of income), their families are more likely to be intact, they are far less likely to need free breakfasts/lunches, and they are less likely to require ESL courses unless their parents are recent immigrants from countries where English isn't part of the curriculum. Even if they're recent immigrants, they're more likely to come from countries like India, China, etc. and their parents are statistically more likely to put a high value on education.

With students like that, the schools are far more likely to enjoy lots of parental cooperation and involvement and are less likely to have high dropout rates, high teen pregnancy rates, high delinquency rates, etc. Basically, all the factors that make students harder to teach (or even reach) are nowhere near as prominent.

Basically, the deck is already stacked in their favor.

Just my $0.02.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by numbersguy100

Highland Park does Common Core. Not sure whether any of the other suburbs do it.

Highland Park actually has no set curriculum at each grade level - at least in K-5. A good friend has taught in Plano ISD, HPISD, and a top private and had about equal freedom to teach at HP as at her current private school. Plano ISD has a very structured curriculum and a top notch curriculum development team.

[frisco19542]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

I think it has a lot more to do with the fact that students in Frisco, Plano, and Prosper are far more likely to come from middle to upper class families (in terms of income), their families are more likely to be intact, they are far less likely to need free breakfasts/lunches, and they are less likely to require ESL courses unless their parents are recent immigrants from countries where English isn't part of the curriculum. Even if they're recent immigrants, they're more likely to come from countries like India, China, etc. and their parents are statistically more likely to put a high value on education.

With students like that, the schools are far more likely to enjoy lots of parental cooperation and involvement and are less likely to have high dropout rates, high teen pregnancy rates, high delinquency rates, etc. Basically, all the factors that make students harder to teach (or even reach) are nowhere near as prominent.

Basically, the deck is already stacked in their favor.

Just my $0.02.

That is what I am trying to figure out. Is the district teaching better or the parents and the willingness to pay for tutoring the reason we see better scores.

I am not seeing a great deal of resources being offer say over an above Dallas ISD? If you can afford the best private school I can almost guarantee the school is offering a more solid curriculum. The only difference I am seeing is perhaps the kids have stable backgrounds.

I personally would like to see more time actually learning not watching Videos. Is this what other people are seeing?

[Backliteyes]

Originally Posted by frisco19542

That is what I am trying to figure out. Is the district teaching better or the parents and the willingness to pay for tutoring the reason we see better scores.

I am not seeing a great deal of resources being offer say over an above Dallas ISD? If you can afford the best private school I can almost guarantee the school is offering a more solid curriculum. The only difference I am seeing is perhaps the kids have stable backgrounds.

I personally would like to see more time actually learning not watching Videos. Is this what other people are seeing?

I think it has less to do with the curriculum or tutors and more to do with family culture, parental education, and resources, which is what I believe BigDGeek was pointing out. The school districts that are good are good because they're stuffed with families that impress upon their children in a consistent and non-compromising way, that education is their job as a child and is the foundation on which you build an upper-middle class lifestyle.

If you took those same families (as a group, mind you, not just one or two alone) and plunked them in a "bad" school district with a different curriculum and disallowed tutoring, it wouldn't matter. In a year or two that bad school district would suddenly be a good school district. It's not that the kids themselves are smarter - it's that their entire social structure is pushing them and providing the support for them to do as well in school as they possibly can.

[TheOverdog]

I can't really exactly help answer your question, but my daughter is in kindergarten in a Plano school, and works on a computer to do a STARR test (or whatever they call it) early assessment, and I believe it involves videos. She also received an assessment for the first half of the year. My mom just retired as a teacher in a different district, and I asked her about it, and she said they did the exact same assessment in her district, so I assume most of the curriculum is determined at the state level. How far each individual class makes it through the state-determined curriculum will differentiate a 'good' school vs a 'bad' school.

You didn't really say what grade level your kids are, but I believe textbooks are purchased at a district level (how often they are changed out for newer versions) so there could be some differences there. Textbooks are incredibly expensive, and when I was in college we were moving away from textbooks towards Harvard and other groups online-course manuals, so it wouldn't surprise me if public schools are too.

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Highland Park actually has no set curriculum at each grade level - at least in K-5. A good friend has taught in Plano ISD, HPISD, and a top private and had about equal freedom to teach at HP as at her current private school. Plano ISD has a very structured curriculum and a top notch curriculum development team.

I'm hearing from both current parents (of elementary and middle schools kids) and administrators that they've adopted Common Core and are a few years into it at this point. They might have some nuanced name for it because Common Core is associated with Obama administration and doesn't play well, but it's incredibly close.

[DitsyD]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

I can't really exactly help answer your question, but my daughter is in kindergarten in a Plano school, and works on a computer to do a STARR test (or whatever they call it) early assessment, and I believe it involves videos. She also received an assessment for the first half of the year. My mom just retired as a teacher in a different district, and I asked her about it, and she said they did the exact same assessment in her district, so I assume most of the curriculum is determined at the state level. How far each individual class makes it through the state-determined curriculum will differentiate a 'good' school vs a 'bad' school.

You didn't really say what grade level your kids are, but I believe textbooks are purchased at a district level (how often they are changed out for newer versions) so there could be some differences there. Textbooks are incredibly expensive, and when I was in college we were moving away from textbooks towards Harvard and other groups online-course manuals, so it wouldn't surprise me if public schools are too.

I don't think that STAAR testing starts until third grade. Plano does do MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) testing starting in kindergarten and that is done three times a year on the computer. The test produces a growth scale score. This scale is a curriculum scale that uses individual item difficulty values to estimate student achievement. You can read more at NWEA MAP - Plano ISD

[Vicman]

It even varies within DISD, although the vast majority of DISD is low income, working class, and Hispanic/Latino. Lakewood and that area have different clientele and so have different curricula. The magnets (Dealey, Travis, etc) also have different clientele.

While North Dallas is wealthy too, most of the private schools are concentrated there, and the public elementaries instead have low income kids living in apartments.