This petition is to request that CVUSD reinstate 6th grade Pre-Honors English or add an official 6th grade Honors English class at Colina Middle School.
Colina Middle School made a decision to discontinue the pre-honors clustering of top students in 6th grade English/Social Studies in favor of fully blended classes. This change took effect this school year.
ABOUT PRE-HONORS ENGLISH
For the past 10 years, there has been an unofficial pre-honors English/Social Studies class at Colina, taught by Sarah Morton. The criteria to get into this class was based on 5th grade academic grades (as well as work habits and citizenship) and CASSP test scores. Top students were clustered together in an honors environment, allowing Mrs. Morton to go deeper with these students who truly need more from the curriculum than their average peers.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PRE-HONORS AND REGULAR/FULLY BLENDED CLASSES
The difference between the honors clustered class and the regular class is significant. As Mrs. Morton described it at Back to School night in 2018, the basic curriculum is the same as all other 6th graders, but the curriculum for Honors differs in depth and breadth. Having a class of honors students allows the teacher to consistently use higher level thinking strategies, higher vocabulary, critical thinking and problem solving strategies. Core lit novels are higher level in terms of content and with respect to the responses that students are required to elicit. With respect to writing, honors students grasp the basic organizational pattern so quickly that time can then be spent on improving their actual writing by teaching sentence fluency, word choice, thesis development, and other nuances of expository writing that cannot be addressed with lower performing children.
In a fully blended class, the teacher simply cannot teach at this level, which lowers the bar for the top students, and denies GATE and High Achieving learners the depth and complexity that they need and require, and that is their educational right.
GATE DIFFERENTIATION
According to the district website, GATE provides “qualitatively differentiated learning experiences for students with unique abilities and talents in all academic areas,” however, blending all levels in ELA/Social Science eliminates any possibility of true differentiation for these students in a core and critical academic subject. Colina continues to offer Accelerated Math to 6th grade students, so why not English? Plain and simple, they are now underserving this population of students.
Our highest achieving children and our gifted children deserve continued differentiation in the classroom with rich curriculum and deeper learning opportunities to best meet their educational needs. Bringing up the bottom simply cannot be at the expense of our brightest students, who need more from the curriculum than the standard provides.
Our closest neighbors, Las Virgenes Unified School District has official Honors classes in ELA/Social Science for ALL grades starting in 6th grade as STANDARD district policy.
Please sign this petition and forward to any parents whose children will be impacted by this change. Email the district employees listed below. Make your voice heard.
Mark W. McLaughlin
Superintendent
Luis A. Lichtl
Assistant Superintendent of Instruction
Kenneth Loo
Director of Middle School Education
Shauna Ashmore
Director, Student Support Services
Stefanie Caswell
GATE Teacher on Special Assignment
Updates
September 16, 2019
I have been reviewing the stories you shared about the need for more rigorous instruction in the classroom. These experiences clarify why we started this effort to restore a designated honors path for our students. I am currently preparing to present this feedback to the district leadership to ensure they understand the impact of the recent policy change.
September 16, 2019
Reaching this level of support confirms that many of us recognize the value of academic challenge for our students. This momentum suggests that our community is ready to engage in a formal conversation with school leadership regarding the classroom environment at Colina.
8 Comments
My daughter benefitted immensely from the honors program. Why not accommodate students by meeting them at their learning level and engaging them on their level?
My son was in H class and he hugely benefited from Mrs morton H class. I have a 5th Grade daughter that she also needs to be on H classes in 6th grade. I ask that this class be brought back if not we will have to look at other options.
Please bring back this program to fuel the minds and passions of children who want more and will be served with additional focus and instruction. Let’s help all kids.
Please save accelerated 6th grade English
I am sure you mean Honors English. Accelerated math is still intact for 6th grade.
It very important for the future kids to have and been challenge
Please save accelerated 6th grade English for all the reasons stated in this petition.
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This petition is to request that CVUSD reinstate 6th grade Pre-Honors English or add an official 6th grade Honors English class at Colina Middle School.
Colina Middle School made a decision to discontinue the pre-honors clustering of top students in 6th grade English/Social Studies in favor of fully blended classes. This change took effect this school year.
ABOUT PRE-HONORS ENGLISH
For the past 10 years, there has been an unofficial pre-honors English/Social Studies class at Colina, taught by Sarah Morton. The criteria to get into this class was based on 5th grade academic grades (as well as work habits and citizenship) and CASSP test scores. Top students were clustered together in an honors environment, allowing Mrs. Morton to go deeper with these students who truly need more from the curriculum than their average peers.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PRE-HONORS AND REGULAR/FULLY BLENDED CLASSES
The difference between the honors clustered class and the regular class is significant. As Mrs. Morton described it at Back to School night in 2018, the basic curriculum is the same as all other 6th graders, but the curriculum for Honors differs in depth and breadth. Having a class of honors students allows the teacher to consistently use higher level thinking strategies, higher vocabulary, critical thinking and problem solving strategies. Core lit novels are higher level in terms of content and with respect to the responses that students are required to elicit. With respect to writing, honors students grasp the basic organizational pattern so quickly that time can then be spent on improving their actual writing by teaching sentence fluency, word choice, thesis development, and other nuances of expository writing that cannot be addressed with lower performing children.
In a fully blended class, the teacher simply cannot teach at this level, which lowers the bar for the top students, and denies GATE and High Achieving learners the depth and complexity that they need and require, and that is their educational right.
GATE DIFFERENTIATION
According to the district website, GATE provides “qualitatively differentiated learning experiences for students with unique abilities and talents in all academic areas,” however, blending all levels in ELA/Social Science eliminates any possibility of true differentiation for these students in a core and critical academic subject. Colina continues to offer Accelerated Math to 6th grade students, so why not English? Plain and simple, they are now underserving this population of students.
Our highest achieving children and our gifted children deserve continued differentiation in the classroom with rich curriculum and deeper learning opportunities to best meet their educational needs. Bringing up the bottom simply cannot be at the expense of our brightest students, who need more from the curriculum than the standard provides.
Our closest neighbors, Las Virgenes Unified School District has official Honors classes in ELA/Social Science for ALL grades starting in 6th grade as STANDARD district policy.
Please sign this petition and forward to any parents whose children will be impacted by this change. Email the district employees listed below. Make your voice heard.
Mark W. McLaughlin
Superintendent
Luis A. Lichtl
Assistant Superintendent of Instruction
Kenneth Loo
Director of Middle School Education
Shauna Ashmore
Director, Student Support Services
Stefanie Caswell
GATE Teacher on Special Assignment
Updates
September 16, 2019
I have been reviewing the stories you shared about the need for more rigorous instruction in the classroom. These experiences clarify why we started this effort to restore a designated honors path for our students. I am currently preparing to present this feedback to the district leadership to ensure they understand the impact of the recent policy change.
September 16, 2019
Reaching this level of support confirms that many of us recognize the value of academic challenge for our students. This momentum suggests that our community is ready to engage in a formal conversation with school leadership regarding the classroom environment at Colina.
8 Comments
There are so many students that will be entering Colina in Fall whose needs will not be met without Honors English! The Administrators have been unable or unwilling to justify its removal. Maybe the loss of revenue from students requesting an inter district transfer or attending private school will change their minds
My daughter benefitted immensely from the honors program. Why not accommodate students by meeting them at their learning level and engaging them on their level?
My son was in H class and he hugely benefited from Mrs morton H class. I have a 5th Grade daughter that she also needs to be on H classes in 6th grade. I ask that this class be brought back if not we will have to look at other options.
Please bring back this program to fuel the minds and passions of children who want more and will be served with additional focus and instruction. Let’s help all kids.
Please save accelerated 6th grade English
I am sure you mean Honors English. Accelerated math is still intact for 6th grade.
It very important for the future kids to have and been challenge
Please save accelerated 6th grade English for all the reasons stated in this petition.
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There are so many students that will be entering Colina in Fall whose needs will not be met without Honors English! The Administrators have been unable or unwilling to justify its removal. Maybe the loss of revenue from students requesting an inter district transfer or attending private school will change their minds