What makes MoCO so great?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Alot of MCPS is riding on the shirt tails of a few high schools.

"A lot" is two words, and "shirttail" is one word, though I think you meant "on the coattails," meaning "as a result of the success of another."

I went to public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Read the stuff that happens before the BOE, County Council, etc. It is a system obsessed with the achievement gap and the easiest way to close it. Oops, almost forgot--the easiest way to close the gap is to hold back the top.

Still waiting for citations from BOE or County Council documents and/or meetings to support this assertion. (Granted, the BOE is not exactly the best about open meetings. But if they're really obsessed, it ought to come up in open meetings as well as closed meetings.) Maybe something like, "Let's close the achievement gap by holding back high achievers!" or "Ha ha, our nefarious plan to close the achievement gap by holding back high achievers is working!" Please provide soon, thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get it. Are children getting Ps even though they are not proficient?

Great question. What ARE the standards here? Challenging to some kids, most kids, no one?

You can find the standards here:

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/elementary/guides.aspx

And you can find definitions of the marks here:

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/2.0/reportcardfaq.aspx#4

P = Meets the grade-level standard by demonstrating proficiency of the content or processes for the measurement topic

Are you a robot? Now all the administrators (and some teachers) are turned into one machine (or parrot).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Are you a robot? Now all the administrators (and some teachers) are turned into one machine (or parrot).

I don't understand. Somebody asked what the standards are. The links say what the standards are for the curriculum at each grade and for a P. What do machines and parrots have to do with this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get it. Are children getting Ps even though they are not proficient?

Great question. What ARE the standards here? Challenging to some kids, most kids, no one?

You can find the standards here:

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/elementary/guides.aspx

And you can find definitions of the marks here:

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/2.0/reportcardfaq.aspx#4

P = Meets the grade-level standard by demonstrating proficiency of the content or processes for the measurement topic

So in other words, pretty low standards and not much material per grade level. Great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

So in other words, pretty low standards and not much material per grade level. Great.

Why do you conclude this?

[Anonymous]

I don't have school age kids yet so I'm not as familiar with the new system. But in reading many of the criticisms of 2.0 I got the impression "P" was the highest mark a child could get. I can definitely see where this would be an issue because it's important to know if kids are exceeding proficiency at their grade level as well, and to encourage kids to reach higher than the minimum standards. But reading though the links above it appears that the "ES" mark captures just that- exceptional proficiency. Is it really so different from the "O" and "S" of the past? Again, newbie here so it's merely a question, not an accusation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't have school age kids yet so I'm not as familiar with the new system. But in reading many of the criticisms of 2.0 I got the impression "P" was the highest mark a child could get. I can definitely see where this would be an issue because it's important to know if kids are exceeding proficiency at their grade level as well, and to encourage kids to reach higher than the minimum standards. But reading though the links above it appears that the "ES" mark captures just that- exceptional proficiency. Is it really so different from the "O" and "S" of the past? Again, newbie here so it's merely a question, not an accusation.

Except that is not true. ES captures somehow your child knows something he did not learn in class. And there are very few of them given out. Many complain that kids don,t get them in their strong subjects but seemingly randomly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Is it really so different from the "O" and "S" of the past? /quote]

Yes, it is. The difference is that the children of DCUM parents used to get Os, which allowed the parents to believe that their children were doing better than the other children in the class, which is important if you think that the most important point of going to school is to do better than other people. Whereas now the children of DCUM parents get Ps, which galls the parents, because all of the other children that their children do better than are also getting Ps, so now what's the point of going to school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't have school age kids yet so I'm not as familiar with the new system. But in reading many of the criticisms of 2.0 I got the impression "P" was the highest mark a child could get. I can definitely see where this would be an issue because it's important to know if kids are exceeding proficiency at their grade level as well, and to encourage kids to reach higher than the minimum standards. But reading though the links above it appears that the "ES" mark captures just that- exceptional proficiency. Is it really so different from the "O" and "S" of the past? Again, newbie here so it's merely a question, not an accusation.

Except that is not true. ES captures somehow your child knows something he did not learn in class. And there are very few of them given out. Many complain that kids don,t get them in their strong subjects but seemingly randomly.

Ah ok, thanks for explaining. So is it the new system that is the issue or the way it's being implemented by teachers/schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Is it really so different from the "O" and "S" of the past? /quote]

Yes, it is. The difference is that the children of DCUM parents used to get Os, which allowed the parents to believe that their children were doing better than the other children in the class, which is important if you think that the most important point of going to school is to do better than other people. Whereas now the children of DCUM parents get Ps, which galls the parents, because all of the other children that their children do better than are also getting Ps, so now what's the point of going to school?

But the thing is, some kids (mine included) put in extra effort if there is something higher to shoot for. Before if they got an "S" they wanted an "O" and had a clearer vision of what needed to be done to get it. Now they get a "P" and think that's great, why put in any extra work? As PP stated, the doling out of "ES" is rare and there is no clear vision of how to achieve it.

[Anonymous]

What makes moco so great? It is one of the best systems in the country and highly educated parents are involved in serious discourse about curriculum, grading and evaluation, and management. Even though some of this discussion is juvenile, at least it is occurring.

[Anonymous]

It isn't good. I was honesty shocked at the mount of overhype. We move a lot for my husband's job. We are in the RM cluster. I am not impressed. This is our 5th district. All the others were better. I wish we moved to Howard County or Fairfax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What makes moco so great? It is one of the best systems in the country and highly educated parents are involved in serious discourse about curriculum, grading and evaluation, and management. Even though some of this discussion is juvenile, at least it is occurring.

That is what the MCPS PR people will tell you, anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What makes moco so great? It is one of the best systems in the country and highly educated parents are involved in serious discourse about curriculum, grading and evaluation, and management. Even though some of this discussion is juvenile, at least it is occurring.

Then why are 47-63% of kids failing Algebra I, ii, Geometry and Pre Calc final examinations in the entire county? Did you read the Gazette article this past Tjursday? AWFUL! Inner city DC schools have a better percentage than MCPS.