MCAP Results and thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Have you all received your scores for your elementary school DC? I see that some have received it already and are there any people still waiting ?

[Anonymous]

Haven’t got them for my elementary kid or my middle school kid.

[Anonymous]

Got my fourth grader's scores, but not my sixth grader.

[Anonymous]

I'm a longtime MCPS elementary teacher and here are my thoughts after seeing dismal scores systemwide -

1) The test is not a good measure of student ability. MAP paints a much better picture in my opinion.

2) Our ELA curriculum is awful and the new one is supposed to include foundational skills so we probably won't be using Really Great Reading with all students next year. That's a shame because I have seen some kids really take off with their decoding thanks to RGR.

3) Our classrooms are becoming needier and needier each year - both in terms of behavior and academics. It might sound terrible but we can't get all newcomers proficient enough in English to pass MCAP in just one school year. Similarly, when we have kids coming to us several years below grade-level, they can barely access the grade-level curriculum. Thinking they're going to pass MCAP is a joke. I'd much rather have those 8 sessions of testing back so I can continue meeting with my groups.

[Anonymous]

We got ours at the end of last week

[Anonymous]

I got the science scores a while ago, but no ELA/math MCAP yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a longtime MCPS elementary teacher and here are my thoughts after seeing dismal scores systemwide -

1) The test is not a good measure of student ability. MAP paints a much better picture in my opinion.

2) Our ELA curriculum is awful and the new one is supposed to include foundational skills so we probably won't be using Really Great Reading with all students next year. That's a shame because I have seen some kids really take off with their decoding thanks to RGR.

3) Our classrooms are becoming needier and needier each year - both in terms of behavior and academics. It might sound terrible but we can't get all newcomers proficient enough in English to pass MCAP in just one school year. Similarly, when we have kids coming to us several years below grade-level, they can barely access the grade-level curriculum. Thinking they're going to pass MCAP is a joke. I'd much rather have those 8 sessions of testing back so I can continue meeting with my groups.

We really can’t ignore this anymore. There have been huge changes in the population of Montgomery County and that has affected our school system in major ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a longtime MCPS elementary teacher and here are my thoughts after seeing dismal scores systemwide -

1) The test is not a good measure of student ability. MAP paints a much better picture in my opinion.

2) Our ELA curriculum is awful and the new one is supposed to include foundational skills so we probably won't be using Really Great Reading with all students next year. That's a shame because I have seen some kids really take off with their decoding thanks to RGR.

3) Our classrooms are becoming needier and needier each year - both in terms of behavior and academics. It might sound terrible but we can't get all newcomers proficient enough in English to pass MCAP in just one school year. Similarly, when we have kids coming to us several years below grade-level, they can barely access the grade-level curriculum. Thinking they're going to pass MCAP is a joke. I'd much rather have those 8 sessions of testing back so I can continue meeting with my groups.

We really can’t ignore this anymore. There have been huge changes in the population of Montgomery County and that has affected our school system in major ways.

Does MCPS get more money for needier kids (those with IEPs, who are ELL, who get FARMs, and/or who have 504 plans? Or is it the same amount for all kids, regardless of needs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a longtime MCPS elementary teacher and here are my thoughts after seeing dismal scores systemwide -

1) The test is not a good measure of student ability. MAP paints a much better picture in my opinion.

2) Our ELA curriculum is awful and the new one is supposed to include foundational skills so we probably won't be using Really Great Reading with all students next year. That's a shame because I have seen some kids really take off with their decoding thanks to RGR.

3) Our classrooms are becoming needier and needier each year - both in terms of behavior and academics. It might sound terrible but we can't get all newcomers proficient enough in English to pass MCAP in just one school year. Similarly, when we have kids coming to us several years below grade-level, they can barely access the grade-level curriculum. Thinking they're going to pass MCAP is a joke. I'd much rather have those 8 sessions of testing back so I can continue meeting with my groups.

We really can’t ignore this anymore. There have been huge changes in the population of Montgomery County and that has affected our school system in major ways.

Does MCPS get more money for needier kids (those with IEPs, who are ELL, who get FARMs, and/or who have 504 plans? Or is it the same amount for all kids, regardless of needs?

Yes. But, there are just too many of these 'needier' kids now and it's straining the system. There is only so much money to go around. And, to some extent, simply throwing more money at the issue has not made it better.

[Anonymous]

They get money for special needs and for kids who are low income. I don't now about ESOL.

[Anonymous]

Does MCAP show up in ParentVUE or anywhere online?

I can't keep track of paper.

[Anonymous]

Most of you use the neediest kids as talking points but they aren't at your schools. The issue is that MCPS doesn't teach the foundation anymore and its all fluff in ES.

[Anonymous]

The issue is that the country want schools to be all things to all kids and schools are not setup or funded to function like this and neither is our culture. School/School district are the place students are getting their SEL needs, mental health, food, education and more needs met. But schools are setup and scheduled to be places of learning, mostly from 8-5.

If schools are going to be society’s community centers, they need to be fully reimagined and in some cases the buildings rebuilt to allow for better traffic and scheduling flow. And people who pass legislation about how school need to act and be accountable should think beyond just doing something good but to how things can and will be actually implemented, especially if the new legislation is not providing any additional funding or resources.

So much of what we have going on today is staff from schools all the way through central stuck with BS data accumulation and reporting that does nothing to help students and families. Data is important and so is transparency, but it’s meaningless if you’re asking the wrong questions and don’t have capacity to truly change what is needed.

For example, I continue to be floored that not all ES teachers knew and understood Phonics. That’s not an McPS issue that a teacher training program issue. But it could have been resolved simply by doing a Phonics education training series for ALL ES teachers.

[Anonymous]

I truly feel that schools need to focus on EDUCATION. There are plenty of other government agencies and non-profits who can do the rest.

Schools can’t do everything. Focus on one thing (teaching kids) and let other organizations handle the rest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I truly feel that schools need to focus on EDUCATION. There are plenty of other government agencies and non-profits who can do the rest.

Schools can’t do everything. Focus on one thing (teaching kids) and let other organizations handle the rest.

From an efficiency and value for money standpoint, it makes a lot of sense to serve kids where they are physically located. If you want to be sure kids get a healthy breakfast and lunch, then serving it to them directly conserves valuable resources and limits opportunities for fraud/misuse.

Similarly, embedding medical clinics in the highest needs schools saves taxpayer resources because the children are already there, elementary schools tend to be walking distance to homes, and schools can function as a distribution hub.

What I think folks fail to understand, however, is that MCPS funds are largely not going to those items. Free and reduced price breakfasts and lunches come from federal funds, while money for social services or medical care is a mix of federal/state/county funds. It's not being diverted from education - it's just being physically delivered in the place where kids/families are anyway.