Only 57% of MCPS students proficient in reading, 36% proficient in math
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Anonymous
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The problem is tech in schools and particularly laptops in elementary schools (or worse, IPads). This is for several reasons. First, in order to learn to read, children need to write by hand. Laptops and Ipads do not have the same impact on the brain. Second, when you read online, your eye travels up and down. When you read on paper, it travels left to right. That is why you retain much less information when you read something online. Third, many people find it helpful to underline words and otherwise interact with the text - this is not possible (highlighting isn't the same) on a laptop. Finally, tech is inherently distracting - for the teacher, it takes up a lot of time, making sure kids can sign in, making sure the devices are charged, making sure children are on task and not playing games. For children, they are distracting because there are a lot of other things you can do besides being on task - and if one child is playing a game, all the children around him are watching.
For math, information is not retained online as easily. If you have never taken statistics, try learning it through Khan Academy. It will not stick the way it would if you had a textbook and/or workbook. These results are self-inflicted and will not improve until we get tech out of schools. (How much of what I just wrote did you absorb on the first reading? Probably not all - and imagine being a student trying to learn.) |
Anonymous
So, I was trying to figure out how these numbers squared with those shared by PP above, and I think this is it. With regards to AP classes, the number of kids getting a 3 on at least one test dropped (the Bethesda Magazine statistic). BUT, the number of 3s and above received by MCPS kids is up (your statistic, from DoE). This makes sense if you have a current high schooler, or have just been paying attention, or if you scroll down on your link, where you can see breakdowns by race/ethnicity and school. About 40,500 AP exams were taken in 2024 by MCPS students. Of those, about 31,000 were graded at 3 or higher. More than a third of those were from only four high schools in the county. To put it in simpler terms, at a school like Whitman, about 89% of AP exams got a passing grade. But at Kennedy, about 37% of tests got a passing grade. This is how the statistics square. You have a subset of kids taking a bunch of APs and passing all of them, and then another subset of kids taking the exams but not passing. That's how number of passing tests can be up, but number of kids with at least one passing score is down. This raises a pretty important question, for me. Why is MCPS letting kids sign up for classes they aren't prepared for? And is anyone looking at the class grade pass rate compared to the AP test pass rate for those classes? If there's a mismatch, why? |
Anonymous
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There was a study in Peru that gave One Laptop Per Child - the results were very disappointing.
Students subjected to the program, our research shows, did not improve their academic performance and had even slightly lower on-time primary and secondary school completion rates than those who didn’t participate. Moreover, while students improved in their ability to use the provided laptops (known as XO laptops), they only marginally improved their ability to use PC computers and showed no improvement in internet skills. https://blogs.iadb.org/ideas-matter/en/handing-out-laptops-is-not-enough-to-improve-student-learning/ |
Anonymous
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DP-Here's what I was able to find searching online. Add the 76% passing rate for 2024 that someone posted earlier:
Key Data Points 2023 Performance: 73.5% of MCPS students scored a 3 or higher on AP exams in 2023. Performance Trends: MCPS has seen consistent increases in AP exam performance over the years, with 2023 showing an increase from 2022. College Board Recognition: The College Board recognizes MCPS schools for their high performance in AP programs. |
Anonymous
Failing a harder test doesn't mean you're learning less than someone who passes an easier test. |
Anonymous
Wait, what? Your theory is that the kids at Kennedy are failing harder AP tests, while kids at the Ws are passing easier AP tests? Based on what evidence? |
Anonymous
You do not have to be writing by hand in order to learn to read. The foundational skills of learning to read are mostly memorization and auditory based. Being able write enhances the ability and creates different neural pathways which increases the memorization. But a person could learn to read without writing. However, learning to write well does require learning to read and spell. And tech in and of itself self in schools is not the problem. It’s how tech is used. In fact tech can be a good way to help reinforce skills or engage student differently. As for math, many have the ability to write using Desmos or the like. With regards to reading print vs digital, no reputable study I read has indicated the problem is left to right reading vs downward. The additional comprehension or lack is usually attributed to distraction or tactile interaction differences. |
Anonymous
Last year they were distributed (paper copies, not uploaded) in October. |
Anonymous
Fantastic analysis work. Great job! |
Anonymous
Not at our school. We got them in the spring of 2025. |
Anonymous
The biggest problem with tech is the internet, which makes it hard to stop students from going off task. For example, the linked mcps google account is one area students end up chatting with one another, playing games, etc. In the olden days, we used computers but—because there was no internet—we stayed on task. |
Anonymous
Agreed. |
Anonymous
Agreed. +100. And because the class size are so large that makes monitoring and management difficult. |
Anonymous
What we found is the quality of the teacher and them using textbooks/structured class covering all the material. It wasn't easy when your teachers don't cover everything but they tell the kids they are and not to worry/study outside of class. My kid believed that and learned the hard way despite us telling them otherwise. I suspect the material was not fully covered. |
Anonymous
Mcps doesn't have ipads. |