Taylor's first year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread simply proves that there is literally not a single superintendent who would make the crazy parents on this thread happy.

Seriously - what could a superintendent do to get a good grade on the DCUM report card? Wave a magic wand and bridge the equity gap while simultaneously never busing a single student? Find hundreds of qualified people who are willing to take on brutal special education positions at salary that doesn't reflect the amount of work that is needed so that programs can be fully staffed?

It is a thankless, thankless job.

He is easily the best since Josh Starr.

Why, what has he done that you like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread simply proves that there is literally not a single superintendent who would make the crazy parents on this thread happy.

Seriously - what could a superintendent do to get a good grade on the DCUM report card? Wave a magic wand and bridge the equity gap while simultaneously never busing a single student? Find hundreds of qualified people who are willing to take on brutal special education positions at salary that doesn't reflect the amount of work that is needed so that programs can be fully staffed?

It is a thankless, thankless job.

He is easily the best since Josh Starr.

Instead of acting as a shield for Dr. Taylor and insulting parents who just speak their truths and lived experiences, why don't you make the case for why he's such a great superintendent? What has he done that makes him so impressive to you? Inquiring minds would love to know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not impressed. He made no real changes and the upcoming ones are all for show.

The new secondary grading policy isn't "for show." That's a significant change that's been needed for a long time.

The grading is not the issue. Its the quality of education and supports kids get. Its all for show. We need to go back to traditional teaching with homework, textbooks and structure and not just have teachers making it up as you go. Teaching math, science, english and history without books is absurd. Kids not knowing what assignments or tests are coming and no structure sucks. Some teachers not grading or taking weeks to grade so kids don't know what's going on sucks. Kids not getting a good foundation in elementary means many will struggle later on if parents don't supplement outside. Taylor and the others are tone death.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not impressed. He made no real changes and the upcoming ones are all for show.

The new secondary grading policy isn't "for show." That's a significant change that's been needed for a long time.

The grading is not the issue. Its the quality of education and supports kids get. Its all for show. We need to go back to traditional teaching with homework, textbooks and structure and not just have teachers making it up as you go. Teaching math, science, english and history without books is absurd. Kids not knowing what assignments or tests are coming and no structure sucks. Some teachers not grading or taking weeks to grade so kids don't know what's going on sucks. Kids not getting a good foundation in elementary means many will struggle later on if parents don't supplement outside. Taylor and the others are tone death.

Agree with this, except for the teachers making it up as they go. They're constrained by the curriculum, policy and variable school admin/particular classroom demographic dynamics. There certainly are those that fail on the other items (well communicated scheduling, timely grading, quality feedback, responsiveness to inquiry, etc.).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not impressed. He made no real changes and the upcoming ones are all for show.

The new secondary grading policy isn't "for show." That's a significant change that's been needed for a long time.

The grading is not the issue. Its the quality of education and supports kids get. Its all for show. We need to go back to traditional teaching with homework, textbooks and structure and not just have teachers making it up as you go. Teaching math, science, english and history without books is absurd. Kids not knowing what assignments or tests are coming and no structure sucks. Some teachers not grading or taking weeks to grade so kids don't know what's going on sucks. Kids not getting a good foundation in elementary means many will struggle later on if parents don't supplement outside. Taylor and the others are tone death.

So you expected the hiring of a new super to fully metamorphosize this 160,000-student, 25,000-staff member public school system, within 12 months?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread simply proves that there is literally not a single superintendent who would make the crazy parents on this thread happy.

Seriously - what could a superintendent do to get a good grade on the DCUM report card? Wave a magic wand and bridge the equity gap while simultaneously never busing a single student? Find hundreds of qualified people who are willing to take on brutal special education positions at salary that doesn't reflect the amount of work that is needed so that programs can be fully staffed?

It is a thankless, thankless job.

He is easily the best since Josh Starr.

Make it to where my kid does not have to take AP classes, to avoid fight,after fight. Like he’s in a goddamn inner city school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not impressed. He made no real changes and the upcoming ones are all for show.

The new secondary grading policy isn't "for show." That's a significant change that's been needed for a long time.

The grading is not the issue. Its the quality of education and supports kids get. Its all for show. We need to go back to traditional teaching with homework, textbooks and structure and not just have teachers making it up as you go. Teaching math, science, english and history without books is absurd. Kids not knowing what assignments or tests are coming and no structure sucks. Some teachers not grading or taking weeks to grade so kids don't know what's going on sucks. Kids not getting a good foundation in elementary means many will struggle later on if parents don't supplement outside. Taylor and the others are tone death.

So you expected the hiring of a new super to fully metamorphosize this 160,000-student, 25,000-staff member public school system, within 12 months?

I would expect far more than he did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread simply proves that there is literally not a single superintendent who would make the crazy parents on this thread happy.

Seriously - what could a superintendent do to get a good grade on the DCUM report card? Wave a magic wand and bridge the equity gap while simultaneously never busing a single student? Find hundreds of qualified people who are willing to take on brutal special education positions at salary that doesn't reflect the amount of work that is needed so that programs can be fully staffed?

It is a thankless, thankless job.

He is easily the best since Josh Starr.

Make it to where my kid does not have to take AP classes, to avoid fight,after fight. Like he’s in a goddamn inner city school.

Your kid doesn't have to take AP classes. Its a choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not impressed. He made no real changes and the upcoming ones are all for show.

The new secondary grading policy isn't "for show." That's a significant change that's been needed for a long time.

The grading is not the issue. Its the quality of education and supports kids get. Its all for show. We need to go back to traditional teaching with homework, textbooks and structure and not just have teachers making it up as you go. Teaching math, science, english and history without books is absurd. Kids not knowing what assignments or tests are coming and no structure sucks. Some teachers not grading or taking weeks to grade so kids don't know what's going on sucks. Kids not getting a good foundation in elementary means many will struggle later on if parents don't supplement outside. Taylor and the others are tone death.

Agree with this, except for the teachers making it up as they go. They're constrained by the curriculum, policy and variable school admin/particular classroom demographic dynamics. There certainly are those that fail on the other items (well communicated scheduling, timely grading, quality feedback, responsiveness to inquiry, etc.).

In HS we have multiple teachers making it up as they go. Some teachers follow the MCPS curriculum, others don't. There is no accountability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not impressed. He made no real changes and the upcoming ones are all for show.

The new secondary grading policy isn't "for show." That's a significant change that's been needed for a long time.

The grading is not the issue. Its the quality of education and supports kids get. Its all for show. We need to go back to traditional teaching with homework, textbooks and structure and not just have teachers making it up as you go. Teaching math, science, english and history without books is absurd. Kids not knowing what assignments or tests are coming and no structure sucks. Some teachers not grading or taking weeks to grade so kids don't know what's going on sucks. Kids not getting a good foundation in elementary means many will struggle later on if parents don't supplement outside. Taylor and the others are tone death.

Require HS teachers to give students a syllabus at beginning of each semester or beginning of school year if it is a year long class. Teachers coming in to class announcing that something will be a quiz that same day without any warnings just because teacher had not given the required # of practice/prep or assessment for a quarter to enter into gradebook. And not giving much else that goes into gradebook for a quarter..so if a student doesn't do well on that one pop quiz, their grade tanks and of course student doesn't learn the material.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not impressed. He made no real changes and the upcoming ones are all for show.

The new secondary grading policy isn't "for show." That's a significant change that's been needed for a long time.

The grading is not the issue. Its the quality of education and supports kids get. Its all for show. We need to go back to traditional teaching with homework, textbooks and structure and not just have teachers making it up as you go. Teaching math, science, english and history without books is absurd. Kids not knowing what assignments or tests are coming and no structure sucks. Some teachers not grading or taking weeks to grade so kids don't know what's going on sucks. Kids not getting a good foundation in elementary means many will struggle later on if parents don't supplement outside. Taylor and the others are tone death.

Agree with this, except for the teachers making it up as they go. They're constrained by the curriculum, policy and variable school admin/particular classroom demographic dynamics. There certainly are those that fail on the other items (well communicated scheduling, timely grading, quality feedback, responsiveness to inquiry, etc.).

In HS we have multiple teachers making it up as they go. Some teachers follow the MCPS curriculum, others don't. There is no accountability.

Your kid must be in the same class as our kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not impressed. He made no real changes and the upcoming ones are all for show.

The new secondary grading policy isn't "for show." That's a significant change that's been needed for a long time.

The grading is not the issue. Its the quality of education and supports kids get. Its all for show. We need to go back to traditional teaching with homework, textbooks and structure and not just have teachers making it up as you go. Teaching math, science, english and history without books is absurd. Kids not knowing what assignments or tests are coming and no structure sucks. Some teachers not grading or taking weeks to grade so kids don't know what's going on sucks. Kids not getting a good foundation in elementary means many will struggle later on if parents don't supplement outside. Taylor and the others are tone death.

Require HS teachers to give students a syllabus at beginning of each semester or beginning of school year if it is a year long class. Teachers coming in to class announcing that something will be a quiz that same day without any warnings just because teacher had not given the required # of practice/prep or assessment for a quarter to enter into gradebook. And not giving much else that goes into gradebook for a quarter..so if a student doesn't do well on that one pop quiz, their grade tanks and of course student doesn't learn the material.

Some teachers provide syllabi, while others don’t—and the ones we do receive are often very generic. There are no textbooks, and if we’re lucky, we might get a few handouts, which makes it extremely difficult to study or prepare. The lack of regular assignments is a major problem, and the way grading is handled adds to the confusion. One teacher, for example, only gave about 12 assignments, each worth 10 points, but never awarded a full 10—making it nearly impossible to earn an A. That teacher was also frequently absent, and when other teachers stepped in to grade, the results were inconsistent. In one case, a rough draft received a very low grade from one teacher, while the final version—unchanged—was graded much higher by another.

There needs to be more structure. Teachers should use textbooks, follow a clear and consistent syllabus, assign work a few times a week, schedule tests in advance, and post materials online. Students should be given physical copies of the books they’re reading—no replacing them with audiobooks or movies in class.

Taylor promised accountibility and there is none.

[Anonymous]

Holding my opinion until we see the results of the boundary and programmatic changes. So far, definitely less than impressed with the consultants and the process for the boundary analysis

[Anonymous]

I think he is doing well based on the circumstances. He was handed a giant hot pile of @#%^ x 1000…

He is doing what he can and going for the biggest issues first.

As a parent of a student in special ed, i can tell you that mcps is severely deficient in meeting legal requirements. Sure, they can litigate until parents give up which was McKnight’s strategy, but he’s actually trying to fix what he can to make mcps meet federal regulations.

Let the guy do his school bus and snow day videos. Its harmless and the kids like it. It’s better than the million plus dollars county taxpayers shelled out to get rid of the last superintendent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think he is doing well based on the circumstances. He was handed a giant hot pile of @#%^ x 1000…

He is doing what he can and going for the biggest issues first.

As a parent of a student in special ed, i can tell you that mcps is severely deficient in meeting legal requirements. Sure, they can litigate until parents give up which was McKnight’s strategy, but he’s actually trying to fix what he can to make mcps meet federal regulations.

Let the guy do his school bus and snow day videos. Its harmless and the kids like it. It’s better than the million plus dollars county taxpayers shelled out to get rid of the last superintendent.

I am interested with how the interdisciplinary teams will work for special education. I am really hopeful that they will help! However, I have heard that he is working to get rid of elementary programs which is a real issue. There are kids in the classes who should not be and are taking up all of the teacher time.