What if we unite to demand community/teacher/principal/student feedback on program analysis before anything is approved?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because school boards all over the world do not make decisions based on uneducated opinions.

If you want to affect change you should do research on what is the best way to educate a community, become an expert and advise them.

The people in Central Office putting this together are not experts and have not consulted with experts-- they did not even consult with the teachers and administrators at existing programs when developing their plans. There is far more expertise outside the circle of those making these plans than inside, and no way for that expertise to be raised or listened to in the planning process.

And just because school boards do not and should not make decisions based on majority vote of parents does not mean they should not gather community feedback and input. Most school boards do, and even MCPS which is traditionally bad on the community involvement front is usually better than this. There have been essentially zero genuine efforts to collect feedback on their proposals in order to assess whether any revisions or alterations might be worth considering. Instead they came up with a top-down plan that Central Office staff decided was best and did not even go through the motions of asking teachers, students, parents, principals, etc what changes they want/don't want, what their reactions to the proposals are, what implications they foresee, etc. That's poor practice even if it was done by a corporation which has no obligations to the public (because businesspeople know that if a plan is cooked up by a few people in an office without getting feedback from a variety of stakeholders and users, it's likely going to be a bad plan)-- it's indefensible when it's done by a school district and signed off on by a school board who are supposed to be there to make sure that community perspectives are considered.

It would be one thing if they were gathering feedback and then making decisions that don't align with the majority of that feedback, after clearly explaining why. Sometimes that kind of thing does have to be done. But instead they are being very clear that they don't care about and don't plan to solicit or consider feedback because they just want to do it their way. That's not an acceptable way to run a school district.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The way they conducted the info session I thought this was already approved. The board must be a rubber stamp. They just informed parents that this is what's going to happen.

It is.

[Anonymous]

[img]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because school boards all over the world do not make decisions based on uneducated opinions.

If you want to affect change you should do research on what is the best way to educate a community, become an expert and advise them.

The people in Central Office putting this together are not experts and have not consulted with experts-- they did not even consult with the teachers and administrators at existing programs when developing their plans. There is far more expertise outside the circle of those making these plans than inside, and no way for that expertise to be raised or listened to in the planning process.

And just because school boards do not and should not make decisions based on majority vote of parents does not mean they should not gather community feedback and input. Most school boards do, and even MCPS which is traditionally bad on the community involvement front is usually better than this. There have been essentially zero genuine efforts to collect feedback on their proposals in order to assess whether any revisions or alterations might be worth considering. Instead they came up with a top-down plan that Central Office staff decided was best and did not even go through the motions of asking teachers, students, parents, principals, etc what changes they want/don't want, what their reactions to the proposals are, what implications they foresee, etc. That's poor practice even if it was done by a corporation which has no obligations to the public (because businesspeople know that if a plan is cooked up by a few people in an office without getting feedback from a variety of stakeholders and users, it's likely going to be a bad plan)-- it's indefensible when it's done by a school district and signed off on by a school board who are supposed to be there to make sure that community perspectives are considered.

It would be one thing if they were gathering feedback and then making decisions that don't align with the majority of that feedback, after clearly explaining why. Sometimes that kind of thing does have to be done. But instead they are being very clear that they don't care about and don't plan to solicit or consider feedback because they just want to do it their way. That's not an acceptable way to run a school district.

Nothing you posted is factual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because school boards all over the world do not make decisions based on uneducated opinions.

If you want to affect change you should do research on what is the best way to educate a community, become an expert and advise them.

The people in Central Office putting this together are not experts and have not consulted with experts-- they did not even consult with the teachers and administrators at existing programs when developing their plans. There is far more expertise outside the circle of those making these plans than inside, and no way for that expertise to be raised or listened to in the planning process.

And just because school boards do not and should not make decisions based on majority vote of parents does not mean they should not gather community feedback and input. Most school boards do, and even MCPS which is traditionally bad on the community involvement front is usually better than this. There have been essentially zero genuine efforts to collect feedback on their proposals in order to assess whether any revisions or alterations might be worth considering. Instead they came up with a top-down plan that Central Office staff decided was best and did not even go through the motions of asking teachers, students, parents, principals, etc what changes they want/don't want, what their reactions to the proposals are, what implications they foresee, etc. That's poor practice even if it was done by a corporation which has no obligations to the public (because businesspeople know that if a plan is cooked up by a few people in an office without getting feedback from a variety of stakeholders and users, it's likely going to be a bad plan)-- it's indefensible when it's done by a school district and signed off on by a school board who are supposed to be there to make sure that community perspectives are considered.

It would be one thing if they were gathering feedback and then making decisions that don't align with the majority of that feedback, after clearly explaining why. Sometimes that kind of thing does have to be done. But instead they are being very clear that they don't care about and don't plan to solicit or consider feedback because they just want to do it their way. That's not an acceptable way to run a school district.

Nothing you posted is factual.

No, your counterclaim is what is not factual.

Most of what the PP posted about how MCPS has done the Regional Program analysis is absolutely spot on.

[Anonymous]

Meh they'd have McKinsey come in for $$$ to say what they want to say and then they'll just point to that and do what they want to do anyways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because school boards all over the world do not make decisions based on uneducated opinions.

If you want to affect change you should do research on what is the best way to educate a community, become an expert and advise them.

The people in Central Office putting this together are not experts and have not consulted with experts-- they did not even consult with the teachers and administrators at existing programs when developing their plans. There is far more expertise outside the circle of those making these plans than inside, and no way for that expertise to be raised or listened to in the planning process.

And just because school boards do not and should not make decisions based on majority vote of parents does not mean they should not gather community feedback and input. Most school boards do, and even MCPS which is traditionally bad on the community involvement front is usually better than this. There have been essentially zero genuine efforts to collect feedback on their proposals in order to assess whether any revisions or alterations might be worth considering. Instead they came up with a top-down plan that Central Office staff decided was best and did not even go through the motions of asking teachers, students, parents, principals, etc what changes they want/don't want, what their reactions to the proposals are, what implications they foresee, etc. That's poor practice even if it was done by a corporation which has no obligations to the public (because businesspeople know that if a plan is cooked up by a few people in an office without getting feedback from a variety of stakeholders and users, it's likely going to be a bad plan)-- it's indefensible when it's done by a school district and signed off on by a school board who are supposed to be there to make sure that community perspectives are considered.

It would be one thing if they were gathering feedback and then making decisions that don't align with the majority of that feedback, after clearly explaining why. Sometimes that kind of thing does have to be done. But instead they are being very clear that they don't care about and don't plan to solicit or consider feedback because they just want to do it their way. That's not an acceptable way to run a school district.

Nothing you posted is factual.

Who are you and what specifically do you think is not factual? Are you claiming there have been feedback opportunities, and if so, when/how?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because school boards all over the world do not make decisions based on uneducated opinions.

If you want to affect change you should do research on what is the best way to educate a community, become an expert and advise them.

The people in Central Office putting this together are not experts and have not consulted with experts-- they did not even consult with the teachers and administrators at existing programs when developing their plans. There is far more expertise outside the circle of those making these plans than inside, and no way for that expertise to be raised or listened to in the planning process.

And just because school boards do not and should not make decisions based on majority vote of parents does not mean they should not gather community feedback and input. Most school boards do, and even MCPS which is traditionally bad on the community involvement front is usually better than this. There have been essentially zero genuine efforts to collect feedback on their proposals in order to assess whether any revisions or alterations might be worth considering. Instead they came up with a top-down plan that Central Office staff decided was best and did not even go through the motions of asking teachers, students, parents, principals, etc what changes they want/don't want, what their reactions to the proposals are, what implications they foresee, etc. That's poor practice even if it was done by a corporation which has no obligations to the public (because businesspeople know that if a plan is cooked up by a few people in an office without getting feedback from a variety of stakeholders and users, it's likely going to be a bad plan)-- it's indefensible when it's done by a school district and signed off on by a school board who are supposed to be there to make sure that community perspectives are considered.

It would be one thing if they were gathering feedback and then making decisions that don't align with the majority of that feedback, after clearly explaining why. Sometimes that kind of thing does have to be done. But instead they are being very clear that they don't care about and don't plan to solicit or consider feedback because they just want to do it their way. That's not an acceptable way to run a school district.

Nothing you posted is factual.

Who are you and what specifically do you think is not factual? Are you claiming there have been feedback opportunities, and if so, when/how?

I bet this is the same person bullying around, calling everyone a troll, and negating posts that criticizing the procedure or showing concerns without showing any justifications to validate his/her comments. I don't recall any job duty in CO staff opening description for verbal bullying or purging online criticism?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because school boards all over the world do not make decisions based on uneducated opinions.

If you want to affect change you should do research on what is the best way to educate a community, become an expert and advise them.

The people in Central Office putting this together are not experts and have not consulted with experts-- they did not even consult with the teachers and administrators at existing programs when developing their plans. There is far more expertise outside the circle of those making these plans than inside, and no way for that expertise to be raised or listened to in the planning process.

And just because school boards do not and should not make decisions based on majority vote of parents does not mean they should not gather community feedback and input. Most school boards do, and even MCPS which is traditionally bad on the community involvement front is usually better than this. There have been essentially zero genuine efforts to collect feedback on their proposals in order to assess whether any revisions or alterations might be worth considering. Instead they came up with a top-down plan that Central Office staff decided was best and did not even go through the motions of asking teachers, students, parents, principals, etc what changes they want/don't want, what their reactions to the proposals are, what implications they foresee, etc. That's poor practice even if it was done by a corporation which has no obligations to the public (because businesspeople know that if a plan is cooked up by a few people in an office without getting feedback from a variety of stakeholders and users, it's likely going to be a bad plan)-- it's indefensible when it's done by a school district and signed off on by a school board who are supposed to be there to make sure that community perspectives are considered.

It would be one thing if they were gathering feedback and then making decisions that don't align with the majority of that feedback, after clearly explaining why. Sometimes that kind of thing does have to be done. But instead they are being very clear that they don't care about and don't plan to solicit or consider feedback because they just want to do it their way. That's not an acceptable way to run a school district.

Nothing you posted is factual.

Who are you and what specifically do you think is not factual? Are you claiming there have been feedback opportunities, and if so, when/how?

I bet this is the same person bullying around, calling everyone a troll, and negating posts that criticizing the procedure or showing concerns without showing any justifications to validate his/her comments. I don't recall any job duty in CO staff opening description for verbal bullying or purging online criticism?

Boo hoo someone doesn't agree with you.

You 1st sentence is incorrect. I'll leave it at that, you are willfully uninformed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because school boards all over the world do not make decisions based on uneducated opinions.

If you want to affect change you should do research on what is the best way to educate a community, become an expert and advise them.

The people in Central Office putting this together are not experts and have not consulted with experts-- they did not even consult with the teachers and administrators at existing programs when developing their plans. There is far more expertise outside the circle of those making these plans than inside, and no way for that expertise to be raised or listened to in the planning process.

And just because school boards do not and should not make decisions based on majority vote of parents does not mean they should not gather community feedback and input. Most school boards do, and even MCPS which is traditionally bad on the community involvement front is usually better than this. There have been essentially zero genuine efforts to collect feedback on their proposals in order to assess whether any revisions or alterations might be worth considering. Instead they came up with a top-down plan that Central Office staff decided was best and did not even go through the motions of asking teachers, students, parents, principals, etc what changes they want/don't want, what their reactions to the proposals are, what implications they foresee, etc. That's poor practice even if it was done by a corporation which has no obligations to the public (because businesspeople know that if a plan is cooked up by a few people in an office without getting feedback from a variety of stakeholders and users, it's likely going to be a bad plan)-- it's indefensible when it's done by a school district and signed off on by a school board who are supposed to be there to make sure that community perspectives are considered.

It would be one thing if they were gathering feedback and then making decisions that don't align with the majority of that feedback, after clearly explaining why. Sometimes that kind of thing does have to be done. But instead they are being very clear that they don't care about and don't plan to solicit or consider feedback because they just want to do it their way. That's not an acceptable way to run a school district.

Nothing you posted is factual.

Who are you and what specifically do you think is not factual? Are you claiming there have been feedback opportunities, and if so, when/how?

I bet this is the same person bullying around, calling everyone a troll, and negating posts that criticizing the procedure or showing concerns without showing any justifications to validate his/her comments. I don't recall any job duty in CO staff opening description for verbal bullying or purging online criticism?

Boo hoo someone doesn't agree with you.

You 1st sentence is incorrect. I'll leave it at that, you are willfully uninformed.

Oh you acknowledge my last sentence is correct? There are more than one CO staffs hanging on this platform and trying to shut community mouths up. Well done. Salute to your diligence in spreading your dictatorship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because school boards all over the world do not make decisions based on uneducated opinions.

If you want to affect change you should do research on what is the best way to educate a community, become an expert and advise them.

The people in Central Office putting this together are not experts and have not consulted with experts-- they did not even consult with the teachers and administrators at existing programs when developing their plans. There is far more expertise outside the circle of those making these plans than inside, and no way for that expertise to be raised or listened to in the planning process.

And just because school boards do not and should not make decisions based on majority vote of parents does not mean they should not gather community feedback and input. Most school boards do, and even MCPS which is traditionally bad on the community involvement front is usually better than this. There have been essentially zero genuine efforts to collect feedback on their proposals in order to assess whether any revisions or alterations might be worth considering. Instead they came up with a top-down plan that Central Office staff decided was best and did not even go through the motions of asking teachers, students, parents, principals, etc what changes they want/don't want, what their reactions to the proposals are, what implications they foresee, etc. That's poor practice even if it was done by a corporation which has no obligations to the public (because businesspeople know that if a plan is cooked up by a few people in an office without getting feedback from a variety of stakeholders and users, it's likely going to be a bad plan)-- it's indefensible when it's done by a school district and signed off on by a school board who are supposed to be there to make sure that community perspectives are considered.

It would be one thing if they were gathering feedback and then making decisions that don't align with the majority of that feedback, after clearly explaining why. Sometimes that kind of thing does have to be done. But instead they are being very clear that they don't care about and don't plan to solicit or consider feedback because they just want to do it their way. That's not an acceptable way to run a school district.

Nothing you posted is factual.

Who are you and what specifically do you think is not factual? Are you claiming there have been feedback opportunities, and if so, when/how?

I bet this is the same person bullying around, calling everyone a troll, and negating posts that criticizing the procedure or showing concerns without showing any justifications to validate his/her comments. I don't recall any job duty in CO staff opening description for verbal bullying or purging online criticism?

Boo hoo someone doesn't agree with you.

You 1st sentence is incorrect. I'll leave it at that, you are willfully uninformed.

Oh you acknowledge my last sentence is correct? There are more than one CO staffs hanging on this platform and trying to shut community mouths up. Well done. Salute to your diligence in spreading your dictatorship.

Nope.

You’re grasping at straws.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because school boards all over the world do not make decisions based on uneducated opinions.

If you want to affect change you should do research on what is the best way to educate a community, become an expert and advise them.

The people in Central Office putting this together are not experts and have not consulted with experts-- they did not even consult with the teachers and administrators at existing programs when developing their plans. There is far more expertise outside the circle of those making these plans than inside, and no way for that expertise to be raised or listened to in the planning process.

And just because school boards do not and should not make decisions based on majority vote of parents does not mean they should not gather community feedback and input. Most school boards do, and even MCPS which is traditionally bad on the community involvement front is usually better than this. There have been essentially zero genuine efforts to collect feedback on their proposals in order to assess whether any revisions or alterations might be worth considering. Instead they came up with a top-down plan that Central Office staff decided was best and did not even go through the motions of asking teachers, students, parents, principals, etc what changes they want/don't want, what their reactions to the proposals are, what implications they foresee, etc. That's poor practice even if it was done by a corporation which has no obligations to the public (because businesspeople know that if a plan is cooked up by a few people in an office without getting feedback from a variety of stakeholders and users, it's likely going to be a bad plan)-- it's indefensible when it's done by a school district and signed off on by a school board who are supposed to be there to make sure that community perspectives are considered.

It would be one thing if they were gathering feedback and then making decisions that don't align with the majority of that feedback, after clearly explaining why. Sometimes that kind of thing does have to be done. But instead they are being very clear that they don't care about and don't plan to solicit or consider feedback because they just want to do it their way. That's not an acceptable way to run a school district.

Nothing you posted is factual.

What in here is wrong, and what is your evidence that it is wrong? I am on the programs design team advisory group, so probably one of the ones who knows most about how the process has been going outside of central office staff, and nothing in here seems wrong to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People may have different opinions on the proposed program changes and destruction of the DCC/NEC. But what if we come together to call for MCPS to have an actual feedback process before making any final decisions?

There have been no opportunities for general feedback on this at all. No surveys to gather feedback on their proposals. No in-person or virtual meetings to collect feedback and get reactions. Not even an online form or email address soliciting feedback (folks who want to have been forced to cram it into the "ask a question" form.). Principals are only recently being talked to about this and many teachers at programs still haven't been. The program design advisory committee just gets ignored too, but even if they weren't, that's still just a few dozen people. The latest set of meetings they announced are just for 6th and 7th grade parents and appear to be just for MCPS staff to explain what they already decided. They are not even collecting feedback and ignoring it-- they're just not bothering to gather feedback.

Honestly even if you don't care about the program analysis at all, you should care about not letting MCPS get away with having a bunch of Central Office staff make big decisions without even going through the motions of hearing from students, parents, teachers, program staff, principals, etc. It's a bad process and it leads to bad decisions, and if we and the Board let them do it on this, they will continue to do it on other issues too.

What if we just got a bunch of people to say this over and over again to MCPS and the Board through emails, Board testimony, and every time we see them in person? Give a bunch of testimony and instead of (or in addition to) talking about specific concerns with the program analysis changes, everyone says "there has been no real community input, it's not okay to move forward on big changes without community input" enough times that Taylor is forced to respond to it and can't get away with vague lies about them welcoming feedback like he did at the last meeting, and/or that the Board becomes uneasy about supporting it (even if they feel like it's not their role to get into the details of specific programs, they are hopefully more willing to insist on MCPS gathering input and feedback first)?

Like the 4 of you on DCUM?

Please. There are TENS of us