Teacher exposes the craptastic decline iof MCPS in Reddit rant

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That was a pretty enlightening Reddit thread. If a student is not self-motivated and high-performing, they are completely failed by MCPS schools today. It's a race to the bottom for average kids. And it's entirely caused by central office bureaucrats. Monica McKnight cannot leave soon enough.

So in summary, to increase graduation rates, MCPS stopped requiring kids actually go to class and stopped teachers from giving zeros for not doing any assignments. That caused a drop in attendance rates, so they redefined absences as just very tardy. The result is that kids without parental oversight are hanging out in the hallways and graduating with no skills, knowledge, or self-discipline. However, the graduation and attendance rates are meeting metrics.

Lol, you all need to name schools for me to believe this. And even more, you need to name schools because all that was done in the name of equity, but if true, it's actually hurting the kids who need equity.

What will naming schools actually accomplish for you? I know there is the 50% rule at Blair and Eastern. Does that make it real for you now?

They got rid of the 50% rule.

That’s interesting because if I log on Parent Vue right now, and there is an assignment that is not graded for my kids (Blair), the default score is 50%. In every class.

My kid missed a few days for illness and got 0% on two assignments even though he met with teachers and checked in on myMCPS. Will need to check the district policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That was a pretty enlightening Reddit thread. If a student is not self-motivated and high-performing, they are completely failed by MCPS schools today. It's a race to the bottom for average kids. And it's entirely caused by central office bureaucrats. Monica McKnight cannot leave soon enough.

So in summary, to increase graduation rates, MCPS stopped requiring kids actually go to class and stopped teachers from giving zeros for not doing any assignments. That caused a drop in attendance rates, so they redefined absences as just very tardy. The result is that kids without parental oversight are hanging out in the hallways and graduating with no skills, knowledge, or self-discipline. However, the graduation and attendance rates are meeting metrics.

Lol, you all need to name schools for me to believe this. And even more, you need to name schools because all that was done in the name of equity, but if true, it's actually hurting the kids who need equity.

What will naming schools actually accomplish for you? I know there is the 50% rule at Blair and Eastern. Does that make it real for you now?

They got rid of the 50% rule.

That’s interesting because if I log on Parent Vue right now, and there is an assignment that is not graded for my kids (Blair), the default score is 50%. In every class.

My kid missed a few days for illness and got 0% on two assignments even though he met with teachers and checked in on myMCPS. Will need to check the district policy.

Same school?
I’d be happy if they did away with the 50% ridiculousness, but I just haven’t seen evidence of it yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That was a pretty enlightening Reddit thread. If a student is not self-motivated and high-performing, they are completely failed by MCPS schools today. It's a race to the bottom for average kids. And it's entirely caused by central office bureaucrats. Monica McKnight cannot leave soon enough.

So in summary, to increase graduation rates, MCPS stopped requiring kids actually go to class and stopped teachers from giving zeros for not doing any assignments. That caused a drop in attendance rates, so they redefined absences as just very tardy. The result is that kids without parental oversight are hanging out in the hallways and graduating with no skills, knowledge, or self-discipline. However, the graduation and attendance rates are meeting metrics.

Lol, you all need to name schools for me to believe this. And even more, you need to name schools because all that was done in the name of equity, but if true, it's actually hurting the kids who need equity.

What will naming schools actually accomplish for you? I know there is the 50% rule at Blair and Eastern. Does that make it real for you now?

They got rid of the 50% rule.

That’s interesting because if I log on Parent Vue right now, and there is an assignment that is not graded for my kids (Blair), the default score is 50%. In every class.

My kid missed a few days for illness and got 0% on two assignments even though he met with teachers and checked in on myMCPS. Will need to check the district policy.

Same school?
I’d be happy if they did away with the 50% ridiculousness, but I just haven’t seen evidence of it yet.

Some of the discrepancy might be auto grading. With the Blair split schedule, my child often receives zeros when the system decides to grade the half of students who already had the class as well as the half of students who haven't had that class yet in the week. I always know it's an error because it's a zero rather than a 50% the way it would be if the assignment was late

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a failure on both the extreme right and left. But in MoCo, clearly it is the left at fault. Covid shutdowns, a focus on equal outcomes at the expense of quality, and a failure to impose discipline.

It is a disaster.

Agree. Our politicians on both sides of the aisle have let us down here in the US.

But, locally, here in Montgomery County, it is clearly the left-wing crazies who are at fault. They have dragged down our school system with their push for ultra-progressive policies. We desperately need some balance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That was a pretty enlightening Reddit thread. If a student is not self-motivated and high-performing, they are completely failed by MCPS schools today. It's a race to the bottom for average kids. And it's entirely caused by central office bureaucrats. Monica McKnight cannot leave soon enough.

So in summary, to increase graduation rates, MCPS stopped requiring kids actually go to class and stopped teachers from giving zeros for not doing any assignments. That caused a drop in attendance rates, so they redefined absences as just very tardy. The result is that kids without parental oversight are hanging out in the hallways and graduating with no skills, knowledge, or self-discipline. However, the graduation and attendance rates are meeting metrics.

Lol, you all need to name schools for me to believe this. And even more, you need to name schools because all that was done in the name of equity, but if true, it's actually hurting the kids who need equity.

What will naming schools actually accomplish for you? I know there is the 50% rule at Blair and Eastern. Does that make it real for you now?

They got rid of the 50% rule.

That’s interesting because if I log on Parent Vue right now, and there is an assignment that is not graded for my kids (Blair), the default score is 50%. In every class.

My kid missed a few days for illness and got 0% on two assignments even though he met with teachers and checked in on myMCPS. Will need to check the district policy.

The 50% rule is alive and kicking at the district level. The problem is how the policy is being applied.

It was supposed to protect students who made an honest attempt from getting such a low grade that it was almost impossible to recover. However, some schools have used it as a placeholder for zeros even when no effort is made.

Even more disturbing is that some schools are now forcing a grade of 59.5% if the student makes any effort at all. Turn in nothing: 50%. Turn in a paper with one answer and the answer is wildly wrong: 59.5%. This just hides how poorly a student is performing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a failure on both the extreme right and left. But in MoCo, clearly it is the left at fault. Covid shutdowns, a focus on equal outcomes at the expense of quality, and a failure to impose discipline.

It is a disaster.

Agree. Our politicians on both sides of the aisle have let us down here in the US.

But, locally, here in Montgomery County, it is clearly the left-wing crazies who are at fault. They have dragged down our school system with their push for ultra-progressive policies. We desperately need some balance.

There's honestly a lot of stuff going on here, and some blame to go around on all sides.

At the national level, the over-reliance on "metrics" that was pushed by both GOP and Democratic administrations has severely damaged teacher autonomy. It has also meant that state-level education administrators are in turn pushing the test regimes downward to individual districts, and then it flows down to the school level. So instructional weeks are lost to tests like the MCAP that take more than a year to be graded and have no educational value other than "ranking" schools and districts.

At the state level, governors have played favorites with funding, which means county-level districts struggle to predict how much they will have on hand for capital projects and other badly-needed changes.

At the Montgomery County Council level, you have a body that should have some oversight responsibility for schools but fails to do so. Only two council members even signed onto the letter asking for an independent investigation of a sex pest and serial harasser who had recently been promoted by the Central Office. That is the lowest possible bar, and most of the Council failed to clear it.

Then you have the school board, 100% asleep at the wheel, rubber stamping Central Office decisions with no questions and no oversight. They are supposed to play a "balance of powers" role, and are just catastrophically bad at it.

Finally, the Central Office. This is honestly where the worst decisions are originating. Chasing fad after fad, never pausing long enough to see whether something is working. Also, they've gone turbo mode on dismantling both special education programs like LAD (for kids with learning differences) and METS (for kids whose pre-MCPS educational experience was disrupted) and simultaneously getting rid of differentiated classrooms in middle and high schools (Honors for All).

Similarly, the issues with school discipline are primarily coming from Central Office, who are tying administrators' hands. They have not adequately trained or resourced teachers to use alternative discipline options, while essentially barring folks from using tools like detention or expulsion.

These are decisions being made by folks who are decades out of the classroom, and who didn't spend that much time as teachers to begin with. They are absolutely out of touch with the day-to-day experiences of our public schools, and making their choices with their eye on the "metrics" and looking to the next job.

[Anonymous]

No Child Left Behind was passed on 2001 -- 22 years ago. I find it hard to believe the _recent_ decline is due to some law passed so long ago.

Also blaming "right wing" politicians for MoCo's woes is a huge stretch, given the political leanings of those who run the county at every level.

I don't really know where to place the blame, but I don't think it's them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a failure on both the extreme right and left. But in MoCo, clearly it is the left at fault. Covid shutdowns, a focus on equal outcomes at the expense of quality, and a failure to impose discipline.

It is a disaster.

Agree. Our politicians on both sides of the aisle have let us down here in the US.

But, locally, here in Montgomery County, it is clearly the left-wing crazies who are at fault. They have dragged down our school system with their push for ultra-progressive policies. We desperately need some balance.

There's honestly a lot of stuff going on here, and some blame to go around on all sides.

At the national level, the over-reliance on "metrics" that was pushed by both GOP and Democratic administrations has severely damaged teacher autonomy. It has also meant that state-level education administrators are in turn pushing the test regimes downward to individual districts, and then it flows down to the school level. So instructional weeks are lost to tests like the MCAP that take more than a year to be graded and have no educational value other than "ranking" schools and districts.

At the state level, governors have played favorites with funding, which means county-level districts struggle to predict how much they will have on hand for capital projects and other badly-needed changes.

At the Montgomery County Council level, you have a body that should have some oversight responsibility for schools but fails to do so. Only two council members even signed onto the letter asking for an independent investigation of a sex pest and serial harasser who had recently been promoted by the Central Office. That is the lowest possible bar, and most of the Council failed to clear it.

Then you have the school board, 100% asleep at the wheel, rubber stamping Central Office decisions with no questions and no oversight. They are supposed to play a "balance of powers" role, and are just catastrophically bad at it.

Finally, the Central Office. This is honestly where the worst decisions are originating. Chasing fad after fad, never pausing long enough to see whether something is working. Also, they've gone turbo mode on dismantling both special education programs like LAD (for kids with learning differences) and METS (for kids whose pre-MCPS educational experience was disrupted) and simultaneously getting rid of differentiated classrooms in middle and high schools (Honors for All).

Similarly, the issues with school discipline are primarily coming from Central Office, who are tying administrators' hands. They have not adequately trained or resourced teachers to use alternative discipline options, while essentially barring folks from using tools like detention or expulsion.

These are decisions being made by folks who are decades out of the classroom, and who didn't spend that much time as teachers to begin with. They are absolutely out of touch with the day-to-day experiences of our public schools, and making their choices with their eye on the "metrics" and looking to the next job.

I'm a parent, not a teacher, but I definitely put alot of the blame on Central Office. I have 3 kids in MCPS and have watched the decline over the past decade. Central Office is a disaster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a failure on both the extreme right and left. But in MoCo, clearly it is the left at fault. Covid shutdowns, a focus on equal outcomes at the expense of quality, and a failure to impose discipline.

It is a disaster.

Yup. This is the truth of the matter. Both extremes are killing us in education. We need more moderate voices, ideas and leadership. Our kids and their education can't be guinea-pigs for unrealistic, foolish ideals that some progressive dreams up in a fever and sells to some university education department that then gets passed down to school administrators as "sound" research and policy that we all have to suffer through for years and then eventually undo because it turns out the theory and premise was flawed and not feasible to begin with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a failure on both the extreme right and left. But in MoCo, clearly it is the left at fault. Covid shutdowns, a focus on equal outcomes at the expense of quality, and a failure to impose discipline.

It is a disaster.

Agree. Our politicians on both sides of the aisle have let us down here in the US.

But, locally, here in Montgomery County, it is clearly the left-wing crazies who are at fault. They have dragged down our school system with their push for ultra-progressive policies. We desperately need some balance.

There's honestly a lot of stuff going on here, and some blame to go around on all sides.

At the national level, the over-reliance on "metrics" that was pushed by both GOP and Democratic administrations has severely damaged teacher autonomy. It has also meant that state-level education administrators are in turn pushing the test regimes downward to individual districts, and then it flows down to the school level. So instructional weeks are lost to tests like the MCAP that take more than a year to be graded and have no educational value other than "ranking" schools and districts.

At the state level, governors have played favorites with funding, which means county-level districts struggle to predict how much they will have on hand for capital projects and other badly-needed changes.

At the Montgomery County Council level, you have a body that should have some oversight responsibility for schools but fails to do so. Only two council members even signed onto the letter asking for an independent investigation of a sex pest and serial harasser who had recently been promoted by the Central Office. That is the lowest possible bar, and most of the Council failed to clear it.

Then you have the school board, 100% asleep at the wheel, rubber stamping Central Office decisions with no questions and no oversight. They are supposed to play a "balance of powers" role, and are just catastrophically bad at it.

Finally, the Central Office. This is honestly where the worst decisions are originating. Chasing fad after fad, never pausing long enough to see whether something is working. Also, they've gone turbo mode on dismantling both special education programs like LAD (for kids with learning differences) and METS (for kids whose pre-MCPS educational experience was disrupted) and simultaneously getting rid of differentiated classrooms in middle and high schools (Honors for All).

Similarly, the issues with school discipline are primarily coming from Central Office, who are tying administrators' hands. They have not adequately trained or resourced teachers to use alternative discipline options, while essentially barring folks from using tools like detention or expulsion.

These are decisions being made by folks who are decades out of the classroom, and who didn't spend that much time as teachers to begin with. They are absolutely out of touch with the day-to-day experiences of our public schools, and making their choices with their eye on the "metrics" and looking to the next job.

Holy crap. This is the most on-point, nuanced, accurate assessment of the disaster that has led to the current state of MCPS. You need to submit something that traces these dysfunctions and their trickle-down effects in an op-ed for MoCo 360, Maryland Matters or the Washington Post. GREAT JOB!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Left wing: give out phony diplomas

Right wing: expel and flunk.


Neither of these is a solution.

+1

We need middle ground. It’s what our children (and the teachers) deserve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a failure on both the extreme right and left. But in MoCo, clearly it is the left at fault. Covid shutdowns, a focus on equal outcomes at the expense of quality, and a failure to impose discipline.

It is a disaster.

Agree. Our politicians on both sides of the aisle have let us down here in the US.

But, locally, here in Montgomery County, it is clearly the left-wing crazies who are at fault. They have dragged down our school system with their push for ultra-progressive policies. We desperately need some balance.

There's honestly a lot of stuff going on here, and some blame to go around on all sides.

At the national level, the over-reliance on "metrics" that was pushed by both GOP and Democratic administrations has severely damaged teacher autonomy. It has also meant that state-level education administrators are in turn pushing the test regimes downward to individual districts, and then it flows down to the school level. So instructional weeks are lost to tests like the MCAP that take more than a year to be graded and have no educational value other than "ranking" schools and districts.

At the state level, governors have played favorites with funding, which means county-level districts struggle to predict how much they will have on hand for capital projects and other badly-needed changes.

At the Montgomery County Council level, you have a body that should have some oversight responsibility for schools but fails to do so. Only two council members even signed onto the letter asking for an independent investigation of a sex pest and serial harasser who had recently been promoted by the Central Office. That is the lowest possible bar, and most of the Council failed to clear it.

Then you have the school board, 100% asleep at the wheel, rubber stamping Central Office decisions with no questions and no oversight. They are supposed to play a "balance of powers" role, and are just catastrophically bad at it.

Finally, the Central Office. This is honestly where the worst decisions are originating. Chasing fad after fad, never pausing long enough to see whether something is working. Also, they've gone turbo mode on dismantling both special education programs like LAD (for kids with learning differences) and METS (for kids whose pre-MCPS educational experience was disrupted) and simultaneously getting rid of differentiated classrooms in middle and high schools (Honors for All).

Similarly, the issues with school discipline are primarily coming from Central Office, who are tying administrators' hands. They have not adequately trained or resourced teachers to use alternative discipline options, while essentially barring folks from using tools like detention or expulsion.

These are decisions being made by folks who are decades out of the classroom, and who didn't spend that much time as teachers to begin with. They are absolutely out of touch with the day-to-day experiences of our public schools, and making their choices with their eye on the "metrics" and looking to the next job.

This is so well said. Want to run for the BOE?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a failure on both the extreme right and left. But in MoCo, clearly it is the left at fault. Covid shutdowns, a focus on equal outcomes at the expense of quality, and a failure to impose discipline.

It is a disaster.

Agree. Our politicians on both sides of the aisle have let us down here in the US.

But, locally, here in Montgomery County, it is clearly the left-wing crazies who are at fault. They have dragged down our school system with their push for ultra-progressive policies. We desperately need some balance.

There's honestly a lot of stuff going on here, and some blame to go around on all sides.

At the national level, the over-reliance on "metrics" that was pushed by both GOP and Democratic administrations has severely damaged teacher autonomy. It has also meant that state-level education administrators are in turn pushing the test regimes downward to individual districts, and then it flows down to the school level. So instructional weeks are lost to tests like the MCAP that take more than a year to be graded and have no educational value other than "ranking" schools and districts.

At the state level, governors have played favorites with funding, which means county-level districts struggle to predict how much they will have on hand for capital projects and other badly-needed changes.

At the Montgomery County Council level, you have a body that should have some oversight responsibility for schools but fails to do so. Only two council members even signed onto the letter asking for an independent investigation of a sex pest and serial harasser who had recently been promoted by the Central Office. That is the lowest possible bar, and most of the Council failed to clear it.

Then you have the school board, 100% asleep at the wheel, rubber stamping Central Office decisions with no questions and no oversight. They are supposed to play a "balance of powers" role, and are just catastrophically bad at it.

Finally, the Central Office. This is honestly where the worst decisions are originating. Chasing fad after fad, never pausing long enough to see whether something is working. Also, they've gone turbo mode on dismantling both special education programs like LAD (for kids with learning differences) and METS (for kids whose pre-MCPS educational experience was disrupted) and simultaneously getting rid of differentiated classrooms in middle and high schools (Honors for All).

Similarly, the issues with school discipline are primarily coming from Central Office, who are tying administrators' hands. They have not adequately trained or resourced teachers to use alternative discipline options, while essentially barring folks from using tools like detention or expulsion.

These are decisions being made by folks who are decades out of the classroom, and who didn't spend that much time as teachers to begin with. They are absolutely out of touch with the day-to-day experiences of our public schools, and making their choices with their eye on the "metrics" and looking to the next job.

This is so well said. Want to run for the BOE?

SERIOUSLY! I'm ready to vote for PP TODAY!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Left wing: give out phony diplomas

Right wing: expel and flunk.


Neither of these is a solution.

+1

We need middle ground. It’s what our children (and the teachers) deserve.

We need a return to liberalism. MCPS thrived when moderate Dems were in charge. Now we have woke lunatics who are more like religious fundamentalists ruining a once-amazing school system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a failure on both the extreme right and left. But in MoCo, clearly it is the left at fault. Covid shutdowns, a focus on equal outcomes at the expense of quality, and a failure to impose discipline.

It is a disaster.

Agree. Our politicians on both sides of the aisle have let us down here in the US.

But, locally, here in Montgomery County, it is clearly the left-wing crazies who are at fault. They have dragged down our school system with their push for ultra-progressive policies. We desperately need some balance.

There's honestly a lot of stuff going on here, and some blame to go around on all sides.

At the national level, the over-reliance on "metrics" that was pushed by both GOP and Democratic administrations has severely damaged teacher autonomy. It has also meant that state-level education administrators are in turn pushing the test regimes downward to individual districts, and then it flows down to the school level. So instructional weeks are lost to tests like the MCAP that take more than a year to be graded and have no educational value other than "ranking" schools and districts.

At the state level, governors have played favorites with funding, which means county-level districts struggle to predict how much they will have on hand for capital projects and other badly-needed changes.

At the Montgomery County Council level, you have a body that should have some oversight responsibility for schools but fails to do so. Only two council members even signed onto the letter asking for an independent investigation of a sex pest and serial harasser who had recently been promoted by the Central Office. That is the lowest possible bar, and most of the Council failed to clear it.

Then you have the school board, 100% asleep at the wheel, rubber stamping Central Office decisions with no questions and no oversight. They are supposed to play a "balance of powers" role, and are just catastrophically bad at it.

Finally, the Central Office. This is honestly where the worst decisions are originating. Chasing fad after fad, never pausing long enough to see whether something is working. Also, they've gone turbo mode on dismantling both special education programs like LAD (for kids with learning differences) and METS (for kids whose pre-MCPS educational experience was disrupted) and simultaneously getting rid of differentiated classrooms in middle and high schools (Honors for All).

Similarly, the issues with school discipline are primarily coming from Central Office, who are tying administrators' hands. They have not adequately trained or resourced teachers to use alternative discipline options, while essentially barring folks from using tools like detention or expulsion.

These are decisions being made by folks who are decades out of the classroom, and who didn't spend that much time as teachers to begin with. They are absolutely out of touch with the day-to-day experiences of our public schools, and making their choices with their eye on the "metrics" and looking to the next job.

This is so well said. Want to run for the BOE?

SERIOUSLY! I'm ready to vote for PP TODAY!

+1