New curriculum selection process delayed— new RFP must be issues now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Maybe because my tax dollars still help fund this system, so I have an interest in what's going on with it?

Then perhaps post something more relevant to this thread than "Woo hoo! We're out of here!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Maybe because my tax dollars still help fund this system, so I have an interest in what's going on with it?

Then perhaps post something more relevant to this thread than "Woo hoo! We're out of here!"

So complaining about how absolutely horrid MCPS is is completely acceptable, but saying you're taking action in response to everything that's going on is unacceptable. Got it.

I guess the acceptable course of action is to just sit around an internet forum and complain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It looks like Maria is part of the MCPS swamp and a BIG part of the problems too. You can't write a letter to the community to build trust and then lie through your teeth in it. Cutting edge curriculum?? Does she just hope that no one read the JHU audit or ever experienced 2.0? The audit was scathing and nothing about 2.0 ever was cutting edge. Jack Smith must either be mortified or just wants to quit - which is what the old MCPS guard is hoping will happen.

As for Discovery Education, the Discovery main company just recently dumped this section of the business. A firm out in SF bought them. I hope they tank quickly. No one needs more garbage from incompetent MCPS staff.

Time to drain the MCPS swamp. Hope someone there has the balls to do it.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Then if the highest ranking Curriculum person for Discovery Ed was at MCPS until 2015, how can they claim they were unaware that Erick Lang was connected to the RFP process? And how can Maria Navarro parrot that line?

She's a liar. In her letter, she made it sound as if the curriculum was only being replaced because more advanced have come out since 2008. Bull shit - the curriculum is horrible, 30% error rate on materials, significant gaps in covering critical concepts, and created a situation where disadvantaged students fell even further behind. She needs to send a real apology to the community not a self serving pile of crap.

The Navarro email was horrid. The stats show that the longer Us are in the system, the worse they do on PARCC. I personally don’t care so much that the curriculum is out of alignment with LARCc because indon’t Believe PARCC is the be all and end all as a judgment of preparation. But MCPS should care, and shouldn’t sit on their butts while they process the results of 2000 surveys. They should be taking the steps to fix the problem. At least plan some ethics training for the next selection committee. The lackadaisical “oops” attitude that was conveyed in the communication shows me that nobody cares. And No, Ms Navarro, we don’t want to see a new bid from Discovery Ed. They knew better. If they are claiming an innocent mistake - BS!

[Anonymous]

Just recd an ES PTA email about the PTA agenda in June and need for solutions to the poor curriculum and materials that work for the teachers.

Navarro is a do nothing. Young, did nothing in Baltimore schools, lifer Gov’t paper- pusher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just recd an ES PTA email about the PTA agenda in June and need for solutions to the poor curriculum and materials that work for the teachers.

Navarro is a do nothing. Young, did nothing in Baltimore schools, lifer Gov’t paper- pusher.

How incredibly inefficient is this that each school has to figure out a way around this ridiculous situation. MCPS needs to make someone accountable for this mess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Just recd an ES PTA email about the PTA agenda in June and need for solutions to the poor curriculum and materials that work for the teachers.

Navarro is a do nothing. Young, did nothing in Baltimore schools, lifer Gov’t paper- pusher.

How incredibly inefficient is this that each school has to figure out a way around this ridiculous situation. MCPS needs to make someone accountable for this mess.

Actually in smaller school systems with only 1-3 high schools, every process is much more efficient. When local principals and teachers are accountable to the community not incompetent central office staff there is much more engagement. When local principals and teachers have more autonomy and control to make changes they can be more responsive to issues and can be far more successful because they know their students, are vested in a solution actually working and live the consequences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just recd an ES PTA email about the PTA agenda in June and need for solutions to the poor curriculum and materials that work for the teachers.

Navarro is a do nothing. Young, did nothing in Baltimore schools, lifer Gov’t paper- pusher.

How incredibly inefficient is this that each school has to figure out a way around this ridiculous situation. MCPS needs to make someone accountable for this mess.

Any MCPS admins get any free trips this time?

[Anonymous]

Jack Smith is going to get a long and unhappy email from me this week (my first as an MCPS parent). I encourage others to do the same. We deserve to understand why two incompetent MCPS staff can derail a critical RFP process with no penalty, and why Maria Navarro went out of her way to excuse Discovery Ed from wrongdoing when there's no way they couldn't have known that their new hires were in charge of the same process they were bidding on.
Jack_Smith at mcpsmd.org

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Just recd an ES PTA email about the PTA agenda in June and need for solutions to the poor curriculum and materials that work for the teachers.

Navarro is a do nothing. Young, did nothing in Baltimore schools, lifer Gov’t paper- pusher.

How incredibly inefficient is this that each school has to figure out a way around this ridiculous situation. MCPS needs to make someone accountable for this mess.

Actually in smaller school systems with only 1-3 high schools, every process is much more efficient. When local principals and teachers are accountable to the community not incompetent central office staff there is much more engagement. When local principals and teachers have more autonomy and control to make changes they can be more responsive to issues and can be far more successful because they know their students, are vested in a solution actually working and live the consequences.

Totally agree. And this model worst well in high performing 1-2 pyramid districts and low performing. They have very different needs and teacher demands. No bloated overly huge, inefficient and ineffective (hugely ineffective) county school district will do better. MCPS financial redistribution model is failing everyone except Central Office salaries and pensions and life-time jobs with zero accountability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just recd an ES PTA email about the PTA agenda in June and need for solutions to the poor curriculum and materials that work for the teachers.

Navarro is a do nothing. Young, did nothing in Baltimore schools, lifer Gov’t paper- pusher.

How incredibly inefficient is this that each school has to figure out a way around this ridiculous situation. MCPS needs to make someone accountable for this mess.

I thought that DCUM wanted more school autonomy. Well, now there's more school autonomy.

[Anonymous]

I hope so.

Principal felt throttled by central office and she played her juice the pension game, praise the lord central office rules. Ugh

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just recd an ES PTA email about the PTA agenda in June and need for solutions to the poor curriculum and materials that work for the teachers.

Navarro is a do nothing. Young, did nothing in Baltimore schools, lifer Gov’t paper- pusher.

How incredibly inefficient is this that each school has to figure out a way around this ridiculous situation. MCPS needs to make someone accountable for this mess.

I thought that DCUM wanted more school autonomy. Well, now there's more school autonomy.

Yes well who is going to pay for materials to support this autonomy? Rich PTAs are already mobilizing but what about the Focus schools? They’re stuck for another year with the crappy 2.0 thanks to Erick Lang’s swampy job hopping.

[Anonymous]

I have never heard of PTAs paying for instructional materials.
We moved from a DCC ES to a W ES. I spent a lot of time volunteering in the classroom and I didn’t notice any difference in the curriculum or in instructional materials. The W PTA did raise a lot more money and some of that was spent on Promethian boards (ugh) and on after school activities etc

I wonder whether MCPS can use some of the lessons learned from schools that adopt their own instructional materials to inform their decision on a new countywide curriculum
I am actually sceptical about individual schools adopting their own materials. There are countywide assessments and if a school adopts Singapore Math which is a simple, thorough, logical curriculum the kids would have a tough time answering C2 type questions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have never heard of PTAs paying for instructional materials.
We moved from a DCC ES to a W ES. I spent a lot of time volunteering in the classroom and I didn’t notice any difference in the curriculum or in instructional materials. The W PTA did raise a lot more money and some of that was spent on Promethian boards (ugh) and on after school activities etc

I wonder whether MCPS can use some of the lessons learned from schools that adopt their own instructional materials to inform their decision on a new countywide curriculum
I am actually sceptical about individual schools adopting their own materials. There are countywide assessments and if a school adopts Singapore Math which is a simple, thorough, logical curriculum the kids would have a tough time answering C2 type questions

They would have a tough time answering Singapore Math questions, because it's a simple, thorough, logical curriculum that you have to start from the beginning of.