Root cause of issues at MOCO schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest and youngest is almost a decade apart in age. I will say MCPS has seriously slid downhill from where it was 10 years ago. My oldest received a decent education at a W school. We are now considering private for my youngest. The privates as far as class options, class size, and positivity in the school climate just seemed like a happier place to go to school when we toured them. Curriculum has a higher standard and they focus more on developing basic foundations with proven curriculums vs. the nightmare 2.0 debacle. There is also no need for wasted school days on PARCC instruction and assessments.

How much time did your oldest spend on MSA instruction and assessments?

Not as much as PARCC and the MSA was paper and pencil. With PARCC, the computers sometimes crash and loose the child's answers.

Really? My kid spent way more time on the MSAs than my younger kid spent on the PARCCs. Especially MSA prep.

Schools might have different prep plans. Our middle school was insane about the amount of class time preparing for PARCC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Town run schools—that’s one difference. Less diffuse. Parents feel more in control.

Exactly. That’s why ALL the school systems here have issues: they are all county-led.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Town run schools—that’s one difference. Less diffuse. Parents feel more in control.

Exactly. That’s why ALL the school systems here have issues: they are all county-led.

Sure. And you see the difference in how people with means make their school decisions. In Chappaqua, 98% of the kids go to public school, while only 27% in upper NW go to public school.

Sorry, DCPS boosters. Despite having a few good elementary schools, these data tell a very different story than you’re trying to paint.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Town run schools—that’s one difference. Less diffuse. Parents feel more in control.

way better. a handful of ESs, one MS, one HS. 200-400 kids per grade. can customize.

large county systems are just tax revenue sink holes and underachiever administrators in lifer roles destroying value weekly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Town run schools—that’s one difference. Less diffuse. Parents feel more in control.

way better. a handful of ESs, one MS, one HS. 200-400 kids per grade. can customize.

large county systems are just tax revenue sink holes and underachiever administrators in lifer roles destroying value weekly.

Way worse when the town is poor, though, eh?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Town run schools—that’s one difference. Less diffuse. Parents feel more in control.

way better. a handful of ESs, one MS, one HS. 200-400 kids per grade. can customize.

large county systems are just tax revenue sink holes and underachiever administrators in lifer roles destroying value weekly.

Yep. Chappaqua has 3 ESs, 2 MSs, and one HS. I grew up there and it would have been insane and unthinkable to have a Westchester County School System, since not only do 980,000 people live there, but the needs of Chappaqua are vastly different than, say, Yonkers or other southern parts of the county. If you proposed that to anyone there, they’d think you had gone insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest and youngest is almost a decade apart in age. I will say MCPS has seriously slid downhill from where it was 10 years ago. My oldest received a decent education at a W school. We are now considering private for my youngest. The privates as far as class options, class size, and positivity in the school climate just seemed like a happier place to go to school when we toured them. Curriculum has a higher standard and they focus more on developing basic foundations with proven curriculums vs. the nightmare 2.0 debacle. There is also no need for wasted school days on PARCC instruction and assessments.

How much time did your oldest spend on MSA instruction and assessments?

Not as much as PARCC and the MSA was paper and pencil. With PARCC, the computers sometimes crash and loose the child's answers.

Really? My kid spent way more time on the MSAs than my younger kid spent on the PARCCs. Especially MSA prep.

Schools might have different prep plans. Our middle school was insane about the amount of class time preparing for PARCC.

I must add, there was a principal change between MSA and PARCC transition so that could also be the issue. The last principal could have been more focussed on trying to bump up scores for tests vs. actual student engagement and learning than the first.

I do think teaching to the test vs. teaching students to learn and retain knowledge long past the test is part of the problem with MCPS. The non-existent curriculum is the other. MCPS doesn't know what pathway to choose and students have paid the price. For my kids, I saw issues early on with 2.0 so I bought textbooks and workbooks of proven curriculums to fill in gaps at home. Even in our W school cluster, so many families didn't realize the need to do so that my children easily outperformed them in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest and youngest is almost a decade apart in age. I will say MCPS has seriously slid downhill from where it was 10 years ago. My oldest received a decent education at a W school. We are now considering private for my youngest. The privates as far as class options, class size, and positivity in the school climate just seemed like a happier place to go to school when we toured them. Curriculum has a higher standard and they focus more on developing basic foundations with proven curriculums vs. the nightmare 2.0 debacle. There is also no need for wasted school days on PARCC instruction and assessments.

How much time did your oldest spend on MSA instruction and assessments?

Not as much as PARCC and the MSA was paper and pencil. With PARCC, the computers sometimes crash and loose the child's answers.

Really? My kid spent way more time on the MSAs than my younger kid spent on the PARCCs. Especially MSA prep.

Schools might have different prep plans. Our middle school was insane about the amount of class time preparing for PARCC.

I must add, there was a principal change between MSA and PARCC transition so that could also be the issue. The last principal could have been more focussed on trying to bump up scores for tests vs. actual student engagement and learning than the first.

I do think teaching to the test vs. teaching students to learn and retain knowledge long past the test is part of the problem with MCPS. The non-existent curriculum is the other. MCPS doesn't know what pathway to choose and students have paid the price. For my kids, I saw issues early on with 2.0 so I bought textbooks and workbooks of proven curriculums to fill in gaps at home. Even in our W school cluster, so many families didn't realize the need to do so that my children easily outperformed them in school.

The curriculum issue is so deeply concerning. The fact that kids will be learning with the failed curriculum for at least one more year is horrifying.

[Anonymous]

Is there going to be a public statement or press release as to what all the changes were made in Central Office and why? Many seem to just be lateral moves with not much expertise in the specific area that they are being moved to other than administrative experience. Ugg. If real change is to happen, new and improve blood should be brought in and the rotten apples cast aside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest and youngest is almost a decade apart in age. I will say MCPS has seriously slid downhill from where it was 10 years ago. My oldest received a decent education at a W school. We are now considering private for my youngest. The privates as far as class options, class size, and positivity in the school climate just seemed like a happier place to go to school when we toured them. Curriculum has a higher standard and they focus more on developing basic foundations with proven curriculums vs. the nightmare 2.0 debacle. There is also no need for wasted school days on PARCC instruction and assessments.

How much time did your oldest spend on MSA instruction and assessments?

Not as much as PARCC and the MSA was paper and pencil. With PARCC, the computers sometimes crash and loose the child's answers.

Really? My kid spent way more time on the MSAs than my younger kid spent on the PARCCs. Especially MSA prep.

Schools might have different prep plans. Our middle school was insane about the amount of class time preparing for PARCC.

I must add, there was a principal change between MSA and PARCC transition so that could also be the issue. The last principal could have been more focussed on trying to bump up scores for tests vs. actual student engagement and learning than the first.

I do think teaching to the test vs. teaching students to learn and retain knowledge long past the test is part of the problem with MCPS. The non-existent curriculum is the other. MCPS doesn't know what pathway to choose and students have paid the price. For my kids, I saw issues early on with 2.0 so I bought textbooks and workbooks of proven curriculums to fill in gaps at home. Even in our W school cluster, so many families didn't realize the need to do so that my children easily outperformed them in school.

The curriculum issue is so deeply concerning. The fact that kids will be learning with the failed curriculum for at least one more year is horrifying.

I heard from a teacher several people in the curriculum office were given pink slips. I am not upset they were given pink slips because of the 2.0 disaster. I just don't understand why it was done before a new curriculum could be bought. So much for MCPS making money on selling 2.0 to other school systems.

[Anonymous]

Root cause of issues in MCPS?

Administrators who lack an understanding of ethics and how to collaborate with staff and families. So many cut throat tactics widely used in MCPS that I have never seen used in the workplace before. Dishonesty breaks down trust. Without trust, how can employees and families work with those who lead our school system? The whole system is toxic for employees and students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest and youngest is almost a decade apart in age. I will say MCPS has seriously slid downhill from where it was 10 years ago. My oldest received a decent education at a W school. We are now considering private for my youngest. The privates as far as class options, class size, and positivity in the school climate just seemed like a happier place to go to school when we toured them. Curriculum has a higher standard and they focus more on developing basic foundations with proven curriculums vs. the nightmare 2.0 debacle. There is also no need for wasted school days on PARCC instruction and assessments.

How much time did your oldest spend on MSA instruction and assessments?

Not as much as PARCC and the MSA was paper and pencil. With PARCC, the computers sometimes crash and loose the child's answers.

Really? My kid spent way more time on the MSAs than my younger kid spent on the PARCCs. Especially MSA prep.

Schools might have different prep plans. Our middle school was insane about the amount of class time preparing for PARCC.

I must add, there was a principal change between MSA and PARCC transition so that could also be the issue. The last principal could have been more focussed on trying to bump up scores for tests vs. actual student engagement and learning than the first.

I do think teaching to the test vs. teaching students to learn and retain knowledge long past the test is part of the problem with MCPS. The non-existent curriculum is the other. MCPS doesn't know what pathway to choose and students have paid the price. For my kids, I saw issues early on with 2.0 so I bought textbooks and workbooks of proven curriculums to fill in gaps at home. Even in our W school cluster, so many families didn't realize the need to do so that my children easily outperformed them in school.

The curriculum issue is so deeply concerning. The fact that kids will be learning with the failed curriculum for at least one more year is horrifying.

I heard from a teacher several people in the curriculum office were given pink slips. I am not upset they were given pink slips because of the 2.0 disaster. I just don't understand why it was done before a new curriculum could be bought. So much for MCPS making money on selling 2.0 to other school systems.

No one in that curriculum office should have a job anymore, unless they weren’t there when 2.0 was adopted. I’m glad they’re cleaning house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Town run schools—that’s one difference. Less diffuse. Parents feel more in control.

Exactly. That’s why ALL the school systems here have issues: they are all county-led.

UNMANAGEABLE SIZE, TOO DISPARATE:
Too large of county:
500 square mile county, 5 different weather zones
1,000,000 people in county: 20% Hispanic, 45% white, 20% black, 16% Asian
$2.3B budget ($1.5B is MCPS)

Too large of county school district:
200+ schools (25 are 2000+ student HS)
161,000 students:30% Hispanic, 29% white, 21% black, 14% Asian
25,000+ MCPS employees (half of which are teachers)
$2.52B budget (2018) (67% salaries, 28% pension/retiree/HC benefits)
Grade 2 Literacy tests: Asians 87%, white 88%, hispanic 62%, black 71% literate
Grade 5 Literacy tests: A 91%, W 92%, H 64%, B 72%
Grade 8 Literacy tests: A 92%, W 92%, H 60%, B 71%
Grade 11 Literacy tests: A 95%, W 94%, H 72%, B 79%

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/annualreport/2017/#section6

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Town run schools—that’s one difference. Less diffuse. Parents feel more in control.

way better. a handful of ESs, one MS, one HS. 200-400 kids per grade. can customize.

large county systems are just tax revenue sink holes and underachiever administrators in lifer roles destroying value weekly.

Yep. Chappaqua has 3 ESs, 2 MSs, and one HS. I grew up there and it would have been insane and unthinkable to have a Westchester County School System, since not only do 980,000 people live there, but the needs of Chappaqua are vastly different than, say, Yonkers or other southern parts of the county. If you proposed that to anyone there, they’d think you had gone insane.

same in Ocinda, CA - is not part of Oakland schools - where we moved from.

same where I went, Nicolet HS in suburbs - not apart of Milwaukee county schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My oldest and youngest is almost a decade apart in age. I will say MCPS has seriously slid downhill from where it was 10 years ago. My oldest received a decent education at a W school. We are now considering private for my youngest. The privates as far as class options, class size, and positivity in the school climate just seemed like a happier place to go to school when we toured them. Curriculum has a higher standard and they focus more on developing basic foundations with proven curriculums vs. the nightmare 2.0 debacle. There is also no need for wasted school days on PARCC instruction and assessments.

How much time did your oldest spend on MSA instruction and assessments?

Not as much as PARCC and the MSA was paper and pencil. With PARCC, the computers sometimes crash and loose the child's answers.

Really? My kid spent way more time on the MSAs than my younger kid spent on the PARCCs. Especially MSA prep.

Schools might have different prep plans. Our middle school was insane about the amount of class time preparing for PARCC.

I must add, there was a principal change between MSA and PARCC transition so that could also be the issue. The last principal could have been more focussed on trying to bump up scores for tests vs. actual student engagement and learning than the first.

I do think teaching to the test vs. teaching students to learn and retain knowledge long past the test is part of the problem with MCPS. The non-existent curriculum is the other. MCPS doesn't know what pathway to choose and students have paid the price. For my kids, I saw issues early on with 2.0 so I bought textbooks and workbooks of proven curriculums to fill in gaps at home. Even in our W school cluster, so many families didn't realize the need to do so that my children easily outperformed them in school.

I was working in bethesda in 2009-2016. The first couple years everyone was happy, honky dorey about MCPS and such "good schools." Then Common Core started and the C2.0 worksheets, portals, curricula on the fly. My male and female co-workers with kids age 6-13 changed their tune fast and many went to catholic schools or started hardcore supplementing or getting tutors. Many had kids on either side of the "new curriculum" and were pissed off. The families that graduated class of 2018 or earlier were silently happy and relieved.