MCPS curriculum RFP-Second Attempt

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will be interesting to see how MCPS writes the RFP-and whether they try to tailor it to favor Discovery Ed (although presumably Discovery Ed already has a lot of inside information about what MCPS wants due to all the ex-MCPS employees there.) hopefully McPS learned from the bad press from the Erick Lang incident and will choose more wisely this time around.

Yes, it will. But it hasn't come out yet. I, personally, am going to wait until the RFP actually comes out, and we can actually read it, before concluding that it's terrible and will only lead to certain further doom.

And by DCUM logic that means you either work for Discovery Ed or are one of the MCPS administrators beholden to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will be interesting to see how MCPS writes the RFP-and whether they try to tailor it to favor Discovery Ed (although presumably Discovery Ed already has a lot of inside information about what MCPS wants due to all the ex-MCPS employees there.) hopefully McPS learned from the bad press from the Erick Lang incident and will choose more wisely this time around.

Yes, it will. But it hasn't come out yet. I, personally, am going to wait until the RFP actually comes out, and we can actually read it, before concluding that it's terrible and will only lead to certain further doom.

And by DCUM logic that means you either work for Discovery Ed or are one of the MCPS administrators beholden to them.

I don’t get why some people still have this attitude. MCPS has so thoroughly screwed up (curriculum problems, overuse of chromebooks, overcrowding, bungled implementation of the new magnet selection process) that it seems fully reasonable to be skeptical of its ability to actually implement a process competently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will be interesting to see how MCPS writes the RFP-and whether they try to tailor it to favor Discovery Ed (although presumably Discovery Ed already has a lot of inside information about what MCPS wants due to all the ex-MCPS employees there.) hopefully McPS learned from the bad press from the Erick Lang incident and will choose more wisely this time around.

Yes, it will. But it hasn't come out yet. I, personally, am going to wait until the RFP actually comes out, and we can actually read it, before concluding that it's terrible and will only lead to certain further doom.

And by DCUM logic that means you either work for Discovery Ed or are one of the MCPS administrators beholden to them.

I don’t get why some people still have this attitude. MCPS has so thoroughly screwed up (curriculum problems, overuse of chromebooks, overcrowding, bungled implementation of the new magnet selection process) that it seems fully reasonable to be skeptical of its ability to actually implement a process competently.

Some people still have this attitude because we like to wait for the facts before making a judgment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will be interesting to see how MCPS writes the RFP-and whether they try to tailor it to favor Discovery Ed (although presumably Discovery Ed already has a lot of inside information about what MCPS wants due to all the ex-MCPS employees there.) hopefully McPS learned from the bad press from the Erick Lang incident and will choose more wisely this time around.

Yes, it will. But it hasn't come out yet. I, personally, am going to wait until the RFP actually comes out, and we can actually read it, before concluding that it's terrible and will only lead to certain further doom.

And by DCUM logic that means you either work for Discovery Ed or are one of the MCPS administrators beholden to them.

I don’t get why some people still have this attitude. MCPS has so thoroughly screwed up (curriculum problems, overuse of chromebooks, overcrowding, bungled implementation of the new magnet selection process) that it seems fully reasonable to be skeptical of its ability to actually implement a process competently.

Some people still have this attitude because we like to wait for the facts before making a judgment.

And others of us are skeptical because all the facts thus far have suggested MCPS has no intention of making this process transparent or in the best interests of students. Let's review the facts:

- Upon adopting Common Core, MCPS--unlike the vast majority of other school systems--decided to write its own curriculum, rather than adopting externally produced, proven curricula. One of the primary reasons for doing so was the idea that MCPS could sell its curriculum (this was a stated goal). As we all know, MCPS's curriculum was deemed inadequate by an external audit (though, of course, parents and teachers knew it was inadequate long before the audit was done).

- MCPS issued an RFP for a new curriculum, all the while its head of Curriculum had an enormous conflict of interest with one of the bidders. When that came to light, the process was delayed a year, leaving everyone with another year of dealing with a bad curriculum

And that's just the curriculum review-based problems. I'm not even touching on MCPS's problems holding its employees accountable for inappropriate behavior, its inability to utilize technology properly, its inability or unwillingness to address overcrowding in an effective manner, etc.

If you're not skeptical about this process by this point, then you're like Charlie Brown with the football.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will be interesting to see how MCPS writes the RFP-and whether they try to tailor it to favor Discovery Ed (although presumably Discovery Ed already has a lot of inside information about what MCPS wants due to all the ex-MCPS employees there.) hopefully McPS learned from the bad press from the Erick Lang incident and will choose more wisely this time around.

Yes, it will. But it hasn't come out yet. I, personally, am going to wait until the RFP actually comes out, and we can actually read it, before concluding that it's terrible and will only lead to certain further doom.

And by DCUM logic that means you either work for Discovery Ed or are one of the MCPS administrators beholden to them.

I don’t get why some people still have this attitude. MCPS has so thoroughly screwed up (curriculum problems, overuse of chromebooks, overcrowding, bungled implementation of the new magnet selection process) that it seems fully reasonable to be skeptical of its ability to actually implement a process competently.

agree.
case precedent here
pattern recognition
easy to forecast.

whatever your industry, once you look at the 2008-present MCPS track record you know what to project and it ain't pretty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will be interesting to see how MCPS writes the RFP-and whether they try to tailor it to favor Discovery Ed (although presumably Discovery Ed already has a lot of inside information about what MCPS wants due to all the ex-MCPS employees there.) hopefully McPS learned from the bad press from the Erick Lang incident and will choose more wisely this time around.

Yes, it will. But it hasn't come out yet. I, personally, am going to wait until the RFP actually comes out, and we can actually read it, before concluding that it's terrible and will only lead to certain further doom.

And by DCUM logic that means you either work for Discovery Ed or are one of the MCPS administrators beholden to them.

I don’t get why some people still have this attitude. MCPS has so thoroughly screwed up (curriculum problems, overuse of chromebooks, overcrowding, bungled implementation of the new magnet selection process) that it seems fully reasonable to be skeptical of its ability to actually implement a process competently.

Some people still have this attitude because we like to wait for the facts before making a judgment.

yes, sit and wait. gov'ts and public school districts love people who shut up, sit and wait, and then shut up, sit and wait again. don't hold anyone accountable, they're only educating your kid to dismal national proficiency levels set by the federal gov't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:have the April/May feedback comments been made public?

I assume the K-8 curriculum RFP will be highly similar to the March one. Big difference is all the vendors have now have March 2018 through who knows what Fall or winter month to wine and dine MCPS Central office at dinners, conferences, golf, etc.

Remember all the boondoggles Starr went on!?

Sadly the RFP process was previously released, 30 days due, 30 days selection so less time for that BS conflict of interest stuff. Now everyone has known the 10th largest public school district in the country is out for big since March! And F'd it up and will be out with it again! So I suspect their has been a spring, summer and fall of kissing up to MCPS from every former and ongoing applicant.

Let’s hope some proven curriculum providers are good at sucking up to McPS.

yeah, I hope Singapore Math is fluffing up everyone at central office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will be interesting to see how MCPS writes the RFP-and whether they try to tailor it to favor Discovery Ed (although presumably Discovery Ed already has a lot of inside information about what MCPS wants due to all the ex-MCPS employees there.) hopefully McPS learned from the bad press from the Erick Lang incident and will choose more wisely this time around.

Discovery Ed broke apart from Discovery. I'm not sure how they're operating but yes, the group has quite a bit of insider knowledge.

Francisco Partners, a technology private equity firm, controls Discovery Ed. I believe their strategy will be on of increased online education, leveraging discovery video content, and selling the curriculum abroad. Of course good ol marty creel and erick lang - the idiots who whipped up MCPS C2.0 - are in charge. I don't think they'll hack it have a PE guy on the board so the'll probably get fired unless they reel in some lucrative contracts within 0-3 years. Then Discovery Ed - IF SUCCESSFUL - will sell itself to a corporate or another PE player, or go public.

Either way, any U.S. school district with a brain should stay away from that nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will be interesting to see how MCPS writes the RFP-and whether they try to tailor it to favor Discovery Ed (although presumably Discovery Ed already has a lot of inside information about what MCPS wants due to all the ex-MCPS employees there.) hopefully McPS learned from the bad press from the Erick Lang incident and will choose more wisely this time around.

Yes, it will. But it hasn't come out yet. I, personally, am going to wait until the RFP actually comes out, and we can actually read it, before concluding that it's terrible and will only lead to certain further doom.

And by DCUM logic that means you either work for Discovery Ed or are one of the MCPS administrators beholden to them.

I don’t get why some people still have this attitude. MCPS has so thoroughly screwed up (curriculum problems, overuse of chromebooks, overcrowding, bungled implementation of the new magnet selection process) that it seems fully reasonable to be skeptical of its ability to actually implement a process competently.

Some people still have this attitude because we like to wait for the facts before making a judgment.

And others of us are skeptical because all the facts thus far have suggested MCPS has no intention of making this process transparent or in the best interests of students. Let's review the facts:

- Upon adopting Common Core, MCPS--unlike the vast majority of other school systems--decided to write its own curriculum, rather than adopting externally produced, proven curricula. One of the primary reasons for doing so was the idea that MCPS could sell its curriculum (this was a stated goal). As we all know, MCPS's curriculum was deemed inadequate by an external audit (though, of course, parents and teachers knew it was inadequate long before the audit was done).

- MCPS issued an RFP for a new curriculum, all the while its head of Curriculum had an enormous conflict of interest with one of the bidders. When that came to light, the process was delayed a year, leaving everyone with another year of dealing with a bad curriculum

And that's just the curriculum review-based problems. I'm not even touching on MCPS's problems holding its employees accountable for inappropriate behavior, its inability to utilize technology properly, its inability or unwillingness to address overcrowding in an effective manner, etc.

If you're not skeptical about this process by this point, then you're like Charlie Brown with the football.

There is a difference between being skeptical, which might be justified, and already concluding that the new process and new curriculum will be doomed, which is not - at least at this point.

[Anonymous]

We kept our 5 yo in Montessori for K, and if we don't like the MCPS K-8 curriculum choice and process, we will be moving back to NW DC. Maybe we'll come back for HS, maybe not.

We'd like to stay but we both work FT, neither of us has time for this subpar education adventure, and right now we're pretty unhappy with what we see and hear from our neighbors, our ES tour, and the PTA mtgs we've attended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We kept our 5 yo in Montessori for K, and if we don't like the MCPS K-8 curriculum choice and process, we will be moving back to NW DC. Maybe we'll come back for HS, maybe not.

We'd like to stay but we both work FT, neither of us has time for this subpar education adventure, and right now we're pretty unhappy with what we see and hear from our neighbors, our ES tour, and the PTA mtgs we've attended.

We're keeping our kid in her private preschool for K, since they luckily have a K year. We like living in MoCo otherwise (NW DC is terrible for our commutes), so we'll go private if MCPS can't get it together. I've spent a lot of time talking with our PTA and even the mayor of our town and have heard very little that suggests this is getting better anytime soon. HS seems to be the one bright spot, so hopefully we can return to MCPS then (assuming we still live in this area).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:have the April/May feedback comments been made public?

I assume the K-8 curriculum RFP will be highly similar to the March one. Big difference is all the vendors have now have March 2018 through who knows what Fall or winter month to wine and dine MCPS Central office at dinners, conferences, golf, etc.

Remember all the boondoggles Starr went on!?

Sadly the RFP process was previously released, 30 days due, 30 days selection so less time for that BS conflict of interest stuff. Now everyone has known the 10th largest public school district in the country is out for big since March! And F'd it up and will be out with it again! So I suspect their has been a spring, summer and fall of kissing up to MCPS from every former and ongoing applicant.

Let’s hope some proven curriculum providers are good at sucking up to McPS.

yeah, I hope Singapore Math is fluffing up everyone at central office.

+1 I'm happy to send an Edible Arrangements or a box of chocolates in the name of Singapore Math. I have relatives in NY where some of the districts have it, and they say it's very good.

[Anonymous]

I've seen the common core Singapore Math workbooks my nephew (age 4, then 5) has had and agree they're good, logical order, and a good mix of abstract/concrete.

Teachers should be able to teach it well too. More than Math in Action which is more esoteric.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:have the April/May feedback comments been made public?

I assume the K-8 curriculum RFP will be highly similar to the March one. Big difference is all the vendors have now have March 2018 through who knows what Fall or winter month to wine and dine MCPS Central office at dinners, conferences, golf, etc.

Remember all the boondoggles Starr went on!?

Sadly the RFP process was previously released, 30 days due, 30 days selection so less time for that BS conflict of interest stuff. Now everyone has known the 10th largest public school district in the country is out for big since March! And F'd it up and will be out with it again! So I suspect their has been a spring, summer and fall of kissing up to MCPS from every former and ongoing applicant.

Let’s hope some proven curriculum providers are good at sucking up to McPS.

yeah, I hope Singapore Math is fluffing up everyone at central office.

fluffers marketing curricula in central office. yikes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:have the April/May feedback comments been made public?

I assume the K-8 curriculum RFP will be highly similar to the March one. Big difference is all the vendors have now have March 2018 through who knows what Fall or winter month to wine and dine MCPS Central office at dinners, conferences, golf, etc.

Remember all the boondoggles Starr went on!?

Sadly the RFP process was previously released, 30 days due, 30 days selection so less time for that BS conflict of interest stuff. Now everyone has known the 10th largest public school district in the country is out for big since March! And F'd it up and will be out with it again! So I suspect their has been a spring, summer and fall of kissing up to MCPS from every former and ongoing applicant.

Let’s hope some proven curriculum providers are good at sucking up to McPS.

yeah, I hope Singapore Math is fluffing up everyone at central office.

fluffers marketing curricula in central office. yikes.

Clearly Discovery Ed, which has no renowned curriculum according to anyone, anywhere, has its hooks into the Central Office because Maria Navarro made it a point to say how they did everything right even though it didn't make sense that they didn't know that the two people they were hiring from MCPS were involved in the curriculum selection process they were bidding on. So if other better curriculum providers are trying to woo the central office so we don't get some crappy curriculum no one else in the country is using, I'm all for it.