Dr Starr puts his spin on falling test scores

[Anonymous]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/state-test-scores-drop-as-maryland-schools-prepare-for-common-core/2013/07/23/b8e10a8a-f312-11e2-8505-bf6f231e77b4_story.html
I was surprised at how much third grade test scores had fallen for our school, but I guess it happened all over the county and state.

[Anonymous]

Nice try, Starr. Montgomery saw the sharpest decline. 12% compared to 4% in other areas.

[Anonymous]

Well if everyone had listened to the brilliant Starr and just stopped testing he could continue to tell us that his brilliant experiments with our curriculum were a wide success. As long as no one has any evidence that he is failing, he can screw things up as much as he likes.

Seriously though, I really wonder at what point the parents and taxpayers will hold this guy accountable for his actions. His entire tenure has been a disaster. Its almost as bad a Pepco.

[Anonymous]

He was in way over his head form day 1. Cocky arrogant and a failure. He has quickly become a wet noodle and when asked face to face in his "town hall " meetings, he often turns to an aide and says we will have to get back to you. End fo school year he will be out of here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He was in way over his head form day 1. Cocky arrogant and a failure. He has quickly become a wet noodle and when asked face to face in his "town hall " meetings, he often turns to an aide and says we will have to get back to you. End fo school year he will be out of here.

Is his contract up then?

[Anonymous]

Reading scores went up at our elem school - but math went down.

[Anonymous]

WP comment:

"Counties in Maryland are transitioning to the Common Core Curriculum in different ways and on different timelines, therefore, the 2013 Maryland State Assessment scores don't necessarily show what students are learning. While the newer CCC is believed to stress higher level thinking and problem-solving strategies and skills, there is an adjustment period as grade-level learning objectives don't necessarily match up during this transition period. Also, in many cases the newer curriculum (CCC) is being taught while the older (MSA) assessment is given and reported. The newer PARCC assessments are not yet ready for implementation."

My opinion: the PPs must think that Starr has magical superpowers, to be personally responsible for everything.

[Anonymous]

A year ago several astute posters were pilloried for predicting the impending disaster from:

eliminating math pathways (under the guise of closing the gap between Asian Americans and everyone else with a deeper curriculum2.0),

increasing the pay of MCPS teachers in the present economic climate,

An ill thought out roll out and execution of curriculum 2.0 by teachers who neither knew the subject material nor how to assess or evaluate their students

Lack of input from MCPS students and parents in the process

Leaving high performing and advanced grade 2 and 3 students in the valley of death

Stonewalling parents and students with town hall lectures while cowering behind power point presentations and refusing to address and tackle questions and concerns of parents and students about curricular decisions

The spot on predictions are returning home to roost.

[Anonymous]

Triple that PP!

[Anonymous]

Let's do the math:

Our third graders (including my son) are the guinea pig class for stupid 2.0.

They taught our kids how to decompose (which is a term better suited for dead leaves than math).

They keep all of the kids in one classroom and then the teacher spends 15 minutes with each group to instruct them on math....then the kids screw around for the rest of the long math block.

But thank god they changed the grading system so the target is Proficiency (aka: you can do the absolute basic skill we're assessing THIS YEAR....of course we'll change it up next year since everyone is doing so poorly....we'll dumb it down a bit more, but we will continue to use terms of art that are completely made up and force your kid to use five step "strategies" instead of the old fashioned way which makes more sense....no worries, parents can hire a tutor to teach the kids the old fashion methods right before middle school to get them on track)

We all know that 2.0 super sucks....what do we need to do to change things?

Stage a rally in front of Starr's house on the first day of school with our kids holding signs like "what's so funny bout peace, love and acceleration?"

[Anonymous]

Where are the 2.0 defenders now??

[Anonymous]

Are we so sure he is wrong? They changed the curriculum and left the tests the same. I am not a supporter of Starr or 2.0 but there seems to be some sense here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nice try, Starr. Montgomery saw the sharpest decline. 12% compared to 4% in other areas.

As long as the children of the group of people that wanted him here continue to do well, he has no worries whatsoever. For certain children, Montgomery County schools are, for all intents and purposes, private. My family has lived in the BCC area for over 100 years and trust me, you're wasting your time complaining about him.

[Anonymous]

If curriculum is all that MCPS and Starr say, then kids should do well on tests regardless of whether they were specifically prepared for them because they have a solid foundation.

MCPS says curriculum 2.0 goes deeper and makes sure kids have solid knowledge base. They say it is a year ahead of what was taught before. Now, they complain that tests give more advanced work than is being taught.

They can't have it both ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are we so sure he is wrong? They changed the curriculum and left the tests the same. I am not a supporter of Starr or 2.0 but there seems to be some sense here.

Yes, there does.