Any rumors on new curriculum vendor finalists?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't the finalists supposed to be presenting this month?

Yup. Anyone heard anything?

October-November 2018

Evaluation and Selection of Finalists

November 2018

Vendor finalist presentation to stakeholder and community groups

December 2018

Finalize recommendations

January 2019

Proposal for adoption by the Board of Education

Ten days ago a PP posted they had been part of a vendor presentation but had signed an NDA.

[Anonymous]

November has come and gone.

This really inspires confidence.

[Anonymous]

Can someone call tomorrow and see if there will be an update posted? Tomorrow is November 30th.

[Anonymous]

Abysmal and frustrating, but not unexpected.

[Anonymous]

Why do people think that vendor presentations mean public announcements? If the recommendations are being prepared in December, I would expect to read about them....in December.

[Anonymous]

come on. no gov't entity gets anything processed between Thanksgiving and Christmas break. just go look forward to your Wed to Wed winter break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do people think that vendor presentations mean public announcements? If the recommendations are being prepared in December, I would expect to read about them....in December.

Yup. We know there were presentations and NDAs were signed. We won't be hearing anything until the recommendations are released.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do people think that vendor presentations mean public announcements? If the recommendations are being prepared in December, I would expect to read about them....in December.

Actually I'd expect to read about them in January, when the recommendations are proposed for adoption by the BoE.

[Anonymous]

I thought it said that there would be additional community input. Not surprised it didn't happen, but I did read that on the website.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought it said that there would be additional community input. Not surprised it didn't happen, but I did read that on the website.

Well, Patricia O'Neill was reelected, so there goes any mandate for additional community input. I'd suggest everyone disappointed by the BoE put more effort into supporting the challengers who ran against the BoE. If you want a real sens for how hard it is to enact change and accountability in MCPS, follow outgoing Board Member Jill Ortman Fouses' Facebook page - peruse the old discussions. It is sobering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dear MCPS Community:

I am writing to provide you with an update on the evaluation and selection of new curricular and instructional materials for K–8 English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics, including Algebra 1. As we shared in an August message, we reissued the Request for Proposal (RFP) on August 20, 2018. We received 33 submissions and are in the initial stage of reviewing proposals.

Proposal Review Team

We have identified a team of 118 staff members—48 teachers, two paraeducators, 19 school-based content specialists, 29 instructional specialists, 13 school-based administrators, and seven central office administrators—who are content experts in math, ELA, equity and special education. The team is responsible for:

Reading and evaluating proposals,
Evaluating vendor finalists’ demonstrations, and
Recommending curriculum vendors to MCPS leadership for final selection.
Community Feedback

As the review team works through the process of selecting finalists, there will be two opportunities to learn more about the vendors and the proposed curricular materials for the district.

The first will be attending the vendor presentations in mid-November. Approximately 300 invited community stakeholders—210 school-based personnel, 25 parent and community organization representatives, 20 students and 45 central services staff—will attend and provide feedback on the in-person presentations of the products recommended by the review team.
The second opportunity is reviewing and providing feedback on an online presentation of the recommended products. The presentation will be available to all members of the community. Instructions for accessing the online presentations will be provided in the next couple of weeks.
School Adoption

Over the past several months, schools have engaged in a collaborative process with stakeholders to determine interest and investment in participating in the first cohort of schools. As a result, 77 elementary schools, 22 middle schools and 11 high schools (see Appendix A) will be implementing the new instructional materials next year. Those schools not implementing the new curriculum will continue to receive high-quality and engaging instruction aligned to the Maryland College and Career Readiness Standards.

Please visit our website for regular updates on the curriculum selection process.

Thank You.

Best Regards,

Maria V. Navarro, Ed.D.
Chief Academic Officer
Montgomery County Public Schools

Given that the Chief Academic Officer is not capable of writing an email without numerous grammatical mistakes, I have scant hope that she possesses the capabilities necessary to lead a curriculum review. This is maddening.

[Anonymous]

PP here. Here's another example of the lack of accountability coming from the Chief Academic Officer. She came to us from the Baltimore Public Schools, that bastion of excellence. She's a Starr appointee from 2014; she needs to go. Until we get better leadership at the top, nothing will change.


The following message from Chief Academic Officer Dr. Maria Navarro was emailed to the MCPS community on Thursday, May 22.

Dear MCPS Community:

Montgomery County Public Schools has been recognized locally and nationally for the high levels of achievement by many of our students. However, many is not enough. We know that some of our students are not meeting their full potential. It is our responsibility to ensure ALL students have the resources, instruction, opportunity and access they need to succeed in college, career and community. One of the ways we are working toward our goal of all students meeting their potential is through enhancements to curricula and professional development for teachers.

To help us better understand how to reach this goal, MCPS commissioned a review of our curriculum, with a specific focus on Kindergarten through Grade 8, for English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics. The review, which included insight from hundreds of educators, looked at curriculum, classroom practices and student performance and drew several key conclusions:

While the MCPS curriculum was cutting edge when it was created in 2008-2009, advancement in curriculum developments in recent years provide innovations, such as enhanced digital engagement, more cultural proficiency, and better alignment with state standards.
Professional learning is fundamental to ensuring successful instruction, especially with the evolution of new standards and curriculum.
A shift in curricula and professional learning requires a multi-year, multi-pronged effort to ensure a successful transition.
While we anticipated these conclusions, this report confirmed that enhancements to our curricula and professional development are needed in order for us to move closer toward our goal of success for all students.

As you may know, MCPS engaged in a Request for Proposal (RFP) process to select new curricula in April. The selected curricula was scheduled to rollout to a small set of pilot schools in the fall with continued implementation over the next several years. We have decided to postpone this effort to address unanticipated issues in the selection process. The current RFP will be rescinded and a new one will be issued. To ensure full engagement with all stakeholders on this important effort, we intend to resume the selection process at the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year. While we know this delay may cause a disruption for our schools that were to begin implementation next year, we believe this delay will help us ensure transparency and trust in this process. The delay also provides us with the ability to address the feedback we heard from stakeholders about the timeline of this transition.

Though the curriculum acquisition is delayed, we will continue to provide enhanced professional development for staff that will focus on addressing some of the concerns cited in the curriculum review. These focus areas will include developing instructional strategies that support every learner in every classroom; creating high levels of student interaction with rigorous and complex text; and establishing deep levels of mathematical understanding aligned to grade-level standards.

Thank you for your unwavering commitment to ALL our students and schools. We will remain in regular communication with you in the coming weeks and months to provide updates about our continued efforts regarding curricula and professional development for educators.

Sincerely,

Maria V. Navarro, Ed.D.
Chief Academic Officer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear MCPS Community:

I am writing to provide you with an update on the evaluation and selection of new curricular and instructional materials for K–8 English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics, including Algebra 1. As we shared in an August message, we reissued the Request for Proposal (RFP) on August 20, 2018. We received 33 submissions and are in the initial stage of reviewing proposals.

Proposal Review Team

We have identified a team of 118 staff members—48 teachers, two paraeducators, 19 school-based content specialists, 29 instructional specialists, 13 school-based administrators, and seven central office administrators—who are content experts in math, ELA, equity and special education. The team is responsible for:

Reading and evaluating proposals,
Evaluating vendor finalists’ demonstrations, and
Recommending curriculum vendors to MCPS leadership for final selection.
Community Feedback

As the review team works through the process of selecting finalists, there will be two opportunities to learn more about the vendors and the proposed curricular materials for the district.

The first will be attending the vendor presentations in mid-November. Approximately 300 invited community stakeholders—210 school-based personnel, 25 parent and community organization representatives, 20 students and 45 central services staff—will attend and provide feedback on the in-person presentations of the products recommended by the review team.
The second opportunity is reviewing and providing feedback on an online presentation of the recommended products. The presentation will be available to all members of the community. Instructions for accessing the online presentations will be provided in the next couple of weeks.
School Adoption

Over the past several months, schools have engaged in a collaborative process with stakeholders to determine interest and investment in participating in the first cohort of schools. As a result, 77 elementary schools, 22 middle schools and 11 high schools (see Appendix A) will be implementing the new instructional materials next year. Those schools not implementing the new curriculum will continue to receive high-quality and engaging instruction aligned to the Maryland College and Career Readiness Standards.

Please visit our website for regular updates on the curriculum selection process.

Thank You.

Best Regards,

Maria V. Navarro, Ed.D.
Chief Academic Officer
Montgomery County Public Schools

Given that the Chief Academic Officer is not capable of writing an email without numerous grammatical mistakes, I have scant hope that she possesses the capabilities necessary to lead a curriculum review. This is maddening.

What grammatical mistakes do you identify in this e-mail?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear MCPS Community:

I am writing to provide you with an update on the evaluation and selection of new curricular and instructional materials for K–8 English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics, including Algebra 1. As we shared in an August message, we reissued the Request for Proposal (RFP) on August 20, 2018. We received 33 submissions and are in the initial stage of reviewing proposals.

Proposal Review Team

We have identified a team of 118 staff members—48 teachers, two paraeducators, 19 school-based content specialists, 29 instructional specialists, 13 school-based administrators, and seven central office administrators—who are content experts in math, ELA, equity and special education. The team is responsible for:

Reading and evaluating proposals,
Evaluating vendor finalists’ demonstrations, and
Recommending curriculum vendors to MCPS leadership for final selection.
Community Feedback

As the review team works through the process of selecting finalists, there will be two opportunities to learn more about the vendors and the proposed curricular materials for the district.

The first will be attending the vendor presentations in mid-November. Approximately 300 invited community stakeholders—210 school-based personnel, 25 parent and community organization representatives, 20 students and 45 central services staff—will attend and provide feedback on the in-person presentations of the products recommended by the review team.
The second opportunity is reviewing and providing feedback on an online presentation of the recommended products. The presentation will be available to all members of the community. Instructions for accessing the online presentations will be provided in the next couple of weeks.
School Adoption

Over the past several months, schools have engaged in a collaborative process with stakeholders to determine interest and investment in participating in the first cohort of schools. As a result, 77 elementary schools, 22 middle schools and 11 high schools (see Appendix A) will be implementing the new instructional materials next year. Those schools not implementing the new curriculum will continue to receive high-quality and engaging instruction aligned to the Maryland College and Career Readiness Standards.

Please visit our website for regular updates on the curriculum selection process.

Thank You.

Best Regards,

Maria V. Navarro, Ed.D.
Chief Academic Officer
Montgomery County Public Schools

Given that the Chief Academic Officer is not capable of writing an email without numerous grammatical mistakes, I have scant hope that she possesses the capabilities necessary to lead a curriculum review. This is maddening.

What grammatical mistakes do you identify in this e-mail?

You beat me to it. It’s s little wordy but still grammatically correct. And I’m no fan.

[Anonymous]

Here's the presentations by the vendor finalists with opportunity to provide comments to the curriculum selection team:
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/presentations.aspx