Reply to Superintendent Taylor admits there is grade inflation in MCPS during BoE meeting

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Reply to "Superintendent Taylor admits there is grade inflation in MCPS during BoE meeting"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Were grades inflated in Q1 of Taylor's first year? [/quote]

How would he have changed it? MCPS is a system of schools. The principals get leeway to do whatever they want.[b] CO offers guidelines and policies but enforcement is nonexistent.[/b][/quote]

And the bolded is the problem.  If the system wants to grant principals a large amount of leeway to do what they want (which isn’t always a bad thing) then the principals  and their staff need be held to account for mastery of standards, achievement of proficient scores, performance of staff, and innovation.  Otherwise, there needs to be a lot more standardization of implementation and practices so there can be effective measurement on what is working and what is not.

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Yup. I agree with you. But here's where it flips back on CO: If they left their offices or homes (apparently a significant chunk of CO staff are still WFH) more and spent more time in schools regularly they'd be in a much better position to enforce and spot the problems that are happening.

We also need to really re-examine the power we've given to principals and MCAAP. People complain about MCEA and their power and influence, but MCAAP is the real power broker here and no one seems to realize that.[/quote]

No it doesn’t get flipped back to anyone except the Principal.  First, the amount of time folks in CO spend WFH is greatly over exaggerated. Second, if principals and schools are going to be given leeway, then CO’s job is to review then data and then ask questions/investigate as to why standard/performance/scores are not being achieved.  AND then take the appropriate action to rectify the situation which could be support, coaching, or removing the leeway.[/quote]

You realize CO includes OSSI, which includes Directors and Associate Superintendents who are supposed to be supervising the principals, right?[/quote]

Yes.  You realize that supervising can look like a lot of things.  And also this particular discussion spinoff from someone saying the school principals got a lot of leeway.  Given that, my expectation would not be micromanagement from CO and instead setting clear expectations, providing supporting, and then holding principals and there staff to account for meeting the expectations.  If data shows they aren't meeting the expectations, then appropriate investigation into why needs to be done and then decisions made about next actions.  On the flip side, a lot of school folks are always saying they don't have that much autonomy.  In which case I would expect OSSI chooses supervisory method is doing much more follow-up and monitoring to ensure that things are being implemented and executed as directed and if necessary removing those who are impending progress.

CO is telling the BOE that implementation with fidelity is what is being sought and looked at and support provided to improve. Also that when we look at how schools operate it seems to be highly variable both school to school and even sometimes class to class. Now I'm not sure if CO is micromanaging and providing less autonomy is because the leeway wasn't working, OR if that was always their default and principals and schools don't have as much flexibility as folks think OR if the truth is somewhere in between (I suspect the later).  What I do know is that current data isn't favorable for the district and that needs to change.  So everybody across the system needs to get onboard with a supervision/monitoring method and accountability structure. And it needs to be communicated out to everyone so ALL know what to expect.

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