Anonymous wrote:Evidence of Learning presentation to BOe
https://mcpsmd.new.swagit.com/videos/222933

K-12 Comprehensive math plan update
https://mcpsmd.new.swagit.com/videos/230561

Not sure if you posted this in support of MCPS, but I did rewatch the math plan update.

As usual, MCPS talked around the problem, but board member Wolff got to the heart of it when she basically got them to admit that part of the reason for the poor math proficiency scores is because too many MCPS kids are being pushed into Algebra 1 early, which requires compacted math, which means they're not building and getting the appropriate amount of exposure and time to master those foundational skills.

This means the problem is on two parties:

1. Parents: We need to stop treating 7th or 8th grade Algebra 1 as the benchmark. Many of our kids aren't ready for it. (Not sure why this is revolutionary, Algebra 1 in 9th grade was completely the norm back when I was in MCPS). Stop pushing your schools to put your kid in "accelerated math" programs unless the test scores demonstrate they have a genuine need at that level. It's great that you believe in your baby's potential, but there's no rush. 9th grade Algebra 1 is ON TRACK, not behind.

2. Admin: Stop cowtowing to pushy parents. Trust the teachers' evaluations and stop allowing any of your staff in the counseling office or team leads to parrot things like "Your child isn't college ready unless they take Algebra 1 by 8th grade."

As usual, it looks like we have created our own problem and now we have to untangle ourselves from a web of our own making.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like bad tests. Maybe we should just stop testing and focus on learning?

It sounds like bad tests because the scores are low???

And scores are low because kids don't take them seriously. Teachers tell them not to worry about the tests because they don't impact their grades so why should they care?

Anonymous wrote:I’m never sure how to read these. I know my kids totally blow off these tests. They finish them as fast as they can. They end up generally with proficient scores but they are well beyond proficient. But they aren’t going to waste any mental energy on these tests. There’s too many tests — we can’t really expect the kids to give these their best effort. I’d be more interested in how many kids are failing the unit tests, which are aligned with curriculum standards and are not retakable.

This. My kids come home and say the teachers tell them that the tests don't count toward their grades so none of the kids take it seriously. NONE. Even the hard-working, smart kids. They absolutely spend no mental energy on it. I would rather see them bring back exams that actually count toward their grades and I guarantee the results are going to be drastically different.

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like bad tests. Maybe we should just stop testing and focus on learning?

It sounds like bad tests because the scores are low???

Sounds like bad tests. Maybe we should just stop testing and focus on learning?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SOURCE: https://wjla.com/features/i-team/maryland-education-scores-students-math-english-proficiency-state-tests-inequity-ela-students-teachers-academics-covid-19-pandemic-learning-fog-naacp-economic-prince-georges-county-montgomery-pgcps-mcps#

In a startling revelation, over 80% of Maryland students have fallen short on state proficiency tests in math and English language arts, according to scores reported by the state's Department of Education.

The statewide test scores indicate a mere 14.4% of students across all grades demonstrating proficiency in English language arts, with an even lower 13.2% proficiency in math.

Digging deeper into the data shows economic circumstances are closely intertwined with academic achievement. Among the students classified as "economically disadvantaged," only 24% managed to pass the English language arts proficiency tests. In stark contrast, 53% of their more affluent peers achieved proficiency in ELA. The same pattern emerged in math, where family income played a significant role. Twenty-five percent of "economically advantaged" students passed the math proficiency tests, while 5.9% of their disadvantaged counterparts scored high enough to pass the proficiency test.

In Montgomery County, the situation is slightly better, with 15 Maryland school districts outperforming their 13.5% ELA proficiency, and 11 districts surpassing their 13.7% math proficiency.

Recognizing the pressing need to enhance literacy and mathematics performance, especially among African American and Latino students, Montgomery County Public Schools have made it a top priority.

"It absolutely is a top priority for Montgomery County Public Schools to improve literacy and mathematics performance among our African American and Latino students," said Jessica Baxter, MCPS director of public information as she emphasized the school system's dedication.

The district has proactively shaped policy discussions and allocated budget investments to this cause. Approved in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget, these investments include the addition of instructional staff and coaches to provide increased support in math and literacy, diligent oversight and progress monitoring, and expanded professional development opportunities for acceleration, enrichment, intervention, credit recovery, or original credit, with options available both in-person and virtually.

I thought this was the year we were supposed to see improvements after last year being the first year back in school from COVID? The bar is on the floor and I'm not seeing thoughtful investigations of root-cause analyses or meaningful solutions. And before anyone says, "It's poor kids," it's not. Even "economically-advantaged" students managed 53% ELA proficiency at 25% math proficiency.

This is a five-alarm fire kind of situation. Where's the leadership from MCPS on this?

So, this is kind of hard to interpret but one thing that strikes me is that MoCo does seem to be genuinely plummeting through the ranks. If I look at last year's numbers (https://marylandpublicschools.org/stateboard/Documents/2023/0124/MCAPAssessmentResultsPart2.pdf) there are 5 or 6 counties ahead of MCPS within the state of Maryland.

But now there are more than 10 counties ahead of MCPS. So, even within Maryland and even as one of the best-resourced districts, MCPS is falling through the ranks year-over-year.

That's disconcerting to say the least.

Is it? This kind of underachievement as always there. Especially among the poor and the URMs. Asians are moving to HoCo, Urbana and Frederick. Of course mcps will plummet. mcps has launched a war against Asian Americans and magnet programs. These ere the factors that were hiding mcps's chronic underachievement before. Now it is visible to all.

I am sure that Asians continue to do very well, which means - business as usual!

Yes I wish we could move to HoCo as well. MCPS places too much emphasis on equal outcome which is anti-merit. Those who care about academic performance here are almost regarded as a nuisance.

Equal opportunity makes sense because any student can put in the effort to achieve good scores. MCPS’s emphasis on equal outcome is racist because certain races are given a boost while others of the wrong race are penalized.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a crappy article. You can fund the latest MCAP data on this site:

https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/AtaGlance/Index/3/17/6/15/XXXX/2022

I don't know why you think it's crappy, but the data in the article is not the same as what's available on the site. That site only has last year's data.

It looks like the investigative reporter at WJLA got their hands on MSDE data that is soon to be released or hasn't been widely released yet, probably via a FOIA request or something.

"In a startling revelation, over 80% of Maryland students have fallen short on state proficiency tests in math and English language arts, according to scores reported by the state's Department of Education."

If the scores were in fact "reported" by MSDE, where is the link to the data? If they obtained data via a public information request, they should state that in the article. They just include selected bits of information here and there, and label it as the "2022-2023 semester," whatever that is. How can anyone verify anything?

Do you think, WJLA ABC News, is in the habit of making up reporting and information like this? You do know they would be sued for reporting false information like this?

Also, if this data was false, MCPS and PGPS, both of whom had spokespeople respond to the reporter for this article, would have said so. They confirmed the data and provided responses on how their school districts are responding to the data.

I don't know why you're trying so hard to claim this data is false or made up, but it's not and there's no credible evidence to suggest it is anyway. Stop grasping at straws and engage with the information or not.

It's not that I'm claiming the data is "false or made up," it's that the article is so poorly written and/or edited and shows an inattention to detail. I would like to see the actual data and see if the reporters have described it accurately.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

In Montgomery County, the situation is slightly better, with 15 Maryland school districts outperforming their 13.5% ELA proficiency, and 11 districts surpassing their 13.7% math proficiency.

How are there 15 Maryland school districts in Montgomery county? What does this mean? This reporter needs some training.

There are districts other than MCPS in Maryland. 15 MD school districts did better than MCPS (score i13.5% in ELA) and 11 MD school districts did better than MCPS in math (score 13.7%).

That quote was as clear as mud.

Anonymous wrote:

In Montgomery County, the situation is slightly better, with 15 Maryland school districts outperforming their 13.5% ELA proficiency, and 11 districts surpassing their 13.7% math proficiency.

How are there 15 Maryland school districts in Montgomery county? What does this mean? This reporter needs some training.

There are districts other than MCPS in Maryland. 15 MD school districts did better than MCPS (score i13.5% in ELA) and 11 MD school districts did better than MCPS in math (score 13.7%).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a crappy article. You can fund the latest MCAP data on this site:

https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/AtaGlance/Index/3/17/6/15/XXXX/2022

I don't know why you think it's crappy, but the data in the article is not the same as what's available on the site. That site only has last year's data.

It looks like the investigative reporter at WJLA got their hands on MSDE data that is soon to be released or hasn't been widely released yet, probably via a FOIA request or something.

What is performance level 1, 2, 3 and 4?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SOURCE: https://wjla.com/features/i-team/maryland-education-scores-students-math-english-proficiency-state-tests-inequity-ela-students-teachers-academics-covid-19-pandemic-learning-fog-naacp-economic-prince-georges-county-montgomery-pgcps-mcps#

In a startling revelation, over 80% of Maryland students have fallen short on state proficiency tests in math and English language arts, according to scores reported by the state's Department of Education.

The statewide test scores indicate a mere 14.4% of students across all grades demonstrating proficiency in English language arts, with an even lower 13.2% proficiency in math.

Digging deeper into the data shows economic circumstances are closely intertwined with academic achievement. Among the students classified as "economically disadvantaged," only 24% managed to pass the English language arts proficiency tests. In stark contrast, 53% of their more affluent peers achieved proficiency in ELA. The same pattern emerged in math, where family income played a significant role. Twenty-five percent of "economically advantaged" students passed the math proficiency tests, while 5.9% of their disadvantaged counterparts scored high enough to pass the proficiency test.

In Montgomery County, the situation is slightly better, with 15 Maryland school districts outperforming their 13.5% ELA proficiency, and 11 districts surpassing their 13.7% math proficiency.

Recognizing the pressing need to enhance literacy and mathematics performance, especially among African American and Latino students, Montgomery County Public Schools have made it a top priority.

"It absolutely is a top priority for Montgomery County Public Schools to improve literacy and mathematics performance among our African American and Latino students," said Jessica Baxter, MCPS director of public information as she emphasized the school system's dedication.

The district has proactively shaped policy discussions and allocated budget investments to this cause. Approved in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget, these investments include the addition of instructional staff and coaches to provide increased support in math and literacy, diligent oversight and progress monitoring, and expanded professional development opportunities for acceleration, enrichment, intervention, credit recovery, or original credit, with options available both in-person and virtually.

I thought this was the year we were supposed to see improvements after last year being the first year back in school from COVID? The bar is on the floor and I'm not seeing thoughtful investigations of root-cause analyses or meaningful solutions. And before anyone says, "It's poor kids," it's not. Even "economically-advantaged" students managed 53% ELA proficiency at 25% math proficiency.

This is a five-alarm fire kind of situation. Where's the leadership from MCPS on this?

So, this is kind of hard to interpret but one thing that strikes me is that MoCo does seem to be genuinely plummeting through the ranks. If I look at last year's numbers (https://marylandpublicschools.org/stateboard/Documents/2023/0124/MCAPAssessmentResultsPart2.pdf) there are 5 or 6 counties ahead of MCPS within the state of Maryland.

But now there are more than 10 counties ahead of MCPS. So, even within Maryland and even as one of the best-resourced districts, MCPS is falling through the ranks year-over-year.

That's disconcerting to say the least.

Is it? This kind of underachievement as always there. Especially among the poor and the URMs. Asians are moving to HoCo, Urbana and Frederick. Of course mcps will plummet. mcps has launched a war against Asian Americans and magnet programs. These ere the factors that were hiding mcps's chronic underachievement before. Now it is visible to all.

I am sure that Asians continue to do very well, which means - business as usual!

In Montgomery County, the situation is slightly better, with 15 Maryland school districts outperforming their 13.5% ELA proficiency, and 11 districts surpassing their 13.7% math proficiency.

How are there 15 Maryland school districts in Montgomery county? What does this mean? This reporter needs some training.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The numbers don’t make sense. How if it possible that 14.4 percent are proficient in ELA overall, but 24 percent of economically disadvantaged and 53 percent of more affluent students for the same? How does that add up to 14.4 percent?? It doesn’t.

Ok. Clearly your math proficiency also isn't up to par. Did you miss the coursework on statistics and percentages?

The economically advantaged group is a SUBSET of the overall Maryland student population.

The blended rate of ALL MD students is 14.4% ELA proficiency. However, if you EXTRACT only the "economically-advantaged" students, THAT group has a 53% ELA proficiency.

They are distinct data points and you're not supposed to add them up to equal 100%....

Oh my goodness!!!! Before you start being condescending it would help if you know what you are talking about. I interpret data for a living and this data, as presented is incomprehensible. I never suggested that the numbers needed to add up to 100 but if you had any clue about stats you’d see that they don’t MAKE SENSE.

Perhaps there is another category between economically disadvantaged and and economically advantaged, but how is it possible that both economically disadvantaged and economically advantaged kids have proficiency rates that are HIGHER than the overall average? If that’s actually true then it’s great news for the economically disadvantaged group which would typically have a lower rate of achievement than the general population. There is zero chance that this is the case.

If you click the link you’ll see that there are graphics included which fail to identify what the economic numbers refer to. I assume it’s a different metric than the 14.4 percent, but the reporter obviously doesn’t understand stats (just like you) and has conflated the two. Perhaps instead of the percentage provident it’s the number both proficient and approaching proficiency?

It’s a terrible article that doesn’t make sense in multiple places. Unfortunately many reporters misstate statistics so this isn’t uncommon, but this is a particularly egregious example. (As is the fact that you got the data so wrong and were so sanctimonious in making your error). Clearly most of DCUM is willing to accept any numbers without questioning.

Aren't these levels like "proficient" arbitrary?

It's a new system so we can't see trends.

It doesn't report meaningful info like what the students can and cannot do. MAP has its problems, but at least it gives a sense of what a score means. So if the median score in grade X is Y, I can look up what roughly that means as math/ELA skill.

Anonymous wrote:I’m never sure how to read these. I know my kids totally blow off these tests. They finish them as fast as they can. They end up generally with proficient scores but they are well beyond proficient. But they aren’t going to waste any mental energy on these tests. There’s too many tests — we can’t really expect the kids to give these their best effort. I’d be more interested in how many kids are failing the unit tests, which are aligned with curriculum standards and are not retakable.

It's a hard measurement problem. The kids who are struggling academically are far more likely to not pour their heart out into performing well on a 0-stakes test.

Even more, if they were trying to be strategic, intentionally bombing the test might apply pressure on the government to increase school resources.