Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5) math acceleration at all costs - pushed too much too soon

This isn't really something being pushed by MCPS; it's MCPS responding to all the tiger parents out there who insist on their kid taking calculus in 11th because they mistakenly think it's going to help with college placement or be necessary to enter a STEM field (which it isn't).

I disagree. I think if MCPS offered true honors/advanced tracking in math in ES and MS most parents would be perfectly happy keeping their kids "on level". If you have a kid who has advanced abilities in math, MCPS's answer is to immediately move them up a grade level (in the old curriculum you were moved up two grade levels). Why not offer grade level work with acceleration for those who can handle it? Instead of your 5th grader taking 6th grade level math, they'd be delving deeper into 5th grade math concepts/maybe doing more project-based work, having deeper discussions in class with other 5th graders who want to be challenged at math.

They do that. And DCUM complains about it.

This. Of course MCPS curriculum isn't perfect -- far from it -- but the fact is that most MCPS schools (and certainly the top performing ones) are among the best public schools in the country. We're talking within the top 5%. If you're not happy with the education your kid is getting, fight for improvements and supplement at home, but the idea that MCPS is some shit-hole is patently ridiculous.

No they're really not. They have a lot of smart kids that score well, but the schools aren't great. Massachusetts has good schools.

Who is spreading all this false information. MCPS is not top 5%. Maryland is not no.1. Actually the governor was just told by a study group that Maryland's education is very mediocre. MCPS is resting on a 20 year old reputation. Montgomery Blair's magnet program was and is still awesome. But I am not sure whether that won't watered down the way everything else is being watered down.





1. Massachusetts is a state, not a county or jurisdiction.
2. Maryland has good schools, that's why they are number 1
3. If you are a product of Massachusetts schools, I question their schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5) math acceleration at all costs - pushed too much too soon

This isn't really something being pushed by MCPS; it's MCPS responding to all the tiger parents out there who insist on their kid taking calculus in 11th because they mistakenly think it's going to help with college placement or be necessary to enter a STEM field (which it isn't).

I disagree. I think if MCPS offered true honors/advanced tracking in math in ES and MS most parents would be perfectly happy keeping their kids "on level". If you have a kid who has advanced abilities in math, MCPS's answer is to immediately move them up a grade level (in the old curriculum you were moved up two grade levels). Why not offer grade level work with acceleration for those who can handle it? Instead of your 5th grader taking 6th grade level math, they'd be delving deeper into 5th grade math concepts/maybe doing more project-based work, having deeper discussions in class with other 5th graders who want to be challenged at math.

They do that. And DCUM complains about it.

This. Of course MCPS curriculum isn't perfect -- far from it -- but the fact is that most MCPS schools (and certainly the top performing ones) are among the best public schools in the country. We're talking within the top 5%. If you're not happy with the education your kid is getting, fight for improvements and supplement at home, but the idea that MCPS is some shit-hole is patently ridiculous.

No they're really not. They have a lot of smart kids that score well, but the schools aren't great. Massachusetts has good schools.

1. Massachusetts is a state, not a county or jurisdiction.
2. Maryland has good schools, that's why they are number 1
3. If you are a product of Massachusetts schools, I question their schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5) math acceleration at all costs - pushed too much too soon

This isn't really something being pushed by MCPS; it's MCPS responding to all the tiger parents out there who insist on their kid taking calculus in 11th because they mistakenly think it's going to help with college placement or be necessary to enter a STEM field (which it isn't).

I disagree. I think if MCPS offered true honors/advanced tracking in math in ES and MS most parents would be perfectly happy keeping their kids "on level". If you have a kid who has advanced abilities in math, MCPS's answer is to immediately move them up a grade level (in the old curriculum you were moved up two grade levels). Why not offer grade level work with acceleration for those who can handle it? Instead of your 5th grader taking 6th grade level math, they'd be delving deeper into 5th grade math concepts/maybe doing more project-based work, having deeper discussions in class with other 5th graders who want to be challenged at math.

They do that. And DCUM complains about it.

This. Of course MCPS curriculum isn't perfect -- far from it -- but the fact is that most MCPS schools (and certainly the top performing ones) are among the best public schools in the country. We're talking within the top 5%. If you're not happy with the education your kid is getting, fight for improvements and supplement at home, but the idea that MCPS is some shit-hole is patently ridiculous.

No they're really not. They have a lot of smart kids that score well, but the schools aren't great. Massachusetts has good schools.

Who is spreading all this false information. MCPS is not top 5%. Maryland is not no.1. Actually the governor was just told by a study group that Maryland's education is very mediocre. MCPS is resting on a 20 year old reputation. Montgomery Blair's magnet program was and is still awesome. But I am not sure whether that won't watered down the way everything else is being watered down.





1. Massachusetts is a state, not a county or jurisdiction.
2. Maryland has good schools, that's why they are number 1
3. If you are a product of Massachusetts schools, I question their schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5) math acceleration at all costs - pushed too much too soon

This isn't really something being pushed by MCPS; it's MCPS responding to all the tiger parents out there who insist on their kid taking calculus in 11th because they mistakenly think it's going to help with college placement or be necessary to enter a STEM field (which it isn't).

I disagree. I think if MCPS offered true honors/advanced tracking in math in ES and MS most parents would be perfectly happy keeping their kids "on level". If you have a kid who has advanced abilities in math, MCPS's answer is to immediately move them up a grade level (in the old curriculum you were moved up two grade levels). Why not offer grade level work with acceleration for those who can handle it? Instead of your 5th grader taking 6th grade level math, they'd be delving deeper into 5th grade math concepts/maybe doing more project-based work, having deeper discussions in class with other 5th graders who want to be challenged at math.

They do that. And DCUM complains about it.

This. Of course MCPS curriculum isn't perfect -- far from it -- but the fact is that most MCPS schools (and certainly the top performing ones) are among the best public schools in the country. We're talking within the top 5%. If you're not happy with the education your kid is getting, fight for improvements and supplement at home, but the idea that MCPS is some shit-hole is patently ridiculous.

No they're really not. They have a lot of smart kids that score well, but the schools aren't great. Massachusetts has good schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The poster who said that it was mostly private parents bashing MCPS on this thread was actually right.

While there are some private parents on this thread, as evidenced by the whole It's Academic debate, I think the early bashers were mostly MCPS parents.

Personally, my kids attended MCPS K-12. I'm a basher because I think the basic curriculum is terrible, especially in elementary. (It does get better in higher grades with AP/IB classes. Textbooks help a lot.) I do think the magnet classes are great.

It sounds like your kids have graduated high school. How do you know what elementary students are doing? Are you a teacher in mcps?

I was poster 02/10/2018 04:27 on page 17.

My kids went through elementary school here. I served on a curriculum committee and have talked to teachers through the years. The curriculum has changed some, so I included an MCPS link detailing the changes to curriculum in my original post.

The biggest problem with the curricum department is their tendency to devalue content. While I agree that students should practice the higher order thinking skills that MCPS prioritzes, I feel that systematic content instruction is vital as well.

Further, I feel that producing and selling our curriculum is a huge conflict of interest. Rather than having subject matter experts produce a textbook, which is professionally edited and reviewed by other experts, before being released, we have a generalized curriculum department which I believe is augmented by MCPS teachers. Rather than buying a textbook that has proven effective elsewhere, our kids are the guinea pigs for whatever is produced. Moreover, in the past, the curriculum which was developed on a rolling basis was sometimes provided to teachers only a few days before they had to start using it. Hopefully the delivery schedule has improved. Finally, with a commercial textbook, students have a resource they can use, with all the extra features of a textbook (index, glossary, sample questions, etc.) Our students have assorted hand-outs and notes from class which is not only a less effective resource for them, but also makes it difficult for parents to review the quality of the curriculum.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5) math acceleration at all costs - pushed too much too soon

This isn't really something being pushed by MCPS; it's MCPS responding to all the tiger parents out there who insist on their kid taking calculus in 11th because they mistakenly think it's going to help with college placement or be necessary to enter a STEM field (which it isn't).

I disagree. I think if MCPS offered true honors/advanced tracking in math in ES and MS most parents would be perfectly happy keeping their kids "on level". If you have a kid who has advanced abilities in math, MCPS's answer is to immediately move them up a grade level (in the old curriculum you were moved up two grade levels). Why not offer grade level work with acceleration for those who can handle it? Instead of your 5th grader taking 6th grade level math, they'd be delving deeper into 5th grade math concepts/maybe doing more project-based work, having deeper discussions in class with other 5th graders who want to be challenged at math.

They do that. And DCUM complains about it.

This. Of course MCPS curriculum isn't perfect -- far from it -- but the fact is that most MCPS schools (and certainly the top performing ones) are among the best public schools in the country. We're talking within the top 5%. If you're not happy with the education your kid is getting, fight for improvements and supplement at home, but the idea that MCPS is some shit-hole is patently ridiculous.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting that the Sherwood counselor who’s been arrested as a drug dealer apparently gets to go to work as though she wasn’t just arrested...

That is really awful. Not just using drugs but selling them?? As a counselor?

Nobody said anything about using drugs. She's charged with selling pot (specifically, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance) -- as a vendor, at a vendor table, at a bar in DC. And she's on administrative leave.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5) math acceleration at all costs - pushed too much too soon

This isn't really something being pushed by MCPS; it's MCPS responding to all the tiger parents out there who insist on their kid taking calculus in 11th because they mistakenly think it's going to help with college placement or be necessary to enter a STEM field (which it isn't).

I disagree. I think if MCPS offered true honors/advanced tracking in math in ES and MS most parents would be perfectly happy keeping their kids "on level". If you have a kid who has advanced abilities in math, MCPS's answer is to immediately move them up a grade level (in the old curriculum you were moved up two grade levels). Why not offer grade level work with acceleration for those who can handle it? Instead of your 5th grader taking 6th grade level math, they'd be delving deeper into 5th grade math concepts/maybe doing more project-based work, having deeper discussions in class with other 5th graders who want to be challenged at math.

They do that. And DCUM complains about it.

This. Of course MCPS curriculum isn't perfect -- far from it -- but the fact is that most MCPS schools (and certainly the top performing ones) are among the best public schools in the country. We're talking within the top 5%. If you're not happy with the education your kid is getting, fight for improvements and supplement at home, but the idea that MCPS is some shit-hole is patently ridiculous.

No they're really not. They have a lot of smart kids that score well, but the schools aren't great. Massachusetts has good schools.

MCPS is in the top 5% of school districts in the country. yes, Massachusetts has districts that are stronger, but they also have districts that are weaker than MCPS.

it's also important to point out that MCPS is huge and diverse. it's not reasonable to compare it to, say, Wellesley public schools (one of the best districts in MA), which has about 5,000 students and is at 6% free or reduced lunch. MCPS is the 16th largest school district in the country and has 35% of its students on free or reduced lunch.

I'm not arguing MCPS doesn't have problems -- it absolutely does. I'm arguing that things could be a hell of a lot worse.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting that the Sherwood counselor who’s been arrested as a drug dealer apparently gets to go to work as though she wasn’t just arrested...

That is really awful. Not just using drugs but selling them?? As a counselor?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5) math acceleration at all costs - pushed too much too soon

This isn't really something being pushed by MCPS; it's MCPS responding to all the tiger parents out there who insist on their kid taking calculus in 11th because they mistakenly think it's going to help with college placement or be necessary to enter a STEM field (which it isn't).

I disagree. I think if MCPS offered true honors/advanced tracking in math in ES and MS most parents would be perfectly happy keeping their kids "on level". If you have a kid who has advanced abilities in math, MCPS's answer is to immediately move them up a grade level (in the old curriculum you were moved up two grade levels). Why not offer grade level work with acceleration for those who can handle it? Instead of your 5th grader taking 6th grade level math, they'd be delving deeper into 5th grade math concepts/maybe doing more project-based work, having deeper discussions in class with other 5th graders who want to be challenged at math.

They do that. And DCUM complains about it.

This. Of course MCPS curriculum isn't perfect -- far from it -- but the fact is that most MCPS schools (and certainly the top performing ones) are among the best public schools in the country. We're talking within the top 5%. If you're not happy with the education your kid is getting, fight for improvements and supplement at home, but the idea that MCPS is some shit-hole is patently ridiculous.

No they're really not. They have a lot of smart kids that score well, but the schools aren't great. Massachusetts has good schools.

MCPS is in the top 5% of school districts in the country. yes, Massachusetts has districts that are stronger, but they also have districts that are weaker than MCPS.

it's also important to point out that MCPS is huge and diverse. it's not reasonable to compare it to, say, Wellesley public schools (one of the best districts in MA), which has about 5,000 students and is at 6% free or reduced lunch. MCPS is the 16th largest school district in the country and has 35% of its students on free or reduced lunch.

I'm not arguing MCPS doesn't have problems -- it absolutely does. I'm arguing that things could be a hell of a lot worse.

Anonymous wrote:Interesting that the Sherwood counselor who’s been arrested as a drug dealer apparently gets to go to work as though she wasn’t just arrested...

Anonymous wrote:

No they're really not. They have a lot of smart kids that score well, but the schools aren't great. Massachusetts has good schools.