So who is the man selected to replace Jerry Weast as superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools?
At first glance, the 41-year-old educator seems to be a younger version of Weast: an energetic leader willing to tackle the big issues facing a diverse school district—even though he currently heads a district that is about one-tenth the size of MCPS.
Dr. Joshua P. Starr’s district in Stamford, Conn., may be small compared to MCPS, but Montgomery County school board members noted his executive-level experience with the New York City public schools and his achievements in Stamford, including: “increasing student achievement for all subgroups, emphasizing increased academic rigor, standardizing curriculum, advancing the use of technology, creating business and civic partnerships, and emphasizing community and family engagement efforts aimed at supporting all children in the classroom.”
Sound familiar?
Starr has dealt with the following controversies in his 15,000-student district since he became superintendent in 2005: redistricting to achieve racial diversity; issues over magnet school enrollment; and concern over middle school reform, specifically the elimination of tracking by academic ability, according to published reports.
According to a 2009 New York Times article, Starr said tracking was unfair because it didn’t prepare all children adequately for high school and college. “There are certainly people who want to maintain the status quo because some people have benefited from the status quo,” he said. “I know that we cannot afford that anymore. It’s not fair to too many kids.”
All of these issues have a ring of familiarity. Consider Weast’s efforts to pour more funding and resources into poorer schools during his tenure and steps to reduce tracking in favor of differentiating instruction in the classroom, including middle school reform designed to increase equity and academic rigor.
The Montgomery County school board said it wasn’t looking for a change agent, but rather someone to continue along Weast’s path of progress. And that seems to be exactly who they have chosen. But while we are getting a leader with the skills and experience to take MCPS to the next level, maybe we are also getting a leader who better understands the value of communication, something that critics frequently claimed that Weast lacked.
At last night’s Board of Education meeting, members praised Starr as open-minded, forward-thinking and willing to listen. Interesting to note, though, that the Stamford Board of Education last summer “cited communication with itself, the public and other city boards as areas in need of improvement” in its first written performance evaluation of Starr, according to a Stamford Advocate report.
Even so, Starr seems to be more open communicator than Weast. He’s a fan of social media, tweeting about his daily activities and he even wrote a blog in 2007. In fact, he’d tweeted the news of his new job by 8 p.m. last night, according to published reports.
Check out these recent tweets from April 11: “Met with principals hiring cmtes at 2 schools today. Got some solid feedback and input. Good process.”
“BoE operations cmte tonite. Short agenda means long meeting.”
Another good sign: Montgomery County school board members spoke of Starr’s “deep commitment to openness” and to work collaboratively. Here’s what Starr had to say about that in an article he wrote in 2007 for the American Association of School Administrators about “Helping a Community Rethink its School System”:
“As superintendent, I certainly have the authority to impose a change and I encounter many people who want me to just tell them what to do. But I have a distinct theory of action that rests on the notion that if we are engaged with each other in asking the right questions about the issues we face, then we’ll collectively find the right answers. Naturally, this approach takes time and is not always straightforward, but I believe it is ultimately more rewarding because it builds collective will, challenges people to learn and grow together and builds capacity.”
Change is indeed in the air.
