We hear Montgomery County Public Schools described so often as “a world-class school system” that it seems the label is employed to drown out critics who see problems that need to be addressed.
Now a new report compiled by Superintendent Joshua Starr’s transition team offers a fresh perspective that could result in MCPS truly living up to its billing.
On Monday, the team – which included Harvard University educators, superintendents from other districts and top-level MCPS administrators – released its report on MCPS teaching and learning, professional development, culture and context and operations. Download the full report.
Starr is expected to use the report and information gathered during the “Listen and Learn” sessions he is conducting throughout the district to set his course for the school system. In a video on the MCPS website, Starr says the report identified “near- and long-term priorities.”
“There are issues of variability. Does every school have access to the same resources, within schools, between schools? You know, there’s a range of performance. How are we dealing with that?” Starr says.
While the team had much good to say about county schools, it found lots of areas that could be improved – many of which will not surprise parents, teachers, administrators and others involved in the schools.
But the good news is that the report strongly reflects that the team took the time to listen to the concerns of everyone who had something to say about important issues, including differences between the haves and the have-not schools, race and equity, communication, closing the achievement gap, the uneven distribution of technology and the implementation of the many curriculum changes in recent years.
According to the report, the team “was repeatedly informed that the district had so many initiatives under way that some members of the MCPS community were overwhelmed by the totality of the reform process.”
Take the new Curriculum 2.0 that’s being rolled out in kindergarten and first grade this year. “Concerns with the district’s ability to effectively implement Curriculum 2.0 for grades K-2 while writing the curriculum for grades 3-5 this coming year were also expressed,” the report says. “Staff described their work as being similar to building a plane in flight.”
The transition team concluded that feedback from teachers and principals about the rollout should be considered before continuing next year. “This effort is too critical to be rushed,” the report says.
Another interesting note: Dealing with race and equity continues to be a big issue. “Access to special programs and resources across the district concerns both the parents of high-achieving and struggling students, raising the question as to how the equitable allocation of resources is being determined and assessed,” the report says.
The team recommends that MCPS examine how it allocates resources “to ensure that funds are equitably distributed to provide all students, in all schools, with the resources necessary to achieve success.”
Another point: Bureaucracy too often gets in the way of providing needed support to schools. The team recommends improved communication, among other steps. “Empowerment of leaders at multiple layers will allow decisions to be made as close to the situation as possible,” the report says.
On community engagement, the report takes MCPS and the County Council to task over their somewhat toxic relationship, as evidenced in this year’s bruising budget battle.
“Unilateral, position-based approaches employed by either MCPS or the County Council are not likely to create the best conditions to promote and maintain Montgomery County as a progressive, diverse community that places a high value on education and offers a high quality of life for its citizens,” the report says.
It suggests that the two parties use the 2012-2013 budget process “to foster mutual understanding of goals, priorities, limitations, and opportunities for collaboration.”
A new perspective indeed.
