Editor’s Note: Over the next two weeks, Bethesda Beat will be looking back at 2015 with the stories and trends that made news this year.
In 2015, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) made major changes relating to standardized testing, final exams and the school system’s superintendent:
Starr Wars
In February, after weeks of behind-closed-doors discussions by the county’s Board of Education, then-MCPS Superintendent Joshua Starr resigned, stating he did so because he didn’t have enough support on the board for a contract extension. His contract was set to run out mid-year.
The move wasn’t surprising—there had been rumblings that some were unhappy with Starr’s performance and management style—but the private board discussions left many wondering why Starr lost support and what the board would be looking for in his replacement.
Hurt by a hiring process that started after many top-tier superintendent candidates had already considered new jobs, the board floated a relatively inexperienced administrator from Houston who was promptly panned by local education and community leaders.
With no more time to find a replacement, the board convinced interim Superintendent Larry Bowers to put off his planned retirement and serve in the position for the 2015-2016 school year.
The search for a permanent superintendent started again this fall. A new MCPS chief is expected to be named in the spring.
Say goodbye to final exams
What the testing schedule could look like for high school students in 2016-2017 with county final exams eliminated, via MCPS
Citing statewide assessments and standardized tests for college admissions as evidence that county students are already tested enough, MCPS officials decided to drop all end-of-semester county final exams starting next school year.
New assessments over the school year’s four marking periods will take the place of the exams. The school system is developing those assessments now, though it’s anticipated that each school, or even individual teachers, will have some flexibility in determining how to assess their students.
No matter what, the two-hour final exam blocks are gone, something all eight Board of Education members who supported the move said would mean more classroom instruction time.
Many teachers, on the other hand, opposed the move. They claimed that ending county final exams could leave students unprepared for other test-taking, such as the Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exams each spring.
County students struggle on new PARCC tests
Those aforementioned state assessments are now known as PARCC. As was the case throughout the state and country, the first set of PARCC exams in the spring of 2015 caused plenty of consternation.
PARCC, short for Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, is a consortium of seven states and Washington, D.C., using the Common Core-aligned tests in Algebra and English.
As expected, MCPS students struggled with only 38.6 percent of students who took the Algebra 1 test getting a score of 4 or 5, the standard demonstrating a student is on track to be college and career ready. Only 30.7 percent of MCPS students got a 4 or a 5 on the Algebra 2 test and only 44 percent of MCPS students got a 4 or a 5 on the English 10 test.
One possible explanation for the results is that getting a passing score wasn’t required, at least in the first set of tests administered last spring. That’s expected to change next spring, after the Maryland State Board of Education sets what a passing score is.
Meanwhile, the consortium overseeing the tests decided to make changes to shorten the amount of time dedicated to taking them.
To deal with overcrowding, Bowers pitches redistricting
The old Woodward High School (now Tilden Middle School) to the left and Interim MCPS Superintendent Larry Bowers to the right.
Before releasing his full recommended capital budget in October, Bowers came out with a number of preliminary ideas meant to address school overcrowding, particularly in down-county school districts and the Gaithersburg area.
One of those is a “roundtable discussion group” with PTA representatives and parents about redrawing the boundaries of the Thomas S. Wootton, Gaithersburg and Magruder high school clusters. Another would be reopening the former Woodward High School on Old Georgetown Road as a high school to relieve overcrowding at nearby Walter Johnson High School and accommodate expected development in White Flint.
It’s clear that MCPS would prefer not to build new school buildings—which bring annual operating costs for additional teachers and staff members—if options such as school additions and redistricting are viable.
The school system said it will also look at reopening former school buildings in the Walter Johnson cluster.
