Montgomery County, MD | The Truth About Schools in the DC Suburbs

Montgomery County, MD Public Schools Schools historically were considered among the best in the country. The schools fell out of favor when they adopted Common Core in 2010. They switched to a new curriculum right before Covid. We're going to find out: Are Montgomery County Schools good? Montgomery County’s 209 schools offer both local schools as well as regional or countywide programs. There are language immersion programs for French, Spanish and Chinese. There are Centers for Enriched Studies which is like Talented and Gifted for 4th and 5th grade, magnet middle schools which offer digital design, performing arts and aerospace technology and more career focused programs, science, arts, and the International Baccalaureate or IB programs. There are also a couple high school Consortia’s which allow students to apply for the school that’s right for them within a specific geographic area. The graduation rate for the Montgomery County Maryland’s Public Schools is almost 92%. In 2010, the State of Maryland adopted the Common Core for education, also referred to as “2.0.” In 2018, Johns Hopkins audited the curriculum for Montgomery County Schools and it wasn’t good. Summing it up, they found that English and Math curricula were not satisfactory. Teachers expressed concerns, citing 2.0 as difficult to teach with the technology and felt that they needed to supplement with other lessons. Fewer than 1/3 of the students understood their math and fewer than 1/4th understood English Language Arts. Teachers said it contained too much busywork, not enough time to practice skills and did nothing to help those in special education. The teachers tried to supplement Common Core with other material. Parents lost a lot of trust in Montgomery County Public Schools. Montgomery County re-bid the curriculum and in 2019, 2.0 was replaced in Elementary by Benchmark (ELA) and Eureka (Math), and in Middle School by StudySync (ELA) and LearnZillion Illustrative Math. The new math curricula have turned out better than the ELA. It feels very a la carte style. It makes use of online apps / technology, plus workbooks. But then there was Covid, and the timing could not have been worse to train teachers on new systems and a new curriculum. This lack of textbooks, and using tech, screens, apps, handouts – it’s causing some angst. The school system feels very much in flux to some parents. Even something as basic as literature - students would read 8-10 books a year. Now, some classes are only reading 2-3. There’s been a big difference in the breadth of literature and content students are exposed to with the decline in expectations - even for AP classes. "Adding in mandatory curriculums, Benchmark ELA and Eureka math (and the awful Curriculum 2.0), and taking away the flexibility for teachers to modify the curriculum to best engage students OR allow for remediation of foundational skills is a recipe for disaster. I am disappointed in MCPS as both a teacher and a parent. Kids are subjected to endless testing ($$$) and we are required to collect and document hundreds of data points - for what purpose? We are unable to use that information to modify the curriculum. Data should be used to drive further instruction, and as teachers, our hands are tied.” That's direct from a MoCo Teacher! Yikes! What’s the problem? Sounds like a lot of the usual – Administration that’s out of touch, changing a curriculum twice inside of 10 years and an Administration not supportive of the teachers. So what do they do well in Montgomery County Schools? The immersion programs already mentioned, and the magnet and IB programs. There is high demand for these programs. The addition of career training and the ability to graduate high school with an Associates Degree from Montgomery County College is a great opportunity – should you want to cut those 4 years of college short. In an effort to ensure that all students have the same access to education, Montgomery County has made this a main goal for the county. Regardless, sometimes leaving no child behind also means some won’t be as far ahead as they, or their parents, would like. ==== Melissa Terzis 📲 (202) 253-9105 📩 [email protected] 🌐 https://www.dcrealestatemama.com/ TTR | Sotheby's International Realty 1515 14th St NW Washington, DC 20005 Office: (202) 234.3344