MCPS Report: Only Talked to One Focus Group at Damascus HS and 9 Other High School Students

Comment on MCPS report on hazing and rape at Damascus High School:

A total of 2 student focus groups, one at DHS and another with 9 high school students (not sure where they came from).
Regardless, I would have spoken to way more kids than this.  And given the nature of the inquiry and sensitive questions, I probably would have interviewed a lot of kids one-on-one.  I love focus groups.  But in one it is easy for individuals not to reveal things because they don't want the others in the group to know what they know or what may have happened to them.  In all honesty, in a focus group, do "we" actually think a macho football player is going to say, "Yeah, they hazed me and raped me with a broom."  Not happening.  ~ Joseph Hawkins

...The report’s authors acknowledged that no comprehensive, historical review was done of unreported incidents and that no districtwide survey was conducted for the analysis.

Five high schools were examined in the sprawling suburban system, which has 25 high schools and is the largest in Maryland.

Still, it said, “the few extracurricular-associated hazing and bullying incidents of which we became aware appeared to be isolated events, rather than part of a larger, continuing pattern.”..

..."We conducted interviews and focus groups at DHS and at a sampling of other MCPS high schools. At DHS, we interviewed 29 individuals, including administrators, staff members, coaches, parents, and after-school activity sponsors. In addition, we conducted a student focus group. Beyond DHS, we conducted focus-group discussions at four other high schools in different areas of Montgomery County: Seneca Valley High School, Montgomery Blair High School, Walt Whitman High School, and Walter Johnson High School. Those discussions included principals, assistant principals, business administrators, athletic directors, coaches, and extracurricular sponsors. We also conducted four focus groups with staff from across the district: two with MCPS athletic directors (eleven athletic directors in total), one with seven MCPS principals, and one with nine MCPS high school students. Additionally, we spoke with key administrators from the MCPS central office, including Superintendent Smith, members of the District’s senior leadership team, the Chief Safety Officer, the Director of Systemwide Athletics, and representatives from the Office of School Support and Improvement. We also met on two occasions with the Montgomery County State’s Attorney and members of his Office to inform them of the scope of our review and our preliminary findings. We did not interview any victims from the DHS incident, any of the alleged perpetrators, or any of their families (though we did review documents related to the criminal prosecutions), and we otherwise strove to keep our review separate from the investigation by the State’s Attorney’s Office."..

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/report-hazing-does-not-appear-widespread-in-sampling-of-maryland-high-schools/2019/10/07/51040e7e-e8a9-11e9-85c0-85a098e47b37_story.html?fbclid=IwAR3-vD8lGPGusaIb2GMNiNGlqnLpVSoYlW6MjuAfhD4_xNCwfsIfNaVBTiY