MCPS delaying ESOL screening until kindergarten

When classes resume in the fall, MCPS pre-kindergarteners who are not native English speakers will no longer be screened to determine how much help they need to learn the language.

In an email to staff members on Tuesday night, MCPS Director of Elementary Curriculum Brenda Lewis wrote that “although we will no longer officially identify students for ESOL [English for Speakers of Other Languages] services in the early childhood programs, we know that there are multilingual learners in these classrooms.”..

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/mcps-delaying-esol-focus-until-kindergarten/

15,754 students participated in Athletics, only 376 were English for Speakers of Other Languages students

Question:  How many ESOL students participate in athletics?

MCPS Response:   For the 2018–2019 school year, 15,754 unique high school students participated in Montgomery County Public Schools athletics for at least one season (many participated in multiple seasons, as our rostered number is more than 22,000 students). Of the 15,754 students, 376 were English for Speakers of Other Languages students.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/boe/meetings/memorandum/191218%20ESOL%20Student%20Athletes%2011-12-19-05-C%20BD.pdf

...out of some 12 counselors at Blair, only one is Spanish-speaking...

...Across the country, suburbs like Montgomery County are going through a metamorphosis, shedding the cocoon of highly educated affluence for a new identity that is browner, poorer, and far more ethnically diverse: “It’s a whole new scenario,” Portela said, “with the same rules and procedures we had from 30 years ago when the county was mostly white.” An influx of English-language learners and refugee students is altering the look and feel of suburban schools—as school districts respond to the dramatic shift with mixed results, and against the backdrop of a rising anti-immigrant climate...

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/02/the-non-white-student-behind-the-white-picket-fence/518097/

Must Have 2.0 GPA and Write 3 Essays to Volunteer to Sort School Supplies #discrimination #exclusion #elitist

MCPS Drive for Supplies Corps Application 2015-2016

Application Due: Wednesday, June 3, at 4:00 PMOrientation: Monday, June 8, 6:00-8:00 PM, CESC auditorium
Set-Up: Wednesday, July 8, and Thursday, July 9, 10:00 AM-2:00 PM, Richard Montgomery cafeteria
Press Conference and Distribution: Monday, July 13, 12:00-5:00 PM, Richard Montgomery cafeteria
Clean-Up: Tuesday, July 14, 10:00 AM-3:00 PM, Richard Montgomery cafeteria

Name:

School:

Email:

Phone Number:

Current Grade:

• 11th
• 10th
• 9th
• 8th
• 7th
• 6th
• 5th

Why are you applying to be part of the Drive for Supplies Corps? (200 words or less)

What are three things students can do to improve the environment and encourage recycling? (200 words or less)

How would participating in the Drive for Supplies Corps help you develop your leadership skills? How will you take what you learn back to your school? (200 words or less)

I confirm that I am in compliance with MCPS Policy IQD: Academic Eligibility for Extracurricular Activities. This policy requires students involved in extracurricular activities to have and maintain a 2.0 GPA with no more than one E.

• Yes
• No

My first day in my ESOL class, my teacher sighed and said: “not another one”.

Public comment from a MCPS student to the Montgomery County Board of Education on March 10, 2015. 

   Nahum Velasquez - Testimony by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Floyd Starnes, the school’s principal: “But what the general public doesn’t know …

National Journal: Maryland County Is at the Intersection of Diversity, Culture, and Language

...In the MCPS system, Kemp Mill Elementary in Silver Spring is the only school that offers a dual-language program it. It is not part of the county’s ESOL division. Half of its students speak English, while the other half speak Spanish. Instruction is in both languages.
“A lot of people look at bilingual programs in general as being wonderful because they’re helping the student maintain their heritage language,” said Floyd Starnes, the school’s principal. “But what the general public doesn’t know … is that their English is better.”...

37% of Hispanic ESOL Students Graduate in 4 years

Montgomery's ESOL students making progress | Washington Examiner

...Helen Wang and Shahpar Modarresi, the report's authors and researchers for MCPS, recommended officials "provide more intensive English language instructional services to ESOL students in Grade 9, given that this grade level was least likely to meet the [testing] targets among all secondary grade levels."

...Among Montgomery County Public Schools students, 13 percent qualify for ESOL services, a number that has been rising as the county's population has become significantly more diverse. The majority of ESOL students speak Spanish as a first language.

The ESOL population has been a high priority for MCPS, as the students can come with challenges. Students with limited English proficiency are more likely to be chronically absent, missing 20 or more days of school, and to qualify for free or reduced lunch, the school system's indicator of poverty.

However, the gap is starkest when it comes to graduation rates. Systemwide, 86 percent of MCPS students graduate within four years, but that's the case for only 37 percent of Hispanic students with limited English proficiency. Given five years, still just 48 percent of these students throw their caps in the air.