1994: SLIPPING TOWARDS SEGREGATION Local Control and Eroding Desegregation in Montgomery County, Maryland from Harvard Project on School Desegregation

Segregation in Montgomery County Public Schools was discussed in a Harvard University 1994 Report of a study of how MCPS was dealing with problems of separate and unequal education for minority students.  

Susan Eaton and Elizabeth Crutcher, Harvard University

Slipping Towards Segregation: Local Control and Eroding Desegregation in Montgomery County, Maryland

1994

...“Segregation is a serious education issue. And the rapid growth of segregation for Latinos and African Americans In Montgomery County occurs both by race and poverty. This report shows that the share of African and American and Latino children in schools with relatively high levels of poverty was many times that of Whites and rapidly increasing in recent years as White exposure to proverty remained at relatively low levels. Since concentrated poverty is very strongly related to unequal achievement at the school level, this rapid growth of concentrated poverty conditions for minority students suggests growing inqeuality in educational experiences and the development of more schools suffering from the dual problems of racial and economic isolation. The county’s educational leaders are well aware of the link between concertrated poverty and education inequality but chose to attack it primarily through relatively small added resources for some the high poverty school rather than a plan to prevent the spread of such segregation.”..

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED374202.pdf

The BOE isn't Communicating with about 90%* of Montgomery County

Today, the Board of Education released a memorandum from Superintendent Joshua Starr's doctoral resident.

In the memorandum Starr's doctoral resident surveys Board of Education members.

One of the questions asked of Board members was to name populations that Board communication efforts are not reaching.

According to Board of Education members they aren't reaching about 90% of Montgomery County residents.

*90% is just our guess of the percentage of Montgomery County residents that are included in this extensive list.

Starr's Dinner Buddy Critiques Board of Education Members

Grafton Street Pub & Grill, Cambridge, Massachusetts

In the MCPS credit card receipts that we obtained for Superintendent Joshua Starr there were two meals in Boston with someone named Gislaine Ngounou. Why was Superintendent Starr paying for meals for this person? No one knew, until today.

Today, the Board of Education released a memorandum from Gislaine Ngounou.  In the memorandum Ms. Ngounou is listed as "Doctoral Resident to the Superintendent of Schools."  Did anyone know there was a doctoral resident in MCPS?  The MCPS website does not list such a position.

Here are the receipts for the meals that Superintendent Starr charged on his MCPS credit card that list Gislaine Ngounou as his dinner guest.

This credit card receipt is not accompanied by an itemized receipt to show what was purchased.  All we know is that $47.66 was charged to the MCPS Operating Budget for a meal at the Grafton Street Pub & Grill in Cambridge, Massachusetts on May 16, 2013.

On May 19, 2013, Superintendent Starr charged another meal with Gislaine Ngounou at the Boston Airport.

Starr Tweets He is Leaving Town an hour before Council Committee meeting on $21.8 Million Surplus

See video of Montgomery County Council Education Committee's hearing on the $21.8 million MCPS surplus at this link.  Superintendent Starr and the Board of Education were absent from this Council discussion.

$19K in Fees for 1 Conference: Starr and BOE Prefer BOSTON to Council Committee

Yesterday, we showed you the video of the County Council's Education Committee discussing the $21.8 million MCPS surplus.  Absent for the discussion were Superintendent Starr and BOE members.  Where were they?

Well, the Superintendent and additional unknown MCPS administrators, BOE members and union leaders were in Boston at an annual Harvard summer gab fest (aka conference) running up a hefty tab for taxpayers! And, why not? They have a $21.8 million surplus to spend as they like!

Superintendent Jerry Weast used to go to Harvard every summer and take along a group of administrators, BOE members and union leaders.  Remember the transcript we made public from the 2008 Harvard PELP presentation by MCPS administrator Frieda Lacey?   Who can forget "cream of the crap?" Superintendent Starr has continued the tradition.

What the public has never known is what these annual summer fun trips to Harvard cost taxpayers.  We still don't know the total cost, but now we know the cost of the registration for this one week program.

In 2011, the cost to taxpayers for MCPS administrators, union leaders and a BOE member to register for the one week Harvard summer gab fest was:

$19,800*

*That amount does not include transportation to the airport, airplane tickets, hotels, meals or entertainment for the MCPS entourage. But, no worries! What good is a surplus if you can't live it up a little!

Here's the MCPS 2011 payment to Harvard for the Public Education Leadership Project conference. Scroll through the document to see who went to Boston in 2011.

  2011 Harvard Public Education Leadership project by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

UnitedHealth Group to Advise Board of Ed. on Core Values

Question:  How many consultants does it take to advise our Board of Education how to do their job?


At today's Board of Education meeting the main Agenda Item of the meeting will be to hear from a representative from UnitedHealth Group about their Core Values.  


Hasn't the Board of Education already had this discussion with other consultants at their off-camera Panasonic run retreats, and at the Harvard Public Education Leadership Project they attend in Boston every summer?

What Harvard Omitted from their Highland Elem. Case Study

9 months after Highland Elementary School in Silver Spring was awarded the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) Blue Ribbon Award in December of 2008, the ink was dry on a Harvard Public Education Leadership Project Case Study on the school by Stacey Childress* and Andrew Goldin.


The Harvard Case Study was cited recently in the AJC article on Highland Elementary.  


However, the Harvard Case Study neglected to include some important data and information in their Case Study of the school. One of the authors of the Harvard Case Study also neglected to mention her personal involvement with the reading evaluation products used at Highland Elementary School (mClass and DIBELS are products of a company called Wireless Generation). 


Here's what should be added to the timeline in the Harvard Case Study: enrollment data and the relationship of one of the authors to the product used a Highland Elementary. 

• August 2004:  Highland Elementary School students in School Community Based (SCB) program are permanently moved to Glen Haven Elementary School (Source: FY2005 MCPS Master Plan, p. 4-32)

• August 2007:  Highland Elementary School is redistricted and 153 students from the northern part of the Highland district are moved to the re-opened Arcola Elementary School

• October 1, 2008 Stacey Childress joins Wireless Generation Board of Directors

• December 18, 2008:  Highland Elementary announced as MSDE Blue Ribbon winner (Maryland award)

• March 17, 2009:  Highland Elementary receives Urban Education Award

• September 10, 2009:  Harvard PELP Case Study released (authors Childress and Goldin)

• September 15, 2009: Highland Elementary named National Blue Ribbon School

*Note Ms. Childress wrote a separate Case Study on the relationship between MCPS and Wireless Generation and the $500,000 investment in the company that MCPS made.  That Case Study is no longer public on the Harvard PELP site and MCPS has not made that Case Study public. 


------------------------------------------

UPDATE from Bob Astrove:  That only tells a small piece of the enrollment picture. The enrollment at the school dropped by over 300 students from 2002 (788 students) to 461 today (456 in 2009 when they won the award).
Enrollment dropped by 100 students from 2004 to 2006, and by another 150 or so from 2007 to 2008. Your comments only reference the second transfer out of students.
Overall enrollment was reduced by 40%.
Gee, you'd think that would be a big deal in the Harvard Case Study. But it wasn't. Too many people trying to pat themselves on the back and therefore overlooked the single number that moved the most - reducing the number of students.
In my mind that pretty much trashes the credibility of the entire case study. I guess sometimes even Harvard can screw up?...
Bob Astrove  

To Weast & Board: "Why isn't something being done about bridging achievement gap amongst our kids?"

At the April 21, 2011, Town Hall Meeting at the Coffield Community Center in the Lyttonsville neighborhood of Silver Spring, Maryland, Mr. Frank Petersen made the following statement.



 Silver Spring, Maryland is in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Your child's data in a national database

Anyone seen the cutting edge analysis from Superintendent Jerry Weast of your child's testing data? The robust metrics? Of course not. We are just the public and we pay for all this "data" and "robust metrics" based on the tests our children take. But we don't get to actually see it.

Here's one more national press release touting the "data-driven" MCPS Superintendent Jerry Weast, and using MCPS to endorse one more product. 

Forbes.com

Press Release

National Student Clearinghouse(R) Partners with American Association of School Administrators...

08.09.10, 10:37 AM EDT 
 

..."One example is Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, where Dr. Jerry Weast, the district superintendent, has developed a data-driven approach to measuring K-12 performance anchored by Clearinghouse data," continued Torres. "The district combined its own information with StudentTracker data to determine how likely their Advanced Placement (AP) students were to enroll in, persist in, and complete college. MCPS is just one of the many school systems that have leveraged Clearinghouse data to develop cutting-edge analyses of their curriculum as well as robust K-12 performance metrics."...

What Weast Wants for California

QUESTIONS:

1. This presentation, in California, is dated June 22, 2010. That same date was a Board of Education Worksession on Educational Facilities. Why was Weast in California instead of Rockville at a scheduled Board of Education worksession?

2. This presentation, in California, is described as Weast speaking on California's Race to the Top application. Did I miss something here? When exactly did Jerry Weast jump with both feet into the "Race to the Top" pool here in Maryland? Now money that isn't worth it for Montgomery County is good enough for California?

3. Two Words: Travel Freeze.

4. Anyone ever heard of Skype?

UPDATE: It appears that Jerry Weast did TWO presentations in California on two different days: one, the subject of the video, was for the "Bay Area Council." The second presentation was for an association of California school admininstrators on "Leading for Equity."

Harvard gives Maryland a D+

When Maryland is ranked high, MCPS is the largest school system in the State. What is MCPS' position on this ranking?

Read the article:
State Standards Rising in Reading but Not in Math : Education Next

and see the actual NAEP data:

Maryland State Profile on NAEP tests.

"Dr." Superintendent or "Mr." Superintendent?

Here is an article about a candidate for a superintendent job in Newton, Massachusetts. Interesting to see what he says about the use of the title "Dr." for a school superintendent.

Educator David Fleishman: 'I'm a pragmatist' - Newton - Your Town - Boston.com

David Fleishman has a postgraduate degree from Harvard and a doctorate of education from Teachers College at Columbia University. But don’t call him ‘Doctor.’

‘‘That’s one thing I don’t like,’’ he said while speaking to the School Committee during Thursday’s round of meetings, classroom visits, and public forums. ‘‘It distances me from you, and that’s what I try to avoid.’’

Closing the Achievement Gap: Part III

Closing the Achievement Gap: Part III

Jerry Weast on a VoiceAmerica radio show, February 19, 2010

Flypaper: Who likes Jerry Weast the least?

August 2009

Who likes Jerry Weast the least?

I’m starting to think we should have a reader contest by that name. Last week I printed a letter from Joe Hawkins, a former Montgomery County official, explaining the underbelly of Weast’s tenure. Here’s another (thoughtful) critique, this time from Julie Greenberg, a former Montgomery County math teacher who now serves as Senior Policy Director at the National Council on Teacher Quality:

...continues here.

Reflection based on "Leading for Equity"

Harvard Education Press has published a book titled "Leading for Equity" about MCPS by three authors, two from the Harvard Business School. What is not disclosed in the author summaries is that one of the authors, Stacey Childress, is also on the Board of Directors of a company that MCPS has invested in, Wireless Generation.

Below is one parent's review of the book "Leading for Equity".

DefiningDifferentiationDowninMCPS

Harvard needs to address credibility issues

A timely report in the DC Examiner, brought to the attention of our readers by Lyda, gives credibility to the questions raised about Harvard's book (see here and here).

According to the Examiner, Weast acknowledged that "the graduation rates of black and Hispanic students, which have decreased at faster rates than their white and Asian peers." This debacle was, as first reported on PCMC, predictable.

Far more troubling is Weast's statement that ""… we continue to lose students … ." How much of that is attributable to the strategies and interventions specifically described in the Harvard book?

With a tip of my hat to a fellow PCMC member who brought this piece to my attention, I note the Harvard Gazette of October 15-28, 2009, contains this statement from the authors: "In writing the book, recalled Thomas, "Weast made us an offer that was hard to refuse": providing the authors 'full access to the schools' data and materials.'" The book makes scant reference to the said "data." Indeed, last afternoon, via an email the school continued to stonewall a request for the data that Weast, allegedly, so willingly offered Harvard.

Isn't it time for Harvard to address the credibility issues and get to the bottom of this fiasco? PCMC, proactively, provided a blueprint of what needs to be done.

Harvard, the ball is in your court.

Sharon W. Cox: AASA Executive Consultant

Former Montgomery County Board of Education Member Sharon W. Cox is highlighted as a consultant with the American Association of School Administrators "Executive Consultant" program.

Thanks to the biography provided by AASA, we now know that Ms. Cox was the only Board of Education member who attended the Harvard Public Education Leadership Project for four years, at the Superintendent's request. (See Frieda Lacey's Testimonial about PELP HERE).
Ms. Cox's areas of expertise are listed as Board/Superintendent/Community Relations, Managing Change, Planning/Facilitating Board Retreats, and Systems Thinking.

Just a few questions:

1. Did MCPS pay the airfare, hotel, and tuition for Ms. Cox to attend Harvard's PELP all four years?

2. Is Ms. Cox using the "Secondary Learning Centers Closings" as an example of what not to do with regard to Community Relations?

3. Does "Facilitating Board Retreats" include making minutes of Board retreats available for the public to review?

Fixing Harvard’s Gaffes

According to the MCPS gifted and talented screening data, in 2006-2007, schools identified a minimum of 16.7% of their second graders as "gifted and talented." While the exact formula by which a student is "identified" remains undisclosed, the data in the report shows that the number identified can go as high as 86.5%. About 86 schools identified 50% or more of their second graders as GT (out of about 115 schools for which GT identification figures were released).
Marty Creel, Director, DEIP, who leads the MCPS GT program, is quoted as saying, "We're not identifying these kids as geniuses, but as ready to work above grade level," adding "the county has made remarkable progress in getting students to that mark."
Taking Mr. Creel's pronouncement for granted, we must accept that the system is claiming that ~75% of their schools have 50% or more second graders "ready to work above grade level." Obviously, the grade level curriculum is not sufficiently rigorous, at least for our second graders.
Childress, et al., on page 134, of Leading for Equity, claim "Effective differentiation of instruction requires diagnosing student needs, developing potential solutions, putting them into practice, and reflecting on their effectiveness. This is a professional endeavor, not a technical task. The strategy of differentiation respects and elevates teachers' roles as critical to the learning of all of their students."
Before we begin to elevate "differentiation" as an effective teaching practice, shouldn't a competent "diagnosis" of "student needs," have led the charge for a recalibration of the curriculum? Childress et al., continue in the same paragraph, "As we saw in several instances earlier in the book, principals used a variety of tactics to accelerate the learning of African American and Hispanic students, including abolishing on-grade-level courses and putting data in students' hands." Isn't the data pointing to the reality that "on-grade-level" courses at all schools are failing to meet the academic needs of our students?
As, for "putting data in students' hands," how does that happen?
Childress, et al., insist that "In the end, the strategy in MCPS was based on the assumption that every single child is capable of meeting rigorous standards, but each child starts from a different place." If true, why doesn't the book advocate for tougher standards?
Since "every single child is capable of meeting rigorous standards," and most of our second graders are capable of performing "above grade level," the failure to provide a curriculum recalibrated to student abilities is a serious problem.
Harvard, if it has a genuine desire to promote leadership and excellence in public education, needs to establish an independent, peer-reviewed means of assessing the progress of participants in its PELP program.
Harvard needs to retain an independent accounting firm, with no ties to Montgomery County, to perform an audit of school expenditures before claiming "Money has been important to the success in Montgomery County, and it is true that the district is well resourced. But according to the National Center for Education Statistics, at $12,000 per student in 2005, MCPS was in the same range as many other large East Coast districts with similar cost structures, such as Washington, D.C. ($13,000), and New York City ($13,500), and much lower than Boston ($16,000) and Newark, New Jersey ($20,000). These urban districts have much higher percentages of minority and low-income students than Montgomery County overall but are very similar to some of the schools we saw in the Red Zone." Incidentally, the numbers are for 2005 and recent figures are available. The comparison fails to state how the expenditures in other school systems were distributed. For example, do the other school systems support a multi-million dollar PR division? How much do the other systems pay their administrators?
Harvard also needs to undertake an independent assessment of MCPS performance data before claiming any success or failure on the part of our school system.
Any bona fide academic institution is aware that research papers must undergo a stringent per-review process before being accepted for publication in respected scholarly journals. The process often results in several revisions and re-revisions of the paper. The Harvard PELP needs to embrace that paradigm before making any claims about any school system participating in the project. Absent such a process, Harvard's PELP is simply a part of the school system's PR machine, albeit with a mightier printing press.

Did Harvard flub the analysis of Montgomery County Public School performance?

The Montgomery County Public School System has devoted an entire webpage to promoting a Harvard publication titled "Leading for Equity: The Pursuit of Excellence in Montgomery County Public Schools." The school system generously provides "case studies," upon which Harvard based the surprisingly thin book. According to MCPS, "… Harvard University faculty and researchers have produced several case studies over the last four years that provide detailed insights about the MCPS reform journey."
The disclaimer, on the "case studies" (see here, here, and here) clearly indicates that they are "… not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management."
The fundamental flaw in the "case studies" the failure to cite a single benchmark established before the changes were made by Dr. Weast, against which progress can be compared. This omission can easily be excused given their intended purpose—"class discussion."
However, this disclaimer didn't prevent the authors of Leading for Equity from basing a book primarily on documents that their own colleagues asserted were "… not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data," etc.
If you expected a well-written piece of academic scholarship, you will be disappointed. Throwing caution to the wind, the authors invite the reader to become an ardent activist for better writing skills, with sentences that begin with "And" (page 9, final paragraph), etc.
If the writing left something to be desired, so does the basic premise of the book, through its reliance on sources that were categorically NOT intended to serve as primary data.
One of the Harvard class discussion papers, dated February 9, 2006, posted on the MCPS website (the first of the "case studies" links), contains this paragraph:



How are "Jerry's Kids," now eighth-graders, doing today? Take a look for yourself.
To borrow a turn of phrase from Harvard, "the gap appears to be narrowing," and "Jerry's Kids posted the highest ever results on the" 2009 "Maryland School Assessment in Reading." How about neighboring Howard County, and their equivalent of "Jerry's Kids?"

The conclusion that "the gap appears to be narrowing," and the equivalent of "Jerry's Kids posted the highest ever results on the" 2009 "Maryland School Assessment in Reading," may be equally apropos for the HCPSS. Statewide, the trend is no different. A rigorous analysis is needed to draw definitive conclusions.
The book does give a glimpse of the future which includes (Page 90, paragraph 2), "The district is in talks with Lockheed Martin's Simulation, Training and Support group to create a prototype of a potentially breakthrough approach to teacher training. ... Brian Edwards, the superintendent's chief-of-staff is managing discussions about the development of a new approach to algebra professional development that builds on STS's sophisticated simulation and gaming technology, used by the military and commercial sectors to prepare people for complex and often high-risk professional tasks.  The project is in the very early stages, but the general idea is that teachers could practice proven instructional techniques for core algebra skills in a virtual classroom environment that would include students with a variety of learning needs."  It continues on and states 'the talks are ongoing.'" Of the 2.2 BILLION dollars projected for 2010, I guess a sizeable chunk will go to Lockheed for a video game for teachers to learn deal with "high-risk professional tasks" such as teaching our children unarmed combat ALGEBRA!!
Did "differentiated treatment in Montgomery Public Schools" make a difference? The only honest conclusion anyone can reach is that the jury is still out.
Did Ms. Childress provide an unbiased, well-researched, well-written book about MCPS? Hardly. "Stacey Childress is a Lecturer in the General Management unit at Harvard Business School, and a co-founder of the Public Education Leadership Project at Harvard University. Childress studies entrepreneurial activity in public education in the United States," states the Wireless Generation website, which lists Ms. Childress as serving on its Board of Directors.

"Additionally, Wireless Generation has partnered with leading educational publishers to integrate their material into several of the company's assessment products. Fifteen of the leading educational publishers have partnered with Wireless Generation to offer electronic text of their leveled readers, mCLASS:Reading 3D, which allow teachers to perform Foundational Skill assessments along with Reading Records on the handheld device," proclaims another web page, listing MCPS as one of its fifteen "leading educational publishers." Page 99, paragraph 2, discloses that mClass was a "joint venture" between Wireless Generation and MCPS.
Does Harvard Business School have a vested interest in touting MCPS as an unsubstantiated success? The first twelve-pages assert what you probably know: Weast and his administrators are a product of the Public Education Leadership Project, founded by Ms. Childress.
Did MCPS reforms work? Harvard needs to produce more than classroom notes to answer the question. Harvard needs to produce the data and the peer reviewed analysis to make any bona fide conclusions. The book is surprisingly devoid of data.
For a dose of reality, take a look here
at how MCPS actually spent more than a billion dollars in 2007. How did it compare with other school systems in the state? Take a look at the table here.
We need to have a reasonable, honest, rational, civilized, data-driven discussion on making sure that our children get a "world-class education" with a rigorous curriculum, which will prepare them for their future. To do so, all the participants must come out into the sterilizing sunshine of the open air. Harvard: the invitation extends to you folks as well.

Weast Webinar: Tuesday at 2:00 p.m.

September 15, 2009, 2:00 pm

What District Restructuring for Equity Looks Like in Practice: The Montgomery County Case Study

Moderator: Gail Sunderman, MAEC
Presenter: Jerry D. Weast, Superintendent, Montgomery County Public Schools

Read more about it HERE.

To Register: Go to http://ceee.gwu.na4.acrobat.com/f68468273/

Contact: Alex Payne - maec@ceee.gwu.edu 703.528.3588