"we filed public record requests for more specific data regarding MCPS grades and sent emails to multiple college counselors requesting an interview about the subject; however, all of these requests did not receive a reply."

Grade A Scandal: MCPS grading policies raise concerns

MCPS has recently come under fire for allegedly inflating the grades of its students by altering the semester grading policy in 2015. The altered policy reversed the former downward trend grade calculation with a quality point mathematical grade calculation, and the number of As and Bs students have received in the ensuing school years has risen exponentially. Whether or not the rise in higher semester grades is an unintended consequence or a deliberate goal of the altered grading system is the mystery this investigation sought to solve.   The Washington Post recently investigated this issue, concluding that MCPS is guilty of grade inflation and urging action to be taken.

Over the course of the past six months, we have looked into numerous sources of information, with our most prominent source being interviews around the local community. We have conducted a total of 42 interviews, many of which feature students, teachers and even school board members. We also looked through online data of MCPS grade trends, MCPS standardized testing score and RM’s school profile for college admissions. Since the issue of grade inflation has also recently come into the spotlight in the news media, we were able to obtain more information from both local and national news outlets. Additionally, we filed public record requests for more specific data regarding MCPS grades and sent emails to multiple college counselors requesting an interview about the subject; however, all of these requests did not receive a reply. 

https://thermtide.com/7972/news/grade-a-scandal-mcps-grading-policies-raise-concerns/

'A' Is For 'Average' : Is Grade Inflation A Problem In Montgomery County?

Montgomery County high schools are looking at a sudden spike in GPA's. Are they going too easy on their students?

Thousands more A’s fill report cards in suburban Md. school system

Thousands of additional students in Montgomery County are getting A’s in key high school classes, an apparent case of grade inflation in Maryland’s largest school system that follows major changes in how students are evaluated.

New data show the percentage of A’s across core math courses nearly doubled from the first semester of 2014-2015 to last school year, rising from 16 percent to almost 32 percent. B’s rose more modestly while C’s, D’s and E’s dipped.

Similarly, more students got A’s in English, science and Advanced Placement courses, in a profusion of high marks that is stirring concerns that students and parents may be getting a false sense of proficiency. Some educators and parents place blame on that significant policy shift two years ago...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/thousands-more-as-fill-report-cards-in-suburban-md-school-system/2018/09/22/9ddcc686-bce1-11e8-b7d2-0773aa1e33da_story.html?utm_term=.5f27d696d06e

Court of Appeals: State whistleblower law does not apply to public school teachers. Brian Donlon, a social studies teacher at Richard Montgomery High School. Donlon alleged that, after he told media outlets in 2012 he discovered the Rockville school was inflating its Advanced Placement statistics, his superiors assigned him to teach courses he did not feel qualified to teach and made him a floating teacher who had to travel from classroom to classroom...

Maryland public school teachers are not protected by the state’s Whistleblower Protection Law because their employer is the county education board and not the state, the Court of Appeals held Thursday.

The decision affirms the Court of Special Appeals dismissal of a lawsuit brought by Brian Donlon, a social studies teacher at Richard Montgomery High School. Donlon alleged that, after he told media outlets in 2012 he discovered the Rockville school was inflating its Advanced Placement statistics, his superiors assigned him to teach courses he did not feel qualified to teach and made him a floating teacher who had to travel from classroom to classroom, according to the Court of Appeals opinion.

Donlon brought his whistleblower complaint to the state Department of Budget and Management in December 2014 but the agency ultimately dismissed the complaint after determining Donlon lacked jurisdiction because he was not a state employee.

On an administrative appeal, however, a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge ruled Donlon was a state employee and therefore protected by the whistleblower law.

The Court of Appeals on Thursday described county boards of education as a “hybrid” entity that possesses characteristics of both state and local branches. But Judge Glenn T. Harrell Jr., writing for the unanimous court, noted the county boards have “exclusive responsibilities over personnel matters.”

Eric C. Brousaides, a lawyer for Montgomery County Public Schools, praised the court’s conclusion.

“It is not inconsistent for a school system to argue that the (Board of Education) is a state agency for some purposes, like 11th Amendment immunity, and a county agency for other purposes,” said Brousaides of Carney, Kelehan, Bresler, Bennett & Scherr LLP in Columbia.

But the “sharpest blade cutting against Donlon’s claim” was the Public School Employee Whistleblower Protection Act, which went into effect in October, according to Harrell, a senior judge sitting by special assignment. The new statute excludes state employees from its definition of “public school employee,” he wrote. If the court held county school boards were state agents, he added, then county school boards would not be protected under the new statute.

“We do not believe the two statutes can be read harmoniously,” Harrell wrote. “To accept Donlon’s urging would render nugatory portions of the PSEWPA.”

Donlon’s attorney referred to the length of Harrell’s decision to show the complexity of how the state whistleblower law was applied.

“It seems a 44-page and scholarly opinion from the Court of Appeals was necessary to explain how Brian Donlon was not clearly covered by the Whistleblower Law as a public school teacher, and to allow the Montgomery County School Board the ability to take inconsistent positions in court about whether it is or is not a state agency,” said Adam Augustine Carter, principal at The Employment Law Group in Washington, in an emailed statement...

https://thedailyrecord.com/2018/07/12/court-of-appeals-whistleblower-public-school-teacher/