Board of Education Meeting: January 11, 2011

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Full Agenda (PDF)

Approval of the Agenda;African American History Month

African American History Month: The Board approved a resolution recognizing February as African American History Month and noting how great African Americans have enriched our society.

African Americans still face significant challenges to be assured equal access to quality education, and continue to battle institutional racism. The resolution noted that in 2010, 78.5 percent of third grade African American students in MCPS earned a Proficient or Advanced score on the Maryland School Assessment in mathematics in 2010, a 22.7 increase since 2001; and that 44.2 percent of eligible African American students participated in AP courses, nearly twice the national average.

The resolution encouraged staff, students, parents, and community to enhance the awareness of the impact that attitudes and expectations have on the achievement of African American students

">Read the resolution (PDF)

Public Comments

Update on the Superintendent Search

Board of Education president Christopher Barclay provided an update on the search for a new superintendent of schools. In August, Superintendent Jerry D. Weast announced he would retire on June 30 after 12 years as superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). Mr. Barclay said the executive search firm hired to assist the Board with the search will hold six public input forums on January 31, February 1 and February 2. The firm, Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, will hold the sessions at locations throughout the county

Get times and dates for public forums

Board/Superintendent Comments

School Safety and Security Report

The Board received a presentationand discussed the third edition of the MCPS "School Safety and Security at a Glance" report, which was provided to Board members and the Montgomery County Council in December. The publication summarizes data from the 2009–2010 school year for each individual school on suspensions, serious incidents, Code Red and Code Blue drills, school climate, and local school safety and security program descriptions.

For example, out-of-school suspension rates dropped from 5.2 percent of all students in Fiscal Year 2009 to 2.9 percent in FY 2010. This included a drop in African American student suspensions from 13.3 percent in 2009 to 7.9 percent in 2010, and a drop for Hispanic students from 6.6 percent to 3.8 percent over the same time period. Data from the report are used by community superintendents to monitor and implement improvements to school climates, in consultation with the principals.

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Consent Items

Human Resources

The Board approved the following administrative appointment:

• Brian A. Mullikin, currently environmental safety specialist, Division of Maintenance, as team leader, Environmental Safety, Division of Maintenance

Monthly Financial Report

Preliminary Plans

The Board approved preliminary plans for three addition projects at North Chevy Chase Elementary School (gymnasium), Bradley Hills Elementary School, and Wyngate Elementary School.

Adolescent Literacy: Building on Early Success (Goals 1 and 2)

The Board conducted a wide-ranging conversation on adolescent literacy, which included anin-depth presentation by MCPS staff.

Throughout the nation, a consensus exists among educators and employers that fewer secondary students are acquiring the literacy skills that academic and career pursuits demand. Nationally-developed Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English language arts, which promote an integrated approach to literacy, were adopted by the Maryland State Board of Education in June 2010, with the plan to revise the state curriculum by June 2011.

The standards introduce a new emphasis at the state level on writing and an expectation that reading and writing be integrated into all content areas. MCPS is already implementing many initiatives to address adolescent literacy, including aligning MCPS curriculum resources with the CCSS and providing curriculum and instructional resources that emphasize literacy and critical thinking in all content areas.

Further work needs to be done: secondary teacher preparation programs currently place low emphasis on literacy instruction in content areas; and current local policies provide limited expectations regarding secondary literacy instruction, reading benchmarks are not set beyond Grade 8, and additional reading intervention programs for high school students are needed, among other things. Next steps under consideration for MCPS include a comprehensive study of adolescent literacy teaching and learning, with a critical review of existing student performance data, followed by dissemination of effective practices in MCPS.

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