Growth & Justice Case Study Brief Montgomery County School District’s Targeted Approach Raises the Bar and Reduces the Gap By Matt Kane & Amelia Cruver July 2011 Success in the suburban school district of Maryland’s A Call to Action Montgomery County demonstrates how a sustained and multi-faceted effort to both raise the academic bar and Under leadership from Superintendent Jerry Weast, close gaps in learning can significantly boost academic MCPS in 1999 issued a formal call to action on school re- performance by students of color and increase it for form, highlighting the disparities that plagued the school white students as well. system and identifying the district’s red zone where schools and students struggled. This large school district Tapping into talent at all levels, Montgomery County – one of the 20 largest in the country – had previously Public Schools (MCPS) has downplayed distinctions by race and ethnicity, with the school board approving an improvement plan in the early • emphasized equality in educational outcomes 1990s only after language about gaps between groups instead of inputs was softened. At the time that “Our Call to Action” was • set high expectations issued in 1999, MCPS was considered a top school district despite challenges, in part because of high-quality • measured and monitored progress education and high achievement scores for students in the • invested in teachers middle- and upper-income areas of the county. • set higher education as the goal and Percentage of Montgomery County 3rd Graders mapped out benchmarks from early Scoring at Proficient or Advanced for Math on childhood onward for the path to col- the Maryland School Assessment lege readiness. African American Latino Asian American White 100% 95 95 96 The school district identified a “red zone” 93 94 95 95% 91 where academic achievement lagged and 89 94 94 95 where both students of color and low- 90% 92 93 93 89 income students are concentrated. District 85% 88 79 80 leaders built broad support for action to 80% 77 73 73 74 79 concentrate more resources on red zone 75% 77 students and schools. 70% 65 71 70 69 65% 67 The impressive and measurable impacts 57 64 of the reforms have prompted national 60% attention and several prestigious awards 55% 56 50% for MCPS. 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Source: Montgomery County Public Schools, The Results Book 2011. Growth & Justice School District’s Targeted Approach Raises the Bar and Reduces the Gap • 1 Growth & Justice Case Study Brief The call to action and its emphasis on disparities within Setting College as the Goal and Mapping the district set the stage for reforms and progress over Backward the next 10 years. Change did not come quickly or easily, and it involved many different elements. But the key fac- tors for MCPS’s success include those examined below. The Montgomery County school district set a goal that all students finish high school ready for college and well-paid careers. This goal allowed MCPS to map Aiming for Equal Outcomes Instead of backward – all the way to early childhood programs Equal Inputs and interventions – and identify key skills that students must master in order to be college-ready by the end of 12th grade. The focus on college readiness provides all Disparities in educational achievement led district students with the chance to pursue a college education, leadership to focus on equality in outcomes for stu- and it prepares those who won’t attend college for a dents instead of equal inputs. MCPS has allocated more world of careers that now demand higher skills, critical district funds and other resources for students who face thinking, and often post-secondary training for jobs with significant obstacles to learning, including poverty and good pay. Workers with college degrees or other post- high rates of relocation from school to school. And secondary training earn significantly more than those while MCPS has raised the bar for academic achieve- with only high school diplomas. ment, teachers and schools are expected to adopt varied instructional approaches to best educate their students. With college readiness as its stake in the ground, MCPS established benchmarks from early childhood through MCPS set common, district-wide standards more rigor- high school graduation that form a path to college suc- ous than the State of Maryland’s, it assumed that every cess. Dubbed a “value chain approach” by Harvard Uni- child can meet rigorous standards, and it acknowledged versity, this backward mapping by MCPS set up a string that different levels of resources and different teaching of educational activities, all aimed at adding value to strategies are needed because children start from differ- meet the end goal. Building on its own 2004 indicators, ent points along the learning spectrum. the district now uses Seven Keys to College Readiness to push achievement levels more ambitious than those The district made a very strong push to win broad set by the State of Maryland. The keys to college readi- support throughout Montgomery County for increas- ness call for students district-wide to: ing resources to red zone schools. Some parents in the district’s green zone – where students generally score • read at advanced levels in kindergarten through high marks for achievement – worried that increased re- 2nd grade sources for the red zone would short-change their kids. District leaders argued that the community could no • score “advanced” in reading on the Maryland longer ignore the poor education provided to so many School Assessment in grades 3 to 8 of MCPS’ students of color and low-income students. • complete advanced math in grade 5 But district leaders also coupled the shift in resources • complete algebra with a C grade or higher by 8th for red zone schools with a district-wide move to higher grade academic standards, providing assurance to parents in the green zone that MCPS would aim to increase • complete algebra 2 with a C grade or higher by achievement for all students. District officials also noted 11th grade that improvements at the district’s struggling schools • score 3 on an Advanced Placement (AP) exam or would lead to increased property values for homeowners 4 on an International Baccalaureate exam throughout the county. • score 1650 on the SAT college entrance exam or 24 on the ACT. Growth & Justice School District’s Targeted Approach Raises the Bar and Reduces the Gap • 2 Growth & Justice Case Study Brief Measuring and Monitoring Progress possible reasons why. All four schools drive educational behaviors in line with the belief that every child can To use benchmarks effectively, MCPS needs to measure take on challenging subject matter and master high-level student progress. In 2005, shortly after MCPS estab- skills. The importance of high expectations – coupled lished seven indicators for a Pathway to Success plan, with concerns that too few high school students of district leaders concluded that systematic data collec- color were taking AP tests and the preparatory PSAT tion and analysis was the most important next step to test for college entrance – led to new MCPS initiatives. drive improvement in the schools. Interestingly, MCPS The district instituted training to help teachers work officials tapped as a with kids from model the CompStat Percentage of Montgomery County 8th Graders other cultures; program used by the Scoring at Proficient or Advanced for Reading added formalized, New York City Police school-based cross- Department to reduce on the Maryland School Assessment cultural discussion crime, with the circles for teach- African American Latino Asian American White district building its ers, parents and own M-Stat program 100% 94 95 95 students; engaged 95% 91 for measuring and 89 95 in better analysis 86 88 88 93 94 analyzing educational 90% of racial and ethnic 85% 87 80 80 issues flagged by progress. 84 84 80% 83 assessment data; 75% 78 72 78 M-Stat provides 76 and set up forums 70% and protocols to ongoing, data-based 65% 62 68 evidence of student 60% 58 help school teams 53 55 progress on key tar- 55% 51 59 better determine if the behaviors and gets tied to the seven 50% 53 52 pathway indica- 45% 48 49 beliefs of adults tors. Educators use 40% in the schools are 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 the data to analyze creating institu- results and trends and Source: Montgomery County Public Schools, The Results Book 2011. tional barriers for continuously improve students of color. educational outcomes. The data offer a measure of ac- countability for teachers, the schools and the district, Investing in Teachers and more importantly, M-Stat allows MCPS staff at all levels to monitor progress and identify needed changes. Because teacher quality drives student success, MCPS reorganized its teacher development efforts. The district High Expectations for All Students has put in place a comprehensive system of training, mentoring and standards-based evaluation in order to Despite MCPS’ emphasis on disparities in the district’s match the district’s demanding expectations with high 1999 call to action, it was some years later when dis- levels of support for teachers and administrators. Super- trict officials engaged in a concerted and explicit effort intendent Weast tripled the district’s budget for training to tackle the challenges of race and ethnicity. The dis- and development. MCPS aims for training that spurs trict had narrowed the gaps between African American real results for students, focusing on cooperative action and Latino students and their white counterparts, but by school staff to deliver rigorous instruction in varied large gaps remained. And while the rhetoric in schools ways that can meet the needs of different students.