DISCUSSION
7.0
Office of the Superintendent of Schools
MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Rockville, Maryland
December 11, 2012
MEMORANDUM
To:
Members of the Board of Education
From:
Joshua P. Starr, Superintendent of Schools
Subject:
Seven Keys to College and Career Readiness Data Update/Discussion of Annual
Report
Background
Each year, the Montgomery County Board of Education (Board) reviews the school district’s
progress on important data points. These data points support the five goals of Our Call to
Action: Pursuit of Excellence, the current strategic plan for Montgomery County Public Schools
(MCPS). The Annual Report on the strategic plan is published yearly and provides a panoramic
view of system progress. The report reflects the efforts of every MCPS staff member.
Our Call to Action: Pursuit of Excellence’s five goals—Ensure Success for Every Student,
Provide an Effective Instructional Program, Strengthen Productive Partnerships for Education,
Create a Positive Work Environment in a Self-renewing Organization, and Provide High-quality
Business Services that are Essential to the Educational Success of Students—have guided the
work of MCPS by providing a framework for monitoring the effectiveness of both academic and
operational reforms. Review of the milestones and data points identifies both reason for
celebration and opportunities for continued improvement.
This year’s Annual Report is a retrospective review of progress on the strategic plan approved by
the Board in June 2011. The Seven Keys to College and Career Readiness (Seven Keys) 2012
data points, which represent the focus of much of the system’s efforts during the past few years,
are highlighted in the document. Work currently is underway to renovate the strategic plan. By
the end of 2013, the MCPS strategic plan will reflect changes in new accountability measures,
the rollout of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and the revised core values and
strategic direction from the Board.
It is important to note that while we are seeing progress on many measures in the report and in
the Seven Keys data, we continue to have persistent gaps in numerous areas that require our
focused attention. As we move forward with our strategic planning work, we will work toward
eliminating them so that every student truly leaves us college and career ready.
Members of the Board of Education
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December 11, 2012
Structure of the Annual Report
Goal 1: Ensure Success for Every Student. The achievement of individual and groups of
students is the focus of the first goal. Current systemwide efforts are focused on providing
increased support to schools by developing and implementing a comprehensive school support
and improvement framework.
Goal 2: Provide an Effective Instructional Program. Goal 2 addresses the programmatic
aspects of our school system. Performance in this area is enhanced by standards-based
curriculum and assessments, strategies that support the delivery of services for students with
disabilities, and access to a continuum of accelerated and enriched instruction for highly able
students. The rollout of Curriculum 2.0 and the CCSS implementation will provide direction for
this goal in the future.
Goal 3: Strengthen Productive Partnerships for Education. Goal 3 focuses on strengthening
family-school partnerships and supporting parents as full partners and effective advocates in their
child’s education. With the new MCPS organization, the new position of chief engagement and
partnership officer, and the strategic priority focusing on community engagement, there is likely
to be significant rethinking about which data points to include for the Annual Report.
Goal 4: Create a Positive Work Environment in a Self-renewing Organization. Building the
capacity of staff to work efficiently and effectively to achieve results is still at the core of our
work. Critical work in these areas includes efforts to build the knowledge and skills of all staff
through high-quality professional development. The reorganization of the central office and the
new Office of Professional Development and School Support underscores the importance of
continuous improvement and a high-quality workforce.
Goal 5: Provide High-quality Business Services that Are Essential to the Educational Success of
Students. MCPS values and has been recognized for its high-quality business services that are
essential to the educational success of our students.
Seven Keys to College and Career Readiness
In 2008, MCPS identified a pathway—
Seven Keys—that would help prepare
students for college or the 21st century
workplace beginning in elementary
school. Attainment of these researchbased benchmarks increases the
likelihood of students equipped to
engage in college-level work. The
Seven Keys also are predicated upon
national research that consistently
indicates that the rigor of a student’s
high school curriculum is one of the
prime factors in predicting whether a
college freshman will go on to
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December 11, 2012
complete a bachelor’s degree. The Seven Keys are embedded in the strategic plan, which
identifies the keys’ performance targets that raise expectations and standards in an effort to
realize the goal that student and school performance will not be predictable by race/ethnicity,
language proficiency, disability, or socioeconomic status. The Seven Keys are more demanding
than the Maryland state high school graduation requirements.
The Literacy Keys
Keys 1 and 2 are focused on literacy in elementary and middle school. The MCPS Assessment
Program in Primary Reading (AP-PR) is a combination of a locally developed assessment and a
nationally norm-referenced assessment that provides formative information to help teachers and
administrators focus on instruction and monitor students’ text-reading progress from
kindergarten through Grade 2. The goal of this assessment program is to provide continuous
feedback on students’ text-reading development, including accuracy, oral reading fluency, and
comprehension.
Between 2008 and 2012, the percentage of kindergarten students achieving the text level 6
reading benchmark in MCPS AP-PR rose from 65.4 to 76.1 percent. Nearly 85 percent of Grade
1 students met the text level 16 benchmark rising from 83.1 percent in 2008 to 84.9 percent in
2012. There was a slight decrease for students meeting the Grade 2 reading benchmark, from
44.9 percent in 2008 to 43.2 percent in 2012.
Although the Maryland State Department of Education does not use advanced scores on the
Maryland School Assessments (MSAs) for accountability purposes, MCPS monitors these data
to further refine our understanding of student progress in reading and mathematics. MCPS has
seen steady increases in the number of students achieving advanced proficiency in both
elementary and middle school reading since 2008. Elementary school students meeting the
advanced proficiency rose from 40.5 percent in 2008 to 44.1 percent in 2012 while the advanced
proficiency rate for middle school students increased from 53.4 percent in 2008 to 55.9 percent
in 2012.
The Math Keys
Keys 3, 4, and 5 focus on areas of mathematics achievement that MCPS research has linked to an
increased likelihood of college and career success. While results for Advanced Math in Grade 5
have remained stable during the last four years, the increases in students successfully completing
Algebra 1 by Grade 8 and Algebra 2 by Grade 11 are notable. Successful completion (measured
by students receiving a grade of “C” or better) of Algebra 1 by Grade 8 for MCPS students has
increased from 56.8 percent in 2008 to 62.1 percent in 2012. More impressively, completion of
Algebra 2 by Grade 11 for MCPS students has risen from 49.0 percent in 2008 to 62.6 percent in
2012. Increases are noted for all racial/ethnic groups in addition to students receiving special
services.
Members of the Board of Education
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December 11, 2012
The High School Keys
Keys 6 and 7 highlight performance areas related to providing a rigorous high school experience
in order to fully prepare students for college or the workplace. The Advanced Placement (AP)
and International Baccalaureate (IB) exams are used as indicators to measure student readiness for
college-level work and are used by colleges for possible course credit and advanced standing.
Students who earn AP exam scores of 3 or higher or IB exam scores of 4 or higher may receive
college credit or advanced standing upon entry to college. The percentage of students receiving a
3 or higher on an AP exam or 4 or higher on an IB exam has increased from 47.4 percent in 2008
to 53.4 percent in 2012.
MCPS is committed to improving SAT and ACT performance among all students as a means to
ensure opportunities for further academic pursuits after high school. Information about SAT and
ACT performance may be used to design postsecondary preparation programs for students and
plan for classroom activities in all disciplines. While the SAT historically has been the test most
commonly taken by MCPS students in preparation for college application, increasing numbers of
MCPS students have taken the ACT during the past several years in addition to, or in lieu of, the
SAT. For this reason, MCPS began to monitor participation for both tests. MCPS graduates
meeting the benchmark of 1605 on the SAT or 24 on the ACT has increased from 37.6 percent in
2008 to 51.9 percent in 2012.
Future Considerations
With the anticipated revisions to the MCPS Strategic Plan, Our Call to Action: Pursuit of
Excellence, changes in the accountability measures, and the rollout of the Common Core State
Standards, some of the reported data points will change in the future. Keys 1, 2, and 3 are in
transition. The system is moving from the TerraNova, second edition, to Measures of Academic
Progress–Reading. Key 2 is expected to transition from MSA to the new Partnership for
Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers assessments in 2015. Key 3 will be modified
due to the implementation of Curriculum 2.0. Additionally, data derived from Gallup in the form
of employee and student engagement surveys will be new sources of data that measure the
engagement level of staff and students in the classroom and may be included as a data point.
The research supports the idea that an engaged workforce yields better results and creates the
kind of environment for learning to take place. This spring, parents also will be asked to
participate in a new survey that emphasizes the engagement of parents and the community. As
we transition to new targets, the Office of Shared Accountability will continue to produce
performance reports on key data points.
Present at the table for today’s discussion is Dr. Susan F. Marks, acting associate superintendent,
Office of Shared Accountability. Mrs. Stephanie P. Williams, director of the Department of
Policy, Records and Reporting, Dr. Kecia Addison-Scott, supervisor of applied research, and
Mrs. Suzanne M. Woertz, supervisor of testing, Office of Shared Accountability, are present in
the audience and are available to answer questions.
JPS:sfm