Montgomery County MD Schools
Montgomery County, Maryland Schools historically were considered among the best in the country. The schools fell out of favor when they adopted Common Core in 2010. They switched to a new curriculum right before Covid. How are they doing and how do families feel about sending their kids to Montgomery County Schools these days? Let’s find out!
Montgomery County, MD Public Schools – Background Information
Montgomery County’s 209 schools offer both local schools as well as regional or countywide programs. There are language immersion programs for French, Spanish and Chinese. There are Centers for Enriched Studies which is like Talented and Gifted for 4th and 5th grade. There are magnet middle schools which offer digital design, performing arts and aerospace technology. At the high school level there are more career focused programs, science, arts, and the International Baccalaureate or IB programs. There are also a couple high school Consortia’s which allow students to apply for the school that’s right for them within a specific geographic area.
The DCC or Down County Consortium was created in the Silver Spring area of the county which is highly dense with fluid boundaries that, in the future, may be continually readjusted had each area been assigned one school. North in the county, it’s not as population dense and the high schools are more spread out. They do allow out-of-area students to apply to some programs – Gaithersburg, Watkins Mill IB or Magruder which has an aviation program.
The graduation rate for the Montgomery County Maryland’s Public Schools is almost 92%.
Montgomery County, MD Schools – Academics
In 2010, the State of Maryland adopted the Common Core for education, also referred to as “2.0.” In 2018, Johns Hopkins audited the curriculum for Montgomery County Schools and it wasn’t good. Summing it up, they found that English and Math curriculums were not satisfactory. Teachers expressed concerns, citing 2.0 as difficult to teach with the technology and felt that they needed to supplement with other lessons.
Fewer than 1/3 of the students understood their math and fewer than 1/4th understood English Language Arts. Teachers said it contained too much busywork, not enough time to practice skills and did nothing to help those in special education. The teachers tried to supplement Common Core with other material. Parents lost a lot of trust in Montgomery County Public Schools.
This was not a good look.
Montgomery County re-bid the curriculum and in 2019, 2.0 was replaced in Elementary by Benchmark (ELA) and Eureka (Math), and in Middle School by StudySync (ELA) and LearnZillion Illustrative Math. The new math curricula have turned out better than the ELA.
It feels very a la carte style. It makes use of online apps / technology, plus workbooks. But then there was Covid, and the timing could not have been worse to train teachers on new systems and a new curriculum.
This lack of textbooks, and using tech, screens, apps, handouts – it’s causing some angst. The school system feels very much in flux to some parents. Even something as basic as literature – students would read 8-10 books a year. Now, some classes are only reading 2-3. There’s been a big difference in the breadth of literature and content students are exposed to with the decline in expectations – even for AP classes.
“Adding in mandatory curriculums, Benchmark ELA and Eureka math (and the awful Curriculum 2.0), and taking away the flexibility for teachers to modify the curriculum to best engage students OR allow for remediation of foundational skills is a recipe for disaster. I am disappointed in MCPS as both a teacher and a parent. Kids are subjected to endless testing ($$$) and we are required to collect and document hundreds of data points – for what purpose? We are unable to use that information to modify the curriculum. Data should be used to drive further instruction, and as teachers, our hands are tied.”
What’s the problem? Sounds like a lot of the usual – Administration that’s out of touch, changing a curriculum twice inside of 10 years and an Administration not supportive of the teachers.
So what do they do well in Montgomery County Schools? The immersion programs already mentioned, and the magnet and IB programs. There is high demand for these programs. The addition of career training and the ability to graduate high school with an Associates Degree from Montgomery County College is a great opportunity – should you want to cut those 4 years of college short.
Across the board, the elementary schools are held in high regard, but truth be told – that’s the case in most places. Elementary is easier to manage across the board than middle schools which fare the worst in any district or high schools which are scrutinized for their college readiness and rigorousness of academics.
Montgomery County, MD Schools – Extracurriculars
There’s all the athletic and non-athletic after school options in middle and high school that you would expect. If your kiddo has special interests, it may affect your decision to send them to one school over another, definitely check the school profile and extra curriculars to make sure you know the options.
Montgomery County, MD Schools – School Administration
Montgomery County Schools are run in the classic manner. There’s a school board and a Superintendent.
There were close to 800 open jobs at the beginning of Summer 2022. As we head into the last few weeks of summer, they are down to 250 open jobs. Regardless, is it just the Great Resignation or have teachers had enough of Montgomery County shenanigans?
What shenanigans say you? Aside from the curriculum disaster mentioned already, it’s the usual. Teachers cite administration that doesn’t back them up and county policies continuously change. Lack of consistent, strong leadership is always a problem for school districts. Other local districts have the same issues – Covid and teacher burnout is rampant, but that is not exclusive to Montgomery County, Maryland.
Montgomery County, MD Schools – No Child Left Behind
In an effort to ensure that all students have the same access to education, Montgomery County has made this a main goal for the county. From their website: “While many of our students achieve at the highest levels, not all have had the opportunities, support and resources needed to meet their full potential. MCPS is committed to addressing disparities in student outcomes by closing gaps in opportunity and achievement for all students, in all classrooms, in all of our schools.”
This is common in DC as well as well as plenty of other school districts – so what I’m about to say shouldn’t be a surprise. Parents will agree with equality in education. But there are parents, sometimes those very same parents, who will malign a school district because they feel their child isn’t being challenged to his or her ability. Without enough teachers, it’s hard to satisfy both concepts of challenging all students appropriately with coursework but ensuring that those struggling or with special needs also get the education they deserve.
Some parents end up supplementing their child’s education with other resources, pulling them to go to private school or homeschooling.
Regardless, sometimes leaving no child behind also means some won’t be as far ahead as they, or their parents, would like.
Special Education positions are a disproportionate number of jobs that are vacant. This has resulted in students not receiving the Special Education services they need.
Conclusion
The Montgomery County, Maryland schools system was a shining star for many years in Maryland and admired for their schools. Many schools did, and some still do make the “best of” lists. MCPS is still filling in gaps in the curriculum and still paying for a lack of engagement with students during online learning. If you don’t know this, many kids did not sail through the Covid years easily. Add a sub par curriculum that changed just before Covid and Montgomery County is trying to recover from this hangover.
Here’s one last thing to consider. Many people choose Maryland or Virginia because of the state colleges. Virginia’s options typically are much more desired than Maryland’s. On the Maryland side of the Potomac, you have University of Maryland, University Maryland Baltimore County which is an honors school, as well as Towson University.
Common core is NOT a curriculum! They are STANDARDS. There is a difference. Eureka and Benchmark are resources. C2.0 were resources aligned to Common Core standards.
Thanks, Karen!
You must be an educator or in the know. I generally think people use the word “curriculum” to broadly explain what’s being taught in schools. The two terms are rather intertwined.
We moved to Montgomery County in April but kept our 2 boys with special needs at their old school until the end of the year. Our experience with Montgomery County schools so far has been not good. We have one son who is doing fine, because he’s managed to cope with things somehow. Our other son has had a rough time in school over the past year due to some mental health issues. We’ve requested that he be retained in 5th grade to give him a good foundation and time to cope with the issues prior to middle school. Montgomery County is fighting us tooth and nail about retaining him forcing us to homeschool him for his well being and they have refused to provide special education services to him because we’re homeschooling him.
Don’t get me started on their hiring practices and professionalism….
Oh Rebecca. Thank you for this comment. I had a feeling from what I found online that things really took a dive in MoCo, but hearing from people about their direct experience is super helpful. MoCo has always been a highly regarded school system but the handling of things during covid put many school systems on the hotseat and MoCo was definitely one of those school systems. I can’t believe they are telling you that they cannot assist with your son, but it sounds like they want to push him to the next school to move him (and probably you) along. Not fair at all. I’m really sorry. But I appreciate this honesty, people need to see what’s happening and hear it from parents.
I can’t believe there is no mention in the analysis that the population of the school system is now 70 percent minority, with a Hispanic majority. Caucasian’s are less than 23 percent. A stampede have abandoned the “schools”. How can a school system be called “public” when it has become a minority benefit program?
Hi Mat,
Different schools have different demographics. I specifically did not cover demographics as it wasn’t relevant to my review. If white families are abandoning public school because of demographics that are unappealing to them then that is very unfortunate. School administrations across multiple jurisdictions set the tone and precedent for the education which is where my focus was. Education quality is determined from the top, down – not set by the students.
I’m a teacher and a parent in MoCo. If I were a parent but not teacher, my opinions here are not likely to change, but let’s go.
MCPS is huge – it is traditionally managed and some of what is stated in this article can be taken at face value. I will say up front that I’m hugely disappointed to hear of the mom with boys who have special needs that are not being met, and clearly this family is very frustrated with these schools, and understandably so.
All of this said – did the author of this article or editor of the source consider taking to the individual schools or teachers, or did they bother to visit and observe? Did they see the teachers planning together, strategically looking for ways to improve student learning? Did they read teacher emails back and forth as we seek ways to better serve specific students? Did they know we are constantly looking for ways to improve, through professional development, PLCs and reflection from our interactions? Do they have any idea how often teachers stay late to grade, track down student data to learn more about a student, email and call parents, and give extensions to accommodate for student needs? I see nothing in this article that indicates a legitimate effort to investigate the schools, beyond some broad commentary about curriculum woes.
As a parent, when I email my kids’ teachers or counselor or administrator – I hear back – usually within a couple of hours. I get info I seek. I get answers – as does my husband. Our kids are learning – which we know because we talk to them about school during dinner; some nights sports and activities keep these conversations at bay, but we do find out enough often enough (several times a week).
We moved here mid-pandemic and chose MCPS because of the schools. I’m so glad we did. Please – before you do another write-up about MCPS – diversify your research and make sure you are fair and accurate. This article shows neither fairness nor accuracy – it’s a point of view with Cherry-picked facts to support the point of view.
How disappointing.
Hi Katherine,
Thanks for you reading and for your comment.
First, I’m not an investigative journalist. I’m a mom who is compiling information gleaned from various sources. Many of those sources can be anonymous and I will still use the info if it’s showing a pattern. What’s happening with MoCo schools is no different than other school districts in both the DMV and the country as a whole.
Your main comment regarding the teachers and the work they put in – no one is discounting that aside from some individual experiences people have when their students are special needs or didn’t get the attention they required in specific instances. I never criticized any teacher at all anywhere – either in DCPS where we live or in MD or VA where I’ve outlined the schools.
I’m creating a high flying overview of what’s challenging for the schools as well as what they do well, to advise people when considering where to move. I don’t have a point of view, and I didn’t cherry pick details to prove anything. I don’t have a dog in the fight, I just sourced a handful of places to compile information.
If you would like someone to do an investigative piece, perhaps consult Johns Hopkins which performed the in depth audit in 2018 and found the deficiencies and see if it has improved. Their report was ultra important in my write up.
Thank you for this article, it was very informative. My kids are in the MCPS and so far everything has been good. But not so much for my friends with kids with medical and/or learning problems (I don’t like to use the term disability). This is one of the biggest reason families with school aged kids are moving out of MoCo. Further from DC and longer commute but it’s still worth it.
It seems like this is really an area where public schools struggle. It’s not just MoCo which has issues with special needs/learning. I see comments about this from multiple sources about other districts as well.
My daughter is thriving in Montgomery Co. public schools. Granted we’re in one of the “better” school districts. Her teachers have consistently been so impressive, inspired and engaged, and she and her friends are motivated to do well. While my daughter wouldn’t say she likes school, she also has no interest in looking at the privates. She’s in high school now, and as far as I’ve seen, the schools have all had strong no bullying policies, and they seem to encourage students working together. I don’t understand the curriculum (seems a lot of jumping around within subjects, such as in English and History), but she’s getting a great sampling of topics and learning a lot. We plan to stay put.
mcps is dumb
Tell us more! Also, I can see with the email you used that you’re likely a student, I would love to hear more from you!