2009 mcps call to action: pursuit of excellence

8/14/2019 2009 MCPS Call to Action: Pursuit of Excellence

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Our Call to Action:Pursuit of Excellence

The Strategic Plan for the Montgomery County Public Schoo

Approved: June 2009

2009–2014

MCPS



VISION

A high-quality education isthe fundamental right of every child. All children will receive

the respect, encouragement,and opportunities they need to build the knowledge, skills,and attitudes to be successful,contributing members of a

global society.

Board of Education

Ms. Shirley Brandman President

Mrs. Patricia B. O’NeillVice President

Mr. Christopher S. Barclay

Ms. Laura Berthiaume

Dr. Judith R. Docca

Mr. Michael A. Durso

Mr. Philip Kauffman

Mr. Timothy T. HwangStudent Member

School Administration

Dr. Jerry D. WeastSuperintendent o Schools

Mr. Larry A. BowersChie Operating O fcer

Dr. Frieda K. Lacey Deputy Superintendent o Schools

850 Hungerford DriveRockville, Maryland 20850www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org



Our Call to Action:Pursuit o Excellence

The Strategic Plan for theMontgomery County

Public Schools

2009–2014Approved: June 2009

Contents Joint Letter .......................................................................................................iGuiding Tenets ................................................................................................iiFramework on Equity and Excellence .............................................................iiiPer ormance Targets—2006–2010 .................................................................. iv

Supplemental Plans ......................................................................................... v Deployment o Guiding Tenets ...................................................................... viOverview .........................................................................................................1Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools Act ......................................................5Goal 1: Ensure Success or Every Student.........................................................6

Strategic Initiatives ............................................................................................7Goal 2: Provide an Efective Instructional Program ....................................... 12

Strategic Initiatives .......................................................................................... 3Goal 3: Strengthen Productive Partnerships or Education ............................ 18

Strategic Initiatives .......................................................................................... 9Goal 4: Create a Positive Work Environment in a

Sel -renewing Organization ............................................................... 22Strategic Initiatives ..........................................................................................23

Goal 5: Provide High-quality Business Services that Are Essential to theEducational Success o Students ........................................................28

Strategic Initiatives ..........................................................................................29Strategies Implemented Since 1999 ...............................................................34Organizational Culture o Respect ................................................................. 41


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Our Call to Action: Pursuit of ExcellenceDear Sta , Parents, Students, and Members o the Community:

Over the past 10 years, Montgomery County Public Schools’ (MCPS) improvement e orts have been care ully guided by our detailed strategic plan,Our Call to Action: Pursuit of Excellence . While the world has changed and theeconomy has struggled, this plan has provided the continuous and clear guidance necessary to support the outstandingacademic achievement our students are demonstrating. Without question, our community values quality, aspires tohigh standards, and insists upon accountability. All three elements undergird this plan and drive the work o thesystem every day. Each year, we evaluate where we are, assess our per ormance, and adjust our plan to ensure that

we are truly building a school system where every child has the opportunity to succeed. We are striving to create aschool system where academic success is not predictable by race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, languagepro ciency, or disability.

In this update we explicitly address the issue o equity, as it is so critical to our ultimate goal o ensuring success orevery student. Te Seven Keys to College Readiness, a trajectory o high standards, guides school sta and parents sothat all students can achieve at high levels.

For the rst time in 10 years, a ter much contemplation and discussion, the Board o Education has updated itscore values. We believe the updated core values more completely articulate our commitment to our students. Tecore values pledge “to do whatever it takes”—using all means at our disposal and tolerating no excuses—to ensurethat every child, regardless o race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, language pro ciency, or disability, learnsand succeeds. Our core values urge high expectations or all students and recognize that our obligation is to sustaina system that supports all students to learn at high levels. Te core values reafrm our obligation to see each childas a unique learner and to ensure that we tailor instruction to each child’s needs. Finally, our values embrace thedi erentiated approach that has been so success ul in helping our neediest children make great strides in achievement.Indeed, we believe the updated values, ound on page ii, set a course that will guide us well as our county continuesits work to eliminate barriers to success and provide our students with the best possible preparation or college andthe world o work.

Te remarkable achievements o our students over the last 10 years cannot be overstated and should be a source o pride to the entire community. Never be ore have we seen such extraordinary success in the classroom and such acohesive sense o purpose and resolve in our 200 schools. We continue to believe that our system grows stronger

when we work with our many stakeholders, including sta , students, parents, elected ofcials, and business, civicand community leaders in close collaboration. In building and nurturing strong relationships, we orge the bondsnecessary to keep moving this system orward, even in the most difcult o economic times.

Tere is no question that it is essential or an organization to be committed to its plan i it is to make sustainedsystemic improvement. Indeed, the success o our system rests in large measure on the commitment o our individualsta members—more than 22,000 o them—to carry out the work o this plan each and every day. We ask a greatdeal o our employees in order to provide the highest quality instructional program and support services to morethan 139,000 students, and we are proud o all that they have done to make MCPS one o the most respected schooldistricts in the United States.

In this plan update, we continue to re ne systemwide alignment to ensure that the overall direction o the schoolsystem continues to ocus on eliminating the achievement gap and raising academic achievement or all. It is critically important that our strategies are ocused on achieving our targets so that we can provide every graduate with the skillsnecessary to be success ul in college or the world o work. Our commitment is to provide nothing less than the best

or our students. I we continue to work together as a community, we know that our children will be well preparedor the world ahead.

Sincerely,

Ms. Shirley Brandman Jerry D. Weast, Ed.D.President, Board o Education Superintendent o Schools


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Montgomery County Public Schools

GUIDING TENETSCORE VALUES

• MCPS is committed to doing whatever it takes to ensure that every child, regardless o race, ethnicity, gen-

der, socioeconomic status, language pro ciency, or disability, learns and succeeds.• Student outcomes shall not be predictable by race or ethnicity.• MCPS has high expectations for all students, believing that all children can learn at high levels.• Every student is a unique learner and MCPS will tailor instruction to meet the learning needs of each stude• A comprehensive early years’ program is critical for students to acquire the knowledge and skills to be succ

in reading, writing, and mathematics.• e pursuit of excellence for all students requires providing our neediest students with the extra support neces

to attain rigorous targets.• MCPS demonstrates commitment to continuous improvement by reviewing, evaluating and improving our work

and monitoring student per ormance data.• MCPS is committed to a culture of respect that includes fair treatment, honesty, openness, and integrity.Revised June 2009

MISSION

o provide a high-quality, world-class education that ensures success or every student through excellence in teachingand learning.

VISION

A high-quality education is the undamental right o every child. All children will receive the respect, encourage-ment, and opportunities they need to build the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to be success ul, contributingmembers o a global society.

SYSTEM GOALS

• Ensure success for every student

• Provide an e ective instructional program• Strengthen productive partnerships for education• Create a positive work environment in a self-renewing organization• Provide high-quality business services that are essential to the educational success of students

BOARD OF EDUCATION ACADEMIC PRIORITIES*

• Organize and optimize resources for improved academic results• Align rigorous curriculum, delivery of instruction, and assessment for continuous improvement of student

achievement• Develop, expand, and deliver literacy-based initiatives from prekindergarten through Grade 12• Develop, pilot, and expand improvements in secondary content, instruction, and programs that support students

active engagement in learning• Use student, sta , school, and system performance data to monitor and improve student achievement• Foster and sustain systems that support and improve employee e ectiveness, in partnership with MCPS emplo

organizations• Strengthen family-school relationships and continue to expand civic, business, and community partnerships that

support improved student achievement*Revised July 17, 2007

CRITICAL QUESTIONS

• What do students need to know and be able to do?• How will we know they have learned it?• What will we do when they haven’t?• What will we do when they already know it?



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Framework or Equity and ExcellenceMontgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is com-mitted to equity and excellence or all students. Equity inour schools is de ned as high expectations and access tomeaning ul and relevant learning or all students so thatoutcomes are not predictable by race, ethnicity, gender,

socioeconomic status, language pro ciency, or disability.Excellence is achieved through high standards that ensurethat all students are college or career ready as high schoolgraduates. In order to accomplish this, measurements areneeded to monitor system progress in promoting equity andexcellence.Te Seven Keys to College Readiness establishes the trajec-tory that will ensure a clear path or student success anda guide or sta and parents to ensure all students achieveat these high levels. Te goal o the Seven Keys is to setadvanced rather than pro cient standards and to ensure thatresults are not predictable or any group. Tis raises the barto high levels, with the expectation that many o our stu-dents are going to ar exceed this high bar – the intent is notto limit any student’s level o achievement.MCPS has made great strides to provide rigorous and highquality education or every student throughOur Call to Action: Pursuit o Excellence . More students are learning toread at an earlier age, more students are taking rigorous andchallenging courses, and more students are being provided with opportunities to succeed at higher levels than everbe ore. Tis is accomplished through the implementationo strategies and initiatives in this strategic plan that pro-mote equity and excellence by creating the organizationalculture, the conditions, and the support systems to ensureour students’ success. Many o these initiatives are intendedto strengthen students’ abilities to problem solve, think critically, and express their thoughts and inquiries. Other

strategies have been implemented to create collaborativelearning communities where each child’s individual learningneeds are met. Tis strategic plan recognizes there is more work to be done to eliminate the achievement gap and raisethe academic achievement or all.

Fostering an organizational culture o high expectations orall students that is pervasive throughout MCPS requiresthe commitment o sta , parents, and community to equi-table practices in classrooms and workplaces. Creating thisculture also requires three critical conditions to encourage,support, and nurture equity and excellence – high expecta-tions, positive relationships, and cultural competence. ocreate and sustain these positive conditions, we need toestablish comprehensive support systems to help all stu-dents, sta , and parents learn and grow at the personal,pro essional, and institutional levels.Tese e orts are supported by ongoing pro essional devel-opment and a system o monitoring and accountability.Growth and transformation at the personal, professionaand institutional levels will not take place without ongoing,deliberate e orts to build the capacity o sta , students, andparents through targeted pro essional development. In orderto maintain ocus and momentum in this important work,measurements must be identi ed and employed to monitorsystem progress in promoting equity and excellence.Tese support systems and conditions must be contained within, and supported by, all schools and classrooms, allMCPS workplaces, and the communities that contain ourschools and o ces. Tis organizational culture also willserve to protect the ongoing work to promote equity and

excellence rom external actors that could possibly disruptthe work or distract sta rom their ocus. Tese externalactors include political actors, legal considerations, and

economic realities.Te next phase o our work inleading systemic change is theredoubling o our e orts to ensureequity and excellence or all studentsso that academic success is not pre-dictable by race, ethnicity, gender,socioeconomic status, language pro-

ciency, or disability. Tese e orts will address the challenging issues

that limit students rom excellingat the highest academic levels. Weare committed to the undamentalbelie that this is possible.

1650 SAT, 24 ACT3 on AP exam, 4 on IB exam

Algebra 2 by Grade 11, “C” or higherAlgebra 1 by Grade 8, “C” or higher

Advanced math in Grade 5Advanced reading MSA in Grades 3–8

Advanced reading in Grades K–2

1650 SAT, 24 ACT3 on AP exam, 4 on IB exam

Algebra 2 by Grade 11, “C” or higherAlgebra 1 by Grade 8, “C” or higher

Advanced math in Grade 5Advanced reading MSA in Grades 3–8

Advanced reading in Grades K–2 © 2009 MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS • ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND

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34

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SEVEN KEYS TOCOLLEGE READINESS


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Per ormance Targets—2006–2010Key performance targets for data points in Goals One and Two raise expectations and standards for student and s-

ormance and rein orce a commitment to eliminating the gap in student per ormance by race and ethnicity and other studentgroups. argets refect the requirements o national, state, and local accountability mandates and considers expectations about where MCPS wants to be in ve years.

Per ormance Targets 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Kindergarten Reading—Percentage meeting benchmark o be developedPercentage o schools at or above targetGrade 2 Reading—Percentage meeting benchmark 75.8 79.4 82.9 86.5 90.0Percentage o schools at or above target 68.0 76.0 84.0 92.0 00Grade 2 Terra Nova— Percentage at or above 50th national percentile o be developedPercentage o schools at or above targetGrade 5 Math 6 or Higher— Percentage success ully completing 29.4 33.3 37.2 4 . 45.0Percentage o schools at or above target 50.0 62.5 75.0 87.5 00ES MSA Reading—Percentage at or above pro cient 62.5 67.2 7 .8 76.5 8 .2Percentage o schools at or above target 00 00 00 00 00ES MSA Mathematics—Percentage at or above pro cient 58.8 63.9 69. 74.2 79.4Percentage o schools at or above target 00 00 00 00 00Elementary School Suspension Rate—Percentage suspended .3 .3 .3 .3 .3Percentage o schools at or below target 70.0 77.5 85.0 92.5 00MS MSA Reading—Percentage at or above pro cient 6 .5 66.3 7 . 75.9 80.8Percentage o schools at or above target 00 00 00 00 00MS MSA Mathematics—Percentage at or above pro cient 42.9 50.0 57.2 64.3 7 .4Percentage o schools at or above target 00 00 00 00 00Grade 8 Algebra—Percentage success ully completing 54.6 6 .0 67.3 73.7 80.0Percentage o schools at or above target 50.0 62.5 75.0 87.5 00Middle School— Algebra 1 High School Assessment percentage passing 00 00 00 00 00Percentage o schools at or above target 00 00 00 00 00Middle School Suspension Rate—Percentage suspended 7.4 7.2 7.0 6.7 6.5Percentage o schools at or below target 50.0 62.5 75.0 87.5 00Middle School Ineligibility—Percentage Ineligibility 2.7Percentage o schools at or below target 00High School MSA Reading—Percentage at or above pro cient 45.3 52.2 59.0 65.8 72.7Percentage o schools at or above target 00 00High School MSA Math—Percentage at or above pro cient 29.8 38.6 47.3 56. 64.9Percentage o schools at or above target 00 00Grade 9 Algebra—Percentage success ully completing 8 .4 86. 90.7 95.4 00Percentage o schools at or above target 50.0 62.5 75.0 87.5 00Grade 10 Geometry—Percentage success ully completing 76.6 82.4 88.3 94. 00Percentage o schools at or above target 50.0 62.5 75.0 87.5 00Grade 10 PSAT— Percentage participating 9 .2 92.5 93.7 95.0

Percentage o schools at or above target 60.0 66.7 83.3 00SAT Performance—Combined critical reading, mathematics, and writing scores 634 638 642 646 650Percentage o schools at or above target 50.0 62.5 75.0 87.5 00SAT/ACT— Percentage participating 77.2 77.9 78.6 79.3 80.0Percentage o schools at or above target 50.0 62.5 75.0 87.5 00Honors/AP/IB/College-Level Course Enrollment—Percentage enrolled in at least one course68.4 70. 7 .7 73.4 75.0Percentage o schools at or above target 50.0 62.5 75.0 87.5 00 AP/IB Exam Participation—Percentage o graduating seniors who took at least one exam while in high school 56. 59.6 63.0 66.5 70.0

Percentage o schools at or above target 50.0 62.5 75.0 87.5 00



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Per ormance Targets 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

AP/IB Exam Performance—Percentage o graduating seniors earning 3 or higher on APexam or 4 or higher on IB exam 42.2 52.4 56.6 60.8 65.0

Percentage o schools at or above target 50.0 62.5 75.0 87.5 00Graduation Rate— Percentage graduating 92.4 93.3 94.2 95. 96.0Percentage o schools at or above target 50.0 62.5 75.0 87.5 00High School Suspension Rate—Percentage suspended 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5

Percentage o schools at or below target 50.0 62.5 75.0 87.5 00High School Ineligibility—Percentage Ineligible 22.0Percentage o schools at or below target 00

Supplemental PlansTe systemwide strategic plan is supplemented by the plans and resources described in the—

• Fiscal Year 2010 Operating Budget

• Fiscal Year 2010 Educational Facilities Master Plan and the Fiscal Year 2009–2014 Capital Improvements Pro (As amended.)

Te systemwide strategic plan is urther supplemented by the strategic plans or the—

• O ce of the Deputy Superintendent of Schools– O ce o Curriculum and Instructional Programs– O ce o Organizational Development– O ce o School Per ormance– O ce o Shared Accountability – O ce o Special Education and Student Services

• O ce of the Chief Operating O cer– O ce of Human Resources

– O ce o the Chie echnology O cer


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Deployment o Guiding TenetsTe Board o Education and senior leaders developed theMCPS guiding tenets—core values, vision, mission, goals,academic priorities, and critical questions—collaboratively with stakeholders. Tese guiding tenets were adopted by theBoard and included in Our Call to Action.Beginning in August 999, Board members and seniorleaders engaged in an extensive outreach with parent andcommunity groups, business partners, advisory groups,local governing entities, and the aith communities tosolicit shared concerns and expectations. Te input receivedthrough these conversations was codi ed in the strategicplan. In addition to the guiding tenets, the plan includes thekey per ormance measures or the system.Te process used to develop the MCPS strategic plan andthe methods used by Board members and senior leaders todeploy the vision and values have provided a clear pictureto the sta , community, and other stakeholders o stu-dent expectations, the accountability system being used tomonitor results and drive per ormance, and the strategiesemployed to achieve the goals.Our Call to Actionis the blueprint or improving theachievement o students at all levels o ability and per-

ormance while eliminating the achievement gap amongracial/ethnic and special population groups. In addition,the Board approves a master plan that is submitted to theMaryland State Board o Education to meet the require-ments o theNo Child Le t Behind Act and the state’sBridge to Excellence law. Our Call to Actionis the oundation o thismaster plan.Te Board has adopted a ramework that aligns its policies

with the vision and goals articulated inOur Call to Action.Tis ramework structures the relationship between Boardpolicies and the strategic plan, linking vision and action.Tere are eight core governance policies that express thevision, values, and goals o the Board and provide the philo-sophical oundation or the work directed by the strategicplan. Tese core governance policies are directly supported

by other Board policies, and all o these policies aredeployed through a series o regulations that are approvedby the superintendent o schools and implemented by senior leaders who ensure compliance.Te superintendent’s bimonthly meetings with morethan 500 leaders o the school system ocus on the vision,core values, and expectations or per ormance and resultsthrough the lens o leading or equity so that student per-

ormance is not predictable by race. Te superintendent’scontinuous ocus on the vision and expectations in meetings with sta , parents, and community members has been criti-cal in the alignment o all the work o the school system.For the past three years, the Board has conducted orums,attended by both community stakeholders and MCPSemployees, to gather eedback on the strategic plan. Tis

eedback has been used to make improvements in the planand to help align the operating budget with the plan.Te deployment process begins under the leadership o the community superintendents as each school annually develops and implements a school improvement plan thatis aligned with the Board’s strategic plan. Community superintendents meet monthly with their 30–35 principalsto deploy strategies to accomplish the system’s goals. Othersenior leaders guide the development and implementationo o ce and department strategic plans that also are aligned with Our Call to Action. Tis strategic planning processguides the sta throughout the school system in their work with schools, parents, and the community.Te school-improvement process has been designed torefect the components o the Baldrige Education Criteria

or Per ormance Excellence. Schools are expected to imple-ment the school-improvement planning model using the“look- ors” rom the Framework or Improving eachingand Learning and Baldrige categories. Te progress onschool improvement plan goals is evaluated regularly withall stakeholders.

How Board o Education Members and Senior Leaders Communicate and Deploy OrganizationalVision and ValuesCommunicate Deploy Board and Senior Leaders’ Actions

• Our Call to Action: Pursuit o Excellence

• Bridge to Excellence Master Plan• Board Academic Priorities• Board/Superintendent meetings

with employee associations• Board policies• MCPS regulations• Organizational Culture of

Respect• Professional Growth Systems

• Superintendent’s A&S Meetings• Baldrige-guided School Improvement

Plans• O ce/Department Strategic Plans• Implementation of strategies/

initiatives• Framework for Improving Teaching

and Learning• Baldrige Quality Academy • My Job, Your Job, Our Job handbook • Baldrige Principal’s Handbook • Professional Learning Communities• OSP Monitoring Calendar

• Communicate beliefs and expectations• Model organization’s values• Engage in organizational and personal

learning• Empower sta to lead• Model collaboration and shared decision

making• Frequently monitor progress and share

best practices



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Our Call to Action: Pursuit of ExcellenceOVERVIEW

Designing and Implementing the Strategic PlanTe continued improvement o teaching and learning in

MCPS is the ocus o the school system’s strategic plan,Our Call to Action: Pursuit o Excellence . Tis requires greatcoordination, collaboration, and alignment o activitiesamong the community and thousands o employees a ect-ing tens o thousands o students. A coherent strategic planthat is implemented with delity will help to ensure thatthe bar is raised or every child and that the achievementgap by race and ethnicity is closed. Te current nationalmovement stressing the importance o higher education ina global economy is refected in the Seven Keys to CollegeReadiness. Tis pathway will give all o our students moreoptions when they graduate rom MCPS and a strong oun-dation or college and career success.

Te update—addressing school years 2009 through 20 4—refects a process that has evolved over the past severalyears. Following the Board o Education’s revision o Policy AEB:Strategic Planning and Continuous Improvement inNovember 2004, the process has bene ted rom greatercommunity involvement. Policy AEB was revised in May 2009, once again articulating the Board’s commitmentto aligning the budget process with the strategic plan andincluding a broad range o stakeholders in the strategicplanning process. Te primary strategies ocus on instruc-tional planning, curriculum development, di erentiatedinstruction, and evidence o student learning. Tere also isa ocus on monitoring and accountability using milestones

and data points that identi y clear targets or continuousimprovement. Te milestones and data points provide iden-ti able ways to measure the progress o the school system insuch areas as minority student achievement, middle schoolre orm, high school re orm, and special education.Te strategic highlights programs and initiatives that remainthe oundation o the school system’s ongoing improvemente orts since 999. All initiatives are aligned with ongoinge orts, helping the school system maintain substantial con-sistency over time. Such continuity has enabled teachers,principals, support sta , parents, employee associations, andcommunity members to work on common goals or eachcommunity. Te strength o the plan is the continued align-

ment o school system operations. Te entire school systemrevolves around this core ocus, requiring greater coordina-tion among everyone involved—working together on theappropriate phases or each phase o implementation. Among the most obvious outcomes o the improved plan-ning are the signi cant gains in student achievement. Tereare other examples, as well, such as the success ul develop-ment and unding o highly detailed and meticulous annualoperating and capital budgets, and the use o zero-basedbudgeting practices in the operating budgets or all depart-ments. Improved planning also is evident in the success ul

Strategic Planning Process

Step 2: Do—Align Action at all Levelsof the Organization

Strategic and action plans are deployed

Step 3: Study—Analyze Formativeand Summative Results

Board, EL , superintendent, deputy and associate superintendents, com-munity superintendents, directors,principals, and teachers monitor,review, evaluate progress, and rec-ommend course correction wherenecessary

Step 4: Act—Continuous Improvement

• Based on assessments, focus onopportunities or improvement

• Rede ne and redesign system,o ce, department, and school goalsand action plans

• Redirect and redeploy resourcesto address opportunities orimprovement

Evaluate the Process, MakeAdjustments, and Repeat the Cycle

Step 1: Plan—Validate the Need forImprovement and Clarify Purpose

• Assess organizational performance• Review/re ne vision, mission, core val-

ues, and priorities based on assessment• Develop goals, measures, and strategic

objectives that support vision, mission,core values, and priorities

• O ce, department, division, and schoolsdevelop strategic and action plans thatare aligned with the system’s plan

R e d e s i g n , R e f n e , R e d e p l o y

P a r e n t / C o m m u n i t y I n p u t — S t r a t e g i c P l a n n i n g / B u d g e t F o r u m s

P r o c e s s I m p r o v e m e n t



ongoing development o curricula, assessments, pro essionaldevelopment components, and technology.Te inherent value o the plan is its ocus on excellence. Tisrefects the responsibility o the entire school system and allo its stakeholders to ensure the success o each and every student. Deliberate planning, leadership, and supervisionare necessary to achieve this consistently across 200 schoolsand with the continuity necessary or seamless integrationo instruction, programs, and services. Success dependson continuous monitoring, assessment, eedback, andimprovement.Te school system’s strategic plan is aligned with theMaryland Bridge to Excellence Act and addresses all o therequirements or a school district “master plan,” underthe speci cations o the Maryland State Department o Education. Tese requirements, in turn, are responsiveto and aligned with the achievement goals o the ederalNo Child Le t Behind Act . In MCPS, attention to theserequirements is enhanced by the school system’s planningprocess that employs the “Plan, Do, Study, Act” cycle o continuous improvement, based on the Baldrige Criteria orPer ormance Excellence.Te multilayered process o strategic planning in MCPSintegrates built-in cycles o evaluation and re nement.Te strategic planning components include the Board o Education’s goals and academic priorities and the alignmento these goals with milestones, data points, and targets. Fordeployment o initiatives across the system, the planningprocess involves o ce- and department-level strategic plans,school improvement plans, and individual sta pro essionaldevelopment plans (PDPs).Te school system is involved in several national initiativesto improve strategic planning o school districts. One ini-

tiative is the Public Education Leadership Project, a jointprogram of the Harvard Business School and the HarvardGraduate School of Education. is initiative promptedthe research and publication of four Harvard case stud-ies about the school system—Di erentiated reatment inMontgomery County Public Schools (2006) and two com-panion studies, Race, Accountability, and the AchievementGap (A) and (B) (2006), all three focused exclusively onschool system reform initiatives; and Wireless Generation(2006), which detailed the system’s corporate partnershipin hand-held technology to improve data collection andanalysis by teachers. In addition, MCPS was eatured in aNovember 2006 article in the Harvard Business Review,

How to Manage Urban Schools. Another national initiative is the Process Improvementand Innovation in Education project, administered by theHouston-based American Productivity and Quality Center(APQC). is initiative’s rst three projects enabled schoolsystems to compare how they assess student achievement,recruit and select teachers, and manage their in ormationtechnology systems. MCPS is cited as a benchmark district

or ESOL, pro essional development, data-driven decisionmaking, mathematics and science, and support o pro es-sional learning communities.

Priorities o the Board o EducationTe strength o the strategic plan is rooted in the academicpriorities o the Board o Education, which have remainedconsistent over the past eight years. Working closely withthe superintendent o schools and senior sta , the Board hasachieved widespread community agreement in the directiono the school system and, consequently, its strategic plan.Te academic priorities establish the basis or a congruentmultiyear planning strategy that ocuses on doing what isbest or students, parents, and their schools. Te Board o Education modi ed its priorities on July 7, 2007. Tesepriorities are as ollows:• Organize and optimize resources for improved academ

results.• Align rigorous curriculum, delivery of instruction, an

assessment or continuous improvement o studentachievement.

• Expand and deliver literacy-based initiatives from pre-dergarten through Grade 12.

• Develop, pilot, and expand improvements in secondarcontent, instruction, and programs that support students’active engagement in learning.

• Use student, sta , school, and system performance dto monitor and improve student achievement.

• Foster and sustain systems that support and improveemployee e ectiveness, in partnership with MCPSemployee associations.

• Strengthen family-school relationships and continue toexpand civic, business, and community partnerships thatsupport improved student achievement.

Te Board o Education has pursued these priorities withgreater public involvement in the school system’s strategicplanning. Beginning in September 2004, the school sys-tem expanded the strategic planning processes through aseries o community orums that invited public input onthe goals o the strategic plan. Citizens o ered valuableinsights about the operations and goals o the school system.Stakeholder involvement helped improve the developmento the operating budget recommendations submitted by the superintendent in December 2008 and approved by theBoard o Education in February 2009. Te County Councilultimately unded the Board’s recommended budget in May 2009.

Building on a Record o Progress Since 1999In the years since the originalOur Call to ActioninNovember 999, MCPS has made excellent progress in itse orts to deliver a rigorous, high-quality education to every student. Success ul planning and implementation havehelped pave the way.



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Gains in Student Per ormance• Te MCPS graduation rate o 80.7 percent tied or

rst among the nation’s largest school districts, accord-ing to an Education Week study.

• Six MCPS high schools ranked among the top 0in the nation by Newsweek magazine in 2009 or

providing a rigorous and challenging curriculum. AllMCPS high schools are listed in the top 3.5 percentnationwide.

• Tree MCPS high schools were awarded gold medalstatus—placing them among the top 00 high schoolsin the nation—in a 2008 U.S. News & World Report ranking o America’s best high schools.

• Te average combined SA score or the Class o 2008 was 6 6, 8 and 05 points above national and stateaverages, respectively, with a participation rate o 73.7percent.

• More students are now taking the SA and/or AC . In

2008, 77.2 percent o the Class o 2008 took the SAand/or AC .• 46.4 percent o the Class o 2008 scored a 3 or higher

on at least one Advanced Placement (AP) exam,more than triple the national average and double theMaryland average.

• 6 .5 percent o the Class o 2008 took at least one AP exam during high school, more than double thenational average o 25.0 percent.

• 9.6 percent o A rican American students and 32.2percent of Hispanic students in the Class of 2008scored a 3 or higher on at least one AP exam, topping

the national average o 5.2 percent or all graduates.• A rican American students earned , 52 scores o 3or higher on AP exams in 2008, accounting or 37.4percent and 3. percent, respectively, o all AP examscores o 3 or higher earned by A rican American pub-lic schools students in Maryland and the nation.

• Hispanic students in MCPS earned 1,336 scores of 3or higher on AP exams, accounting or 3 .9 percentand . percent, respectively, o all AP exam scores o 3or higher earned by Hispanic public school students inMaryland and the nation.

• Record number o students, 283, were named National AP Scholars by Te College Board in 2008.

• 93 percent o students in kindergarten in 2008 werereading at or above benchmark by the end o theschool year, compared with 39 percent in 200 .

• A record 48.8 percent o th grade students success-ully completed advanced math in 2009, compared

with 3 .9 percent in 2006, a our-year increase o 6.9percent.

• 59.6 percent of Grade 8 students in 2008 successfcompleted Algebra , compared with 55.9 percent in2007.

• 90.9 percent o elementary school students and 88.2percent o middle school students scored at pro cientor advanced in reading on the 2009 Maryland School Assessment.

• 95.4 percent o middle school students who took the Algebra High School Assessment (HSA) in 200passed.

• 96 elementary and secondary schools won MarylandSchool Per ormance Recognition Program awards in2008. en o the 96 schools are itle I and received aMaryland School Performance Recognition Grant ofapproximately $5,000 each.

• Te Class o 2009 included 26 National MeritFinalists.

• In 2009, 7 students were semi nalists in the 68thIntel Science Talent Search; Montgomery Blair HighSchool was second highest school in the nation with

2 semi nalists.

• 33 National Blue Ribbon Schools• Highland Elementary School is one of 12 schools

receive the National Excellence in Urban Education Award rom the National Center or Urban School

rans ormation (NCUS ). In addition to the NCUSaward, Highland Elementary, a Maryland Blue RibboSchool, is a candidate or a National Blue RibbonSchool award.

Response to Changing DemographicsTe signi cant academic progress o the school systemcoincides with the deployment o more ocused and betterdeveloped strategic plans. Student achievement continuesto increase through the implementation o challenginginstructional programs or students o all levels o ability and performance. However, di erences in achievementpersist when disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, language pro ciency, or disability. Tisdisparity ormed the basis o the original re orms in 999and remains the signi cant oundation o the strategic plannow under way.

Te racial and ethnic composition o the school system hasmade MCPS one o the most diverse school systems in theUnited States. It continues to be the largest, most diversesystem in Maryland—with students rom 65 countriesspeaking 34 languages—and became the nation’s 6thlargest school system this year, with 40,000 students.Recent enrollment gains overall have been entirely amongHispanic, Asian American, and African American stud Almost hal o all English language learners in Marylandare enrolled in MCPS. More than one ourth o all studentsnow receive ederal meal assistance, the highest numberever, and more than one third o students have received



ederal meal assistance at some point in their education inMCPS.Te greatest concentration o racial and ethnic diversity andpoverty is located in schools within the county’s most urban-ized areas—a combination o communities rom akomaPark to Germantown that includes nearly half of all elemen-tary schools. Te communities are home to the majority o

African American and Hispanic students enrolled in the sys-tem and the vast majority o students receiving ederal mealassistance and English language support.

Focus on High-quality Curriculum At the core o the strategic plan is the provision o a high-quality curriculum. A key initiative is the alignment o theentire curriculum from prekindergarten through Grade 12in order to ensure that all students in every school receivethe proper oundation and sequence o essential skills andknowledge. All students are expected to be college and careerready, a process that begins in prekindergarten and elemen-tary school with preparing students to achieve reading

uency by Grade 3, advancing through Math 6 or higherby Grade 5, completing algebra or higher-level mathematicscourses by Grade 8, completing Algebra 2 by Grade 11, andenrolling in Honors, Advanced Placement, IB, and college-level courses throughout high school.Tese strategic plan initiatives have resulted in the align-ment o the curriculum, rom prekindergarten throughGrade 12, in order to meet or exceed the expectations of theMaryland Core Learning Goals, the Maryland High School Assessments, and the Maryland School Assessments, andset students on a path to succeed in Advanced Placementprograms, International Baccalaureate programs, and exams

or college readiness, including the SA and AC . Tese

e orts are based on the need to address persistent problemsin student achievement, notwithstanding the overall con-tinued gains by the school system. Di erences in studentper ormance and course enrollment by not predictable by race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, language pro -ciency, or disability, along with high levels o remediation by students enrolling in community college, are key indicatorsthat continued improvement is necessary. An important component o these e orts is the involvementand collaboration o teachers, principals, and other sta inthe strategic planning process, especially in developing new program and budget initiatives, providing timely eedback during implementation, engaging in ongoing problem solv-

ing, and involving sta in program implementation. Tiscollaboration is ormalized through high-level teams involv-ing the presidents and other leaders o employee associations working closely with the superintendent and Executive Sta members throughout the year.

Improving Employee QualityDeveloping and implementing a strategic plan is entirely dependent on the leadership, experience, and skills o theschool system’s work orce. argeted sta development andtraining, evaluation, leadership, and technology initiatives

ocus on ensuring that employees have the knowledge, skills,strategies, and belie s necessary to respond to the needs o a rapidly growing and highly diverse school system. Tisincludes the ongoing implementation o standards-basedpro essional development systems that are ocused on mak-ing sure that all sta members understand the essential roleo employee per ormance, attitudes, and expectations in thesuccess o the school system.

Pro essional development is aligned closely with otherimprovements in uni ying school system support andleadership, curriculum and instruction, assessment, andtechnology—helping to create an organizational culture o respect that values what individual sta members believe,know, and can do, and values the contributions o allemployees in the support o improved teaching and learningthroughout the school system. Important components o these e orts include the ollowing:• Improving attitudes and beliefs about race and remov

institutional barriers.• Establishing common expectations for student success

and organizational re orm.• Strengthening teachers’ skills in di erentiating instruc-

tion based on students’ needs.• Strengthening the professional growth system for all

employees.• Providing clear standards of evaluation.• Encouraging peer assistance and review.• Providing consulting teachers, principals, and support

sta or novice and underper orming employees.• Providing mentors for new teachers.

• Strengthening on-site sta development for all teacheTese e orts refect research-based understanding o how toimprove teaching and learning by encouraging pro essionallearning communities, improving expectations, and moni-toring data or speci c evidence o student progress.

Aligning the Budget with the Strategic PlanTe relationship o the ve-year strategic plan to the annualoperating budget or MCPS was strengthened in 2004 withthe expansion o public involvement in the development o long-range planning issues.Previously, public involvement occurred only a ter the

budget was presented. Te Board o Education changedthe process by instituting community orums to encouragegreater participation by a broader range o stakeholders inidenti ying important strategic planning issues. Te Boardrevised the policy on long-range strategic planning orcontinuous improvement in May 2009. Te revised policy encourages greater stakeholder involvement and the use o assessment criteria to evaluate key elements o the strategicplan.Te improved alignment o budget development with theschool system’s strategic planning process also strengthensthe alignment o the budget with the state-mandated masterplan or student achievement.



Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools Act

1. Te plan must be aimed at helping all children meet

state and local per ormance standards, improvestudent achievement, and close academic gaps amongstudents o di erent racial, ethnic, and economicbackgrounds; students with disabilities; and students who are learning English.

2. Te plan must be comprehensive and systemic. Itmust reach throughout the school system to all schoolsand address actors central to improved teaching andlearning such as teacher and principal recruitmentand retention, pro essional development, use o bestpractices, and scienti c research-based strategies.

3. Te plan must address services to prekindergartenstudents, kindergarten students, gi ted and talentedstudents, and career technology education students.

4. Te plan must include speci c benchmarks andtimelines or improved student achievement andprogress in implementing the plan.

Focus Areasa. eacher and principal recruitment and retentionb. Educator readiness and pro essional developmentc. Parent and community involvementd. Integration o technology e. Assistance to low-per orming schools (local

reconstitution eligible and itle I). Use o best practices and proven methods based onscienti cally based research

Per ormance Goal 1By 20 3–20 4 all students will reach high standards,at a minimum attaining pro ciency or better in read-ing/language arts and mathematics.

. Te percentage o students, in the aggregate and oreach subgroup, who are at or above the pro cientlevel in reading/language arts on the state’s assessment.(Note: these subgroups are those or which the ESEA requires state reporting, as identi ed in section

(h)(l)(C)(i).)2. Te percentage o students, in the aggregate and in

each subgroup, who are at or above the pro cient levelin mathematics on the state’s assessment. (Note: Tesesubgroups are those or which the ESEA requires statereporting, as identi ed in section (h)(l)(C)(i).)

Performance Goal 2 All limited English pro cient students will becomepro cient in English and reach high academic stan-dards, at a minimum attaining pro ciency or better inreading/language arts and mathematics.

he Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools Act is based on a standards-based approach to public school nancing that isconsistent with the ederalNo Child Le t Behind Act o 2001. Te Act requires the Maryland State Department o Educa-

tion (MSDE) to set academic content and student achievement standards, ensure that schools and students have su cientresources to meet those standards, and hold schools and school systems accountable or student per ormance.

. Te percentage o limited English pro cient students,

determined by cohort, who have attained Englishpro ciency by the end o the school year.2. Te percentage o limited English pro cient students who

are at or above the pro cient level in reading/languagearts on the state’s assessment, as reported or per ormanceindicator . .

3. Te percentage o limited English pro cient students whoare at or above the pro cient level in mathematics on thestate’s assessment, as reported or per ormance indicator

.2.

Performance Goal 3By 2005–2006, all students will be taught by highly quali-

ed teachers.. Te percentage o classes being taught by “highly quali ed” teachers (as the term is de ned in section9 0 (23) o the ESEA), in the aggregate and in “high-poverty” schools (as the term is de ned in section (h)(l)(C)(viii) o the ESEA).

2. Te percentage o teachers receiving “high-quality pro essional development, (as the term “pro essionaldevelopment” is de ned in section 9 0 (34)).

3. Te percentage o parapro essionals (excluding those with sole duties as translators and parental involvementassistants) who are quali ed. (See criteria in section

9(c) and (d).)

Performance Goal 4 All students will be educated in learning environmentsthat are sa e, drug- ree, and conducive to learning.

. Te number o persistently dangerous schools, as de nedby the state.

Performance Goal 5 All students will graduate rom high school.

. Te percentage o students who graduate rom highschool each year with a regular diploma—a. disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, disability

status, migrant status, English pro ciency, and status as

economically disadvantaged; andb. calculated in the same manner as used in National

Center or Education Statistics reports on CommonCore o Data.

2. Per ormance indicator: Te percentage o students whodrop out o school—a. disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic

status, language pro ciency, or disability.; andb. calculated in the same manner as used in National

Center or Education Statistics reports on CommonCore o Data.



Milestones: Data Points:• All students will achieve or exceed pro ciency standards

in mathematics, reading, writing, science, andgovernment on local and state assessments.

o Maryland School Assessments (MSA)o High school nal examso English pro ciency assessments or LEP students

(Language Assessment System-Links)o High School Assessments (HSAs)

• All students will successfully complete algebra by theend of Grade 9 and geometry by the end of Grade 10.

o Algebra success ul course completion by the end o Grade 8

o Algebra successful course completion by the end of Grade 9o Geometry successful course completion by the end of

Grade 10

• All schools will increase participation and performanceo all students taking the SA /AC .

o SA /AC participation and per ormanceo PSA participation

• All schools will eliminate the disproportionate

suspension rate of African American and Hispanicstudents, and students receiving special educationservices.

o Suspension data

• All students will be educated in learning environments thatare sa e, drug- ree, and conducive to learning

o Student, parents, sta , survey results

• All schools will meet or exceed the state’s graduationrequirements.

o Graduation rates by schoolo High School Assessments

• All graduates will be prepared for postsecondaryeducation and employment.

o University System o Maryland requirementso Completion o Career and echnology Education

program

GOAL 1: Ensure Success or Every StudentBoard o Education Priorities:• Organize and optimize resources for improved academic results• Align rigorous curriculum, delivery of instruction, and assessment for continuous improvement of

achievement• Use student, sta , school, and system performance data to monitor and improve student achievem

Te ollowing milestones and data points are aligned with the strategies and initiatives inOur Call to Action to provide rigorous instruction and promote increased achievement or all students, while eliminatingthe achievement gap. o that end, MCPS is committed to engaging all students in a rigorous academic

program and, in particular, to ensuring that student achievement is not predictable by race. Te district will implement the guidelines established in theBridge to Excellence in Public Schools Act . Data will bedisaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, language pro ciency, or disability. AlthoughOur Call to Actionstates that all students are expected to attain certain milestones, some students, due totheir disabilities, will not achieve those milestones and will ollow alternative curricula.



7

STRATEGIC INITIATIVES

Ensure Success or Every StudentMonitoring Student Per ormanceTe mission o Montgomery County Public Schools(MCPS) is to provide a high-quality, world-class educationthat ensures success or every student through excellencein teaching and learning. Critical to achieving the missionis the systematic and systemic monitoring o student per-

ormance o every student in every school so that studentachievement is not predictable by race. Classroom teachers,principals, and senior leaders monitor student per ormanceby disaggregating data by race, ethnicity, gender, socioeco-nomic status, language pro ciency, or disability.

Disaggregating the data ensures that every student’s needsare considered when making instructional decisions. Schoolsand classroom teachers use a variety o tools and strategiesto monitor student per ormance. At the system level, cross-

unctional teams study student per ormance by drillingdown to root causes and then developing action plans andmaking recommendations or improvement. M-Stat and Achievement Steering Committees are strategies used by senior leaders and school sta working in collaboration toensure success or every student.

M-StatTe M-Stat process provides a ramework or the systematicand systemic monitoring o critical student achievement andper ormance data that enables the district and school leader-ship teams to drill down to root causes, ocus on areas o need, develop actions plans or improvement, and documentbest practices or recognition and dissemination through-out the system. Trough the Baldrige practice o “plan,do, study, act,” key data points and processes are examinedthroughout the school improvement planning cycle. TeM-Stat process provides a ocused, intensive review by school and central o ce leaders and Executive Sta mem-bers o school-level student per ormance data disaggregatedby race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, languagepro ciency, or disability status. Te M-Stat process has led

to the identi cation o exemplary teachers as well as success-ul school and classroom practices that are eatured on theMCPS website and in the Bulletin, using video clips andother resources related to the data points.

Achievement Steering Committees Achievement Steering Committees (ASCs) provide ocusedsupport to address per ormance concerns with the MarylandSchool Assessment (MSA) and High School Assessment(HSA). ASCs are a collaborative e ort between variousMCPS o ces and selected school sta . Utilizing in-depth



examination o student data, ASCs work to improve instruc-tional practices in order to increase student per ormanceand exit Maryland State Department o Education (MSDE)“school improvement” status. Strategies recommended by an ASC may include structured school walk-throughs, instruc-tional look- ors, and/or instructional program reviews.

Aligned E orts to Support Success in Higher-level MathematicsPreparing students or success in higher-level mathematicsbegins with a high-quality curriculum that reaches beyondthe Maryland Voluntary State Curriculum, and contin-ues with the elementary school Accelerated Pathways inMathematics. Trough the pathways, school sta and par-ents see how acceleration, beginning in kindergarten, canprepare students or advanced mathematics in elementary,middle, and high school. Several supports are in place toensure that teachers and administrators have the knowledgeo content and e ective instructional practices necessary toensure student success in higher-level mathematics.

• Math content coaches in Title I and other focus elemen-tary schools• Math content specialists in middle schools involved in

middle school re orm• Algebra lead teachers in selected high schools and feeder

middle schools• Professional development, including course-speci c

classes as well as credit-bearing courses• Lenses on Learning 1 and 2 courses for elementary

principals

K–12 Mathematics Work Groupe K–12 Mathematics Work Group was convened in

January 2009 to explore the complex issues surround-ing mathematics teaching and learning and to developrecommendations to improve student achievement in math-ematics. A diverse group o more than 40 stakeholders areparticipating in this initiative.Te work group is employing a research-based approachto their task and has ormed the ollowing research groups: Written Curriculum, Implemented Curriculum, AssessedCurriculum, eacher Preparation and Development, andMathematics argets and Accelerations.

Algebra 2 by Grade 11

Students who complete Algebra 2 by the end of Grade 11 with a “C” or higher are more than twice as likely to gradu-ate rom college than are students with less mathematicalpreparation and are generally less likely to have to takeremedial math courses in college. In an e ort to ensurethat all graduates are college ready, MCPS has initiated amultiyear research study on the preparation or students totake and be successful in Algebra 2 by Grade 11 and con-vened an Algebra 2 M-Stat project team. Te research isdesigned to examine mathematics course-taking patterns,success in these courses, and the demographic characteristicso students enrolled in Algebra 2 in 2008–2009, as well asprevious cohorts o students. Based on this in ormation, the

M-Stat team will identi y schools that are having success with students o all racial/ethnic groups in Algebra 2 per or-mance, determine the most e ective course sequencing or Algebra 2 success, develop standard articulation pathways

or students who need support in order to take Algebra 2,identi y exemplary Algebra 2 teachers, and disseminate e ec-tive instructional practices.

Middle School Re ormTe Middle School Re orm initiative provides a rigorousinstructional program that is ocused on the skills neededto be success ul in the 2 st century and prepares students

or high school, college, and the world o work. Such aninstructional program includes access to technology andsupport with developing skills that enable students to work in teams, solve complex problems, interpret in ormation,communicate e ectively, connect learning across disciplines,think critically, and apply knowledge to real-li e situations.Tese innovative student-centered classroom environmentsuse interactive technology to deliver curriculum and instruc-tion and assess understanding. Te interactive technology tools engage students in their own learning and activateproblem-solving and critical thinking skills that better pre-pare students or success in the In ormation Age.Components o Middle School Re orm include build-ing leadership capacity that promotes shared ownership

or student and sta success through participation in thePro essional Learning Communities Institute; develop-ing sta content knowledge and teaching expertise withinstructional leaders such as content specialists in the coreacademic areas, team leaders, and a literacy coach; provid-ing a rigorous and accelerated curriculum by o ering new and rigorous elective and core courses; engaging adolescentlearners in e ective and di erentiated instruction using indi-vidual student data, innovative technology, and motivationalstrategies; improving organizational structures that promotee ective schedules or students and time or teachers to work collaboratively; and establishing strong parent andcommunity engagement through e ective communication,involvement in the school improvement process, parent workshops, and study circles.

Program Expansion for All Middle SchoolsBuilding on the success o the Middle School MagnetConsortium (MSMC), and guided by the Middle SchoolRe orm Report recommendations, MCPS will phase innew rigorous, instructional program o erings to all middleschools. Over the next ve years, selected schools will choose

rom more than 25 new courses, eld tested in the MSMCor the rst phase o middle schools engaged in the re orm.Tese new program o erings incorporate rigorous course work, including seven high school credit courses, engag-ing content, and innovative units o instruction. Schoolsalso will o er advanced courses in science, world stud-ies, and English. Several o the program components aremultiyear o erings with course pathways that run Gradethrough Grade 8, such as Information and Communicatioechnology 6, Computer-Aided Dra ting and Design,

Applied Robotics Engineering, and Introduction toEngineering Design.



9

Middle School Accelerated and Enriched Instruction (AEI) Math Content Specialist As a part o Middle School Re orm, the AEI math contentspecialist position was created to coach, model e ectiveinstructional practices, and build the content knowledgeand skills o mathematics teachers. As the leader o the localschool mathematics department, the AEI math content spe-cialist monitors and interprets assessment data to promoteindividual student achievement. In addition, the AEI mathcontent specialist serves as an advocate or student access toand success ul completion in advanced mathematics coursesand develops a process to nurture and mentor underachiev-ing or traditionally underserved students. Te AEI mathcontent specialist collaborates with school sta to increasestudent participation, particularly A rican American andHispanic students, in accelerated and enriched courses, andprovides instructional, pro essional, and parental support

or improvement o student achievement in these courses,and monitors and reports quarterly on student access andprogress in accelerated courses.

Middle School Accelerated and Enriched Instruction (AEI) Literacy CoachTe AEI literacy coach creates a process or nurturing/mentoring underachieving and/or traditionally underservedstudents enrolled in accelerated courses. Te AEI literacy coach supports critical thinking, reading, writing, andviewing across the content areas by working directly withteachers, serving as a member o the school leadership team,and communicating with parents. As an instructional leader,the AEI literacy coach develops the school’s literacy plan,including benchmarks and a reporting schedule. Te AEIliteracy coach also collaborates with school sta to increasestudent participation, particularly A rican American andHispanic students, in accelerated and enriched courses, andprovides instructional, pro essional, and parental support

or improvement o student achievement in these courses,and monitors and reports quarterly on student access andprogress in accelerated courses.

Middle School Magnet Consortium (MSMC)MSMC comprises three schools—Argyle Magnet MiddleSchool or In ormation echnology, A. Mario LoiedermanMagnet Middle School or Creative and Per orming Arts, and Parkland Magnet Middle School or Aerospace

echnology. Bene ting rom improvement e orts originally developed under a three-year ederal grant, all MSMCstudents have access to the whole-school magnet pro-grams, eaturing an accelerated core curriculum, specializedcourses, extended learning opportunities, a highly e ectiveinstructional program, and collaborative school partnerships with parents and the community. Each school has a unique,thematic, instructional ocus. Te speci c magnet themesidenti ed or this initiative o er highly unique academicchoices o special interest to young adolescents.

Extended-day and Extended-year Programs(Middle School)Te middle school extended learning opportunities (ELO)include both extended-day and extended-year o erings in

all 38 middle schools. raditionally, the program providesadditional reading and mathematics instruction to studentsin Grades 6, 7, and 8 who need support to achieve Mcurriculum objectives and meet the pro ciency standardson the Maryland School Assessment (MSA). In addition,the extended-year program o ers courses to assist students with the success ul completion o advanced-level math-ematics courses by previewing or reviewing course content

to nurture and support student enrollment and success ulcompletion o advanced-level mathematics courses. Schoolsalso are able to create other course o erings to meet thediverse needs o their students.

High School PlusHigh School Plus (HS+) is a program that helps tostudents for the High School Assessments and providethem with the opportunity to regain lost course creditthat was ormerly relegated to evening high school classes.Over a three-year transitional period, the HS+ programreplaced evening high school. e HS+ program providthree options: repeater sections in the day school’s masterschedule, ull-semester courses, and credit-recovery classeso ered by extending the school day. For FY 2010, thprogram is o ered to all Grades 9-12 high school stuTrough fexible scheduling and targeted o erings, studentsare able to receive the additional academic support they need at their home schools, eliminating the need or sepa-rate evening high school programs.

eLearning—Online Courses for High School StudentsTe goal o the eLearning program is to provide MCPSstudents with the opportunity to enhance their educationalexperience through high-quality online courses. Onlinecourse o erings include MCPS-developed courses andMCPS-approved online courses made available throughthe Maryland State Department o Education’s (MSDE)Maryland Virtual School (MVS). Additional courses arebeing developed by MSDE related to the High Schoo Assessments. Tis high-quality online content will be avail-able to MCPS students as an enhancementStudents may currently take the MCPS-developedComprehensive Health online course (.5 credit) or theFoundations o echnology online course ( .0 credits).Tese courses satis y graduation requirements or healthand technology education, respectively. MCPS students alsohave the opportunity to select rom 8 MSDE-approved Advanced Placement online courses. All online courseoptions require a limited number o ace-to- ace sessions,allowing MCPS to provide the best o online and ace-to-

ace teaching and learning.

Signature Programswenty-three high schools have developed and implement

signature programs. Some high schools have implemented whole-school programs, while other schools have imple-mented smaller learning communities. Te implementationo signature programs supports the process o raising achment by allowing individual school communities to examithe academic needs o their students, with the goal o devoping programs that enhance the learning process or all.



SAT/ACT Intervention PlanTe district has provided a variety o SA /AC prepara-tion programs during and beyond the school day, includingthe SA /AC preparation course o ered through MCPS.MCPS has purchased the riumph College AdmissionsProgram or use by all MCPS high school students ree o charge or the 2009–20 0 school year. MCPS developed anSA /AC Action Plan that can be customized to meet theneeds of individual schools. High schools use the guidelinesand suggestions provided in the SA /AC Action Plan todesign and implement interventions that are most likely to improve the SA /AC preparation or students in theirschools, and to develop their outreach e orts to parents,sta members, and students. MCPS has developed systemwide protocols and web-based tools to monitor SA /ACparticipation and per ormance. Tese tools allow schoolsta to quickly identi y which students have completed thecoursework needed to prepare them or success on thesevarious exams, individual students’ levels o per ormance inthose courses, and students’ prior PSA /SA /AC , per or-mance levels. Te district plans to modi y existing tools tobetter monitor AC participation and per ormance. ACCUPLACERTe ACCUPLACER is a national, computer-adaptiveplacement test developed by the College Board. Te ACCUPLACER measures academic skills in the areas o math (arithmetic, elementary algebra, and college-levelmath) and English (sentence skills, reading comprehension,and writing). Te ACCUPLACER is used by some commu-nity colleges, our-year universities, technical schools, andhigh schools to assist in course placement and/or in assessingthe college readiness of students. During the 2009–2010school year, in partnership with Montgomery College, a

High School ACCUPLACER Project will be conducted as apilot in six high schools.

Minority Student Achievement Initiatives• Education at Is Multicultural— is is a continuous,

integrated, multidisciplinary process or educating allstudents about diversity and commonality. Factors o diversity include race, ethnicity, region, religion, gender,language, socioeconomic status, age, and individuals with disabilities. Supported by curriculum, instructionalresources, and pro essional development, EducationTat Is Multicultural enables students to demonstrateknowledge, understanding, appreciation, and respect orindividuals who represent the many groups in our com-munity. Research and best practices are used to designdiversity training and the systematic in usion o equi-table practices and content into curriculum, instruction,instructional resources, and pro essional development.Tese practices promote high expectations or studentsas a oundation to excellence in teaching and learning.Multicultural education also communicates the belie that every student must have equal opportunities toachieve his or her ull potential

• Kennedy Cluster Project— e goal of the KennedyCluster Project is to create an educational service model

or A rican American students to break down institu-tional discrimination, reduce educational and socialdisparities, and identi y the types o county services thatcan be mobilized to address issues associated with poverty and its impact on school per ormance. As a componento this project, MCPS conducts research to identi y the

actors and activities within the school system that may impact the achievement o individual students and the

overall achievement gap. Tis project builds on researchrom other jurisdictions and academic institutions tosolve the persistent achievement gap. Tese ndings willidenti y key elements or urther re orms and improve-ments and appropriate interventions to reduce theachievement gap and improve student outcomes. Teprogress o this project will be documented through

ormal reports so that its outcomes can be replicateddistrictwide and shared with other jurisdictions acingsimilar issues.

• Minority Achievement Recognition Initiative— isinitiative is a systematic process o collecting and dissemi-nating in ormation regarding targeted community awardsand scholarships to maximize postsecondary options. Inparticular, MCPS has ormed partnerships with severalhistorically black colleges. Tese colleges provide uniqueadmissions and scholarship events or MCPS students.

• e Deputy Superintendent of School’s Minority Achievement Advisory Council—Tis advisory councilprovides a orum or ongoing two-way communicationbetween MCPS leadership and a broad spectrum o com-munity leaders who are committed to increasing minority achievement in MCPS. Stakeholders serve as liaisonsto their communities on issues o critical relevance tominority achievement, and provide advice and counsel tothe deputy superintendent o schools, resulting in a con-structive and productive partnership or the success o allMCPS students.

Services or English or Speakers o OtherLanguages (ESOL) Students• Students Engaged in Pathways to Achievement

(SEPA)—A program that assists ESOL high school stu-dents (ages 8–2 ) with limited or no ormal education who are unable to complete graduation requirementsbe ore they turn 2 . An innovative curriculum includescareer-based English language development instruction,literacy and mathematics instruction, as well as sup-

port or acculturation and amily reuni cation. A amily involvement component ocuses on the unique issuesacing these students and their amilies. Outreach e orts

include collaboration and partnerships with community agencies and organizations to build a sa ety net around

amilies with students enrolled in the SEPA program.• Language Assistance Unit—Translation and interpreta-

tion services are provided in multiple languages usingvarious media to address the need to communicateessential in ormation to our rapidly growing, linguisti-cally diverse community. In ormation is communicatedto parents and community members about curriculum,educational programs and services, assessment, and



11

instruction with the same level o quality that is a ordedEnglish-speaking community members. A new transla-tion management system will be ully implementedacross the district to acilitate translations or centralo ce and schools by creating a Web-based bank o commonly translated documents that can be used by requestors to sel -generate translations.

• Test of English for Speakers of Foreign Languages( OEFL)—Te OEFL assessment is a college entrancerequirement or students whose native language is notEnglish. In Montgomery County, there are approxi-mately 500 ESOL students quali ed to take the OEFLexam. MCPS will continue to serve as a test center or

OEFL and routinely will o er this assessment to allquali ed MCPS students. Te school system will assumethe registration ee or any student meeting incomecriteria.

Removing Barriers to Learning—StudentServices and Mental Health• School-based problem-solving teams, including

Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) teams andEducational Management eams (EM ), are beingimplemented in every school. Tese teams ocus onearly intervention by providing instructional, social,and behavioral interventions to better meet the needs o students in the regular classroom setting and to ensureschool success. In addition, many schools are imple-menting Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports(PBIS). School sta use o ce discipline re erral and sus-pension data to monitor implementation, identi y areaso concern, and develop prevention and interventionstrategies.

• e truancy and dropout prevention initiative includesthe Interagency ruancy Review Board. Tis interagency board provides students, their amilies, and school sta with ocused strategies to reduce individual cases o habitual truancy. Te board develops an action plan orthe student, amily, and school that the pupil personnel worker and other school sta monitor or compliance orre ers the case to the State’s Attorney’s O ce or possiblecourt action.

• e Department of Student Services is collaborating with the Montgomery County Collaboration Council toprovide access or students with intense needs to availablecommunity services through the wraparound processes.Students can be re erred or these services throughschool- and system-level problem-solving teams, and the

ruancy Review Board.

School LeadershipTe elementary school assistant principal is an essentialleadership position in today’s high-stakes testing environ-ment. Success ul schools have strong principals at the helm who are able to ocus on their role as instructional leaders. Assistant principals a ord principals the ability to concen-trate on instructional leadership and play a vital part inmaintaining school sa ety and continuity when the princi-pal is away rom the building. All but twenty elementary

schools will have assistant principals in FY 2010.

Sa e and Secure SchoolsMCPS continues to ensure a sa e and secure educationalenvironment through ongoing security initiatives. Teseinclude the ollowing:• Closed-circuit television in high schools and middl

schools enhance the monitoring capability o school staand help to ensure the sa ety o all students.

• An Incident Reporting System provides for consistand timely reporting o serious incidents in schools.

• A Memorandum of Understanding among MCPS,the Montgomery County Police Department, and theMontgomery County State’s Attorney’s O ce ensuresconsistent reporting o serious incidents to the police.

• School Safety and Security at a Glance, an annuaschool sa ety report was published or the rst time in2008–2009. Tis report provides systemwide and indi-vidual school data on serious incidents and suspensionson a yearly basis. It provides greater transparency andaccountability or incidents that impact school sa ety an

results in greater improvement in identi ying and rem-edying issues related to school sa ety.In addition, MCPS has developed a comprehensive crisisresponse manual or sta use when responding to emer-gencies. Te manual addresses the sa ety and emotional well-being o students. A Sa e Schools Action Plan has beedeveloped to ensure sa e and welcoming learning environ-ments that are ree o harassment and bullying. rainingmaterials or reporting child abuse and neglect and suiciderisk guidelines have been developed and disseminated toschool-based sta .Te Montgomery County Police Department and MCPShave collaboratively developed and implemented anEducational Facilities O cer (EFO) program. Te purposeo the program is to maintain and enhance a sa e and securlearning environment or students, sta , and the schoolcommunity. EFOs are responsible or improving coordina-tion and communication in an emergency, disaster, crisis,or dangerous situation, with the overall goal o maintainingand enhancing a sa e and secure learning environment.

Graduation Rate Project TeamsTe United States Department o Education issued new regulations in November 2008 regarding the consistentcalculation o graduation rates under theNo Child Le t

Behind Act.Te intent o the regulations is to allow oraccurate comparisons o graduation rate data throughoutthe country. Te Maryland State Department o Educationmust revise the graduation rate ormula in order to comply

with these new federal regulations. Graduation rate isas an indicator to determine Adequate Yearly Progresshigh school level. wo project teams will bring stakeholderstogether to proactively respond to the regulatory changesthrough the development o consistent communicationplans, data gathering and reporting systems, analysis o existing local and national dropout prevention programs,and recommendations to ensure that the established targetsare achieved.



Milestones: Data Points:• All students will acquire the essential skills and knowledge

to meet or exceed standards in reading and mathematicsby the end of Grade 2

o Enrollment in pre-K o TerraNova 2 in Grade 2o MCPS-AP Reading (pre-K–2)o Math Unit Assessments (Grade 2)

• All schools will increase enrollment and performanceof all students in gifted, Honors, Advanced Placement,International Baccalaureate, and other college-levelcourses, with a ocus on improving enrollment andperformance of African American and Hispanic students.

o Gifted and Talented screening (Grade 2)o Advanced Math in Grade 5 Pro ciency o Honors/Advanced Placement, International

Baccalaureate, and other college-level coursesenrollment

o AP/IB ests—Participation and Per ormance

• MCPS will eliminate the disproportionate representationof African American and Hispanic students in special

education.

o Students receiving special education services

• All schools will provide students with disabilities accessto the general education environment, to the maximumextent appropriate.

o Special education students receiving services ingeneral education

• All schools will achieve or exceed local and state standardsor attendance.

o Attendance by schoolo Dropout rateo Ineligibility or extracurricular activities, by school

GOAL 2: Provide an E ectiveInstructional Program

Board o Education Academic Priorities:• Align rigorous curriculum, delivery of instruction, and assessment for continuous improvement of student

achievement• Expand and deliver literacy-based initiatives from prekindergarten through Grade 12 to support student achie• Develop, pilot, and expand improvements in secondary content, instruction, and programs that support studen

active engagement in learning• Use student, sta , school, and system performance data to monitor and improve student achievementTe ollowing milestones and data points are aligned with the strategies and initiatives inOur Call to Actionto providerigorous instruction and promote increased achievement or all students while eliminating the achievement gap. o thatend, MCPS is committed to engaging all students in a rigorous academic program and, in particular, to ensuring thatstudent achievement is not predictable by race. Te district will implement the guidelines established in theBridge toExcellence in Public Schools Act . Data will be disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, languagepro ciency, or disability. AlthoughOur Call to Actionstates that all students are expected to attain certain milestones,some students, due to their disabilities, will not achieve these milestones and will ollow alternative curricula.



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Provide an Efective Instructional ProgramMonitoring the Instructional ProgramMontgomery County Public Schools utilizes a range o assessments to measure and monitor student achievement,including all acets o the assessment program mandatedby the Maryland State Department o Education (MSDE)to comply with the No Child Le t Behind Act (NCLB).Tese mandated assessments include the Maryland School Assessment, Alternate Maryland School Assessment, andLanguage Assessment System-Links, an English-languagepro ciency test. Additionally, MSDE requires students totake the High School Assessment (HSA) in order to ful ll

graduation requirements. Locally, MCPS requires studentsto take a standardized test, TerraNova 2nd Edition, in Grade2. MCPS also supports the administration o nationalassessments such as the PSAT (given to all Grade 10 MCPSstudents) and the National Assessment o EducationalProgress (administered to a sample o students as part o theNCLB mandate).Te O ce o Shared Accountability (OSA) conductsresearch to understand actors that infuence student out-comes and perceptions o school quality. Extensive researchreports on standardized tests are produced, which supportdata-driven decision making, school improvement, andacademic achievement. Additionally, OSA designs and

conducts comprehensive evaluations o selected MCPSprograms, policies, and initiatives to provide evaluativein ormation on processes and outcomes through implemen-tation and outcome studies.

Online CurriculumIn spring 200 , MCPS embarked on a monumental e ortto revise the curriculum in reading, English/language arts,mathematics, science, and social studies. Developmentcontinues in social studies, elementary science, oreignlanguage, ESOL, art, music, health education, physical edu-cation, and moving-image education.

Currently, instructional guides have been completed inmathematics, pre-K through pre-calculus; reading/languagearts, pre-K through Grade 5; English/reading, Grades6–10; science, Grades 4–8 and ve high school courses;social studies, Grades 1–8 and two high school courses;health education, Grades 6–8 and one high school course;art, Grades 1–3, Grade 6, and one high school course;choral and general music, Grades 1 and 2, and one highschool course; instrumental music, Grades 4 and 5; ESOL,

ve levels at elementary, middle, and high school; andFundamental Li e Skills.



OARS saves time by seamlessly producing student progressreports, interim reports, and report cards.In Grades 1–5, OARS comprises an electronic standards-based grade book linked to a standards-based report card.OARS will be implemented in Grades 1–5 in 25 elemenschools during 2009–20 0 and will be phased into addi-tional schools and grade levels in subsequent school years.

In Grades 6–12, OARS comprises an electronic grade boand integrated classroom-to-home communication system.Tese systems are ully operational in all secondary schools.

Delivery o Services or Special EducationStudentsImplementation o Services—OSESS has implemented asta ng plan and management system or special educationservices.• e Home School Model (HSM)–– is model, estab-

lished to provide services to students with disabilities intheir neighborhood elementary school, is the oundation

or inclusive educational practices. Te service delivery model for HSM schools ensures access to consultatioresources, and small-group instruction to address theneeds o students with disabilities. Similar to hours-basedsta ng, HSM sta ng allocations are based on the cum-lative hours o special education instructional servicesrecommended in all students’ IEPs or each school ratherthan on an individual student count. As a result o theHSM, more students with disabilities attend school wtheir neighborhood peers and participate in academicand extracurricular activities that a school provides or itscommunity.

• Hours-based Sta ng–– is model provides special edu-

cation sta ng based on the cumulative hours o specialeducation instructional services recommended in allstudents’ Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) oreach school rather than on an individual child count.Te hours-based sta ng model allows students withdisabilities access to a continuum o services, includingconsultation, resource, cotaught classes, and sel -con-tained classes.

• Learning and Academic Disabilities (LAD)––ServicesLAD students are available in selected elementary schoolsand in all secondary comprehensive schools countywide. At the elementary level, these schools provide services tostudents requiring access to a sel -contained setting, when

appropriate. Increasingly, elementary schools responsibleor providing LAD services ensure students with disabili-ties obtain access to the general education environment,to the maximum extent appropriate. At the second-ary level, these services include access to consultation,resource, co-taught, or sel -contained classes.

• Online IEP System—MCPS implemented an OnlineIEP system, an integrated Web-based special educationmanagement system that addresses the systemic goalo using technology to support the learning process.Te Online IEP system is designed to acilitate the

In the 2008–2009 school year, all available current MCPScurriculum documents were housed centrally in an onlinecurriculum archive. Te archive allows immediate, search-able access through the Internet to new or revised MCPScurriculum documents previously available only on paper. A new online learning community will be introducedin 2009–20 0 to develop and disseminate curriculum,instructional resources, and pro essional development ina collaborative environment. Curriculum or English , Advanced Science 7, and Kindergarten will be the rstareas developed and disseminated electronically in thisenvironment. Te online learning community will provideuser-collaboration eatures, which include the ability toparticipate in community orums or questions and answers,provide eedback on posted resources, create sel -selectedplanning groups, and receive curriculum and pro essionaldevelopment announcements.Te online learning community will provide teachers withthe resources to apply the principles o Universal Design orLearning to embed fexible materials, techniques, and strate-gies into instruction and assessment, so that all students canaccess content and demonstrate learning. Providing curricu-lar and instructional resources electronically will acilitateo ering multiple methods or engaging students, presentingcontent, and assessing learning.

Standards-based Grading and ReportingSystemImplementation o Board o Education Policy IKA:Grading and Reporting , is being phased in over a multiyear period.During the 2007–2008 school year, implementation o the policy in elementary and secondary schools broughtgreater consistency to evaluating and communicating stu-

dents’ academic per ormance across schools and classrooms.Procedures were developed to bring more consistency in secondary schools to the application o the Online Achievement and Reporting System (OARS). During the2008–2009 school year, an electronic standards-basedgrade book was implemented as the elementary version o OARS in a limited number of schools for Grades 1–3. eseschools will expand their use o the electronic standards-based grade book to Grades 4–5 in 2009–2010.Changing the grading and reporting philosophy, procedures,and practices is highly complex and requires systematic col-laboration and communication across o ces, schools, andparent/community groups. Implementation o this policy

aligns with the system’s re orm e orts to improve teachingand learning in all schools or all students.

Online Achievement and Reporting SystemTe Online Achievement and Reporting System (OARS)comprises an electronic grade book and an integratedclassroom-to-home communication system. OARS enhancescommunication with parents and students about studentprogress and is aligned with the implementation o the grad-ing and reporting policy. For teachers and administrators,



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management o special education by enabling adminis-trators to monitor the special education process in theirbuildings and ensuring that timely action is taken atcritical points in each student’s program. Te system alsois designed to streamline special education paperwork by giving sta members remote, fexible, and secure accessto required documents.

• Disproportionality— Several work groups have beenexamining the disproportionate identi cation, place-ment, and disciplinary removal o A rican American andHispanic special education students in MCPS. One workgroup, the Disproportionality Steering Committee, hascompleted a report o their ndings and recommenda-tions. Tis report o ered compelling data and suggestedde nite action steps or MCPS in its e orts to addressthe issue o disproportionality. Te M-Stat Suspensioneam has been examining the disproportionate suspen-

sion o students with disabilities as well as the overallsuspension rates.In order to eliminate the disproportionate identi cationo students or special education based upon race andethnicity, our reports have been issued. Tese reportssupply in ormation to community superintendents andadministrators to aid in adjusting practices, policies, andprocedures. Te Students Newly Identi ed or SpecialEducation Services Report is distributed to all principalsand community superintendents on a quarterly basis.Te Least Restrictive Environment Report identi es by level and by school, the percentage o students who areeducated in the general education environment. TeHome School Report informs central o ce and school-based sta about special education students receivingservices in and out o their home school geographic areaand how each school is impacted by special educationprograms. Te Special Education Identi cation Report,distributed annually, shows the overall percentage o newly identi ed students within each racial/ethnic groupby school level and individual school, and whether ornot these percentages are disproportionate or that schoolyear.

• Early Intervention Services—MCPS is taking a multi-aceted approach to the challenge o educating a diverse

population and addressing the disproportionate identi-cation o students or special education programming,

based on race and ethnicity. Te ollowing comprehen-sive, coordinated, early-intervention services are beingprovided to those students at risk or special educa-tion identi cation and in need o additional academicand behavioral support to succeed in general educa-tion: Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports,Collaborative Problem Solving, Measures o AcademicProgress in Reading (MAP–R), Read 80, the Summer Adventures in Learning or itle I schools, MiddleSchool Extended-Year Program, and pre-K servicesdesigned to build oundational skills or uture schoolsuccess.

• Suspension—MCPS has completed year two of astate-mandated Corrective Action Plan due to the

disproportionate suspension rate and the proceduralrequirements or students with disabilities. TeCorrective Action Plan focused on revising procedurand practices to ensure that students with disabilitiesare a orded their procedural sa eguards and rights whenthey are suspended rom school. Te O ce o SpecialEducation and Student Services (OSESS) coordinatedsystemwide pro essional development, conducted exten-

sive record reviews, and engaged in ongoing, intensivemonitoring to ensure that proper procedures were beingollowed. Te OSESS development and implementation

o a systemwide monitoring tool assisted in achievingthe compliance required to be released rom correc-tive action. A suspension work group led by the O ceo School Per ormance culminated in two systemwideM-S A meetings where overall suspensions werereviewed and alternative practices to suspensions weregenerated. Following the M-S A meetings, rates o sus-pensions decreased signi cantly, including the suspensiono students with disabilities.

• Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)—Strategies are beimplemented to ensure that students with disabilities, asa subgroup, make academic progress to enable all schoolsto make AYP. e expansion, implementation, and m-itoring o reading and math interventions in schools havecontributed to the improved per ormance outcomes o students with disabilities. Te increase in the percentageo students with disabilities receiving access to the cur-riculum in the general education environment also hascontributed to the improved per ormance outcomes o students with disabilities.

• Middle School Reading Initiatives—Research-basedreading interventions have been implemented in schoolsat risk of failing to meet AYP due to the special-tion subgroup.

• Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)—More inclusiopportunities are being supported through the expansiono preschool collaboration classes, the provision o job-embedded pro essional development, additional sta ng

or LRE at the secondary level, and the use o countywide itinerant LRE resource teachers.

• Professional Development—Professional developmentactivities are being implemented that ocus on co-teaching, di erentiation, Universal Design or Learning,accessibility training, positive behavior interventions,test-taking strategies, and providing accommodations.

Continuum o Accelerated and EnrichedInstructionMCPS is committed to promoting rigorous per ormancestandards and providing instructional programs thatencourage all students to achieve at their highest level. A continuum o programs and services begins at pre-K through Grade 2, with an emphasis on talent develop At all levels, students may accelerate learning and partici-pate in advanced-level course work at their local schools.Instruction is di erentiated to provide all students,



including students in traditionally underserved groups,appropriate pacing and levels o support necessary oradvanced-level learning. Students may also attend specialprograms such as centers or the highly gi ted, magnet pro-grams, or specialized programs, based on student interestand talent.Global Screening Project Team—Elimination of the long-standing disproportionate identi cation o A rican Americanand Hispanic students through the global screening processis a strategic initiative o MCPS. Tis multi-stakeholderproject team will make recommendations that shouldoccur for all students prior to and as a result of the GlobalScreening process to address equity in access to rigor; highexpectations; success ul completion o rigorous instructionalprograms; parent communication; and barriers to instruc-tional opportunities. A speci c emphasis will include theequitable provision o services or A rican American andHispanic students.

Honors/Advanced Placement/InternationalBaccalaureate and Advanced-level CoursesSuccess in rigorous course work throughout all grade lev-els remains the best preparation or continued individualsuccess in the postsecondary world o college and the work-place. MCPS remains committed to providing each student with the most rigorous educational experience necessary to

ul ll his or her academic interest and potential. A major system initiative, incorporating the work o many MCPS o ces and stakeholders, established the expectationthat students will participate in a rigorous curriculum atall grade levels, in preparation for participation in Honors, Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, andcollege-level course work in high school. A cross- unctional

M-Stat team is working to ensure students’ access to andsuccess ul experiences in rigorous courses. Immediate andlong-range targets and goals have been set or studentparticipation and per ormance in rigorous course work systemwide.

Business Partnerships and TrainingMCPS business partners serve on advisory boards or eacho the MCPS career clusters, provide student internshipsand scholarships, and interact with students during eventsand mock interviews. Working with local industry or gov-ernment pro essionals, students gain rst-hand experiencein a career o their choice. Tis combination o classroomand work site provides a dynamic orientation to the business world, career and postsecondary educational planning, andcareer preparation. At the annual pro essional-style con er-ence, students attend sessions o interest and interact withbusiness partners.

Saturday School Programe George B. omas, Sr. Learning Academy, Inc. Saturday

School provides additional support or struggling studentsand acceleration or students seeking greater challenges,using lessons aligned to the MCPS curriculum. Volunteers

and part-time sta members hold Saturday classes at 2 sitesthroughout the county and o er mentoring and instructionin reading, language arts, and mathematics or students inGrades 1–12.

IneligibilityDuring the 2007–2008 school year, a project team was cre-ated to review the issue o disproportionate ineligibility,particularly for African American and Hispanic studentscreate targets to measure school and system per ormance.During the 2008–2009 school year, an M-Stat team, withrepresentatives rom middle and high schools, developed theprocess or the application o the targets. Tis group deter-mined that the targets would be applied using data on thepercentage o students who are ineligible or three or ourmarking periods. During 2009–20 0, school and systemdata will be reported on these targets. Te M-Stat group willidenti y and share best practices that have been ound tolower ineligibility rates.

Higher Education Partnerships or StudentsHigher education partnerships increase college awarenessaccess and readiness, and ensure that MCPS graduateshave the knowledge and skills necessary or postsecondary success. MCPS has ormed a Pre-K through 20 Councilin partnership with Montgomery College (MC) and theUniversity System o Maryland. Te Council is comprised o representatives rom each o the three institutions. Te ocuso the partnership involves developing seamless and sys-temic processes to ensure that all students—prekindergartenthrough graduate school—are prepared or college, careers,and beyond.argeted partnerships with MC o er college programs to all

MCPS high school students. Trough the College Instituteprogram (CI), high-achieving high school seniors earn col-lege credits on a high school campus during the schoolday. Trough the CI program, MC pro essors teach collegecourses to quali ed juniors and/or seniors. Gaithersburg, John F. Kennedy, Seneca Valley, and Tomas S. Woottonhigh schools participate in the CI program. Early Placementprograms extend the existing high school curriculum, o er-ing opportunities or college-ready high school seniorsto earn trans erable college credits. All quali ed MCPSstudents have the opportunity to participate in MC’s early placement program by taking college courses o ered on thehigh school campus or at one o the three MC campuses.

e MC partnership also provided Clarksburg High Schoostudents with a “virtual” Early Placement program experi-ence by allowing participating student to earn college creditby accessing MC’s online course curriculum. Te MCPS/MC Gateway to College program o ers an alternative tthe traditional high school program or youth at risk o dropping out o high school. Trough a new partnershipbetween the Universities at Shady Grove (USG), MC, anMCPS, MC pro essors instruct College Institute studentsfrom omas S. Wootton High School in the new state-othe-art facility at USG. Dual Enrollment partnerships withe University o Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC),



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MC, and the University o Maryland College Park (UMCP)o er college courses to students at Wheaton, Walter Johnson, Walt Whitman, and Northwood high schools. TeNational Labor College o ers college courses to identi edstudents on the campus of omas Edison High School of

echnology.

Technology An essential tool in supporting teaching and learning andoperational e ectiveness, technology solutions ocus on acil-itating “anywhere, anytime” access to timely in ormation,instructional models and best practices, and pro essionaldevelopment o erings to meet the needs o a large andchanging teaching orce. echnology also is being used toevaluate the e ectiveness o sta development in changingbehaviors and practices and developing pro essional capacity.

echnology solutions such asmyMCPS save time or teach-ers and other sta members and provide data to target anddi erentiate pro essional development. In MCPS, technol-ogy also supports accountability by providing resources thatquickly help diagnose both what a student knows and needsand acilitates timely access to use ul in ormation or thesupervision o sta and schools.Te MCPS strategic technology plan, Educational echnology or 21st Century Learning , describes the ways MCPS willaddress the challenges inherent in the rapidly changing

eld o technology and how our school system will meetthe technology-related needs o its students, educators, andstakeholders. Tis plan contains our goals that guide theschool system’s technology-related decisions, priorities, andresource allocations.

Goal 1: Students will use technology to become aengaged in learning.Goal 2: School sta will address the digital divide

through equitable access to technology.Goal 3: Sta will improve technology skills throug-essional development.Goal 4: Sta will use technology to improve prod

and results.

Technology Data-driven Decision Making Achievement Center that is part o myMCPS is a custom-ized, Web-based suite o resources that organizes data rommultiple sources to allow school and central o ce sta tomonitor student per ormance and make data-driven deci-sions to improve teaching and learning. Te center enablesaccess to system-, school-, class- and student-level data

Achievement Center includes data on student formativesummative assessments, marks, grade point average (GPineligibility, schedules, enrollment, and more. Reportingavailable for both current and longitudinal student data.o support the success ul implementation o myMCPS , the

planned change management strategy will include com-prehensive communication, pro essional development, andsupport that will acilitate job-embedded authentic partici-pation with the myMCPS portal. Te implementation willbe monitored or e ective use o the technology solutiontool itsel and or changes to instructional practices.



Milestones: Data Points:• e district and local schools communicate with

parents regularly about MCPS’ educational programand students’ academic progress.

o Parent Satis action Survey biannual resultso Attendance at and evaluation o systemwide parent

workshops and meetings

o Results rom eedback cards and online surveyso Edline activation

• e district has processes in place for stakeholderinput in systemwide policy development, strategicplanning, budget development, and implementationo district initiatives.

o Participation in Board o Education and systemwidemeetings, hearings, and community orums

o Representation on Board o Education and systemwide work groups and advisory committees

o Results rom eedback cards and online surveys

• All schools are welcoming to our diverse studentand parent communities and provide variedopportunities or engaging parents as partners.

o Parent and Student Satis action Survey biannual resultso Parent participation on School Improvement eamso Volunteer data

• e district and local schools collaborate withcounty agencies and parent, student, civic, business,and community organizations to support studentsuccess.

o District and local school partnership data

GOAL 3: Strengthen ProductivePartnerships or Education

Board of Education Academic Priority:

• Strengthen family-school relationships and continue to expand civic, business, and communitypartnerships that support improved student achievement

Te Board o Education is responsible or enhancing two-way communication between the Board anddiverse segments o the community and promoting greater public engagement between the Board and itsstakeholders. Montgomery County Public Schools will implement the guidelines established in theBridge to Excellence in Public Schools Act and relevant policies and regulations on parent, student, and community involvement: Policy ABC and Regulation ABC-RA,Parental Involvement,Policy ABA, and Regulation ABA-RA,Community Involvement,Policy BMA,Board o Education Advisory Committees,RegulationCEA-RA,Establishing Systemwide Committees,Regulation CEB-RA,Role and Membership o the Council onInstruction, Policy JFA and Regulation JFA-RA,Student Rights and Responsibilities,and Policy AEB,Strategic Planning or Continuous Improvement.



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Strengthen ProductivePartnerships or EducationMCPS is committed to supporting a strong and activeparent community and ensuring that amily engagemente orts refect the diversity o local school communities.Te school system strives to oster broad-based community involvement by constituents with a vested interest in theeducation o children. Te Board o Education meets regu-larly with parent, student, community, business, and civicgroups. In order to strengthen productive partnerships

or education, the school system must employ e ective

two-way communication in a variety o languages usingmultiple orms o media and person-to-person interactionat all levels. Te district and local schools strive to createenvironments where students, parents, and community members eel welcome and respected and where their ideasand perspectives are valued in decision-making processes.

Building School Capacityo build the capacity o schools in the area o amily

engagement, parent outreach sta rom the Departmento Family and Community Partnerships and the Divisiono itle I Programs model strategies and techniques thatenhance school-based family outreach e orts. Strategies

include home visits, school improvement ocus groups, andcreative multilingual family outreach practices. School-based sta learn best practices in amily engagementthrough the Pro essional Learning Communities Institute(PLCI) and regular updates in Te Bulletin. In additionto PLCI, administrators receive in ormation and train-ing through ongoing pro essional development providedby the O ce o Organizational Development, M-S A , Administrative and Supervisory meetings, as well as theMCPS Principal’s oolkit, a compilation o best practices

rom MCPS schools, practical strategies or making schools welcoming to all parents, and tips or e ectively involvingparents on School Improvement eams. Te toolkit also

includes presentation plans or parent workshops, materi-als and resources on a variety o topics, a bibliography, andlinks to amily engagement resources on the Web.

Parent AcademyTe purpose o the Parent Academy is to empower par-ents as advocates and e ective partners in their children’seducation. Parents have the opportunity to attend ree workshops in di erent languages during the school year inlocations throughout the county. Te sessions have beendeveloped a ter extensive parental input and are



designed to help parents understand the school system andhow to access system and community resources. Evaluationand eedback results are used to re ne presentations andmaterials. Workshops also provide strategies or parents inadvocating or their children and becoming involved in theirlocal schools and at the district level. Te Parent Academy is a collaboration among parent organizations, county agen-cies, and business and community organizations.

Parent Outreach Sta Training ProgramCentral o ce and school-based parent outreach sta work with parents on a daily basis and provide them with key in ormation about the school system and strategies orhelping their children succeed. It is important that theseparent outreach sta members have the most current andaccurate in ormation about academic programs, graduationrequirements, and school and community resources. A com-prehensive training program or parent outreach sta will beimplemented throughout the year and sta will receive mul-timedia materials (including copies o the MCPS-producedprogram Our Schools oday) in di erent languages. Tesematerials can be used by outreach sta in their daily work and in meetings and workshops to ensure that all parentsreceive correct and consistent in ormation.

Parent Guide to Montgomery County PublicSchoolsParent Guide to Montgomery County Public Schools anda companion DVD in six languages will be produced basedon eedback rom parents throughout the school system. Teparent section o the MCPS website also will be updated tocomplement the publication and to make it easier or par-ents to nd in ormation on the Web. Workshops on topics

covered in the Parent Guide also are o ered as part of theParent Academy and are conducted in multiple languages.Current systemwide news and in ormation are shared regu-larly with parents using a variety o media and in multiplelanguages. Tese include print and online newsletters insix languages; Parent Connection and Quick Notes; theMCPS website that includes ve oreign language mini sites;and television programs and videos in multiple languages,including Our Schools oday, Education Matters, ake 0,and Diez Minutos.

Ask MCPSSeveral Ask MCPS events or amilies are held in locations

throughout the county to share in ormation and resources with parents about the school system and to supportlearning at home. Tese events are held in the mornings,evenings, and on the weekends at malls, public libraries,schools, and other community locations. Drop-In Co eesare held throughout the year to provide parents the oppor-tunity to stop by and have their questions answered andconnect with school and community resources. Parentsand community members also can have their questions inEnglish and Spanish answered by calling the Ask MCPS CallCenter weekdays rom 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. or by sendingan e-mail to [email protected]

Te annual Back-to-School Fair, held on the Saturday be orethe rst day o school, is open to all students and their ami-lies. Tis large-scale, Ask MCPS event provides amilies witha one-stop opportunity to learn about the school system,get questions answered, pick up ree school supplies, andenjoy live entertainment and amily un activities. Te air isa systemwide event with collaborative support rom county government agencies, nonpro t organizations and donations

rom businesses.

Parent Advisory Council A Parent Advisory Council to the O ce o Communica-tions and Family Outreach advises the school systemon ways to improve two-way communication and par-ent engagement e orts and also provides eedback onmaterials developed by MCPS to ensure that they are“parent- riendly” and written clearly. Parent organizationsare represented on the advisory council as well as parentsserving in an individual capacity who refect the diversity o our student population. Te Parent Advisory Council devel-oped and conducted training on parent advocacy throughthe Parent Academy and will continue to create resourcesand materials or the development o a parent advocacy curriculum.

Communication about Grades All secondary schools use Edline, which allows parents andstudents to review grades regularly on a password-protected website. Student grades are published to Edline automati-cally on a nightly basis, Sunday through Tursday. eachershave the option to post class materials, assignments, duedates, course expectations, and Web links or their classes.Central services sta supports schools in their e orts toensure that all parents activate their Edline accounts and usethem regularly.Parents o high school students receive a report that letsthem monitor their children’s progress toward ul lling grad-uation requirements. e Student Grades and GraduationCredit Report accompanies the rst and third markingperiod report cards and includes course grades, the num-ber o credits earned and the number needed to graduate,the status of High School Assessments, and the numberservice-learning hours earned and needed to graduate.

Language Assistance ServicesTe district and local schools have dramatically increasedthe number o translated materials made available to parentsand interpretation services or individual and group meet-ings. During the 2009–20 0 school year, the school system will move to Web-based systems to more e ectively ande ciently provide translation and interpretation services orschools and amilies.

Student Emerging Leaders ProgramIn collaboration with the Montgomery County BusinessRoundtable or Education, MCPS provides an opportu-nity or more than 00 MCPS juniors to participate in the



21

Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional HispanicCaucus Annual Legislative Con erence. Students also com-plete and present a project on a topic discussed by legislatorsand meet with their local congressional representatives.

Ruth Rales Comcast Kids Reading Network Te Ruth Rales Comcast Kids Reading Network is a part-nership with the RFI Foundation, Comcast Cable Inc.,and the Montgomery County Department of Health andHuman Services developed ve years ago to improve thereading skills o at-risk students. More than 600 community volunteers tutor more than 700 Grade 2 students in read-ing or 30 weeks. Tis reading initiative will continue to beimplemented in 66 elementary schools that have the highestlevels o student poverty and English language learners.

Study CirclesStudy Circles is a six-week dialogue program that engagessmall groups o diverse parents, sta , and students todevelop personal and group actions that address racial andethnic barriers to student achievement and parent involve-ment. Te O ce o Communications and Family Outreachand trained acilitators support the Study Circles and theimplementation o the action steps.

Conquista Tus Sueños (Realize Your Dreams)Tis program conducted in Spanish is designed to empowerLatino parents by teaching them strategies to improvecommunication, strengthen amily relationships, under-stand the school system, and advocate or their children’sschool success. Te Department o Family and Community Partnerships conducts the six-week program in collaboration with the local school.

Partners or SuccessTe Department o Family and Community Partnershipscollaborates with the O ce o Special Education andStudent Services to coordinate amily support services

or students with disabilities as part o an IDEA StateDiscretionary Outreach grant. Parent outreach sta wo with parents and school sta to promote and encourageparents as ull partners in the special education process by providing resources and in ormation; acilitating workshops

or parents to support learning at home and parent advo-cacy; providing parents support at EMT, IEP and otherschool meetings; and connecting amilies to community resources.

Individual Family SupportParent outreach sta o er parents support in advocating

or their child and working with school sta to resolveissues that a ect student achievement. Parents are providedsupport rom the Department o Family and Community Partnerships, Division o ESOL/Bilingual Programs,

Department o Student Services, and the Division o Early Childhood Programs and Services. Parents receive help withunderstanding the instructional program, the special educa-tion process, and support at a con erence or school meetingto discuss issues a ecting their child.Te Board o Education Ombudsman is also available toassist parents, residents, and students who have issues, com-plaints, information or suggestions. e Ombudsman isconsidered an independent or neutral party who seeks toresolve school-related problems as quickly and e ciently as possible, especially or those or which a ormal resolu-tion process does not exist. Although the Ombudsmanavailable to answer questions regarding ormal appeals, the

Ombudsman does not generally intervene in such cases.



Milestones: Data Points:• All employees will be provided with high-quality

pro essional development opportunities to promoteindividual and organizational e ectiveness.

o Teacher Professional Growth System datao Administrative and Supervisory Professional Growth

System datao Supporting Services Professional Growth System datao Sta who receive high-quality pro essional

development

• Systems are in place to recruit, support, and retain highlyquali ed and diverse pro essional and support personnel.

o Diversity in work orceo Highly quali ed teacherso Highly quali ed paraeducators

• All o ces and departments have strategic plans that arealigned withOur Call to Action: Pursuit of Excellence

o Ofce and department strategic plans

• All schools develop school improvement plans that addressthe needs o allNo Child Left Behind subgroups using theBaldrige-guided School Improvement Planning Process.

o School improvement plans

• e work environment promotes employee well-being,satis action, and positive morale.

o Sta survey data on school environmento Sta survey data on ofce environment

• MCPS recognizes sta e orts and achievement in pursuito system goals and related priorities.

o Employee recognition data

GOAL 4: Create a Positive Work Environment in aSel -renewing Organization

• Organize and optimize resources for improved academic results

• Use student, sta , school, and system performance data to monitor and improve student achievem

• Foster and sustain systems that support and improve employee e ectiveness, in partnership with Memployee organizations



23


Creating a Positive Work Environmentin a Sel -renewing Organization

Leading or EquityMontgomery County Public Schools is committed toimproving academic achievement or all students whilesimultaneously eliminating the achievement gap by race.MCPS aspires to be a school system where student achieve-ment is no longer predictable by race. In order to achievethis mission, MCPS is committed to building the capacity o all sta to promote equity or all students.MCPS works to build the capacity o school and o celeaders by providing ongoing pro essional develop-ment or principals and central o ce directors. Since2005, bimonthly Superintendent’s Administrative andSupervisory (A&S) meetings have been focused on issuessurrounding race and its impact on teaching and learn-ing and the work environment. In addition, the O ce o Organizational Development (OOD) has devoted monthly sta meetings to equity training or the past our years. Asa result, all OOD sta , including consulting teachers, sta development specialists, consulting principals, pro essionalgrowth consultants, sta development content specialists,technology consultants, and Studying Skill ul eachingsta , have received extensive training in leading courageousconversations about race.In 2009–20 0, MCPS will continue to develop and de nea systemic ramework or promoting equity and address-ing race, including clear expectations or implementation,explanations o available supports, and guidelines ormonitoring progress.

Pro essional Growth Systems or Teachers,Administrators, and Support Pro essionals

Professional Growth System for Teachers

Montgomery County Public Schools collaborated withemployee associations to trans orm schools into pro es-sional learning communities through the implementationof a professional growth system (PGS) for teachers.

rough the Teacher PGS, MCPS provides an environ-ment in which teachers are a orded time, support, andopportunities or continuous growth and improvement.

e central components of the PGS for teachers are asollows:

• A common language and framework for teaching gthrough the courses Studying Skill ul eaching andObserving and Analyzing eaching.

• A standards-based evaluation plan for teachers thatprovides eedback, holistic rating, and an analysis o student results. Tis plan is based on the six per ormancestandards based on the National Board or Pro essional

eaching Standards.

• A focus on continuous improvement of professionathrough job-embedded pro essional development sup-ported by a sta development teacher in each school.

• A continuous examination of and re ection on perpro essional growth through individual pro essional devopment plans.

• A Peer Assistance and Review (PAR) program, inca PAR panel and consulting teacher support or teachersnew to teaching and or experienced teachers per ormingbelow standard.

• Sta development time provided by substitute teachsupport job-embedded pro essional development.

Te PAR program provides support and guidance to teachersto ensure that they meet standards o per ormance. Intensivindividualized instructional assistance is provided or all noice teachers and those experienced teachers who are judgedto be “below standard” in their evaluation. Te support isprovided by a cadre o consulting teachers, selected or theiteaching skill and their ability to work well as change agents



with other teachers. Te PAR panel—composed o eightteachers and eight principals—governs the PAR program.Te PAR panel selects the consulting teachers, overseesthe support provided to classroom teachers, and makes therecommendations regarding employment status or thoseserved by the program.

Professional Growth System for Administrators

and Supervisorse Administrative and Supervisory Professional Growth

System (A&S PGS) establishes the framework that describesthe skills and knowledge that administrators and supervi-sors need to build learning communities that producehigher student achievement. In 2008-2009, employees

rom the Montgomery County Business and Operations Administrators were included in the A&S PGS. e A&SPGS includes a standards-based evaluation system similar tothe Teacher PGS. It also includes a comprehensive system

or attracting, recruiting, mentoring, developing, evaluating,and recognizing administrators. An important objective or MCPS is to have highly e ec-tive administrators in every position. o this end, consultingprincipals provide intensive support to novice principals,principals new to MCPS, principals who change levels, andunderper orming principals. Te ocus o the work o theconsulting principals is to ensure that their clients meet thesix leadership standards that are aligned with national stan-dards or principals.Peer Assistance and Review (PAR) panel o community superintendents and principals oversees this peer assistance.I , a ter intensive support, a client is not meeting the leader-ship standards, the PAR panel makes a recommendation tothe superintendent regarding possible reassignment or dis-missal. PAR panels or assistant principals, assistant schooladministrators, and school-based coordinators and a PAR panel or central services administrators and supervisorsalso have been implemented. An initiative is under way toprovide enhanced pro essional development or central ser-vices administrators, with a ocus on the skills o leadership,supervision, and management.

Professional Growth System for SupportingServices

e Supporting Services Professional Growth System(SSPGS) is based on the premise that an e ective learningcommunity or students and adults requires highly skilled

supporting services sta working to support the achievementof all students. e Supporting Services Professional GrowthSystem is a collaborative process that promotes work orceexcellence by applying a core competency model in orderto encourage personal and systemic growth in per ormancethrough continuous improvement. Te central componentso the system include the ollowing:• A competency-based evaluation plan for all supporting

services sta .• A focus on training and development programs aligned

with the competencies.

• A Peer Assistance and Review program for supportinservices sta not meeting competency.

• Career pathways opportunities.Tese components are built on seven core competen-cies—commitment to students, knowledge o the job,pro essionalism, interpersonal skills, communication, orga-nization, and problem solving.

Te Supporting Services raining and Development pro-gram provides pro essional development experiences orsupporting services sta , based on the seven core competen-cies. Te Supporting Services raining and Developmentprogram contributes to the success o all children by provid-ing high-quality training and development opportunities toensure that all supporting services sta are able to achieveexcellence in their roles within the system.Te Supporting Services Mentoring Program has beenestablished to provide additional support to supportingservices sta . Te program provides mentors to both new employees and existing sta to help them excel in their role,direct them to training and on-the-job work experiences,and prepare them or career development opportunities.Tis program began July , 2008, with an initial cadre o 35mentors comprising both support pro essionals and admin-istrators and supervisors.

The Career Lattice or TeachersTe Career Lattice has been developed to expand pro-

essional opportunities or teachers’ career planning. A multi-stakeholder team designed a process that recognizesoutstanding teaching and compensates teachers or takingon more responsibility to increase student achievement andeliminate the achievement gap. Te Career Lattice ramework includes de nitions o leadership responsibilities;processes or application, identi cation, and evaluation o teacher leaders; and a compensation structure that is aligned with leadership responsibilities.During the 2007–2008 school year, the Career Lattice jointpanel worked on developing the lead teacher applicationand selection process, including planning or the transi-tion o teachers currently in identi ed roles. In addition,the panel is continuing to identi y the process or applying

or project-based leadership opportunities. Te applicationprocess is being used in the spring o 2008–2009 to ll someo the current leadership vacancies with lead teachers or the2009–20 0 school year.

Equity Training and DevelopmentDramatic changes in the school system’s demographics andpersistent disparities in student achievement-based on race/ethnicity, require changes in educational practices. TeEquity raining and Development eam works with schoolsand o ces to recognize institutional barriers to student suc-cess and to replace them with equitable practices that willeliminate disparities in achievement. In order to build thecapacity o sta members to e ectively address the edu-cational needs o ever-increasing racial/ethnic diversity inschools, as well as bene t rom that diversity—



25

• sta must develop an enhanced self-awareness of theirown racial and cultural belie s, values, attitudes, andbehaviors as they impact teaching and learning;

• educators must acquire knowledge of the histories,cultures, and perspectives o the diverse racial/ethnic,cultural, and language groups in their schools; and

• educators must develop the knowledge, skills, and atti-

tudes necessary to establish culturally refective learningenvironments that address the individual diverse needso all student subgroups identi ed by theNo Child Le t Behind Act.

Pro essional Learning Communities InstituteTe Pro essional Learning Communities Institute (PLCI) isan innovative MCPS initiative designed to build the capac-ity o school leadership teams in selected elementary andmiddle schools by providing them with ongoing pro es-sional development and support. Te mission o the PLCI isto help leadership teams improve student achievement andeliminate the achievement gap in schools by establishing apro essional learning community (PLC). Schools work todevelop a PLC characterized by a ocus on student learning,high-per orming collaborative teams, e ective use o studentdata, targeted interventions, e ective parent outreach, and acommitment to continuous improvement.In PLCI-structured pro essional development sessions, casestudies o e ective organizations, including three MCPSelementary schools (Broad Acres, Ronald McNair, and ViersMill), are discussed as a springboard to engage school teamsin refection and sel -assessment. eams study the belie s,practices, strategies, processes, and tools that these e ectiveorganizations used to increase and sustain student achieve-ment, while simultaneously eliminating the achievementgap between groups o students. eams use the knowledgegained rom the case study reviews and discussions tore ne and align their own school improvement plans. In2009-20 0, a total o 2 schools will participate in PLCI,including 0 middle schools and elementary schools.

School Leadership Teams InstituteTe School Leadership eams Institute o ers school leader-ship teams the opportunity to participate in high-quality pro essional development on e ective team collaborationand empowerment. Each workshop is designed so that lead-ership teams have time to apply the new strategies, skills,and processes to their speci c, real-time needs and interests.Institute workshops build the capacity o the leadershipteam, and thereby contribute to improved school per or-mance and student achievement. Tese workshops includethe ollowing:• Shared Leadership: A Team Examination of

Collaboration and Empowerment• E ective School Leadership Teams• Facilitation of E ective Meetings• Skillful Team Collaboration

National Board Certi cationTe O ce o Organizational Development (OOD) createdthe National Board Certi cation and Development Programas a way to recruit more teachers or this rigorous pro es-sional growth endeavor and to provide ongoing support anddevelopment or teachers, to show that they meet the high,rigorous standards o the National Board or Pro essionaleaching Standards (NBP S). Tis program enhances the

pro essional analysis, refection, and pro essional develop-ment o the candidate, as well as increases the likelihoodthat candidates achieve certi cation during a three-yearcycle. National Board instructional specialists concentratee orts on recruitment and support o teachers in high-needsschools, with a ocus on how their daily practice impactsstudent learning. Tey partner with the NBP S withtheir e orts in Direct Recruitment E orts or AttractingMinorities and the Targeted High Need Initiative. AnNational Board instructional specialist coordinates sup-port such as peer coaching using the NBP S ake One aspro essional development training to improve teaching andlearning and recruitment/in ormation sessions.

Pro essional Development OnlinePro essional Development Online (PDO) is a Web-basedsystem or maintaining, tracking, monitoring, and report-ing pro essional development in ormation or all MCPSsta . All MCPS sta have access to PDO through a securelogin code. PDO empowers sta with in ormation andtools to manage their own pro essional growth. Troughthe use o PDO, principals, teachers, support pro essionals,and central o ce sta can review pro essional developmentopportunities, register or workshops and classes, and keeptrack o the training they have received. MCPS will con-tinue the development o PDO to meet the needs o sta and support system goals.

Employee Association PartnershipsMCPS has been working with employee associations—the Montgomery County Education Association, SEIULocal 500, and the Montgomery County Association o Administrative and Supervisory Personnel—to create new organizational structures and processes that strengthen theirrelationships. Tese associations have been working togetherto solve problems, address common issues, and identi y opportunities or improvement, using interest-based strate-gies. Each association has created a joint committee with

MCPS to promote collaboration in developing, implement-ing, and evaluating solutions, utilizing the core principleso continuous improvement. Tese committees are develop-ing e ective alternatives to traditional labor-managementprocesses o grievances and negotiations. Interest-basedbargaining has been used during negotiations with all threeemployee associations, and the parties have used these inter-est-based problem-solving strategies to develop collaborativsolutions to problems or issues outside o the negotiationsprocess.



Higher Education Partnershipse Higher Education Partnership Program is a learning

community that osters collaboration between institutionso higher education and MCPS to develop sta in criticalneed areas. MCPS works with local colleges and universitiesto expand the teacher and administrator candidate pools toinclude applicants representing critical elds and diversity.

e Higher Education Partnership Program provides part-nerships in teacher preparation, career enhancement, teacherand leadership development, and instruction. Te teacherpreparation programs are designed or candidates who areinterested in pursuing a teaching degree and/or teacher cer-ti cation. Te career enhancement programs are or MCPSpro essional sta members who are interested in pursuinga master’s degree in reading, middle school mathematics,library media science, or instructional technology. Te lead-ership development programs are designed or MCPS sta members who are interested in pursuing a master’s degree orcerti cation in administration and supervision or a doctoraldegree in educational leadership and policy. Many o theseprograms provide nancial incentives to attain teacher cer-ti cation. Extensive MCPS eld experiences, supplementaltraining, and increased supervisory support by universitiesand MCPS coaches are characteristic o all programs.

Recruiting and Retaining Highly Quali edSta MCPS has implemented a plan to recruit and retain highly quali ed teachers and paraeducators to meet theNo Child Le t Behind Act (NCLB) highly quali ed (HQ) require-ments e O ce of Human Resources (OHR) developedstrategies to support increasing the percentage o coreacademic subject (CAS) classes taught by highly quali edteachers. OHR sta continues to review records of teach-ers who are teaching core academic subject(s), as well asany new employees, in relation to the CAS courses they areteaching and the credentials they hold. MCPS aggressively recruits paraeducators who meet ederal NCLB guidelines.MCPS continues to ensure that all paraeducators in itleI schools are HQ; however; all MCPS paraeducators areencouraged to meet HQ standards. As the highly quali-

ed status o teachers and paraeducators is determined,OHR sta is maintaining this information in the HumanResources In ormation System. Principals use this in orma-tion to ensure that a highly quali ed teacher is teaching coreacademic subjects. OHR sta also provides this informationto individual teachers through the Pro essional DevelopmentOnline (PDO) system, where teachers can access details ontheir certi cation with validity dates, certi cation areas, andHQ status. OHR’s reports for principals are updated weekly with the certi cation and highly quali ed status o eachteacher.

Recruiting and Retaining a Diverse Work orceMCPS is committed to a diverse work orce and actively recruits minority candidates. OHR sta recruits at job fairsand job expos that target minority populations, includingHistorically Black Colleges and Universities. Advertising

e orts focus on attracting Asian, Hispanic, and African American candidates though publications that marketa diverse work orce. In collaboration with schools andMCPS o ces, OHR sta encourages minority MCPSstudents to consider teaching as a career. Te O ce o Human Resources Subcommittee of the Latino EducationCoalition’s Gaithersburg High School Cluster “Grow YourOwn” eacher Project or K– 2 speci cally encourages

recruitment of Latino students. “Grow Your Own” recruit-ment e orts include working to attract diverse candidatesinto the teaching pro ession and providing pathways orcurrent supporting services employees to earn teacher cer-ti cation though OHR university partnerships with JohnsHopkins University, e George Washington University,Montgomery College, and the University o Maryland

Technology Enhancements in the Ofce o Human Resources

e O ce of Human Resources (OHR) and the O ce ofChie echnology O ce (OC O) are working to providea new applicant tracking system (A S) to more e ectively assess, acquire, and align the MCPS work orce. Te new system aims to improve the quality o the hiring processleading to more e cient hiring and an increase in work orceproductivity. By combining best practices, technology andcontent, the A S will empower human resources sta andhiring managers to attract talented applicants and employ-ees, and assign the right people to the right job at the righttime to enhance organizational per ormance. Te interac-tivity o the Web-based system will increase collaborationamong all stakeholders in the hiring process by includinghiring managers, sta ers, recruiters, management, employ-ees and candidates. It will provide consistent processesthroughout the organization which will increase work orcee ectiveness.OHR and OCTO, in collaboration with the Employee anRetiree Service Center (ERSC), are also working to providea new Human Resources Online (HRO) system that willintegrate with the A S system to automate and stream-line the processing o employee transactions and decreasethe time needed to complete the hiring o new employeesand the transfer of current employee data into the HumaResources Information System (HRIS). Future phases ofHRO initiative also will allow for automated noti cationand monitoring o employee evaluations or all employeegroups and will empower current employees through“employee sel -service.”During FY 2009, the Department of Recruitment andSta ng began providing MCPS applicants with the oppor-tunity to interview via SKYPE webcam. is additionalresource is a quick and convenient way or applicants wholive a signi cant distance rom MCPS to interview or posi-tions and provides a cost saving to MCPS as the need orrecruitment trips has been reduced.



27

Asian and Hispanic Leadership Developmente Asian and Hispanic Leadership Development Project

team, one o the O ce o the Deputy Superintendent o Schools’ strategic initiatives cross- unctional project teams,is charged with increasing work orce diversity and develop-ing a system o support or Montgomery County PublicSchools (MCPS) Asian and Hispanic sta members.

Representatives rom several MCPS o ces and theemployee associations shared in ormation with attendees on job quali cations, career opportunities, and best practices

or career advancement at its rst Career AdvancementIn ormation and Networking Opportunity Session on May 6, 2009.Nearly 200 school-based and central services sta membersparticipated in the event. Participant response to the event was overwhelming with 00 percent o attendees indicatingthat the in ormal ormat and networking opportunities mettheir expectations and requesting this become an annualevent.

Baldrige Education Criteria or Per ormanceExcellenceMCPS has adopted the Baldrige Education Criteria orPer ormance Excellence as the model or continuousimprovement or all o ces and schools. Leadership teams

rom all schools have been trained in the Baldrige-guidedSchool Improvement process.

Baldrige-guided School Improvement ProcessTe school improvement process has been designed torefect the components o theBaldrige Education Criteria or

Per ormance Excellence. Te goalo this initiative is to identi y theelements o school improvementand organizational developmentthat must be supported in every school in order to promote highlevels o student achievement.Schools are expected to implementthe school improvement planningmodel using the Per ormance

argets—2006–20 0, and theBaldrige categories. In order orthis revised school improvement

process to be success ul, the entiresta and representatives romall stakeholder groups must beengaged in the process. Te prog-ress on school improvement plangoals will be evaluated regularly with all stakeholders.

Organizational Culture o RespectTe Board o Education and senior leadership, including thethree employee unions, chie operating o cer, the deputy superintendent o schools, and the chie school per ormanco cer, met on a regular basis and adopted an agreementthat is aimed at creating an organizational culture o respectin MCPS to ensure success or every student. Tis compactrepresents a description o the culture the parties believeshould exist throughout MCPS. Te parties are committedto making this culture a reality by building strong rela-tionships and working together collaboratively. It requiresthe partners to act with sel -control and to show concern

or others at all times. Sta will model how they expectall members o the community to interact. Te compactrefects the values and the behaviors that are expected o allindividuals in interactions with students, ellow sta , par-ents, and others who are involved in the school system. Teculture o respect is built upon the premise that all employ-ees contribute to a success ul learning environment. Tetenets o this document are utilized throughout the system.



Milestones: Data Points:• All business services will meet or exceed customers’ needs,

requirements, and reasonable expectations.o Customer Results

• Systems are in place to recruit, support, and retain highlye ective business services personnel.

o Human Resources Results

• All business functions plan, develop, secure, ande ectively manage scal resources in compliance withinternal and external accountability requirements tosupport the education o students.

o Financial Results

• All business functions e ectively and e ciently deliverthe highest-quality products, resources, and businessservices essential to the educational success o students

o Organizational Results

GOAL 5: Provide High-quality Business Servicesthat Are Essential to the EducationalSuccess o Students

Board o Education Academic Priorities:• Organize and optimize resources for improved academic results• Foster and sustain systems that support and improve employee e ectiveness in partnership with M

employee organizations

MCPS will provide the highest-quality products, resources, and business services that are essential to theeducational success o students through sta committed to excellence and continuous improvement.



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Provide High-quality Business Services that Are Essentialto the Educational Success o Students

Process Design/Improvements Process

PDSA

P

L

A

N

D

O

S

T

U

D

Y

Improve existing process

Identi y need orimprovement o

existing process.

Obtain data on processID causes & OFI based on

best practices, benchmarks,customer, supplier, andpartner requirements.Incorporate complaint-management eedback

into periodic review o keyprocesses.

Improve process.Establish goals and

measures.Pilot new procedures.

A

C

T

Educate, train, and communicate to all customers.Implement plan or new or improved process.

Measure per ormance.Evaluate process per ormance based on established

goals and measures of success.

Feedback—Adjust process based on per ormanceevaluation results.

Develop improvements to meet requirements.Determine need or urther PDSA/LEAN or move to

ull implementation and monitor.

Design newprocess

Identi y need ornew process.

Research customerneeds and

requirements,best practices, and

benchmarks.

Develop process.Establish goals and

measures.Pilot procedures.

Establish action team to represent process.Include customers, suppliers, stakeholders, and

partners as members, i applicable.

LEAN

Projectde nition

Documentand measure

currentreality

Analyze andID waste

Optimize fowand remove

riction

Implementand validate

Measure andsustain

Communicateand

acknowledgesuccess

Identi y andprioritize

opportunities

Process Design/Improvements Process ChartSuccess ully managing and operating a school system o 200 schools, over 39,000 students, and more than 20,000employees requires a comprehensive in rastructure o sup-porting business services. Tese services are provided by employees who work behind the scenes to ensure that

teachers, students, and principals have the resources,materials, services, and acilities they need or success ulinstruction.

Family o MeasuresTe business and nancial operations o the school systemare utilizing the Baldrige National Quality Program crite-ria to ocus on business results to e ectively measure andmanage organizational per ormance. A amily o measurescurrently encompasses our major categories o businessresults—Customer Results, Financial Results, HumanResource Results, and Organizational Results. akentogether, these diverse per ormance measurements help to

drive business decisions, process improvements, and otherorganizational initiatives that make MCPS business andnancial operations more productive, e cient, and e ec-

tive in meeting customer needs and expectations.

Customer ResultsTe Baldrige criteria suggest that the quality o productsor services provided by an organization should be drivenor dictated by the customer. Te business and nancialoperations are ocused on satis ying their customers—stu-dents, teachers, administrators, parents, and sta —andhave developed surveys and eedback systems designed tomeasure and gather data on customer satis action, and todevelop strategies to satis y customer needs.

Department o Transportation CustomerDelightCustomer Delight is the motto o the Department o

ransportation (DO ). Te Customer Delight programhas ocused or several years on improving service andinteracting with a broad customer base by raising expecta-tions improving interactions with internal and externalcustomers. In 2007–2008, the department initiated a new



element o Customer Delight. In an e ort to anticipatecustomer needs, be proactive in their work habits, and man-age with uture outcomes in mind, DO sta has adopteda Delight thru Foresight approach to various aspects o business operations. Tis includes anticipating outcomeso actions by sta , anticipating customer needs, and beingproactive in approaching issues and solving problems. In2008–2009, DO initiated an Expedite or Delight element

o the plan. Tis element ocuses on the customers’ need ortimely service and responses to inquiries.

Use o Focus Groups to Determine CustomerRequirementsTe Department o Materials Management and theDivision o Food and Nutrition Services have establishedthe Customer Feedback Focus Group program to provide a

orum or school sta and parents to give opinions on prod-ucts, services, and best practices. Customer ocus groupsare designed to continually listen and learn, with the aimo o ering relevant products and services, understandingemerging customer requirements and expectations, andkeeping pace with educational changes and ways o doingbusiness. Causes o complaints are determined by using rootcause analysis to e ectively improve products and serviceprocesses, with the help o ocus groups.

Use o Web-based Satis action SurveyTrough the use o a Web-based survey system, theDepartment o Facilities Management (DFM) requests thatall principals rate DFM services and provide eedback on

acility issues. As school principals are the primary represen-tative o the school, they are well positioned to rate DFMservices and provide valuable customer eedback. Survey

responses and statistical results are compiled and analyzedby directors and supervisors within a week o the comple-tion o the survey. Tis survey process has provided eachprincipal with a means to regularly communicate with DFMmanagers, who review the eedback or patterns, trends, and

ollow-up issues.

Help Desk e Help Desk provides a single point of contact for the

MCPS in ormation technology users. Tis critical unit pro-vides timely, rst-line in ormation that supports sta accessto needed in ormation technology systems as they imple-ment MCPS initiatives. Te Unicenter Service Desk (USD)

call-tracking system enables Help Desk specialists andMCPS sta to report and monitor requests or service andsupport. e Help Desk continuously examines its practicesto improve customer service. New initiatives include a majorupgrade to the service-tracking application that incorpo-rates industry management methodology best practices; theexpansion o the knowledge tools component o the system;the integration o sel -service options; and the redesign o the Help Desk website.

The Department o Management, Budget, andPlanningTe Department o Management, Budget,and Planning(DMBP) has worked to improve customer service by enhancing the understandability and transparency o bud-get documents. For the FY 2010 Recommended OperatinBudget, DMBP issued a Budget in Brie document thatcombined previous documents on budget changes in auser- riendly, concise publication. Tis document has met with approval rom parents and other stakeholders. DMBPincreased the availability o budget documents on theMCPS website, including the ability to answer citizen ques-tions through the website.DMBP sta also worked the Board o Education membersto change the approach to Board budget work sessions to

ocus on the Board’s academic priorities. Tis increasedpublic interest and understanding o the Board’s budgetdecisions by demonstrating the alignment o the operatingbudget with Board and public priorities.

Focus on School MealsSchool break ast and lunch meals must meet the nutritionalrequirements established by the United States Departmento Agriculture. Tere are nutrition standards in place or all

oods and beverages sold to students during the instructionalday. Te Division o Food and Nutrition Services (DFNS)is continually revising the student menu to meet studentneeds and expectations and to provide them with a well-balanced, nutritious meal at an a ordable price. DFNS sta have changed the ormat o the elementary school menuto provide more in ormation to parents and adults on theschool meal program as well as general nutrition and oodsa ety. Te menu is published in English and Spanish every

other month and goes home with every elementary schoolstudent. A customer eedback area is included so that par-ents can send in their comments. Tose that give contactin ormation are personally contacted by a member o thesupervisory sta to receive direct comments and in orma-tion. Also, DFNS sta have taught two sessions on nutritionand wellness or the Parent Academy and many P A groups.

Long-range PlanningTe Division o Long-range Planning promotes eedback onschool enrollment projections rom principals and builds ina midyear orecast revision and later adjustments, as needed.Tese processes help to re ne the orecast and ensureadequate sta ng. Sta also collects eedback rom parentorganization members, and the general public, at all its com-munity planning meetings.

Financial Results

Purchasing Card ProgramTe MCPS Purchasing Card Program was established tostreamline the process or making low-dollar purchases thatare necessary or MCPS operations. It was designed to save



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MCPS time and money. It helps schools and o ces obtainsmall-dollar items in a more e cient and cost-e ectivemanner. Switching rom a paper purchase order process to apurchasing card transaction reduces the per-transaction costby 80 percent. In addition to streamlining procurement,it also provides an avenue or schools to make emergency purchases in case the county experiences a pandemic ornational emergency and an immediate need must be met.

Cooperative PurchasingTe cooperative purchasing program was established toprovide an avenue or reducing costs through economieso scale created by volume buying. MCPS is currently working with the Metropolitan Washington Councilof Governments, the Baltimore Regional CooperativePurchasing Committee, and the Interagency ProcurementCoordinating Committee in Montgomery County to pro-mote e cient and e ective practices across agencies anddepartments. Tis collaboration has reduced costs in thepurchasing o o ce paper, electricity, and natural gas andhas provided sources o supply or critical alternative uelitems such as biodiesel. In addition, these relationships pro-vide MCPS sta with training opportunities in the areas o contracting, negotiations, insurance, and other specializedprocurement unctions. Working with our purchasing com-mittees, we continue to reach out to minority, emale, anddisabled vendors to ensure that procurement opportunitiesare equitably distributed.

Partnerships with Parent Teacher Association(PTA) and Employee UnionsMCPS implemented partnerships with each o theemployee unions and the Montgomery County Council o

P As to develop the Recommended Operating Budget. Teunions and P A leaders are involved in every stage o thedevelopment o the budget. Teir participation has resultedin improved understanding o how to make needed budgetreductions while minimizing the negative impact on theclassroom.

Human Resource ResultsTe quality o an organization’s products and services hingessigni cantly on the quality, attitude, per ormance, and job satis action o its work orce. Per ormance measures arebeing developed and implemented to monitor employeeattendance, training, development, and satis action. Te

Supporting Services Professional Growth System (SSPGS) isa key tool in developing an ever-improving and more e ec-tive work orce.

Human Capital ManagementIn partnership with the O ce of Human Resources and theEmployee and Retirement Services Center, the O ce o theChie echnology O cer is leading the development anddeployment o state-o -the-art technologies to strengthenthe district’s human capital and talent management pro-grams. e implementation of the e-Recruitment and

custom-designed Human Resources Online systems stre-line and accelerate the hiring process and e ciently managesta support and retention processes. Leveraging theincreased e ciencies o these systems, principals and non-school-based hiring managers will be able to reduce the timeneeded to ll positions and have greater access to applicantinformation. rough the systems’ secure portal, princiand other hiring managers also are able to utilize electronic

orms and access the district’s electronic document manage-ment system and reduce the need to travel to the O ce o Human Resources. Applicants will have greater accesvacancy postings, the ability to submit required pre-andpost-employment orms electronically, and increased awareness o their status in the hiring process, which will resultin a more positive experience. By eliminating paper-bprocesses and automating the trans er o data, these system will enhance data reliability, decrease redundant data entry,and avoid potentially costly process delays.

MCPS Apprenticeship ProgramMCPS, in partnership with SEIU Local 500, has engaged inan apprenticeship program to develop mechanical systemstechnicians with skills to support the work o the Divisiono Maintenance. Te MCPS Apprenticeship Program willprovide the opportunity to develop employees in certainskilled trades so they can be ready to ll vacancies as they become available.

Department o Transportation SupervisoryModelTe Department o ransportation (DO ) worked inconsultation with stakeholders (including employee orga-nization leadership) to establish a new supervisory position

which, when ully implemented, will improve the ratio o supervisors to employees rom :80 to :20. Extensive training, modeled a ter that provided to the pro essional growthconsultants, is being provided to all new managers. A multi-year phase in plan was initiated in 2005–2006 and is twothirds completed. ese improvements support SSPGSgoals and DO ’s Customer Delight program by increasingcommunication with schools and providing employees withbetter access to supervisors. Extremely positive eedback habeen expressed by employees and customers where the planhas been implemented.

Team Building and E ective Communication

An ongoing priority o the Division o Food and NutritionServices is ostering team building, e ective communica-tions, and improving interpersonal skills among a very diverse work orce. Data points include human resourceresults (retention, turnover, satis action, and absenteeism)and organizational results (productivity). Te division pro-vides daily communications to the school-based managers,pro essional development or supporting services sta , anddiversity training and development.



Leadership DevelopmentIn FY 2003, the Division of Maintenance developed andimplemented a 2-hour leadership training program orincumbent supervisors and managers. Te basic course,taught annually, provides entry-level instruction in leader-ship principles, team building, organizational management,and career development or new supervisors and otherinterested employees. An advanced course was added or2007 and 2008, providing expanded training or supervisorsand managers. In 2009, an intermediate leadership course was added that provides expanded training or employees who have completed the basic course, but who are not yetsupervisors. Te advanced course is currently a series o discussions that ocus on enhancing leaders’ thinking, plan-ning, and management skills.

Organizational ResultsTis category o business results is the most diverse o allbecause it requires each business unit to measure and evalu-ate the e ciency and e ectiveness o business operations

unique to its part o the organization. Measures may exam-ine such things as responsiveness to customer requests orsupport, e ciencies with which customer orders are pro-cessed or delivered, or the e ective use o available time by employees.o analyze and improve processes in the Division o School

Plant Operations two projects have been completed usingValue Stream Mapping and Six Sigma techniques. eseprojects have identi ed opportunities to reduce waste,improve timeliness and service quality in equipment repair,and delivery of air lters. It is anticipated that over $60,000o expenditures will be avoided once the action plans orthese projects are ully deployed.

Benchmarking or Continuous ImprovementMCPS continues to work with the American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC) in Houston, Texas, in anationwide initiative to develop benchmarks or educationalorganizations. APQC is a 31-year-old nonpro t organiza-tion that has done extensive work with leading businessesthroughout the world to help improve procedures by com-paring the e ciency and e ectiveness o their processes withother organizations. Teir interest is in helping educationalorganizations do the same by demonstrating how a compar-ative database can be developed; thereby enabling districtsto compare the e ciency and e ectiveness o their processes

with other districts and identi y gaps or improvement. APQC has recognized MCPS as a best practices partner inpro essional development, mathematics and science, Englishlanguage learners, and data-driven decision making.

Process Management or ContinuousImprovement

APQC has identi ed nine school districts from across theUnited States to lead a nationwide process management ini-tiative. Tis initiative will assist school systems in becomingmore process centered, which means having school districts

ocus on the design, implementation, evaluation, andre nement o their key work processes. As one o the ninedistricts, MCPS will be working with other school districtsto implement process management in their school systems.

Business Partnerships to Improve ProcessesMCPS has initiated process improvement strategiesthrough the Montgomery County Business Roundtable orEducation (MCBRE). Sta from United HealthCare traine25 sta members (representing all o ces) in the methodolo-gies o Six Sigma. Tese methodologies will enable MCPSto establish a systematic evaluation and re nement o key processes. In addition, a team o acilitators rom LockheedMartin’s LM2 program trained the O ce o the Chie Operating O cer leadership on the bene ts o eliminating waste rom MCPS business processes using the LockheedMartin Value Stream Mapping (VSM) process. Te VSMtechnique is a tool used to identi y and eliminate waste inmanu acturing and business processes. Lockheed Martinalso trained two MCPS sta as part o its Lean/Six Sigma“Greenbelt” training program. e training has enabled theMCPS sta to acilitate VSM process improvement events with several departments and divisions.

Environmental Stewardship—Energy Efciency, Conservation andSustainability ProgramsTe Department o Facilities Management (DFM)promotes environmental stewardship and manages vari-ous energy and environmental programs. Te Energy and Utilities Unit (EUU) develops the annual ResourceConservation Plan that documents the energy conserva-tion strategies, e orts, and progress. Te conservation plan

includes three major strategic initiatives—behavioral energy-savings programs or all schools (SER ), energy educationinitiatives for secondary schools (Green Schools), and nconstruction green building initiatives (Green Building/LEED).School Energy and Recycling eam (SER )—MCPS recog-nizes that signi cant energy savings can be achieved whenschool-based sta and students engage in responsible energy behavior. Te SER program educates and supports thee orts o school-based teams in all schools to reduce energy consumption. Following industry best practices, energy

acilitators and support sta visit each school multiple timesover the school year to collect data on energy that is being

wasted and acilitate changes in behavior. SER providesresources to educate sta and students on the e orts o their behavior and its impact on energy use. Activities andcontests are provided to encourage energy-conservationbehavior. School-based teams also are involved in the instal-lation o energy-e cient technologies that promote resourceconservation. Finally, energy per ormance is tracked andprovided to schools so that improvements in energy e -ciency can be recognized and rewarded.SER members also promote and assist schools with theirrecycling program. Similar to the school-based energy



Strategies Implemented Since 1999Te implementation o strategies outlined in the origi-nal Our Call to Actionbegan shortly a ter the Board o Education adopted the strategic plan in November 999. At that time, the superintendent o schools made a strate-gic decision to ocus the re orm initiatives in elementary

schools, more speci cally at the kindergarten level. Overthe past nine years, the re orms have been expanded toother grades in the elementary schools as well as to middleand high schools. argeted initiatives were implemented toimprove student achievement at all levels and to close theachievement gap between African American and Hispanicstudents and their White and Asian American peers. Teseinitiatives also are designed to improve achievement o ESOL students, students with disabilities, and studentsimpacted by poverty.Tis section o the strategic plan highlights some o the criti-cal strategies and initiatives that have been implementedover the past nine years as part o these re orm e orts.

GOAL 1: Ensure Success or Every Student

Early Success Per ormance PlanTe Early Success Per ormance Plan is an ambitious pre-K–Grade 2 plan to “raise the bar” for all students and providethem with the skills and knowledge to succeed in reading, writing, and mathematics. Te plan provides a our-yearsequence or pathway or all children and ocuses on address-ing the opportunity gap acing our most highly impactedchildren. Te plan is built around the ollowing ve guidingprinciples o comprehensive school re orm:• Focused and challenging curriculum for reading, writing,

and mathematics• Ongoing assessment of student progress• Expanded instructional time• Intensive, targeted, and sustained professional develop-

ment or teachers• Meaning ul amily involvement and community collaboration

Prekindergarten ProgramsTe MCPS prekindergarten programs provide a high-qual-ity, literacy-based instructional program to income-eligibleand at-risk 4-year-old children. In FY 2009, full-day HeadStart programs are were unded in 3 classes in 0 itle Ischools. In 2009–2010, a total of 21 full-day Head Startclasses will be provided in 8 itle I schools.

Full-Day KindergartenTe Early Success Per ormance Plan includes ull-day kin-dergarten classes at all elementary schools. TeBridge toExcellence Act requirement o providing ull-day kindergar-ten in all elementary schools was met in FY 2007.

Reading Interventions in Elementary and Middle SchoolsReading interventions are provided to students who needextra reading instruction in order to achieve at or abovegrade-level pro ciency in reading. Interventions are inaddition to and aligned with the student’s core readinginstruction. Research-based interventions are care ully selected and matched with the student’s identi ed area o need. eachers receive pro essional development in the useo intervention materials, and strategies, and monitoring o student progress.

Support for the Most Highly Impacted Schools A comprehensive model or unding, sta ng, and pro-gramming was implemented in the most highly impactedelementary schools in the county. Tese schools include

ederally unded itle I schools and locally unded high-need schools. A continuous review o the model is in placeto maximize the use o resources, as well as to develop andimplement plans to meet the requirements or schools inneed o improvement, corrective action, or restructuring.

Elementary Schools Extended Timeitle I schools o er extended-day supports or students,

based on achievement data. Using research-based activities,each itle I school designs be ore-school and/or a ter-schoolprograms.Extended-Learning Opportunities Summer Adventures inLearning (ELO SAIL) is a our-hour academic programfor kindergarten through Grade 5 students o ered daily

or our weeks in July. Students receive ree transportationto and rom school, break ast, and lunch. Te program iso ered to all students in kindergarten through Grade 5

itle I schools. Te academic program goals are to acceleratelearning through lessons in reading, writing, and mathemat-ics that preview concepts and skills to be taught in the gradestudents will enter in the all, strengthen basic skills, allevi-ate the loss o academic skills that many students experienceover the summer break, and provide continuing Englishlanguage instruction or ESOL students.

Class-size Reduction

Elementary In FY 2001, the Board of Education began an initiativto reduce class size in elementary schools that includes the

ollowing:• Full-day kindergarten with an average class size of

in the most highly impacted schools.• First and second grade classes in these schools with

average class size o 7.



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• Reduced maximum class guidelines in all elementaryschools from 28 to 26 students in Grades 1–3 and from30 to 28 students in Grades 4 and 5.

Middle and Higho address oversized classes at middle and high schools, the

Board o Education took the ollowing steps:• Funded 38 positions in middle schools to support math-

ematics instruction and increase enrollment in Grade 8 Algebra, as well as 22 positions in high schools to supportmathematics instruction.

• Approved positions for the ve high schools in theDowncounty Consortium to provide an average class sizeof 22 for academic classes in Grade 9.

• Provided 25 teachers for the high school level to supportspecial education students who are included in generaleducation classrooms.

Support or Special Education Students

Expansion o Reading and Mathematics Interventions —Research-based reading and mathematics interventionshave been expanded to selected elementary, middle, andhigh schools. Te O ce o Special Education and StudentServices purchased mathematics interventions or all middleschools countywide and or high schools serving largenumbers o students with disabilities. Eleven high schoolsalso received mathematics interventions to support theinstructional needs o students with disabilities. Readinginterventions were strategically purchased or middle schoolsthat did not make Adequate Yearly Progress.Educational and Assistive echnology —Educational and assis-tive technology play an important role in helping students

with disabilities access a rigorous instructional program. TeHigh Incidence Assistive Technology (HIAT) team providestechnology training, online materials, guides, resource links,and examples o universal design instruction that allow theMCPS curriculum to be accessible to all students. Licenses

or Kurzweil, an advanced technological voice-input system, were purchased or middle and high schools.Interdisciplinary Augmentative Communication echnology

eam—Te Interdisciplinary Augmentative Communicationechnology (InterAC ) team provides consultative assistive

technology support to teams working with students whohave severe communication and/or physical disabilities. Teteam assesses students who may require assistive technol-

ogy equipment and provides consultation to the teachers o identi ed students.Prekindergarten Services —Young children with disabilities who receive special education services are part o the systemwide Early Success Per ormance Plan. Special educators areincluded in all sta development activities to ensure imple-mentation o the prekindergarten curriculum.Itinerant Resource eachers (IR )—Demonstrating theMCPS commitment to Least Restrictive Environment(LRE), in 2005–2006, the budget supported six IR s tothe special education central o ce sta . Te IR s provide

pro essional development or school-based sta to sup-port students with disabilities in the general educationenvironment.

Support or ESOL Studentso ensure that ESOL students continue to acquire the aca-

demic language and skills needed to achieve at the highestlevels, the ollowing essential program components are pro-vided to ESOL students and their amilies.• Curriculum and Instruction—Pre-K–12 ESOL curri-

cula have been written to align with the new MarylandESOL Content Standards. Currently, MCPS has ESOLcurriculum resources that are aligned or beginning,intermediate, and advanced ESOL students in gradespre-K–Grade 5, and intermediate and advanced ESOLstudents in middle and high schools. Additionally, anMCPS curriculum guide has been written to meet theneeds o newcomer ESOL students.

• Honors and Advanced Placement—ESOL students ahighest level o English language pro ciency and those

who have exited the ESOL program within the past twoyears are encouraged to enroll in highly able, Honoand Advanced Placement classes. Te ESOL transitionteachers at two high schools provide direct support torecently exited ESOL students to bolster their success.

• Professional Development—Te ESOL or Leaders courseprovides six hours o pro essional development or scholeaders to support and monitor e ective school-basedESOL programs that comply with local, state, and ederamandates. Ongoing pro essional development is provided

or ESOL teachers on ESOL curriculum and programimplementation. Additionally, pro essional developmentis provided to help non-ESOL teachers meet the languageand academic content needs o ESOL students in all con-tent areas.

• Bilingual Support Programs for ESOL Students andFamilies— o assist ESOL students and amilies in mini-mizing the linguistic and cultural barriers to academicachievement, the ESOL parent outreach and counselingteams provide bilingual, multicultural parent support andstudent counseling services to acilitate adjustment to anew academic, social, and cultural environment.

High School Consortiaree high schools—James Hubert Blake, Paint Branch,

and Springbrook—are a liated in a consortium to serve theinterests o all students living in the northeast area o thecounty. Students and their parents participate in the studentassignment process known as “Pre erred Choice,” in whicheach student ranks his/her pre erence or a high school romamong the three choices. Each campus o ers a comprehen-sive high school curriculum, as well as a distinctive signaturprogram. Signature programs ocus on elds o high interesto students o diverse abilities and achievement levels andincorporate these signature themes throughout the instruc-tional program.



Te Downcounty Consortium (DCC) consists o vehigh schools—Montgomery Blair, Albert Einstein, John F.Kennedy, Northwood, and Wheaton—and students engagein a choice process, ranking their pre erence among the vechoices. DCC high schools have ocused their re orm e ortson building smaller learning communities within the highschools that serve a very diverse student population residingin the Wheaton/Silver Spring area. Unique ninth grade pro-

grams are designed to meet the academic needs o enteringreshman while, simultaneously, connecting these students with the adults in their school. Following the ninth gradeprogram, students in the DCC move into another orm o asmaller learning community. Students choose rom amonga series o themed academies that ocus on the applica-tion o school-based learning to higher education and the work orce.

Smaller Learning CommunitiesTe Board o Education approved a six-year Career andechnology Education strategic plan or systematically

ensuring the availability o smaller learning communitiesor all students in MCPS. Many high schools have devel-

oped and implemented smaller learning communities toprovide students with rigorous and relevant programs andto create a more personalized learning environment orstudents. MCPS high schools are implementing smallerlearning communities through innovative theme-basedsignature programs, career academies, and career pathway programs. James Hubert Blake and Paint Branch highschools are in the th year o a ve-year USDE SmallerLearning Community grant. High school leadership teamsare planning and implementing rigorous smaller learningcommunities using research-based national models, suchas National Academy Foundation programs and Advanced

Engineering—Project Lead Te Way. Tese programs pro-vide students with authentic internship experiences, collegecredit, and scholarship opportunities.

High School Pilot Course DevelopmentSchool-based sta has the opportunity to propose, plan, andimplement noncore courses to strengthen local course o er-ings and provide support or smaller learning communities,signature programs, and academies. A ter a rigorous review by the O ce o Curriculum and Instructional Programs,and approval by the Board o Education, new courses arepiloted by the school that develops the course materials. Tepilot process requires submission o materials, including acourse outline, syllabus, sample lessons, assessment mea-sures, and course evaluation. At the end o the pilot period,the course may be submitted to the Board o Education or

nal approval.

Sa e and Secure SchoolsMCPS continues to ensure a sa e and secure educationalenvironment through ongoing security initiatives. Teseinclude the ollowing:

• A systemwide emergency/crisis response plan.• Individualized emergency/crisis plans at all schools a

acilities to include parent/child reuni cation procedures.• Security personnel in all middle and high schools.• Emergency preparedness and re evacuation drills.• Established emergency communication procedures at

schools.• Specialized training for school administrators and onsite emergency teams to manage an emergency or crisissituation.

• Security assessments of schools.• Development of School Safety and Security at a Gla

a report on the status o sa ety and security in ourschools.

GOAL 2: Provide an E ective InstructionalProgram

Councils on Teaching and LearningCouncils on eaching and Learning were designed to pro-vide regular, two-way communication between teachers andcentral o ce sta on curriculum, instruction, assessment,and pro essional development. Tis unique partnership withthe Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA)provides or teacher-level representatives at elementary andsecondary levels. Tese councils have provided important

eedback rom teachers on the implementation o initiatives,and they have served a key role in ensuring that accurateand timely in ormation is provided to teachers.

Reading Specialists/AEI Literacy Coach/Literacy CoachesElementary School Reading Specialist.Every elementary school has a reading specialist whose role is to increase thecontent knowledge and instruction o strategies or teach-ers o reading. Reading specialists provide leadership andexpertise in their eld and deliver job-embedded sta devel-opment on reading and assessments. Middle School Reading Specialist provide leadership orschoolwide reading programs and reading instruction inall content areas and grade levels in non-Phase I, and II,schools. . Tey also provide sta development on readinginstruction and assessments. In addition, the middle schoolreading specialist and is involved in developing a schoolimprovement plan or reading. In Phase I and II schools,the AEI Literacy Coach, acilitates the development o theschoolwide literacy plan.High School Literacy Coach.High school literacy coachesare involved in developing a long-term literacy plan and

acilitating a school literacy team. In addition, literacy coaches lead the analysis o all data related to student lit-eracy; model literacy strategies in content-area classrooms;meet regularly with teachers and/or departments to review data, guide planning, and ensure that literacy strategies are



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used e ectively in classroom instruction; and coordinatereading and other literacy-related interventions. (Te highschool literacy coach initiative was implemented during FY07, FY 08, and FY 09; eliminated for FY 10 due to budgetreductions.)

Elementary Mathematics Content Coach andAEI Math Content SpecialistElementary mathematics content coaches are in itle Ischools and in high-needs elementary schools to increasethe content knowledge and instructional strategies o teach-ers o mathematics. As part o middle school re orm, AEImathematics content specialists have been allocated toselected middle schools. Te elementary math content coachand AEI math content specialist provides direct classroomsupport to teachers and parapro essionals to e ectively implement the mathematics curriculum and assessments;builds the content knowledge and teaching expertise o teachers o mathematics; and as an instructional leader, acil-itates the analysis o mathematics assessment data to ensurethat all students are appropriately challenged and schoolimprovement goals are achieved.

Gi ted and Talented ServicesMCPS is committed to promoting rigorous per ormancestandards and providing instructional programs thatencourage all students to achieve at their highest level. A continuum o programs and services begins at pre-K through Grade 2, with an emphasis on talent development. At all levels, students may accelerate learning and partici-pate in advanced-level course work at their local schools.Instruction is di erentiated to provide all students, includ-ing students in traditionally underserved groups, appropriate

pacing and levels o support necessary or advanced-levellearning. Students may also attend special programs such ascenters or the highly gi ted, magnet programs, or special-ized programs, based on student interest and talent.Revised Curriculum—Te curriculum revision and thesubsequent development o instructional guides in bothreading/language arts and mathematics provide preas-sessments and programming recommendations that givestudents access to accelerated and enriched instruction,including above-grade-level instruction, as needed. Te

William and Mary Reading Language Arts program (Grades2–8) and the Junior Great Books program (Grades K–8) arerequired components o the reading/language arts program

or highly able students and students with potential or moti-vation to accept more challenging instruction.Magnet Programs and Centers for the Highly Gifted—Forstudents working at the very highest levels o attainment,full-time programming such as the Primary Gifted andTalented Magnet Program is available for Grades 1 and 2.Seven Center Programs for the Highly Gifted serve studentsin Grades 4 and 5, and both middle and high school magnetprograms are available in mathematics, science, computerscience, and humanities. Students identi ed as gi ted andtalented and learning disabled (GT/LD) are supportedthrough several GT/LD center programs in Grades 2–8.

Te Program o Assessment, Diagnosis, and Instruction(PADI), o ered in 6 elementary schools beginning inkindergarten, ocuses on identi ying potential gi tedness instudents whose strengths may be masked by language, expe-rience, or culture. Pro essional development or classroomsta ocuses on developing and re ning students’ critical ancreative thinking skills and supporting their achievement inchallenging instruction.

Gifted and Talented (GT) Position for Title I Schools—each o the itle I schools, a .5 position provides instruc-tional programs and services that encourage all students toachieve at their highest level. Title 1 GT teachers ensustudents, including students in traditionally underservedgroups, receive di erentiated instruction to support theiremerging strengths. Tey also provide training to parentsand sta ocused on building knowledge, skills, and expec-tations that enable all students to reach their maximumpotential.K– 2 Articulation or International Baccalaureate (IB)Program— MCPS currently has six authorized IB diplomaprograms (Grades 11–12), eight Middle Years program(Grades 6–10), and one Primary Years program (GradeK–5). wo additional IB diploma programs are currently indevelopment. Te results o this e ort will yield insights intohow to build capacity in students over time to improve theirachievement.

Fine Arts EducationTe MCPS ne arts curriculum a ords students theopportunity to grow aesthetically, culturally, and intel-lectually. Instruction is aligned and integrated with theMCPS Curriculum Frameworks approved by the Board o Education in 2006. Fine arts curriculum aligns with the

Maryland Voluntary State Curriculum content standards:• Perceiving and responding: Aesthetics• Historical, Cultural, and Social Contexts• Creative Expression and Production• Aesthetics and Criticism

Career and Technology Education ProgramsMCPS schools implement rigorous and relevant career andtechnology education programs. Opportunities are provided

or all students to select career pathways o interest andto engage in the academic and workplace experiences that

will prepare them or college and career. State-establishedmeasures o student achievement include per ormance onthe high school assessments as well as earning industry certi cations.Middle School Career and echnology Programs—Middleschools provide inquiry-based courses in computer science,

amily and consumer sciences, and technology education.Project Lead the Way—Project Lead Te Way, Inc., (PL W)partners with public schools, organizations in the privatesector, and higher education institutions to introduce highschool students to engineering. Tis program allows high



school students to determine i biomedical sciences or engi-neering is a career they wish to pursue. PL W is availablein the Downcounty Consortium and at six additional highschools and one middle school.National Academy Foundation—Te National Academy Foundation (NAF) academies prepare students or careersin nance, hospitality and tourism, and in ormation tech-nology. Required college course work is combined withauthentic paid workplace experiences to help studentsdevelop critical thinking and problem-solving skills requiredin postsecondary education and careers. Fi teen NAFpathway programs are available in 4 high schools, andadditional NAF programs are being explored.

GOAL 3: Strengthen Productive Partnershipsor Education

Montgomery County Business Roundtable orEducationTe Montgomery County Business Roundtable orEducation provides support to the school system through avariety o programs and initiatives that are targeted to stu-dents, sta , and improving the business operations o theschool system. Examples include the emerging student lead-ers program that gives students opportunities to participatein the Congressional Black and Hispanic legislative caucuses.

Volunteer and Mentoring ProgramsMCPS works collaboratively with businesses, governmentagencies, and other organizations to coordinate the recruit-ment, placement, and training o volunteers who work inschools. Schools identi y volunteer coordinators who partici-pate in systemwide training to support volunteer programsand data collection.Mentoring programs in 80 schools provide direct supportto students. Volunteer mentors are recruited to work withstudents in kindergarten through Grade 12 and provideguidance, literacy, mathematics, science, and other support

ocused on improving student achievement.Te Connection Resource Bank matches volunteers withschools who are looking or speakers to share their expertise with students in classrooms. Tese specialized volunteersparticipate in career and science airs and provide opportuni-ties or shadow experiences and teacher training.

GOAL 4: Create a Positive Work Environmentin a Sel -renewing Organization

Framework or Improving Teaching andLearningTe Framework or Improving eaching and Learning is amajor initiative to develop a research-based tool or continu-ous improvement o the teaching and learning process. TeFramework is being used by schools to deepen their under-standing o the ollowing six elements o improving teaching

and learning: curriculum, instruction, evidence o studentlearning, planning, expectations, and building a pro essionallearning community. Tis ramework is the structure or thedevelopment o all sta development activities. Te ramework provides a set o key “look- ors” that guide continuousimprovement o the teaching and learning process in allschools.

Curriculum Training and Developmento support implementation o curriculum and new ini-

tiatives to improve teaching and learning, pro essionaldevelopment is provided to sta at all levels in the system. As new or revised curriculum, assessment, and grading andreporting tools are implemented pro essional developmentis provided to improve teaching and learning. Te ocuso the training and development is on increasing teachers’knowledge o the content and/or e ective practices relatedto curriculum, instruction, assessment, and standards-basedteaching and learning. Emphasis is placed on providingstrategies to work with English language learners, students with disabilities, and highly able and/or motivated students.Pro essional development to support implementation o the curriculum and standards-based teaching and learningoccurs in the ollowing ormats:• Required training for teachers that is centrally delive• Ongoing follow-up professional development and sup-

port at the local school• School-based professional development• Voluntary seminars and workshopsTe centrally delivered training is designed to providethe essential skills, resources, and practices necessary toimplement the curriculum, assess students, and evaluate

students using standards-based grading and reporting tools.Follow-up support and training is provided by teacher lead-ers, including sta development teachers at the local school.School-based pro essional development is provided by cen-tral services sta and is targeted to support the speci c needso the sta with respect to planning or and implementinginitiatives. Te seminars provide an in-depth study o key curriculum elements, assessments, and standards-basedteaching and learning.

Studying Skill ul Teaching and Observing andAnalyzing TeachingTe Skill ul eaching and Leading course work providesparticipants with research-based skills and instructionalstrategies that will lead to increased student achievementand support e orts to eliminate the achievement gap. Tesecourses, based on the work o Research or Better eaching,Inc., are an essential component or nurturing a pro essionallearning community in the school district and or build-ing a common understanding and language about teachingand learning. Studying Skill ul eaching examines theknowledge base o teaching in such a way as to cultivate col-legiality and experimentation among participants. Success ulcompletion o Studying Skill ul eaching is required or



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sta development teachers and central services instructionalspecialists and or all teachers hired a ter July , 2005.Studying Skill ul eaching 2 builds on the oundationsand conversations initiated in the rst course. Success ulcompletion o Studying Skill ul eaching 2 is required orsta development teachers. Studying Skill ul eaching orparaeducators acilitates the paraeducator’s contribution tothe school’s pro essional learning community and maximizes

student learning.Principals, assistant principals, assistant school administra-tors, resource teachers, interdisciplinary resource teachers,and other sta involved in teacher evaluations take Observingand Analyzing eaching courses. Observing and Analyzing

eaching examines the knowledge base o teaching, intro-duces participants to the teacher evaluation standards, anddevelops skills in writing and presenting the evaluationresults. Observing and Analyzing eaching 2 delves deeperinto the knowledge, skills, and con dence needed to con-

ront and address mediocre and ine ective teaching.

Sta Development Teachers in Every SchoolSta development teachers are working in every school tosupport teachers as they increase their knowledge, skills,and capacity to implement new strategies or teaching andlearning. Te sta development teacher improves studentachievement by—• working with the school’s instructional sta to keep

teachers in ormed and ocused on e ective teachingskills and practices and other e orts to improve studentachievement;

• providing a consistent focus on curriculum implementa-tion and instructional strategies;

• promoting high expectations for all students;• supporting the sta in using data to examine current

practice and improve instructional practices;• establishing a collegial culture in support of high-quality

teaching;• helping teachers create individual professional develop-

ment plans that link improved teaching to improvedstudent learning;

• engaging in extensive training and development programsor their own pro essional growth and development; and

• providing consistent and pervasive messages within andamong schools at every level related to MCPS priorities,goals, and initiatives (i.e., race and equity, grading andreporting)

Sta development teachers are essential to the uture growtho the pro essional development process and to the goal o creating a pro essional learning community in each school.

New Teacher Induction to Support Novice andNew-to-MCPS TeachersTe New eacher Induction Program is a comprehensiveprogram designed to provide support and pro essional

development or novice and new-to-MCPS teachers in orderto increase their skill levels and retention rates. Te induc-tion and mentoring program includes the ollowing:• A weeklong summer orientation.• A midyear one-day orientation for educators hired

the summer orientation.• One-on-one mentoring at the local school for expe-

enced teachers who are new to MCPS, novice teachershired rom MCPS partnership programs, and noviceteachers hired to teach in the same school where they stu-dent taught.

• Ongoing training and development modules that foon the development o teachers in the areas o curricu-lum, instruction, assessment, and monitoring studentachievement.

• Intensive research-based training to ensure high-qualocal school mentoring.

• Sharing best practices in induction and networkinlocal, state, and national orums.

GOAL 5: Provide High-quality BusinessServices that are Essential to the EducationalSuccess o Students

Customer Delight in the Department o TransportationTe Department o ransportation (DO ) in uses theirCustomer Delight theme and program into all areas o thedepartment or both internal and external customers. Tiscontinuous improvement strategy is designed to make DOincreasingly customer ocused.

Zero-based BudgetingZero-based budgeting is a process used annually to sys-tematically review the base budget. Te goal is to align alloperating budget expenditures with the academic prioritiesand strategic initiatives o the strategic plan.

Public Outreach in Budget ProcessTe development and review o the budget increasingly involves a diversity o stakeholders. Employee organizationsplay an intimate role in the development o the operatingbudget, working closely with the superintendent o schoolsto develop the recommended operating budget. Extensivecommunity outreach involves many community stakehold-ers, including those or whom English is a second language.Trough use o television, the MCPS website, and eedback cards provided to all schools and in MCPS publications,more members o the community can o er their ideas

or system priorities, better understand the strategic plan,and contribute to system improvements. All major budgetpublications are posted on the MCPS website. Te bud-get publications include improved in ormation on how tounderstand the budget, and the website allows or an inter-active two-way communication process.



Grantso enrich services to students and launch innovative pro-

grams and ideas without increasing the nancial burdenon local taxpayers, MCPS seeks grants rom a wide rangeo public and private donors. Also, the MCPS grants sta collaborates with other public agencies, businesses, and non-pro t and community-based organizations to develop andimplement grant- unded programs. o respond to currenttrends in grant making, MCPS will develop procedures thatmore closely align with an increasing number o automatedgrant submission systems. MCPS also will improve the man-agement and oversight o grants awarded directly to schools.Finally, to position schools or greater success at securingoutside support in an increasingly competitive environment,MCPS will o er more advanced levels o training in grantseeking and undraising.

Entrepreneurial ActivitiesTe Entrepreneurial Activities Fund provides a venue orMCPS activities to market goods or services produced by

MCPS to generate revenue. Activities in this und includethe aylor Science Materials Center, Supply Warehouse,Printing and Graphics Services, Student Online Learning,and entrepreneurial activity development.

Real Estate Management FundTe Real Estate Management eam leases unused classroomand other space in school buildings to private child careprograms that support the educational success o students.Te team also leases unused school acilities to approvededucational service providers to generate revenue to supportleasing expenditures or administrative or support space thatis not available in MCPS-owned acilities.

Systematic Team CleaningSystematic eam Cleaning (S C) is a value-added approachto cleaning that maximizes the quality, quantity, and consis-tency o building services. S C also minimizes wasted time,motion, and steps and reduces errors as well as equipmentand energy costs. Tis approach systematizes the applica-tion o personnel, tasks, requency, time, and space to getthe most out o the cleaning process. S C supports thecommitment to create a positive acility environment thatis conducive to learning because it is a holistic rather than

component approach to cleaning that results in high-quality services or all customers.

Healthy, High Per ormance Cleaning (HHPC)Green cleaning is cleaning that focuses on occupant heaand environmental impact in addition to appearance. Greecleaning minimizes the impact o the cleaning process onoccupant health and the indoor and outdoor environ-ment. Tis is accomplished by using low VOC (volatileorganic compounds) cleaning products and environmen-tally conscientious cleaning and grounds care methods thatprevent harm ul contaminants rom being released into theatmosphere and/or grounds. However, it is not just aboutcleaning chemicals, but includes concerns about paper,product packaging, waste reduction, equipment per or-mance, and energy conservation.

Copy-PlusCopy-Plus is a document preparation service provided to allschool-based sta to reduce the time spent making photo-

copies. A systematic process has been developed that ensuresthe pick-up and delivery o materials within 48 hours.Te Department o Materials Management and Editorial,Graphics & Publishing Services have studied the data trand determined that, or every 3,000 pages produced by theCopy-Plus program, one hour o school-based sta time issaved. Tis year this service will provide 55 million copies,returning 20,000 hours to teachers.

Playground Equipment Replacement/Enhancement ProgramTe Sa ety Management Services Unit, Department o Facilities Management, has implemented a program to accel-erate the replacement o outdated and aging playgroundequipment at elementary schools using noncounty und-ing sources. Tis program uses standard criteria to assessexisting playground equipment at all elementary schools inorder to prioritize systemwide needs. In addition, partner-ships with school community groups are then developed toquali y the replacement o playground equipment under thefederal Quali ed Zone Academy Bond (QZAB) program.(Playground Equipment Replacement/Enhancement Program will be moved to Strategies Implemented Since 999.)



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Organizational Culture of RespectTe Board of Education, the superintendent and the executive staff, and the organizationsrepresenting employees recognize and value the role of all employees as contributors toa learning community which sets high standards of performance for staff and students.By working together through continuous improvement, effective communication, andmeaningful involvement in the decision-making processes, we provide a high quality education to every student. We are committed to shared responsibility and a collaborativepartnership integrated into an organizational culture of respect.

MCEA MCAASP SEIU MCPS

A COMPACT BETWEENMontgomery County Educational Association (MCEA)

Montgomery County Association of Administrative and Supervisory Personnel (MCAASP)

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 500Board of Education and the Superintendent of Schools

SEPTEMBER 2005

Approved and adopted by the Board of Education



Te commitment to foster an organizational culture of respect that is embedded throughoutthe school system is a priority of the employee organizations, the Board of Education, andthe superintendent and executive staff. Tis culture is built on the belief that all employees,both school-based and nonschool-based, are essential to a successful learning environment.Inherent to this belief is the recognition that there is strength in diversity, which is inclusiveof all groups and individuals. We are committed to:

• Trust in each other• Use of collaborative and interest-based processes

• Recognizing the collective bargaining relationships as opportunities to enhancethis culture

• Recognition of every employee’s contributions

• High expectations for all staff and students that are reasonable, clear, and transparent

• Open, honest contributions without fear of retribution

• Open and eff ective communication

• Respect for various points of view

• Civility in all of our interactions

• Team building and working together as teams

Tere is a commitment to fostering and sustaining a culture of respect through supportsand structures. In order to be effective, these supports and structures should be embeddedthroughout the system, visible and accessible to everyone, and seen as fair and equitable. Inorder to make certain that this culture is promoted throughout the school system, time isneeded for collaboration, training, and professional development and resources are needed to

accomplish this.

Examples of supports and structures include, but are not limited to:• Board of Education policies, such as the Creating A Positive Work Environment in

A Self-renewing Organization and Human Relations policies.

• Professional growth systems, which include professional development, employeeorientation, mentoring, training, recognition, support for new and under-performingemployees, and professional development plans

• Collaborative processes, such as labor/management collaboration committees, Councilson Teaching and Learning, principal leadership groups, cross functional teams, advisory committees, and Study Circles

• Diversity training and development initiatives

• Continuous improvement processes, including the Baldrige-guided schoolimprovement process

• Communication processes, including satisfaction and climate surveys, focus groups,budget forums, and various feedback reports

• Dispute resolution activities



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In an organizational culture of respect, individuals are aware and understandthe impact of their behavior and decisions on others. We expect that the actionsand behaviors of all individuals and groups are consistent with and reect thisorganizational culture. The actions listed below represent expected behaviors:• Model civility in daily interactions

• Use collaborative and interest-based strategies rather than positional or adversarialapproaches

• Be clear about the level of involvement in the decision-making process

• Seek to solve the problem, not apply blame

• Utilize active listening skills

• Encourage creativity and risk-taking

• Seek and respect the opinion of others

• Respect the time and the time commitments of others

• Seek to resolve issues at the level where they occur

• Seek to understand before making judgments

• Acknowledge the professional judgment of individuals in their roles

• Be aware of nonverbal communication

• Use power and authority appropriately and positively

• Be an active and responsible member of the team

• Be responsible for accepting and giving feedback

• Provide and receive feedback constructively and respectfully • Communicate openly and respectfully

In order to sustain an organizational culture of respect , it is critical that allemployees have an awareness, understanding, and tolerance of others’ interests,viewpoints, culture, and background. This culture promotes a positive workenvironment that ensures the success of each employee, high student achievement,and continuous improvement in a self-renewing organization.

Montgomery County Educational Association

Service Employees International Union Local 500

Montgomery County Association of Administrativeand Supervisory Personnel

Montgomery County Board of Education

Superintendent of Schools



MCPS at a Glance: 2008–2009

• Enrollment (2008–2009). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,276

• Largest school district in Maryland 6th largest district in the U.S.

International students rom more than 64 countries

•

Languages spoken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34• ESOL participation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2%

• Students receiving special education services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. %

• Students receiving Free and Reduced-Price Meals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.4%Ever receiving FARMS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37.5%

• Fiscal Year 2009 Operating Budget. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2.07 billion

• Fiscal Year 2009–2014 Six-Year Amended Capital Budget. . . . . . . . . . . . . $ .29 billion

• Cost per pupil (2008–2009). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$ 4,289

• Number of employees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22, 00

• Number of teachers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,500

• Number of schools/facilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

• Number of buses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,2727th largest publicly owned school bus feet in the U.S.

• Students transported. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96,000

• School meals served. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.85 million

• 2008 average SAT score. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 6

• National Merit Finalists (Class of 2009). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

• National Blue Ribbon Schools (1983–2009). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Tis document is available in an alternate ormat, upon request, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, by contacting the Public Information O ce, at 850 Hungerford Drive, Room 112, Rockville, MD

20850, or by phone at 30 -279-339 or via the Maryland Relay at -800-735-2258.

Individuals who need sign language interpretation or cued speech transliteration in communicating withMontgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) may contact Interpreting Services in the Deaf and Hard of

Hearing Program at 301-517-5539.

MCPS prohibits illegal discrimination on the basis o race, color, gender, religion, ancestry, nationalorigin, marital status, socioeconomic status, age, disability, physical characteristics, or sexual orientation.

Inquiries or complaints regarding discrimination or itle IX issues such as gender equity and sexualharassment should be directed to the O ce o the Deputy Superintendent o Schools at 30 -279-3 26,via the Maryland Relay at 1-800-735-2258, or addressed to that o ce at 850 Hungerford Drive, Room

29, Rockville, MD 20850.

2009 mcps call to action: pursuit of excellence

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