Thursday, May 23, 2013
Congressman John Delaney and MCPS Teacher of the Year highlight graduation speakers for Gaithersburg area schools.
What do a Maryland governor hopeful, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, the president of Honest Tea, Sen. Ben Cardin and Pennsylvania State University's head football coach have in common? Each will be tasked with imparting wisdom to graduates of Montgomery County Public Schools. Collectively, the 21 high schools will feature a bevy of speakers from the worlds of sports, politics, business and education. Most ceremonies will take place at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, DC, but some will be held at the school or alternative venues. The full list: - Alternative Programs, 5/24/2013, 10:30 a.m., F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre in Rockville, Ms. Mary Bowman, Poet, Singer, Author - Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, 6/6/2013, 10:00 a.m., DAR, Mr. Seth …
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Data from 2009 reveals that students have long struggled with final exams in MCPS math courses.
Few Montgomery County Public Schools students enrolled in high school math courses made high marks on final exams last semester, data released by the school district last week showed. In one class, Bridge to Algebra 2, less than 1 percent made an "A" on the final exam. (See data, above, that details the distribution of final exam grades "A" through "E" for eight math courses last semester.) School officials were prompted to release student math grades after members of the county school board grilled Superintendent Joshua Starr about last semester's final exam grades. Media outlets reported earlier this month that the majority of students in high school math—Algebra, Algebra 2, Geometry and Precalculus—failed their final exams. Starr …
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
The systemwide proposal to provide more central office support to struggling schools begins with a 10-school pilot, according to county schools officials.
Three schools in Montgomery Village—Watkins Mill Elementary, Montgomery Village Middle, and Watkins Mill High—were picked to help pilot a new program from Montgomery County Public Schools that will provide an extra layer of central office support to underperforming schools. Officials culled various data to determine the schools that needed help, including key measures at certain grade levels, like whether students are reading as they should by 3rd grade and whether 5th and 8th graders have the reading and math skills that prepare them for the next level. Watkins Mill High School principal Scott Murphy told Patch the innovation program is welcomed at his school. "I really think it's a good thing," Murphy said. "I'm really excited about the…
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Gazette: The company that administers Advanced Placement exams decided Monday that the improper video will not invalidate the exam for 274 students.
Quince Orchard High School faculty, parents and 274 Advanced Placement psychology students can breathe a sigh of relief. After an improper cellphone video taken at the testing center for Quince Orchard's exam was posted on Twitter, the school awaited word from Educational Testing Service—the company that handles test administration and security—as to whether the exam would count. The school found out Monday it would, The Gazette reported. Quince Orchard Principal Carole Working told The Gazette she and her students felt “an enormous sense of relief” upon hearing the news. A spokesperson for Educational Testing Service said they would be speaking with the individual student who took the video, but could not further discuss the situation, …
Monday, May 13, 2013
The Gazette: An improper cellphone video posted to Twitter could invalidate the Advanced Placement test.
An improper cellphone video taken at the testing center for Quince Orchard High School's advanced placement psychology exam and posted on Twitter could invalidate the exam for all 274 students, The Gazette reported. Quince Orchard Principal Carole Working told The Gazette the video did not show the exam itself, but did show students walking down an aisle to take the test and something in bubble wrap that may have been the test. It is against exam day policies to use electronic devices, including cellphones, smartphones and tablets, according to the report. Tom Ewing, a spokesman for the College Board and Educational Testing Service, the company that handles test administration and security, told The Gazette the case is still under review…
Sunday, May 12, 2013
The Montgomery County Board of Education meets regularly in Rockville.
The Montgomery County Board of Education will approve a bevy of school building improvements at its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, May 14 at 9 a.m. in Rockville. Projects at Judith A. Resnik, Sequoyah, Summit Hall, Arcola and Rosemary Hills Elementary Schools are on the agenda. (To see the full agenda, click on the PDF above.)
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Language Stars is the nation's leader in foreign language education for children ages 1-10, the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce said.
A grand opening ceremony was held recently for Language Stars—the nation's leader in foreign language education for children ages 1-10, the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce announced. The school is located at 656 Quince Orchard Road in Gaithersburg. The ceremony was conducted on Thursday, May 2, 2013. Attendees included Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett, Gaithersburg Mayor Sidney A. Katz, Gaithersburg City Council members Cathy Drzyzgula and Jud Ashman, Language Stars Center Director Taylor Griffith and Language Stars Marketing Director Ilene Lubell.
Students come from Covenant Life School; Gaithersburg, Quince Orchard, Richard Montgomery and Watkins Mill high schools.
Gaithersburg awarded a record 10 students with a total of $9,000 in scholarship funds through the W. Edward Bohrer, Jr. Memorial CHARACTER COUNTS! Scholarship program, the city announced Wednesday. The program rewards city students who embody the Six Pillars of CHARACTER COUNTS! - trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. A record number of 10 scholarships were awarded to the following students: Covenant Life School Gaithersburg High School Quince Orchard High School Richard Montgomery High School Watkins Mill High School Since they were first awarded in 1998, 73 high school seniors have received more than $139,000 in CHARACTER COUNTS! scholarships to help with their college tuition. Excerpts from the …
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
A review of test scores for algebra, geometry, algebra II and precalculus showed that a majority of students failed the final exam last year, local news outlets reported.
More than half of high school students in Montgomery County Public Schools didn't pass last semester's math finals, according to reports in The Examiner newspaper and WAMU.org. Data from MCPS, released after parents at Rockville High began anecdotally comparing test scores, according to WAMU, show that students across the system failed bedrock mathematics course finals—algebra and algebra II, geometry and precalculus. Course Algebra Algebra II Geometry Precalculus Final Exam Failure (%) 61 57 62 48 Those percentages add up to about 11,000 students not passing final math exams out of 19,000 who took the exams, Examiner reported. Dana Tofig, spokesman for MCPS, said the system is forming a task force to investigate the high rate of …
Monday, May 6, 2013
Seneca Valley High School student Steven Isaacson was awarded $500.
Germantown Historical Society awarded a $500 scholarship to Seneca Valley High School student Steven Isaacson. The scholarship was presented Wednesday at an awards ceremony at Seneca Valley. Steven has a weighted GPA of 3.95. He has taken eight advanced placement (AP) classes, five of which are Social Studies classes (AP US History, AP US Government, AP World History, AP Psychology, and AP Comparative Government), according to a news release from the historical society.
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3:50 pm on Thursday, May 23, 2013
It makes me wonder if there is a problem with how the exams are written. If a large number of students fail, it is reasonable to consider that the test itself may be a problem. If a student gets an A all year and flunks the exam, was the teacher too easy all year or was the exam too hard or confusing? I have never liked standardized tests. They don't tell the big picture. And, frankly, I think … more ›