Monday, October 26, 2015

Report has more bad news on MCPS decline, achievement gap

The troubling results of a new survey of Montgomery County African-American youths highlight the failure of the County Council and Board of Education to close an achievement gap that has grown since 2010. Connecting Youth to Opportunity was produced by The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region, BETAH Associates, Inc. and Montgomery College.

Survey results showed that black students are 3 times as likely to drop out of Montgomery County Public Schools as white and Asian students. And black students are 3 times as likely to be suspended from school as whites and Asians.

The report also showed that Montgomery County's moribund economy, and weak job creation rate relative to Northern Virginia and the District, are disproportionately hurting African Americans. According to the survey results, only 8.7% of black high school students surveyed are employed, and only 30.7% of black high school dropouts have been able to obtain employment.

Even Montgomery County's young black high school graduates are being hard hit, with only 39.7% of those surveyed currently employed.

My suggestion for years has been to attract high-wage aerospace, defense and tech companies (and their accompanying research facilities) to the County - and have classroom space in those facilities as a provision for receiving County financial incentives. This would create internships, and high-tech skill acquisition, that would lead to high-wage jobs for students in our worst performing schools. We also need universal Pre-K.

Instead, our County leadership is doubling down on decline. What are we hearing the MoCo political machine's next moves are on declining schools and record exam failure rates? "Soft bigotry" moves like building more luxury apartments on top of demolished affordable housing complexes, putting more rich white people in places like White Oak and Wheaton while displacing lower income residents, redistricting school boundaries - the third rail of MoCo politics, and, by golly, just getting rid of those pesky exams the kids can't pass.

Let's hope this report provides them yet another wake-up call.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

And here come the talking points again.

Wash, rinse, repeat...

Anonymous said...

6:20am no different from the MoCo Council boilerplate talking points about whatever scheme they're cooking up at the time. Nighttime economy, anyone? :)

Anonymous said...

The report does not actually say what you claim that it says. It notes that there is an achievement gap which "persists", but it does not say that the "achievement gap has grown since 2010".

In fact, the report notes that "graduation rates are increasing and dropout rates are decreasing for African American youth in Montgomery County".

The biggest "achievement gap" here seems to be in your reading comprehension.

Anonymous said...

Yet another attack on a county government agency by this uneducated, unemployed, far-right conservative blogger. Get a real job.

Anonymous said...

7:15 AM Dyer is hardly "far-right".
Dyer has had a platform that included Universal Pre-K, college education for every child, preservation of affordable housing, etc. I don't think these are "far-right" positions.

I don't think anyone gets into journalism to become rich. Kudos to Robert for having the best daily MoCo news coverage.

Anonymous said...

So the cause of poor achievement among Blacks, including low employment numbers, is due to MCPS? At what point are the parents to blame?

Also, shouldn't the results be adjusted for SES? At least nation-wide, the information I've seen is that underachievement is correlated with SES, not race.

Anonymous said...

I note that this study only surveys young people living in Montgomery County.

If Dyer wants to make the claim that this is an example of MoCo's decline relative to NoVa, he should cite the data for the Fairfax County schools.

Robert Dyer said...

6:41: Actually, it does. The report repeatedly cites the 2014 OLO report which shows the achievement gap widening since 2010. Your reading comprehension is what's in question here. Similarly, graduation rate and dropout rate are not the barometers for the achievement gap - it's academic performance (grades, test scores) that matters. Public school students have been advanced without actually learning the material for decades - that's why we're in this mess.

Robert Dyer said...

7:15: The report speaks for itself. A fact-based article isn't an attack. But calling someone who graduated cum laude from college "uneducated" makes you sound pretty stupid. Calling the guy Seventh State said was running to the left of the County Council "far right" makes you sound even more stupid. Dumb and dumberer. Surprised the MoCo political machine would hire you.

Robert Dyer said...

9:52: I think the correlation the report makes between MCPS and employment is mainly kids not getting the skills to get work, or allowing them to become disconnected to where they drop out of school. Obviously, MCPS is not to blame for the County's poor job creation rates.

Robert Dyer said...

9:52: I've always said that other "gaps" - income, early education, technology, nutrition - share blame for the achievement gap to an extent. But we shouldn't use SES to excuse poor performance by MCPS. While a holistic approach is wise, there are many cases where low-income students have demonstrated high achievement. It's the academic approach and teachers that are the ultimate deciding factors.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Dyer, from what prestigious institution did you graduate "cum laude" from? Inquiring minds would like to know!

Anonymous said...

"The report speaks for itself."

Yes, it does. So stop misrepresenting what it actually says, Dyer.

Anonymous said...

I'm a non-white student that grew up in Potomac and Bethesda. We grew up in HOC housing and nobody paid for my undergraduate degree or my doctorate. Enough excuses... You can be anything you choose to be. It's not the county's fault people don't succeed. Answer me this... If your parents were extra hard on you... Where you more likely to get into trouble or not? If the school is extra hard on you (if that's what you believe they are doing to black students), then wouldn't they be doing better because of the extra scrutiny from the school? If you answer no then you are suggesting that these students are doing whatever they choose to do, and that the parents don't care.

Which is it?

I didn't have that lovey touchy dream-world that you think all Montgomery county kids have. My brother graduated Magna Cum Laude from college by the way as well. Stop making excuses.

I've heard so many arguments... It's the neighborhood you grew up in... Oh it's because you are not white... It's your school. No it isn't. It's your values. Plain and simple.

Anonymous said...

I brought high tech jobs to MOCO in the 80's. In the nineties I had to move to Frederick. Both counties had no incentive to expand our business so we opened facilities in PA and WV. We used to train all of our employees and fill in where the public school system failed. Just some shell offices left in MD now. It is not getting better and more companies are either leaving or not coming here.