American Math Scores

A while back, the results of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) were released. This test measures the performance of 15-year-olds in reading literacy, mathematics literacy, and science literacy. The results of American children can be found here. 

The following is an article by The Washington Post's Jay Matthews about U.S. test scores. 

Are math scores lagging because U.S. parents are clueless?

By Jay Mathews

I stumbled across one of those charming surveys with too small a sample to depend on, but a result interesting enough -- and close enough to possible -- to blog on anyway. It suggests that the kids in Singapore are stealing our lunch money in the race for math supremacy because their parents hire tutors far more often than we do, and because their parents have a less inflated sense of their math skills than U.S. parents do.

The survey of 1,114 parents of children ages 10-14 was conducted in 2010 by a team of researchers working for the Raytheon Co. and a Boston firm called Eduventures Inc. There were only 561 parents from the United States, 311 from England and 272 from Singapore participating, but the researchers apparently felt that gave them at least a faint suggestion of what might explain the fact that Singapore students’ average math scores are significantly above those of U.S. students. What do you think?

In Singapore, the researchers said, 42 percent of parents report the use of tutors for math help, compared with 10 percent of parents in the United States.

That doesn't mean those American 10- to 14-year-olds aren't getting extra help with their math homework. Seventy-seven percent of U.S. parents said family members helped the children, usually about one or two hours a week.

Let's give a cheer for involved parents before we review the evidence suggesting that mom and dad may not be the best tutors, or the best judges of the worth of their assistance. More than half said they "believe they have high ability to help their children with fractions, division, and math word problems." Seventy-two percent said they "know the level of math education my child needs to succeed in college."

The researchers, phrasing their conclusions gently, said: "Evidence suggests U.S. parents may be overly confident or lacking in the use of accurate metrics around math performance and college preparedness. For example, 78 percent of U.S. parents report their children's math performances are in the top 20 percent compared to peers in school."

There is more bad news for us otherwise good-hearted American parents, proud of our kids and eager to help. The researchers discovered that 51 percent of Singapore parents had received instruction from educators about how to help their children with math. In the United States and England, only 25 percent of parents reported receiving similar instruction.

About a third of Singapore students had participated in math competitions, the parents reported. Only 20 percent of the English parents and 9 percent of the American parents said the same.

U.S. educators appear to think that our kids need more help in math, as well as other subjects. Parents agree. Now we have to figure out if the help we are giving them is really helping much.

Superintendent Search

The Board of Education has hired the firm Hazard, Young, Attea, & Associates to conduct its Superintendent Search. Our website for the search is located here.

The timeline below shows how the search will be conducted. Right now, we're still very early in the process. However, I'd like to know what characteristics you guys would value in your future superintendent, and what priorities you think he or she should have. Send me an email at Alan_Xie@mcpsmd.org, or leave a comment! I'll be updating the blog periodically to discuss our progress in the search.

Quick Budget Facts

In anticipation of my upcoming budget video, here's some facts about the Superintendent's FY 2012 Recommended Operating Budget:

- No new services or initiatives
- No across-the-board class size increases
- No Cost of Living Increases (COLAs) for employees for the 3rd year in a row
- MCPS employees have agreed to forgo COLAs for the past two years, and voted to give up step increases last year - saving us $115 million annually
- Meets Maintenance of Effort: state law requiring the county to fund education at the same per-student level of $10,664 from FY 2010 (because MOE was waived during FY 2011)
- If the county doesn't fund the budget at MOE, MCPS will likely be penalized with the loss of  $28 million in increased state aid
- 2.8% budget increase ($59.6 million) to account for a 2.3% growth in enrollment and loss of federal stimulus funds
- Loss of $54 million in funds from the federal stimulus package, leaving us a "funding cliff"
- Currently, the number of students considered Limited English Proficient is 18,793
- The number of students receiving Free or Reduced-Price Meals (FARMS) is at 45,196 - nearly one-third of MCPS students
- MCPS was named a recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the highest presidential honor an American organization can receive for performance excellence through innovation, improvement, and visionary leadership
- MCPS was selected as a finalist for the Broad Prize for Urban Education, which recognizes large school systems that have improved student performance while narrowing racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic achievement gaps

That's all for now - keep an eye out for my video!

Tumblr!

Hey everyone,

If you haven't already seen it, here's the SMOB Tumblr: http://mocosmob.tumblr.com.

It's a compilation of pictures from everyday school life, and we're hoping to expand it and make it a part of the blog as well.

Have a fun winter break!

Senator Madaleno Proposes Maryland Dream Act

From the Gazette article entitled "Feds drop ball; Madaleno prepares to introduce state Dream Act" published December 20th, 2010 by staff writer Sarah Breitenbach:

After the U.S. Senate failed to pass a plan this weekend that could give undocumented students access to citizenship through military service or higher education, state Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. announced his plan to bring similar legislation to Maryland.

Madaleno (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington, announced Monday that he plans to introduce his version of the Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act when the General Assembly convenes in January. If passed, the bill would enable students who graduated from Maryland high schools or served in the military to receive resident-rate tuition at public universities and colleges.

His version of the legislation, while unable to offer citizenship, a federal responsibility, will mirror a bill introduced by Sen. David C. Harrington (D-Dist. 47) of Cheverly in 2009.

Giving immigrants access to higher education and a path to citizenship improves communities and would come at little cost to the state, Madaleno said.

"My impression from the conversations I've had with people in the immigrant community is they're just not going to school," he said. "They're not able to pay the out-of-state- rate. If there were a revenue loss, I think it would be so tiny, it would be minimal."

The Maryland legislature passed a version of the Dream Act in 2003, but it was vetoed by then-Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. Ten states have passed laws allowing undocumented students to pay in-state tuition.

"We want to certainly maximize the potential of every person in our state and if it's helping them go to college, I think that's a good thing," Madaleno said, "especially if that's encouraging them to find a path to at least being documented."

Operating Budget Presentation

Superintendent Dr. Jerry Weast presented his proposed Operating Budget this Wednesday, December 15th at Richard Montgomery HS.

He has recommended a $2.163 billion budget that complies with Maintenance of Effort. This is an increase of $59.6 million, or 2.8% from the FY 2011 budget. It is important to remember that this budget requires additional local funding due to the loss of federal stimulus funds (ARRA).

It is projected that we will have 3,340 additional students in FY 2012, and an increase of $17.2 million is used to cover these costs. However, there are no new initiatives or programs. In addition, there will be no across-the-board class size increase.

To read the Budget in Brief, click here.
To read the full budget, click here. It is a very large file and may take a long time to load/may crash your computer.

If you have any questions about the budget, don't hesitate to send me an email at Alan_Xie@mcpsmd.org.

A final note: I will be creating a short, 1 minute video about the budget in the next several weeks. It will be sent out to all MCPS middle and high schools in January. An in-depth blog post about the budget is also coming up!

Bus Fees Bill Dropped

Today, Senator Madaleno (D - District 18) announced his withdrawal of proposed local bill MC 10-11.

http://www.gazette.net/stories/12022010/montnew131723_32547.php

Local Legislation

The Board of Education voted to support three local bills: MC 7-11, 10-11, and 11-11. A public hearing for these bills will be held on December 6th, at 7 PM. It will take place in the 3rd Floor Hearing Room of the Stella Werner Council Office Building, 100 Maryland Avenue in Rockville.


Here's some clarification on these bills:

7-11
This bill would give the Montgomery County SMOB full voting rights (except negative personnel). I want as many students as possible to lobby the General Assembly for the passing of this bill, and to show up at the hearing. This will show that we care, and help us finally achieve (almost) full voting rights!

10-11
This bill would repeal the prohibition on bus fees in Montgomery County. However, there are a few issues regarding this bill that need to be addressed. This bill is NOT instituting bus fees. The Board of Education has NO plans on the table or in the pipeline to institute bus fees. This bill simply puts Montgomery County on level footing with the other counties in Maryland by repealing the prohibition on bus fees. In Maryland, 23 out of 24 counties currently do not prohibit bus fees.

11-11
This bill would create a unified process for the construction, remodeling, and placement of MCPS buildings. It would give only Montgomery County government the authority to issue permits and enforce regulations and codes, benefiting MCPS immensely.


I encourage youth to please come to observe or testify on December 6th! You can sign up here, call 410-841-3010/301-858-3010, or email saha@mlis.state.md.us. Thanks!

Fall Update!

It's been more than a month since my last post, and I apologize for taking so long - it's been a busy couple of weeks!

Here's an idea of what's happened so far:

- On October 6th, the Board of Education met with the MCAAP (Montgomery County Association of Administrators and Principals) and discussed several issues, including the change to state law regarding evaluation systems and the FY 2012 budget.

- On October 6th, I also met with the MCJC Executive Board and discussed the MCAAP meeting. On the 7th, I met with the MCR Executive Board.

- The Board of Education met on October 12th. At this meeting, we approved the Comprehensive Master Plan and discussed Wellness in MCPS, specifically the 12-week health and fitness competition called MCPS on the Move, a program between MCPS and Kaiser Permanente. We also discussed the nutrition of school lunches.

- The Board of Education's 14th Annual Distinguished Service to Education Awards Ceremony was held on October 21st. Congratulations to all of our amazing recipients! They have truly made outstanding contributions to public education and children in Montgomery County.

- The Board of Education held another meeting on October 25th. During this meeting, we took action on the sale of the former site of Robert E. Peary HS. In addition, staff updated the Board on a pilot program: Student Instructional Program Planning and Implementation (SIPPI).

- On October 27th, the Board of Education met with MCCPTA (Montgomery County COuncil of Parent Teacher Associations) leadership and discussed community engagement and communication.

- On October 13th and 28th, the Board of Education held two Community Roundtable events. They were a huge success!

- On October 29th, I attended the MCJC General Assembly at Eastern MS. It was a pleasure to return to my old middle school and talk to students from around the county, and I enjoyed the experience very much. I also attended the MCR General Assembly at Blair HS on November 4th. On November 8th I attended the MCJC Executive Board meeting, and on the 9th I attended the MCR Executive Board meeting.

- The Board of Education met on November 9th and voted on the 2011-2012 school calendar and approved several pilot courses. In addition, staff updated the Board on the K-12 Mathematics Work Group. Finally, the Board of Education voted on its Legislative Platform. We voted unanimously to support SMOB voting rights, and the Board also voted to support MC 7-11, the local bill sponsored by Delegates Kaiser and Hucker that would give the SMOB full voting rights (except negative personnel).

- On November 10th, I attended a meeting with the Montgomery County Commission on Children and Youth. This meeting was an open forum discussion among youth about stress, with many adults acting as observers. The event was a huge success and I encourage youth to attend next year.

- The Board of Education held two Facilities Hearings on November 10th and 11th, and the community came out in full force to provide testimony. Decisions on boundaries were made on November 18th. A short summary can be found here.

- On November 16th, the Policy Committee held its first meeting of the year. We discussed Policy IED, regarding Framework and Structure of High School Education. In addition, we discussed Policy JEE, regarding Student Transfers.

- The Board of Education also met with the Montgomery County Delegation on November 16th. Though some legislators were unable to attend, the meeting was still very important. The Board discussed Maintenance of Effort, the budget, and local bills that it endorsed (MC 10-11 and MC 11-11).

- I met with the SMOB Council for the second time on November 17th. At this meeting, we planned outreach with high school newspapers and testimony for educational legislation such as SMOB voting rights.


That's all for now!

SMOB Town Hall

Hello everyone!
I'm pleased to announce that I will be holding a county-wide student Town Hall at Richard Montgomery High School on Monday, October 18th, from 6 PM to 8 PM. This event will be a way for students around the county to express their concerns and opinions in an open forum, and allow them to communicate with the SMOB and understand the work that is being done.

The SMOB Council will be working diligently to plan this event, and we hope to see a diverse group of people from across the board. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone there!

Please spread the word about this!