Board of Education Candidates Weigh in on Reading Goal for all MCPS Third Graders
Eleven candidates for Montgomery County Board of Education participated in the April 23, 2018 Candidates’ Forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County. Tracie Potts of NBC 4 moderated the forum. All candidates were asked their position on the following question:
Option A or Option B – Would you agree that the BOE should have as one of its goals that every student will read at grade level by 3rd grade and to support and hold MCPS accountable for that?
O’Neill, Amano, Simon, Ibrahim, Robertson, Silvestre, and Rippeon would agree that the BOE should have as one of its goals that every student will read at grade level by 3rd grade and to support and hold MCPS accountable, (option A).
Reiley, Edib, Sugg, and Arbuckle would not agree that the BOE should have as one of its goals that every student will read at grade level by 3rd grade and to support and hold MCPS accountable (option B).
The forum included Ryan Arbuckle, Timur Edib, Marwa Omar Ibrahim, Julie Reiley, Brandon Orman Rippeon, John A. Robertson, Karla Silvestre, and Stephen Sugg in the at large race; Lynn Amano, Patricia O’Neill, and Laura Simon in the District 3 race.
All candidates responded to the question.
After clarifying with the moderator this question was to be taken literally, and indeed meant every single student had to reach the same on grade level reading goal in third grade, and MCPS would be held accountable if this was not the case, I voted no. (I would much rather see a pilot program of student learning plans for students at academic risk than a one size fits all reading goal.)
I’d like to explain why.
While the spirit behind it is well intentioned, it would ultimately harm some of the very students we need to better support. Such a policy would blame MCPS and I fear, ultimately, teachers, if a single student can’t read on grade level by third grade; this will result in harmful unintended consequences for our most vulnerable students. Below I explain how with regard to some of our students with special needs, but I was also concerned about the impact on some of our English Language Learners.
I have advocated for years for a continuum of special education (and related services) delivery models, a variety of services, programs, and accommodations, and a differentiated instruction approach for our students with special needs. I have done so because our special education population is extremely diverse, with diverse needs, challenges, and strengths. We have a variety of students with a variety of disabilities for whom reading on grade level in third grade IS an appropriate goal. However, we also have students with severe cognitive and related disabilities, for example, traumatic brain injuries, for whom reading on grade level in third grade is not feasible and is NOT an appropriate goal.
That’s where the unintended harm to students comes into play – because this policy would hold MCPS accountable for ANY student who is not able to meet this uniform goal, regardless of their individual needs. And whatever this accountability mechanism is, if it truly applies to every single student, we’ll end up with teachers who do everything right but end up being blamed or penalized because they have a student or students who do not meet a goal that, while appropriate for the vast majority, is not appropriate for their specific student(s)’ individual needs. As a result, we’ll end up with fewer teachers willing to work with our most severely impacted students, which in turn harms those students.
Also, time spent trying to get a student to reach a universal goal that is not appropriate for the student is time NOT spent meeting the appropriate goals and needs of that student.
I want accountability, and I want MCPS to do better by ALL our students. I have advocated for years for greater accountability to our special education families, but this is not the answer.
A better approach would be to assess the individual progress of the students.
I would much rather see a pilot program of student learning plans for students at academic risk than one size fits all goals.