VIDEO: Joshua Starr on the Achievement Gap
In our fourth video, the superintendent says that MCPS can close its achievement gap with great teachers and world-class programs.
In our fourth video, Superintendent Joshua Starr says that while there is a gap in the achievement between certain groups of students, Montgomery County Public Schools can close it by ensuring that each classroom has access to an excellent teacher, trained staff and quality facilities.
In Friday's segment, Starr discusses his forthcoming transition report and his plan to visit all of MCPS's 200 schools in the coming year.
JH
9:28 am on Thursday, September 1, 2011
Seems like a fine leader. He has a big job ahead. Achievement gap is driven in large measure by dysfunctional families. We have come to accept or even invite an ongoing stream of such families into the County. Wrong to force the public schools to assume the role of good parents.
Richard Rice
9:46 pm on Thursday, September 1, 2011
JH, excellent points. I would like to see overall improvements made to the
Special Education areas of Montgomery County Public Schools.
edenegirl
10:02 pm on Thursday, September 1, 2011
You are correct; schools are not parents or social workers. They are educators.
Momofthree
1:07 pm on Saturday, September 10, 2011
Too bad not all parents teach their children any accountibility but choose to use the public school system as a crutch (therapy, babysitting, etc). We parents can have a huge impact on the classroom. If your child misbehaves, it makes an impact on my child's learning. This is for all those parents over the years who have blamed their child's misbehavior or lack of academic progress on the teacher or the school; those children have learned to make excuses rather than take any responsibility. I wish my children's learning had not been negatively impacted by misbehaving students who were permitted to cause disruptions on a daily basis. Why do the well-behaving kids with responsible parents have to suffer?