By Katie Mercogliano ‘14

The gap in academic achievement between high and low-income students is still problematic for MCPS and other school districts in the country. Granted, Maryland is ranked number one in progress for low-income students in 2013, according to “The New State Achievement Gap” report, but an alarming number of MCPS students in the lower section of the socioeconomic pyramid are still in for an uphill battle towards college readiness upon graduation from high school.

At the annual Student Media Roundtable on October 23, Superintendent Joshua Starr addressed the issue. “SAT scores … are one indicator [of closing the achievement gap]. Montgomery County has done a better job than many other places of reducing that gap, but we still have it. It is [closing] and continues to do so with targeted resources to schools that have a greater need,” Starr said. And there has been gradual progress within MCPS. The number of students receiving free and reduced meals (FARMs) who took the SATs, as well as the scores of those students, have increased by a small percentage.

MCPS is perceived as one of the wealthiest counties in the nation, encompassing schools such as Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Walter Johnson, Poolesville, Wootton, Churchill and Whitman. However, schools in the Northeast Consortium or Downcounty Consortium, including Blake, Blair, Paint Branch, Einstein, Springbrook, Northwood, Wheaton and Kennedy, are not as well off. These last two schools in particular have about 50-percent more students on FARMs than the county average of 33.2 percent, emphasizing the greatly apparent effects of suburban poverty.

Starr also pointed out that the achievement gap in MCPS could now be affected in the upcoming three years because of changes made to the curriculum and tests. “We now have Common Core State Standards in the country that are very, very different from the MSAs and HSAs that [students previously] took,” said Starr. “There is a huge transition going on, so the gap that we had before may look very different going forward because it’s going to be [based on] a whole new test.”

As for the specific approaches, Starr designed a framework that concentrates on different abilities: academic, creative problem solving as well as social/emotional skills. Though he plans to aid every school in succeeding, Starr noted that MCPS has to be responsive to the needs of each individual school. “The way [one school] approaches it might be different than how [another school] approaches it, but [every school] has to make sure kids get to that standard,” said Starr.