By Kira Yates ’16

1. What Will Happen to the Chromebooks?
To keep up with the ever-changing world of complex technology, former Superintendent Joshua Starr frequently voiced his opinion to modernize the technology in MCPS schools. Although this was obvious from the beginning of Starr’s term, students and staff really felt an impact when the technology at their own school was updated. Here at Sherwood, almost all of the computers in the library were switched out for laptops and chromebooks were placed in social studies classrooms across the county. Trainings for both students and staff to learn how to use these new mini-laptops were also provided. On February 10 the Board of Education approved a budget that was $2.39 billion, 10 million less than Starr’s proposed budget due to less funding than expected from state and Governor Larry Hogan’s recommended budget for the next fiscal year. In order to account for these cuts to the budget, one of the most obvious choices would be to eliminate technological devices because unlike teachers, chromebooks are not vital to a student’s education.

2. Are Students Still Going To Need Grit?
Starr often highlighted the social-emotional component of education he believes students need to be successful, which includes valuing and respecting diversity, making healthy decisions and building resilience. At Sherwood, advisories were approved in part by their emphasis on character traits and relationship building between students and staff, which aligned with Starr’s perspective on the social-emotional learning “mindset.” Not all educators, however, embrace the support of students’ social-emotional well-being and would rather put more focus onto other pressing matters such as working to close the achievement gap. Measuring social-emotional learning also raises a lot of skepticism because many people feel it is much easier and more realistic to measure academic improvements than measuring students’ “hope” with a Gallup survey.

3. Is Curriculum 2.0 Going to Remain at the Core of MCPS’s Vision for Students?
While Superintendent, Starr pushed for big reforms to education. He rolled out Curriculum 2.0, which was first implemented in grades kindergarten through fifth grade. This new program is designed to provide a more well-rounded education for students while fostering their creativity and critical thinking skills. One complaint with this new program, however, is students are learning math in one classroom even if students’ ability levels differ significantly. In a county where one-third of students are categorized as gifted and talented, a lot of work was not challenging enough for many students and many parents complained about this “one size fits all” curriculum. The new superintendent will have to assess whether MCPS’s new curriculum is stifling the instruction of some students while bettering the education of others, and if Curriculum 2.0 should remain in place.

4. Will the Next Superintendent Also Push Against Standardized Testing?
From the beginning of his time as Superintendent, Starr rejected the idea of relying heavily on testing. At an education forum, Starr voiced his opinion for a three-year prohibition of standardized testing and that teachers should not be evaluated based on student test scores. This is a popular idea because many educators are frustrated with the excessive amounts of education reforms that are too much for the school systems to handle at once. However, some argue that putting a hold on standardized testing could slow, or even reverse, the progress that has been made by holding schools accountable. A new superintendent could possibly go the other direction of Star and embrace standardized testing.

5. What Will Be The Plan to Close the Achievement Gap?
As superintendent, Starr implemented overhaul services for vulnerable students, the Early Warning Indicator System, a decrease in suspensions, the establishment of five core values and gap-reduction targets. These initiatives led to significant improvements of SAT scores of African American and Hispanic students. Similar progress was seen with AP exam scores. Finally, graduation rates for African American and Hispanic students increased throughout Starr’s term. Although Starr did introduce some initiative to narrow the achievement gap, he did not seem to have one clearly outlined plan. Under Starr’s guidance, the county did seem some reducing of the achievement gap, but will the new superintendent bring a structured strategy for narrowing the gap, or will the jumble of initiatives remain the main system for tackling this pressing issue.