MCPS says student achievement remains ‘marginal’; district outlines curriculum, MTSS and supervisory visits to accelerate gains

Montgomery County Public Schools officials told the County Council’s Education & Culture Committee on July 11 that while some recovery has occurred since the pandemic, overall student performance remains "marginal," gaps persist among racial and service groups, and the district plans more intensive monitoring and instructional supports.

"Despite the hard work of our teachers ... the academic data is not where we need it to be," said Dr. Peggy Pugh, describing the Evidence of Learning (EOL) framework the district uses to measure student progress. MCPS officials said the district focuses on transition grades (K, 3, 6 and 9) and uses multiple indicators that combine classroom, district and external measures.

Presenters shared grade‑level snapshots. For literacy, the percentage of students meeting two or more EOL measures ranged from about 54.8% in third grade to 73.9% in sixth grade; for mathematics, MCPS cited a low of about 46.9% in sixth grade and a high of about 72.5% in kindergarten. Staff said students receiving services (special education, free/reduced‑price meals, ELD) perform substantially lower than the overall averages.

To accelerate progress, MCPS outlined three main strategies: a coherent curriculum and instructional expectations (including roll‑out of Core Knowledge Language Arts for literacy), universal progress monitoring through MTSS, and a strengthened accountability cycle. District leaders said they will hold schools to multi‑year school improvement plans rather than single‑year cycles and will use data score stories to monitor growth.

"We are right now in a position where goals need to be focused," said a district leader, describing plans to implement districtwide progress monitoring and to network schools that demonstrate effective practice so others can replicate success. The district said it will implement three two‑hour supervisory visits at each of its 211 schools; those visits will include curriculum, special‑education and equity specialists and will collect standardized observational data to establish a baseline and drive coaching.

Committee members raised practical concerns about implementation—teacher time for real‑time Synergy data entry, schedule constraints for delivering tiered instruction, and the capacity to staff interventions. MCPS said it has trained staff over the past year, has begun summer professional learning (training more than 250 staff so far), and is piloting strategies such as foundational‑literacy paraeducators in K–3 and distributed coaching to reduce classroom variability.

Malika Brown, elementary English‑language‑arts supervisor, described the foundational‑literacy paraeducator role: a staff member who provides targeted tier‑2 instruction three to four times a week, often pulling small groups across classrooms so students do not miss core Tier 1 instruction.

Officials acknowledged that central office must be actively engaged in school improvement planning and that improvements require time, consistent implementation and trust-building with schools. The committee asked to receive baseline observational data and follow‑ups on how interventions are being scheduled and resourced.