In addition to our traditional language immersion programs, MCPS now has two-way local school immersion programs. These students receive 50 percent of their instruction in English and 50 percent in another target language. MCPS has also expanded access to elementary enrichment with additional seats and universal screenings, and more home school enrichment to ensure all students, regardless of ZIP code, are considered for the program.

To combat summer learning loss over the summer, which mostly affects students in families impacted by poverty, MCPS expanded access and instruction time to existing summer programs (ELO SAIL, ELO STEP and the BELL program) and, in July 2019, MCPS will expand the school year by 30 days at two Title I elementary schools (Roscoe R. Nix and Arcola).

MCPS is increasing Pre-K seats and expanding to full-day learning experiences across the county; embedding Science, Engineering, Technology and Math (STEM) opportunities in the elementary core curriculum; and expanding art initiatives in schools with a high number of students impacted by poverty.

Time after time, we see that when students are challenged and supported, they rise to the occasion. MCPS has expanded access to Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses, with a focus on increasing participation by typically underrepresented student groups. In addition, all MCPS students have access to an assessment (SAT, ACT or Career Certificates) to support post-high school plans.

MCPS has enhanced and expanded its career-ready offerings. Programs range from information technology and engineering to aviation, finance and teaching. Some programs offer a two-year associate degree by the time students graduate from high school, at no cost or at a reduced cost. MCPS is also expanding the Career Readiness Education Academy to serve students who are unlikely to meet all graduation requirements prior to turning 21, and to students with limited or interrupted formal educations.

Our investment in programs like Minority Scholars and Achieving Collegiate Excellence and Success help students who come from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds by providing mentors, coaching and a sense of belonging.

Data can help educators better understand how the student is learning. This requires looking at multiple measures of a student’s learning to determine where they are making progress and where additional support may be needed. These measures include quizzes, exams and essays at the classroom level, as well as standardized state testing data. Using new, robust data tools, educators can better monitor student performance and implement supports or offer greater challenges to meet student needs.

To be as efficient as possible, the human brain takes shortcuts in processing information. Unfortunately, these shortcuts can sometimes unintentionally create bias and lead to stereotyping. For educators, this can lead to expectations for a student based on race, ethnicity or gender, instead of ability. To combat this implicit bias and to help teachers better connect with students of all backgrounds, MCPS has developed mandatory cultural competency training for all educators.

To ensure that our growing diverse student body has access to high-quality teachers from backgrounds as diverse as they are, MCPS has engaged in targeted recruitment to encourage diverse applicants to become educators in our system. We are also creating pathways to develop our diverse pool of support professionals into certified teachers.

MCPS is committed to providing supports and identifying resources for families through our multilingual parent community coordinators and pupil personnel workers. We are also continuing to invest in language services work to increase access to timely translations and interpretations for families where English is not the primary language.