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Student Engagement Plan

MCPS is implementing a comprehensive student engagement monitoring program that includes multiple data sources and mobilizes staff and resources across the district in order to meet individual student and family needs. The MCPS student engagement plan has three phases:

  • Analyzing and tracking individual student engagement at the school and central office level
  • Creating outreach and case management action plans to address student needs
  • Analyzing and quantifying the quality of student engagement

Please note that engagement in our Continuity of Learning program can happen in a number of ways. Students and parents/guardians (on behalf of students) are connecting with teachers through email, telephone, text, and paper-packet materials. Ensuring these students are accounted for in the engagement data is critical.

Three Concurrent Approaches

Student Digital Footprint from March 30 through April 17

MCPS has been able to generate digital footprint data for each student. The data consists of counts of logins to myMCPS Classroom, Google Apps, and the video conferencing tool, Zoom.

Level Date (from March 30th) Count of “No” Status Count of “Yes” Status Total # of Students Percent of “No” Status
Elementary* April 6 18,645 59,651 78,296 24%
April 13 13,253 65,048 78,301 17%
April 17 9,402 68,925 78,327 12%
Secondary April 6 18,449 70,113 88,562 21%
April 13 8,718 79,846 88,564 10%
April 17 4,834 83,739 88,573 5.5%

* Elementary numbers include all preK programs, PEP, and Infants and Toddlers

Because engagement in Continuity of Learning can happen beyond the digital footprint, gathering school-level data on these connections is important. Students and parents/guardians (on behalf of students) are connecting with teachers through e-mail, telephone, text, and paper-packet materials. Ensuring these students are accounted for in the engagement data is critical and so the incorporation of school and central services data collection is included in Phase I of this effort.

Each school has been charged with creating an academic and well-being support team. Each team is tasked with ensuring all students are accounted for and families are connected to resources during this Continuity of Learning experience. For this effort, the academic and well-being support teams at each school were charged with updating school sheets with additional information about students, with a specific focus on the students with a “No” status. “No” status for this round of school level data was based on zero logins between March 30 and April 17. The first round of data entry was completed on April 24. Data in the following table indicates the number of students who make up each category of follow-up or engagement as of April 24.

Phase II: Creating Agile Outreach and Case Management Action Plans to Address Student Needs

This phase of the student engagement plan focuses on creating and implementing outreach action steps in order to connect families with resources. Using the data from Phase I, academic and well-being support teams, in partnership with PPWs, parent community coordinators, ESOL and Title 1 specialists, and special education coordinators, will develop strategic outreach plans. They will ensure families have the resources they need to effectively engage in Continuity of Learning. This phase began the week of March 23 as we connected families with paper packets, technology, and language translation services in order to support the successful transition to the Continuity of Learning program. This phase has continued each week as school and central services staff have connected with families, delivered resources, and worked to help families continue the transition to this new learning experience. Phase II will continue throughout the Continuity of Learning program.

Phase III: Analyzing the Quality of Student Engagement in Addition to Quantifying Student Engagement

Phase III of student engagement adds the element of quality engagement to the central data collection as well as school and central analysis. This phase utilizes not only the digital footprint and school-central outreach data; it also considers Marking Period 3 grades and Marking Period 4 ongoing academic performance in each class. This detailed level of monitoring will help academic and well-being support teams, as well as central services resources, identify student areas of need and create support structures for students who need them. This phase was implemented Friday, April 17, 2020, as we analyzed academic performance reported on March 13 and compared that to academic performance being reported at the conclusion of Marking Period 3. This analysis will continue with the inclusion of Marking Period 3 grades on April 24, 2020, when grades were posted to student records. Monitoring engagement and academic performance in Marking Period 4 will be the focus of Phase III in the upcoming weeks.