Birthdate and place: Brooklyn, NY, 1955 Residence: Silver Spring, MD Family: two daughters, Emily and Melanie Rosenberger; Married to Alfie Rosenberger Education: Graduate Center, CUNY, Doctoral program in Physical Anthropology (ABD 1985); City College, New York, Bachelor of Science (1977) Professional experience: Anxiety Disorders Association of America — Chief Operating Officer; Adhesive & Sealant Council and ASC Education Foundation — Director and Interim Executive Director; American Association of Dental Schools — Director, Communications, Marketing & Membership; American Dental Association — Science Writer; American Dietetic Association — Marketing Coordinator; Ruder, Finn & Rotman, Chicago — Vice President, Health Care; Hunter College, New York — Lecturer in Anthropology Community experience: Member, High School Plus Workgroup (2007–present); Member, Academic Eligibility Workgroup (2004-2005); Member of Planning Committee and Conference Speaker, MCPS Conference on Designing High Schools for the Next Generation (2005); Chair, MCCPTA High School Committee (2004-2006); Member, MCCPTA Grading and Reporting Committee (2004-2006); Co-chair, Johns Hopkins National Network of Partnership School, Einstein High School (2002-2004); Member, Guidance Advisory Committee (2001-2002); Member, Committee to Develop the Downcounty Consortium (2000-2003); College Fair Founder and Coordinator, Einstein High School (1999–2004); Six terms, Einstein Cluster Coordinator (1999-2004; 2005-2007); Two terms, Area Vice President, Blair, Einstein, Kennedy and Northwood (2004-2006); Member, Family Involvement Special Committee of Superintendent Nancy Grasmick, Maryland Dept of Education (2000-2002 Key issues: High School achievement, middle school reform, academic and developmental supports, parent outreach and involvement, making testing meaningful Web site: www.muskinforboe.org Telephone: 301-495-2327 Link to state Board of Elections campaign finance database

Board of Education, At-Large

Alies Muskin

Focus on middle and high school achievement. Research has shown that strong middle school and early high school performance is critical to improving graduation rates. Making sure all students have access to more challenging courses is necessary to gain the critical thinking skills that will lead them through life after school. For many students, high school is the last chance to establish a solid foundation upon which to build a productive, successful life. As a Board member, I would commit myself to supporting initiatives that address the multiple reasons students derail, increasing efforts to improve student achievement, and continuing to look for partnerships to offer more opportunities.

Improving the developmental and social supports provided in schools. Students today present a complex set of developmental and social needs. The challenges confronting counselors, teachers, support staff, and administrators are broader than ever before. From bullying to gang involvement, pregnancy, substance abuse, poverty, mobility, homelessness, and nontraditional family and living situations, students are coming to school with tremendous need. Involving parents and improving outreach is critical to supporting students. Addressing the needs of students, aiding teachers and support staff to cope with these stresses, and assisting families to find help are all part of creating a healthy learning environment. I will work to bring collaborative and innovative approaches to our schools.

Evaluate testing and how these are used to improve instruction. A great deal of time is spent administering tests. The value of tests, when results are received, lie in how results are used, how accessible results are to teachers, and discussion about how to use test results to improve schools needs to take place. We need to make sure test results are used to improve instruction and help the students who took the tests.

Q. How would you rate the performance of the current school board: excellent, good, fair or poor? Why?

The current school board is doing a good job asking more questions about initiatives and their expected outcomes. The school board needs to continue to improve its relationship with the community and find ways to listen and allow for meaningful input. As the school board continues to address challenges to providing a quality education to all students, funding, achievement gaps, and outcomes to measure success of initiatives, their performance should continue to improve as they become a more effective, unified board.

Q. Superintendent Jerry D. Weast has said he doesn’t expect to extend his contract beyond 2011. What qualities, skills and expectations would you seek in a new superintendent?

Selecting the next superintendent is one of the most critical responsibilities for the school board. In working with others to make this decision, it would be important to have a candidate who would build on the gains already made. The candidate would have to present a vision that incorporated an understanding of the demographics of the County and an unwavering pledge to maximize achievement for all students by cultivating a culture of academic achievement and providing all students access to academic opportunities. A candidate would have to demonstrate a commitment to an open process of decision-making that includes all partners at the table and allows for measured risk when in the best interest of students. The individual would have to be able to analyze initiatives and confront challenges candidly and respectfully, looking for opportunities to learn, adapt, and grow. A successful candidate in this County would have to be willing to work collaboratively with parents, students, teachers, support staff, administrators, business and community partners, and legislators to build an even stronger and more successful public school system.

Q. Do the superintendent and the unions have too much influence over the school board?

The school board’s job is to represent the public and to provide oversight over the superintendent, and the current board has been improving on both scores. School board members must give voice to concerns raised by the community and look for ways to bridge communications. In the same way, the board’s relationship with the unions must be collaborative and productive. The unions represent the employees and they must have a voice at the table.

Q. Is the county funding for schools too much, about right or too little? If too little, where would you find additional money?

The funding for the school system is appropriate given its size, the diversity of its students, and the number of individuals employed. The County’s residents and members of the County Council continue to make a clear statement that education is a priority. The County Council will be considering a budget proposal for FY 2009 that is more than $2 billion. Despite that budget, needs continue to go unmet. It becomes the responsibility of the County Council to ask how needs will be met and to look for opportunities to collaborate with other agencies to deliver services to students.

Q. Do you think the system for renovating schools is adequate, or does it need changing?

I do not think MCPS has an adequate system for school renovation. We need to evaluate the guidelines being used to make decisions and make sure they meet today’s standards for renovation and maintenance. Schools are large, heavily utilized facilities that must be kept safe and up-to-date. There must be a plan and fund for maintenance and repair for every building, new and old, and to replace portable classrooms. Schools must provide healthy environments for students, teachers and staff.

The reopening of schools not originally in the queue for renovation has added to construction costs while not fully renovating the spaces in theses schools. The spaces have been upgraded but in several cases still do not provide adequate space for programs being offered. We need to create guidelines that examine facilities and programs together to make sure schools can meet the requirements of programs, including special science labs, theater space, or other specialized building requirements.

Q. How well are the county’s high school consortia working to raise student achievement?

The high school consortia were developed to engage students through choice and to create smaller learning communities. The consortia are not all the same. Some schools have whole-school themes while others have multiple academy programs.

For some students, the schools have presented stimulating programs that keep them engaged and successful through high school. In the Downcounty, Wheaton has a successful engineering program and partnership with UMBC. At both Einstein and Springbrook the implementation of the International Baccalaureate has provided high levels of academic challenge for participating students. But for a majority of students, the verdict is still out as to whether access to programs through choice helped to improve their academic performance, increase engagement, and prepare them for postsecondary education or the workforce.

There has been little analysis or collection of data about the effect choice may have on student achievement. For example, the Downcounty consortium schools (Blair, Einstein, Kennedy, Northwood and Wheaton) have ninth-grade academies with smaller class sizes for some core academic subjects. Have these academies measured up in providing students with academic support so students are ready for more challenging curricula? Has student success in ninth grade improved? MCPS 2006-2007 Ineligibility Data at the five schools shows that at the end of the third marking period between 32 percent and 47.6 percent of all ninth-grade students were ineligible. That means that one-third to nearly half of ninth grade students had less than a 2.0 grade point average or failed more than two classes. In the Northeast Consortium schools, Blake, Springbrook and Paint Branch, between 31 percent and 40.7 percent of ninth-grade students were ineligible during the same period.

These are alarming data. Research supports that ninth grade students who fail two or more classes are at high risk for dropping out. Looking at the data by race⁄ethnicity, income, and presence of a disability paints a far bleaker picture. Based on ineligibility rates, it does not appear that consortium schools are being more successful at improving the success rate among ninth grade students.

One other reason for creating the Downcounty Consortium was to reduce overcrowding at both Blair and Einstein High Schools. Through choice, enrollment has decreased. Much more analysis though needs to be done to understand what is working in consortium schools and what’s not and how to address the high numbers of students who are not achieving academically. We also need to go back and look at whether any schools have embraced the concept of smaller learning communities and how this may benefit students.

Q. There is a strong focus on improving the county’s middle school curriculum. How well is the middle school reform working to raise student achievement?

Students and parents at the middle school magnets have been overwhelmingly positive about the curricula and approach. Having whole-school magnets where high expectations are the standard for all students creates an engaging environment. The curricula are stimulating and teachers are given additional planning time to work together and integrate themes through the subjects. Other efforts to pilot middle school reforms are too new to have any outcomes measures to evaluate. However, we need to examine how to accelerate middle school reform so all students benefit.

Q. Are too many students being pushed into advanced placement and honors classes without proper preparation?

Too many students are being moved into higher-level classes without academic or development support. All students need to be held to high expectations. This is not the same as increasing the numbers of students taking AP and honors courses. MCPS has placed great emphasis on inclusion rather than performance and that does not serve students. Many of the students counted in these inclusion statistics want to accept greater challenge but need academic and emotional supports throughout the academic year in order to fill knowledge gaps, learn better study habits, and help them learn to manage the stress of more rigorous academics. Yet, with few institutional supports beyond the classroom, success eludes many students who are in AP and honors courses and sets up a pattern that threatens to keep them away from future higher level courses. As MCPS noted in its November 2006 report on AP exam performance, differences in participation and performance are associated with gender, ethnicity and other demographics, as well as wide variation in the AP exam performance of graduates who attend different high schools. Parsing these data in order to reach the root causes of these disparities is the next step to ending the achievement gaps.

Q. The school system’s health curriculum includes discussions of homosexuality and demonstrations of contraception use. Would you change the policy or let it stand?

The curriculum should not be changed and should always focus on providing students with the best information available to help them make educated, informed decisions which keep them safe and healthy.

Q. What do you think about the board’s relationship with the community?

The Board’s relationship with the community is improving. The school board needs to reach out to all members of the community, listen to their concerns and when possible take action to involve more community members. As a school board member I would advocate for more discussion and interaction with the community and look for opportunities to collaborate broadly to meet the needs of all our students.

Q. Does the County Council have too much, too little or not enough oversight of the school system?

The responsibility of the County Council is to have fiscal oversight on the entire budget. Since half of the resources are for public education, Council members should question how the money is spent and ask to see the outcomes.

Q. What should the school system do to improve performance of struggling students?

This is a very broad and complex question. Students are not successful for many reasons. We need to identify all the reasons, from poor attendance to lack of skills to developmental issues or boredom and develop ways to address these. Students who struggle because they are not on grade level need to receive intervention and support in a timely and appropriate manner. Students cannot wait to make up many years of reading or math in high school. Throughout the grades, meaningful assistance must be available to all students who require the help to be successful. We also need to learn from other schools and systems that have been able to significantly increase success of all their students and see what we can adapt to help students achieve.

Q. Do you think the school system is doing enough to meet the needs of special education students?

While the needs of some special education students are being met, there is tremendous opportunity for improvement in educating others. Overall, special education students do not meet standards on tests. Special education students should have educational choices for a continuum of services and placement options and be able to access the services they need. To successfully implement inclusion, teachers, administrators, and staff need more training and support. MCPS needs to do a much better job of involving parents in decisions about their children’s education and how best to get the services needed.

Q. Are the schools safe for students and teachers? If not, what should be done?

Schools are generally safe. The implementation of discipline policies, special programs on bullying, and partnerships with County police, help to maintain safe schools. However, to move from awareness about safety to actively making school communities safe, parents, students, teachers, administrators, and staff must engage in open discussions about tolerance, violence, and gangs. And, safety extends beyond physical safety to how to keep our children safe on the Internet. Communities must develop partnerships with County agencies and community organizations to provide outreach education and innovative solutions to addressing challenges related to keeping schools safe.