Description:

The Office of Shared Accountability (OSA) in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) was asked by the Office of Human Resources and Development (OHRD) to conduct an evaluation of the Higher Education Partnerships (HEPs) program. MCPS has partnerships with several universities that focus on career and professional development in leadership and in critical content needs areas such as special education, world languages, and secondary STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). The purpose of this evaluation is to a) determine if existing HEPs are meeting intended goals and system needs, and b) to offer recommendations to the OHRD for enhancements to existing programs and/or adding new programs for identified needs.

Recommendations:

• Revise existing Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) and recruitment processes to increase the number of participants in special education programs and the diversity of HEP participants.
• Discontinue or constrain the number of participants in leadership programs and reallocate resources to programs addressing high vacancy areas in MCPS.
• At least annually, document MCPS-specific needs through systematic analysis of critical content need area shortages and other needs in MCPS. Prioritize critical content needs areas by examining vacancies against the number of highly recommended applicants.
• Create and maintain a relational database that includes a unique staff identifier, so that data on HEP participants can be accessed and analyzed to assess whether HEPs are meeting established goals. The database should store information on HEP participants, including application, enrollment, progress through programs, tuition reimbursed, date of completion, and employment history before, during, and after completion of HEPs.
• Clarify the roles, responsibilities, and timelines for staff in OHRD involved in completing the above steps.

File Name: HEP_report-Jan2018.pdf (1.3MB PDF)