The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB) met for the second time on November 29.

The second meeting comes after the AIB got a late start, only holding its first meeting on November 15, several months after the intended start.

The November 29 meeting opened with a presentation from Kirwan Commission Chair Brit Kirwan on the background of the Blueprint and the subsequent reforms to Maryland’s public education system.

The AIB was then briefed extensively by the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE), which had previously worked with the Kirwan Commission to draft its recommendations for educational reform.

NCEE’s presentation offered ideas and background on how the Kirwan Commission came to its recommendations based on data and analysis — specifically on gap analysis comparing where Maryland performs educationally, compared to top-performing countries.

The presentation and discussion were broken down into four parts: “What’s at Stake for Maryland,” “Gap Analysis,” Special Analyses”, and the “Role of the AIB.”

What’s at Stake for Maryland: This portion of the NCEE presentation including a brief history on education policy, the best practices of top-performing education systems, and how Maryland might mirror those systems.

Gap Analysis, Comparing Maryland to Top Performers: This section of the presentation discussed the data and recommendations that informed the Kirwan Commission’s work, specifically data comparing Maryland’s education system to that of top-performers around the world. According to the data, in many respects, Maryland came out with “average student performance,” compared to the rest of the country, despite spending as much, if not more, per student as the other systems it was compared to. Additionally, Maryland regularly underperforms when compared internationally.

Special Analyses: This section of the presentation looked at equity in the state’s educational institutions and systems, the COVID pandemic and its impact, establishing new formulas for school funding, and new systems of accountability — all of which were considered and adopted in the Blueprint.

The Role of the AIB: The NCEE presentation closed with a discussion about the role and authority of the AIB to implement and oversee the reforms set out in the Blueprint.

Useful links:

• The meeting agenda and materials are available online.
• Video of the meeting is available on the General Assembly’s YouTube channel.
  • The NCEE presentation starts around 15 minutes.

Prior Conduit Street coverage on the AIB:

• Blueprint Accountability and Implementation Board Meets for the First Time
• Hogan Meets Deadline, Selects AIB Members, Despite Concerns Over Diversity
• Committee Declines to Revisit Blueprint Accountability Nominations
• Gov. Hogan Seeks New, Diverse Applicants for Blueprint Accountability and Implementation Board
• Nominations Open for Blueprint Accountability and Implementation Board