During a Joint meeting of the Maryland State Board of Education and the Blueprint Accountability and Implementation Board, the two leading bodies adopted a new framework of goals and outcomes to expect from Maryland’s public schools.
Newly appointed State Superintendent of Schools Carey Wright initiated a discussion with a joint session of the state’s two main educational oversight bodies, meeting jointly, to lay groundwork for educational outcomes and goals for the year ahead – a rapid element in her announced plan for realignment of measurements and objectives in our public schools.
The most substantive item on the meeting agenda was a presentation, and action, on “Alignment of Education Plan Metrics and Proposed Targets” presented by MSDE Deputy State Superintendent of Accountability Geoff Sanderson. A slide deck from the presentation is available online.
Among the goals adopted:
- move Maryland back into the Top 10 states on education metrics
- improve the proficiency scores in literacy and mathematics to specific improved goals
- enhance workforce retention and diversity
- reduce chronic absenteeism
- improve the student:counselor ratio in schools
The presentation, and motion, also included a class of metrics that have not yet been fully developed (for lack of baseline data, and other reasons) but remain part of the state’s plan for accountability and outcomes in years ahead:
From coverage in the Baltimore Banner:
Maryland State Superintendent Carey Wright said the targets are ambitious, particularly in mathematics, where the proficiency rate is at 23%. “If you don’t set ambitious goals, you’re never going to reach them,” Wright said. “And I honestly believe that our districts are primed to really take on this work and do it well.”
The Maryland State Board of Education and Accountability and Implementation Board voted on the targets at its meeting Tuesday. The AIB oversees the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, a landmark law to overhaul the state’s public schools with $3.9 billion more in spending annually by later this decade.