School Officials Highlight Education Reform Progress and Changes at #MACoCon

Local school leaders’ feedback on the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future focused on flexibility at the local level in order to preserve shared outcomes and maximize student achievement. 

The MACo Winter Conference panel, “What We’ve Learned About Learning: The Blueprint in Year Three,” brought together education leaders and experts from around the state. These local officials have been on the ground in local school districts as the Blueprint and other major education initiatives have rolled out over the last few years. Major takeaways from the panel focused on the idea that changes to the Blueprint plan will facilitate better progress towards shared outcomes. From a policy perspective, local flexibility was a primary concept for what types of potential changes would have the most significant impact.

Challenges highlighted by the panel include:

  • mixed delivery pre-kindergarten is not successful as designed
  • insufficient incentives for teachers in high-need schools
  • college and career readiness track favors well-resourced students

Progress from Blueprint included:

  • progress toward $60k starting salary has improved recruitment
  • increased pre-kindergarten access for tier 1 four-year-olds
  • community schools show significant achievement gains compared to non-community schools

Panelists also pointed audience members to a 30-point plan for policy and legislative changes to the Blueprint that was recently published by the Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland (PSSAM).

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