Maryland Gov. Hogan unveils plans for education reform, school construction

Declaring that education has been and will continue to be a top priority of his administration, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced his education proposals for 2020.

Hogan called his education reform proposal the “CLASS Act of 2020.” The acronym stands for the Community and Local Accountability for Struggling Schools Act.

Under the proposal, any school with the state’s lowest rating of “1 star” for two years in a row would “automatically” be designated as an “innovation school.”

Hogan said in those cases, “Local communities will be able to take charge of that failing school and be empowered to enact critical changes in leadership, curriculum, policies, schedules and budgets,” and develop a turnaround plan...

https://wtop.com/maryland/2019/12/maryland-gov-hogan-unveils-plans-for-education-reform-school-construction/?fbclid=IwAR1xltp3MsvXHvaMiv7XcanuoIPOMRQ0R_cj0pcxsZErHQu3BVNp0DcHb_0

According to the latest NAEP report, only 35% of Maryland's 4th graders are proficient in reading, DOWN from 45% in 2013 and 40% in 2017.

Kirwan Commission considers large-scale tutoring plan to close proficiency gaps

Maryland has one of the highest household incomes in the U.S., but only 40% of its students met proficiency standards in reading and math on the PARCC assessments in 2017, a Johns Hopkins University researcher told the Kirwin Commission last week.

A $1.46 billion plan using one-on-one and small group and tutoring would help close the gap between top performing students and those who struggle to keep up, Robert Slavin, Johns Hopkins University Director of Research and Reform in Education said.

“Nobody wants more taxes,” Slavin said. “But it’s not to the moon. It’s not something Maryland can’t do. The proposal outlines a statewide approach intended to enable virtually all students in Maryland to reach the proficient level on PARCC.”

The proficiency standard on the standardized test Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), which is used in third-through-eighth grades, is defined as a score of 750, Slavin stated. But Maryland’s average score is 740, 10 points below the average...

http://marylandreporter.com/2017/10/17/kirwan-commission-considers-large-scale-tutoring-plan-to-close-proficiency-gaps/?platform=hootsuite