MINUTES OF THE MARYLAND STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION

Smith included in her remarks AEMS work with higher education institutions which focused on the preparation and professional development of teachers in the arts and efforts in submitting

MINUTES OF THE MARYLAND STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION

Tuesday – WednesdayJune 28-29May 24-25, 2005

Nancy S Grasmick State Education Building

200 West Baltimore Street – 7 th Floor Board Room

Late arrivals on Tuesday: Ms Jo Ann T Bell; Mr Dunbar Brooks, Vice President; Mr Calvin Disney; Dr Maria Torres-Queral.TONY,

Mr Brooks, Ms Bell and Dr Allen were only 5-10 minutes late Doesthat count?

Valerie V Cloutier, Principal Counsel, Assistant Attorney General, and the following staff members were present: Dr A Skipp Sanders, Deputy State Superintendent, Office of Administration; ;Mr Richard Steinke, Deputy State Superintendent for Instruction and Academic Acceleration; Dr Ronald Peiffer, Deputy State Superintendent, Office

of Academic Policy; and Mr Anthony South, Executive Director to theState Board

CONSENT AGENDA Upon motion by Mr Disney, seconded by Rev Hawkins, and with

unanimous agreement, the State Board approved the consent agenda items as follows (In Favor - 8):

Approval of Minutes of May 24-25, 2005 Personnel

Budget Realignment Permission to Publish:

COMAR 13.A.06.01.01B(2) (AMEND) Programs for Food and Nutrition – Program Admin.

COMAR 13A.06.03.09 (AMEND) Interscholastic Athletics in the State – Sanction Rules

COMAR 13A.04.01.01 (AMEND)

Program in Technology Education – Requirements for Technology Education Instructional Programs for Grades 9-12 Selection of National Board Candidates for 2005-2006 Fee Incentive Program (List of Candidates Attached)

Dr Grasmick informed the Board that with the transfer of the Child Care Administration to MSDE on July 1, 2005, she was creating a new Early Childhood Development Division within the Department With this transfer, MSDE will be responsible for childcare, family support centers, Judy Centers and Even Start She then introduced Dr Rolf Grafwallner who was just approved by the Board to be the new Assistant State Superintendent for Early Childhood Development

A new division is being created within MSDE called Early ChildhoodDevelopment A reception held to welcome 250 new employees into MSDE was quite a success

Dr Grasmick introduced Rolf Grafwallner, who is best positioned to lead this effort and is trusted throughout Maryland, who is requested to

be the Assistant Superintendent for Early Childhood Development

Dr Grafwallner said he is honored to take on the new role/position and thanked the Board for their support of him

Dr Grasmick stated there will be a transition team, transitioning the people from the Department of Human Resources and helping with the renovation of the 10th floor

The second thing Dr Grasmick also wantedto mentioned was that Sharon Nathanson, who is our Federal liaison, is leaving the

Department and that she has asked Debbie Lichter to handle our federal relations along with coordinating internal operations with staffretired, then came back on a part-time basis, and now is retiring a second time Debbie Lickter will be handling our Federal work and will be coordinating a lot of internal affairs with the staff Betty Mack will now assume all of the internal TAPE OFF extended thanks to all Board members for the effort that they undertook on her behalf in getting the Board of Public Works to namethanked all for naming the State Education Building after her She also took this opportunity

toand introduced Janice Flack as the new person to record and prepare the Board minutes

The results of this grant indicated long-range strategic planning processes that have offered LEAs the support and means to enhance their programs, created opportunities for students and validated Arts Education experiences as academic endeavors

Gary Heath, Assistant State Superintendent, Division of Assessment and Accountability, along with introduced David O’Neill, Executive Director of the Chesapeake Bay Trust., The Trust was created under Governor Hughes and is the State of Maryland’s nonprofit,

grantmaking orgaization charged with increasing public participation

in the restoration and protection of the Chesapeake Bay and Governor Schaeffer added two significant programs (license plates and donation via income tax) Those two funding sources go to the Trust The Board, working with staff, grants money out Last year over half a million was granted to public school teachers to support school-based projects designed to help schools/students participate in restoration of Chesapeake Bay Trust.Mr Tucker reminded the Board that the Theadvisory panel consists of a broad spectrum of stake-holders in the education enterprise; including superintendents, assistant

superintendents, content supervisors, principals and representatives of organizations such as the dance, music, theater and visual arts,

professional organizations and the Maryland State Teachers’

Association and the pPrincipals’ aAssociations

Leadership of this panel is was provided by Richard Deasy who is head of the National Arts Education Partnership and one of the nation’sforemost authorities on arts education research; along with Dr

Elizabeth Morgan, the Superintendent of Washington County Public Schools

Mr Tucker introducedintroduced Mary Ann Mears, who is a member

of the panel and is also the chair of the Arts Education in Maryland Schools (AEMS) alliance.s the Board of AIMS Arts Education in Maryland Schools Alliance Ms Mears said Nancy Smith, who s present, is the Executive Director Ms Mears and Ms Smith are also part of the Fine Arts Education Advisory Panel to Dr Grasmick and the Board

Ms Mears stated the work that AEIMS does is about supporting and extending the policiesy and initiatives in arts education of the

Department And Ms Mears then introduced Nancy Smith, AEMS Executive Director who described the work of AEMS over the past year.what they have Ms Smith included in her remarks AEMS work with higher education institutions which focused on the preparation and professional development of teachers in the arts and efforts in submitting a proposal to the Maryland Higher Education Commission

to make a certificate in arts integration available as a

post-baccalaureate certificate for teachers throughout the State AEMS has also developed a web site, www.aems-edu.org, to further internal information dissemination

Ms Mears concluded the AEMS update by saying all of this work is having an impact on parents’ belief that the arts is vital to children being well-rounded individuals and is as important as reading and mathematics in enhancing the child’s academic skills, et cetera She said that there are still very serious challenges, e.g., shortsighted decision making across the country resulting in cut backs in arts education programs

Ms Mears said AEMS’ challenge is to ensure MSDE policy is fully implemented so that the aspirations of parents for their children will berealized by having high-quality arts education programs in all of our schools Ms Mears then thanked Dr Grasmick and the Board for theircommitment and leadership in arts education

Mr Tucker assisted by Dr Ray Zigler (retired Professor of Music, Salisbury State University and former chair, Fine Arts Advisory Task Force) provided a PowerPoint presentation on the Online Assessment Tool Kit for fine arts education The Tool Kit was one of three

priorities established by a focus group of MSDE staff and members of the Fine Arts Advisory Panel’s Steering Committee in June 2003 The Tool Kit was developed to inform instructional practice and to expand the practitioner’s understanding of assessment processes and tools in fine arts instruction The tool kit and tutorial are now in the process of

being field tested in selected schools throughout Maryland The finished product should be available in August 2005 been doing this year.

Ms Smith said the findings of the effectiveness of the Fine Arts Strategic Planning process were published June 1st marked the sixth cultural arts for education conference held at UMBC by Dr Grasmick and UMBC staff The conference focused on the examination and celebration of professional development resources in the State Dr Colleen Seremet made a presentation at the conference wherein she unveiled the professional development standards which were unknown

to many participants

Ms Smith said a task force was convened to talk with principals about what they would need to incorporate fine arts programs in their schools and to increase the principals’ understanding of the importance

of arts education in schools

Ms Smith said also continued was the Higher Education in the Arts Task Force, a/k/a the HEAT Force, who puts the heat on administrators

to make changes that are necessary for teachers and those in the higher education institutions around the State

This year Ms Smith stated the HEAT Force has put together a

certificate in arts integration and made a proposal to the Maryland Higher Education Commission to make this certificate available as a post-baccalaureate certificate for teachers around the State

The HEAT Force also oversaw a project, through a pilot test, of this certificate’s effectiveness at 3 schools in Montgomery County: Dr Charles R Drew Elementary, Kensington Parkwood Elementary, and Potomac Elementary AIMS is a partner with Montgomery County Public Schools under a 3-year major grant received from the U.S Department of Education’s Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination Program

AIMS hosted a presentation at the Walters Art Museum in September,

2003 for administrative professionals; i.e., superintendents, assistant superintendents, and the school principals Then follow-up

communications with superintendents AIMS is now planning the nextpresentation with Dr Gramick and the Fine Arts Education Advisory Panel to inform the stakeholders about MSDE policy, the research on the benefits of arts education for students, and best practices that are available in the State

AIMS developed a web site, www.aems-edu org , to further an

internal information dissemination process, along with a newsletter

Ms Smith said AIMS is also in the process of reprinting and

disseminating arts education tools, such as a brochure they put togetherthat is a summary of the contents of the publication, Critical Links, which addresses 62 studies on the importance of arts education for students Also a 14-brochure series was developed summarizing the contents of the Maryland Essential Learner Outcomes for the Fine Artsand was very well received throughout the State

A Fine Arts Tool Kit has been developed to assist parents in

determining how to help better the programs at their neighborhood schools The Tool Kit was printed through the generosity of the National PTA, who allowed AIMS to steal from them the National PTAs Guide to Effective Advocacy printed in 2000

Ms Mears concluded by saying all of this work is having an impact

on parents’ belief that the arts is vital to their children being rounded individuals and is as important as reading and mathematics in enhancing the child’s academic skills, et cetera But there are still veryserious challenges, i.e., short-sighted decision making across the country resulting in cut backs in arts education programs

Ms Mears said AIMS’ challenge is to ensure MSDE policy is fully implemented so the aspirations of parents for their children will be realized by having high-quality arts education programs in all of our schools Ms Mears then thanked Dr Grasmick and the Board of their commitment and leadership in arts education

Mr Tucker showed an animated video describing the content and navigational qualities of the Maryland Fine Arts Assessment Tool Kit being field tested over the next several months After showing the video, Mr Tucker said the video will be revised and delivered to MSDE by August

Dr Grasmick said this Tool Kit has required an enormous amount of work to develop and it should more appropriately be called an’sreally

an Instructional Tool Kit, because that is what it is really designed to

be.for that’s what it really is

Mr Tufaro said art should be part of a program from the earliest stage

in a child’s life and as far as hopefully their life continues He asked where are the greatest obstacles to art being part of the curriculum and taught on a consistent basis throughout Maryland? Mr Tucker stated one of the obstacles over the past 20 years is there is a lot of

unevenness in programs He stated Maryland has some of the finest

fine arts programs in the country and that has to do with leadership, it has to do with professional development needs, it has to do with our changing priorities, and it also has to do with unintended consequences

of some of the legislation that has occurred not only in the arts, but a couple other content areas, especially the humanities areas that are losing time in the school program, wherein the arts never had a big block to begin with So all the work done is to support good programs

Mr Tucker said the arts is so thankful for people like Dr Grasmick and Mary Ann Mears and the organization they are operating, and the support of a lot of partnerships and community groups, because

without this support the arts would be unable to make significant impacts

Mr Tufaro asked if it’s part of the curriculum in the 24 jurisdictions and that’s passed down to the principals of the schools, where does the failure occur?

In response to a question raised by a member of the State Board regarding the reasons why art education is not receiving the support it deserves in our schools,

Ms Mears stated she’s spent an awful lot of time working with the LEAs and there are a lot of breakdowns along the way But one of the most serious problems is the result of when principals who are faced withing the high consequences of No Child Left Behind, which is sort

of really raising the bar on testing She indicated thatI think what happens , and in spite of many principalsof them understanding of what the arts means for kids, is aI think it’s a very practical thing that they think that the most defensible decision they can make in terms of resources, but even more significantly time in the day, is to cut their arts program and hire additional reading teachers Ms Mears thinks that is the biggest barrier COMAR requires the arts, but the LEAs are

in violation; some more than others

Mr Tufaro said, but isn’t that the problem, if the superintendent of the school district is overseeing what’s going on in the schools and either they or their assistants are busy, wouldn’t they know whether arts is being taught twice a week in this plan or that plan? It’s either being done or it’s not being done

Ms Mears went on to say that what is needed isresponded by saying part of the effort here, it’s a renewed effort to say the arts are

important Principals are very concerned about their school not gettinginto a school improvement category She stated that she believes what

is missing that is what isis seen in successful school systems with, where they have a very robust program in the arts, and that is their

ability to be able to integrate the arts so that they use the arts as an important vehicle for ratcheting up performance She cited an

example, Wicomico County Public Schools She said that , she would like the Board to see how that county has proceeded with theat level of integration It is masterful It’s not an add on, it’s an integral part of everything that is happening tothat does enhance reading in that

county That’s the kind of information Ms Mears feels that when they provide for this professional development with the research that

superintendents can be exposed to and to see these kinds of examples

Ms Mears doesn’t believe there is that level of knowledge throughout the State But the research in articles is put in the LEAs publications about the arts education impact, but they’re still not quite getting it Sothat needs to be addressed It’s important that the principals buy into and really understand the information and are enthusiastic about it, just

in how the arts will transform their schools and transform the lives of their teachers

Dr Grasmick stated students are selected into these schools not based

on their academic records, but based on their areas of talent in specific areas of the arts What has happened, for instance at the School for theArts, is that they have among the highest SAT scores in Baltimore City because there is such a nexus between the arts and increased academic performance; even though the students were not selected Mary Kerry in the Carver Center for the Arts, more than a third of her students were students with special needs and yet her achievements, every year we get a list of the national recognition for the Carver Center for the Arts of the students in that school and yet more than a third had IEPs; they were special education students

Ms Kerry commented that one of the things that she felt that needed

to be improved and is still improving, is that both the integrated arts program and the arts program is separate Both things are part of the Carver Center and really has an extraordinarily positive impact on the academics by looking at the advanced placement results, the SAT results, the scholarships for colleges and universities, and these are students who come with many needs, with great deficiencies in literacyand math, and their catch up is extraordinary and she believes it’s been proved through the arts

Dr Pizzigati said it seems to her what the Board heard this morning speaks to a lot of the challenges faced in getting the right word out to the right constituencies and having it applied in correct ways that result

in improved student outcomes and enrich student lives and professionallives as well Many leaders in the various sectors of the public help set and support priorities and the importance of really drilling down, as you are doing, with your parent tool kit and with other vehicles to

reach both parents and professionals, principals, teachers and the like She said we need to ask some serious questions about the kind of professional development we are doing to help get the right message across, the correct message across, and have it be translated and have it

be caught, if you will, in a very synergistic way by the professionals who are involved in it so that that word is spread Some folks are doing this very, very well; others need to catch this cold

Dr Pizzigati believes the professional development piece is an area where you’re focusing a great deal of attention, but it may require evenmore specific kinds of examination, depending on what you’ve learnedfrom your other sites And the sharing of that information among thosewho are doing it well with their peers who are not quite as

sophisticated and as skilled She believes the materials that are being developed have great utility or could have great utility in public venues

to help support the goals of MSDE in this arena and all of the work thatAIMS is doing

So to that end, Dr Pizzigati feels reprinting the parent guide or some synopsis or materials for your lay publics, the citizens of this State whoneed to know more about and who are certainly less well informed than others Her question is, in terms of both the distribution of the parent guide and its reprinting, do you have the time frame, and have you thought about something that would reach the more general public with a distinctly educational task to it that would help advance this agenda? So two questions, the parent guide and the general public

Ms Mears said a proposal is being developed for the St Paul

Companies for addressing the issues of parent education The great joy

of being able to distribute that Parents’ Tool Kit through the aegis of the Maryland PTA to all schools will really help Because of the expense of publishing any publication, so they have been put on their web site, that’s a great tool, but then you’ve got to drive people to the web site to look at it So the question is how you get it out to the general public and that is something AIMS is working to improve

Ms Mears said in terms of reaching the general public, AIMS is in the process of expanding their resources they have, their database, the way they can get to people, their E Newsletter they think will be a great tool to help them

In terms of the time frame, Ms Mears stated AIMS is speaking with the PTA this summer The Parents’ Tool Kit is to be developed

beginning during this current fiscal year, FY ’06 that begins July 1 for them In terms of materials for the general public, certainly the

marketing committee is very concerned that the materials that we have

are needed to be understandable and are appropriate for getting the message out

Dr Grasmick said not to forget the professional organizations, the Elementary Principals Administrators, the Secondary, the Maryland Association of Board of Education She believes they are all importantvenues and it’s very important that AIMS suggest that this be part of some agenda so that it’s not just handed out and forgotten

Ms Bell said it was agreed from the first time she sat in a Board meeting that all members were in agreement of what needed to be doneand to bring the humanities as well as the arts back into the curriculum.The Board was back to the basics of reading, writing and math and nobody understood that this was also part of each one of those subject matters Ms Bell believes people get the concept of the importance ofarts education, she doesn’t think they understand how they can

integrate it into their existing goals But the most important thing, even for parents who understand how important this is, is I want my child to be able to read, write and compute And if someone doesn’t understand how you can integrate the humanities and the arts into helping them to do that and make that happen, it’s not going to happen

Ms Bell believes staff development for teachers and principals is needed She disagrees with Dr Gramick, but she feels the sooner the better you get rid of the assessment title the better off AIMS is going to

be People may see this as another report and not look at it as

something that is instructional that perhaps can help me get it and get this integrated, because there are all kinds of ways to teach reading andmath by drawing, singing and dancing

Dr Grasmick doesn’t believe her and Ms Bell are in disagreement She said it should be called the Instructional Tool Kit

Mr Butta said, while looking at Attachment 6, he noticed that the grant projections are considerably less in 2005 than ’04 and haven’t been that low since 2000 Is this a change in the students in that formula, the number of students? Or is this real money lost per

student?

Mr Tucker responded, it’s not a change Arts education has not had araise for about four years now In order to do all of the work that they’ve been doing, they have had to cut back on grants because that’s the only significant money that there is to work with Arts education every year has asked for a raise and hasn’t received one yet, but they’restill continuing to try Mr Tucker feels basically the work they’ve been doing supports programs across the State with the curriculum project, with the Instructional Tool Kit and those kinds of things which

will be of benefit to all school systems.

Mr Tucker said, in a way they are taking away individual pots of money, but they’re giving back, because it’s all going for work in the school system

Rev Hawkins said there is a cultural problem in this county in that

we do not see the arts as being an everyday thing We think of them asbeing museums and performing But if we ever get to the point where

we can get parents to realize what art does for the brain of the

youngster who is privileged to participate in the process, the visual arts, the fine arts, the aesthetic arts, it would be a move in the right direction

Mr Brooks followed up that he concurs with what Rev Hawkins said, that we have a cultural problem In the way the brain works, he could work with lots of people in IT and when IT people go out to stealother IT people, one of the places they go are to conservatories,

because people who do music are excellent and some of the best programmers around for the simple reason that in music there is a scale, it has rules, you can create all kinds of music in the world but it still stays the same It’s exactly the same rules for computer

programmers and people have to make the connection because that’s how the brain works Rev Hawkins remind people that the entire movie Star Wars was created on a computer by basically musicians before the film was developed

Mr Tucker, in his closing remarks, referred the Board to the two brochures in their packets, which are the two summer institutes that are Arts Education conducteds annually, both on the campus at

University of Maryland He encouraged Board members to come and visit The Maryland Artist Teacher Institute, for example, has doubled

in size in the last two years Mr Tucker recognized Dr Ray Zeigler for being the techy in showing the video, who is directing the program that teaches teams of teachers from elementary to middle schools to integrate the arts across the curriculum The other program is just as significant, but it’s dealing with teachers at the middle and high school level It’s a week-longweeklong program The Maryland Artist Teacher Institute has two sessions, one for beginners and one for returning participants Mr Tucker also thanked the Board for the enormous amount of support they’ve provided for programs in the arts over many years

Dr Root said, based on the comments of the Board member, the participants of AIMS should feel that this Board will continue to support Arts Education efforts, as will Dr Grasmick

David O’Neill acknowledged his staff members instrumental in moving Bay education program forward: Kerri Bentkowski, Senior Grants Manager, and Christine Dunham, Branch Manager.

Mr O’Neill recognized the accomplishments of five outstanding finalists for the Chesapeake Bay Trust Environmental Teacher of the Year Award, as follows: Margaret Paul, horticulture and

environmental science teacher at Towson High School, Baltimore County; Billie Bradshaw, physics teacher at Poolesville High School, Montgomery County; Sandra Geddes, 4th grade teacher at Westbrook Elementary, Montgomery County; Michael Powell, 6th grade teacher, Patuxent Elementary School, Prince George’s County; and Mary Ann Perrett, 1st grade teacher, Davidsonville Elementary, Anne Arundel County

Mr O’Neill then introduced winners of this year’s Chesapeake Bay Trust teacher of the year award: Winner of the elementary and middleschool category is Pam Sherfey, 4th grade teacher, Linton Spring Elementary, Carroll County; and the Winner of the high school category is Alan Hammon, Environmental Science teacher, Allegany High School, Allegany County

Dr Grasmick drew everyone’s attention to three charts in the room which summarized important points Grade 3 reading showed very strong progress in these early years and all of the eight sub-groups , weaggregate by eight groups, showed very strong gains across the board

In grade Graded 5, the gains were mirrored by virtually all of the groups She went on to say that when With reading and mathematicsscores are compared, mathematics still lagged behind reading, but at Grade 8 it is increasing She concluded her introductory remarks by saying that whileWhile many of the sub-groups are showing

sub-improvement and the gap is narrowing, we have a long way to go

Dr Grasmick drew two points of contrast At the top, the high achievement one where one middle school had 88 percent proficient or better among eighth grades, while we see the low performers scored just over 1 percent in mathematics and 21 percent in reading So there

is huge disparity from school to school and the Board must deal with this The concerns are much greater at the middle school level than at

the elementary school level

Dr Grasmick cautioned as the results are given, there is an absolute standard which by 2013 every student is supposed to be proficient Then there is a relative standard, that if your school was at 1 percent and this year scored at 2 or 3 percent, you could legitimately say you are making progress But that has to be put into a context of absolute standards

Dr Peiffer began his presentation bydefining some of the explainedsome acronyms used in reporting and comparing testing results He said thatThe difference between AMO and AYP, which both will be thrown around interchangeably, yet they are a little bit different Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is the condition of having met your annual targets or Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs) AMOs are established for each of the subgroups in both reading and mathematics

He also clarified that MSA is the acronym for Maryland School

Assessment

nnual targets for each of the subjective groups and so on are the AMOs

or Annual Measurable Objectives MAS, the newspapers seem to continue to call this test the Maryland State Assessment It’s the Maryland School Assessment CIEP is Individualized Education Program Dixie Stack, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, and Colleen Seremet, Assistant State Superintendent, both from the

Division of Instruction, who provided an update on the Voluntary StateCurriculum (VSC)., consistent with recommendation of the Visionary Panel Dr Grasmick reminded the Board that tThe science curriculum for grades pre-k through 8 has been through a rigorous and exhaustive review/editing process with national experts and local supervisors and

is ready to have the draft designation removed

Dr Grasmick suggested providing the Board with, one, a list of national reviewers and their affiliations, and, number two, enlist business roundtable, the corporate people affiliated with any endeavorsrelating to science to review the VSC And Colleen Seremet

suggested, number three, double-check national standards used to buildwork on as there is very broad engagement in the development of thosenational standards

Ms.Dixie Stack reviewed for the State Board the areas of strengths and priority areas for improvement identifed by Achieve, Inc in its review of the VSC Science Curriculum The science team developed a plan to respond to the feedback from Achieve, which included

incorporating feedback from the district visits, with emphasis on

critical science ideas and concepts She then , Director of Curriculum, went through specifics of science document and the acitons that have been taken to respond to the recommendations made by Achieve.ir Recommendations by Achieve, urged them to embed the inquiry and science processes/skills in earth space, life and physical science

content Also an important part of the plan is to make sure linkages among the skills processes and technology were clear to teachers who will be using the plan

current position Explained there are six content standards: skills and processes, earth space, life science, chemistry, physics, and

environmental

Dr PeifferMr Heath then provided a PowerPoint presentation which showed the results for the MSA takenin told everything to look at MSA and he shared the scores for grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, which included the results of testing 435,000 students in both who took a reading and mathematicsassessment in March, ’05 Mr Heath

reiterated the remarks of Dr Grasmick by saying thatIn May students took a geometry test and the HAS As Dr Grasmick stated, most importantly just about across the board in every one of our school systems, nearly every grade in each subject showed significant

increases He stated that what is really important is that weThat’s important because now have three years of data on which to analyze the results of MSA testing.they have ’03, ’04 and ’05 data and three years is real important

Mr Heath then Dr Peifferdisplayedshowed a slide that showedgivesthree years’ worth of data from grades 3, grade 5 and grade 8; then two years worth of data for grades 4, 6 and 7 He indicated that

theThere were nice increases in each of those grades The data came off the web siteof, www.mdreportcard.org , from which oneyou can getschool, school system and state data and can break it down by a whole slew of disaggregations As evidenced by the slides, all can see, there are steady increases at each of those grades for 20’03, 2004’04, and 20’05

Mr Heath then presented a Thenext slide on the results of the assessment of mathematics.wasThis slide showed that while students

in most grades did better in reading then mathematics, the middle school results are disturbing This problemthe math data Again, a problem is seen that has been around for a while There are math issues that need to be solved in a lot of the middle schools While there have been steady increases in each year in grades 3, 5 and 8, the middle schools are lagging behind the elementary schools

In response to a Board member’s question,Ms Bell questioned why the middle schools are lagging behind the elementary schools Mr Heath Dr Peiffer said there are a number of explanations for the low performance of middle school students in mathematics, but the most obvious is the lack of teachers in the middle schoolseasiest way is when you go to middle school, a lot of the staff are elementary trained with the proper preparation to teach mathematics There are a large number of elementary trained teachers teaching in the middle schools Elementary-trained people are really good in reading; they are not good in middle school math content Less than half of the teachers in the State who teach middle school math are certificated in

mathematics

In response to another Board member question regarding the impact

of testing results of the larger school systems on State-wide results,Mr.HeathMs Bell questioned if the 16 ** people were made aware of that,

so that if you’re in an elementary school curriculum, trying to become

a teacher? Dr Grasmick responded that the No Child Left Behind program, in the middle school you have to have content expertise to teach that subject material to be highly qualified Certification is also changing so there will be a specific middle school certification

Ms Bell asked do the colleges know that? Dr Grasmick said they have been informed

Dr Peiffer stated apparently between elementary and middle and high, the percent of classes taught by teachers who are not highly qualified are far higher at the middle school than either elementary or high school

Mr Brooks commented that as he sees the slope of the bars, you almost have decay Back to what Ms Bell talked about, we’re trying

to do a very good job; the kids are coming to school ready to learn; we are building up; we are doing very good things that you think are a foundation that you build at elementary, then all of a sudden it falls off the cliff when you get into middle school It’s got to be dealt with Some way there has got to be some sustainability

Dr Root gave a point worth considering which is simply the element

of time When you look at a middle school and you see they are trying

to build 8, 9, 10 periods a day, often times those periods are roughly 40minutes or so Whereas, in most elementary schools, you’ve got a minimum of an hour a day for math or more So middle schools actually spend less time on math than elementary schools do So the variable of time is a major factor in this

Dr Allen said students also go from having “belonged” to a teacher inelementary school, they don’t belong to anybody in middle They are going through adolescents, all kinds of issues are taking place, and theyneed to restructure counseling at that level so that it’s more productive

in helping those teachers and parents and students adjust to their new lifestyles and life expectations and their biological stage in life Also

Dr Allen asked if anyone has information about how teachers do on the practice that then teach middle school? Because women are still out of that group that were taught not to like math and in the

elementary school they have mastered the math But in middle school, many of the teachers are afraid of the math, themselves, and you still have a group of women teaching in middle school also who have been conditioned not to like math and not to do well with it So she thinks some of those issues need to be looked at also

Mr Disney had a question for Mr Heath and Dr Peiffer The results state-wide for reading and math are they by all 24 jurisdictions or certain jurisdictions having a bigger impact on the State-wide results?

Dr Peiffer said clearly there are school systems that are lagging behind other school systems that and this becomes apparent shows up when you look at schools inand improvement But in the last three years there has been a steady increase in almost every school system And even the lowest performing school system has seen increases, but those increases are still lagging way behind neighboring school

systems I can produce data, if the Board would like, on that

Mr Disney requested be produced the reading and math charts for him for each county? Dr Peiffer said, sure Mr Disney said, then he could compare with the State Dr Peiffer said he would be happy to

do that today

Dr Peiffer mentioned that when data ishey disaggregated it is evident

that we aree data in many ways Some of the disaggregations are showing closing of some of gaps Between ’03 and ’05 the gap

between Hispanic and Asian students, which was 36 points, was reduced to 24 points Those are solid gains In the same time frame, the gap between the African-American students and white students went from 31 points to 21 points He went on to say that if we can So

if it’s possible to sustain these ose closing rates of improvement over the next couple of years, we will be successful in eliminating

achievement gaps doing very good You can see that both by numbers and as well as the line graphs

Looking at 5th Grade reading, the gaps are closing here as well Thereare various race ethnicities who are showing some closing of those

gaps Dr Peiffer said there are many, many examples of outstanding performance A few were picked These are schools where at least one grade in one subject they have already hit the target that was set byNCLB for 2013-2014 school year The schools are from four different school systems There is another list of schools with 100 percent of their students are proficient in math.

Dr Peiffer said to look at some of the schools highlighted in years past, Rock Hall Elementary, in Kent County is one of our distinguishedTitle I schools It’s a fairly high achiever 100 percent of their special

ed students on the 3rd Grade reading test are proficient If you look at the gap on the general students, 41 percent are advanced So this is a Title I school with a large percentage of economically disadvantaged students that’s doing exceptionally well and is sustaining that all of their student populations

Dr Peiffer said we can also find schools in other systems who are working with our other really challenged population and having

outstanding successes The math scores for Veirs Mill Elementary in Montgomery County and highlighted is the limited-English proficient performance of those students It’s a very large population of LEP students at that school

Dr Grasmick interjected that her and Dr Pizzigati visited Veirs Mill Elementary together There are 32 languages spoken in the school

Dr Peiffer said, and 85 percent of those students are proficient, which

is very, very good And in the general population, over 40 percent are proficient

Dr Peiffer then spoke changed directions and talked about school improvement The numbers are important to support school

improvement changes, but the accountability was touched on The 179schools that they do a comparison with last year, it gets confusing a bit,

as last year’s figure are show, after all the appeals were completed andthe number stabilized Dr Peiffer said the numbers Mr Heath will be giving today are just preliminary before going through the appeals process and there are many more appeals opportunities this year than inyears past

Dr Peiffer said Llast year the Statethey had 179 elementary and middle schools were N in school improvement This year 23 schools exited this classification.Dr Peiffer said 22 exited and he’s happy to say right now that number is now 23 schools The new school that exited is Ferman Templeton Two schools from Edison, Ferman Templeton and Montebello have exited school improvement They met all of their targets for two years in a row, which exits the school

from school improvement Also, Gilmore, the third Edison school, met all of their targets this year They only missed one last year So next year if they meet AYP, they would also be able to exit He emphasized there is no high school data here This is elementary and middle schools There are 1,102 elementary and middle schools being dealt with

Dr Peiffer said that thisifthe data is preliminary and that school systems still have an opportunity to appeal the results for individual schools.appeals will be forthcoming, they still want to get data out there A lot of the schools are Title I schools and they’ve got to start working on their school improvement plans, they’ve got to start

notifying parents around the transfer option and supplemental services.And all of the schools need data as early as they can get it to support their school improvement efforts Since most school principals are meeting with their superintendents and their assistant superintendents and are starting summer school programs or started summere staff planning efforts; thus they need the data early to move ahead

Ms Bell asked of the 179 schools and 22 exited, of the ones that are left, how far behind are they from exiting? Because Ms Bell gets a lot

of calls regarding this

Dr Peiffer said in an upcoming slide her question will be answered Next slide is a time table It’s a list that went out on June 20th It was given to the school systems in draft form on the 14th of June They have 30 days from that point to appeal The appeals should be rapped

up by the 14th of July, or at least they will get the appeals in and it might take time after that to finish them up

Dr Peiffer said they estimated 12 of those schools on the slide might have appeals Many are within a couple of kids of meeting Annual Yearly Progress

Ms Bell said, what you’re saying is is that my phone calls are true, it’s a huge morale problem out there You work all year thinking you’ve made this and you miss it by a point and the point you miss it

by is because some child in some category didn’t get it or was absent the day the test was

Dr Peiffer said there are two different patterns Maybe half of the schools or so have one area and frequently it’s special education Carol Ann can talk about that But often in the schools that are called the deep end school that have been in trouble for a number of years, when you go through those, school after school has four, five, six,

seven, eight, nine areas Area after area where they are not meeting thetarget However, the new flexibility from the Federal government will help to take away some of the schools that are currently identified because of a few kids particularly in special education.

Ms Bell would like to see those schools who are in this category of still not meeting, and not meeting because of one area or two areas, because she said the Board needs to be scared if they are deficient in all of the areas across the board But if they brought everything up andthere is still one area, then we need to know why

Mr Heath said that he would like to emphasize something mentioned

by Dr Peiffer and Dr Grasmick: that the performance target or AMO for 2005 was much more challenging than for 2004 He pointed out that ’05, compared to ’04, was a very challenging year Remember, in

’04 the Annual Measurable Objective was held a little bit lower than

on a straight-line projectory It was a new accountability system, a new assessment system,; the Federal government gave the discretion tohold that target a little bit lower Mr Heath said the ’05 target was going to stepped up one-and-a-half steps, so a little bit higher jump., and as Dr Peiffer mentioned, they now have fully integrated Grades 4,

6 and 7 into the accountability program for the first year So it’s no longer than 3, 5 and 8; it’s all grades So it makes it a little bit of an extra challenge

Mr Heath said this year there are 173 schools that are in school improvement, and that’s now down to 172 and he thinks it might even

be going lower Only 11 new schools entered the school improvement category this year That’s a decrease from about 22 schools the

previous year 48 of the 173 school met the target in ’05 That means

if they meet the target next year, they will be able to exit school

improvement So that’s a real encouraging number and it’s also very encouraging because the ’05 year step up of one-and-a-half and those three extra grades

Dr Peiffer said, for the 11 schools, about 20 percent of the schools that were poised to go into improvement did and 80 percent of them apparently hit their targets and did not move in

Mr Heath showed a rough breakdown of where the schools are in the School Improvement Continuum Many of the school in School Improvement year 1, the 53 schools are probably missing for only one

or two cells, special ed., LEP, one population As you go down the list, the number of cells that were just aggregated and the whole school

is accountable, they will find some schools with as many as 13 cells not met So the deeper you go, the more likely you are to be in trouble,

but not always

Mr Heath said of the restructuring planning, there are 14 schools, 7 are in Baltimore City, 6 are in Prince George’s, and 1 is in Baltimore County Many of these schools have many cells that they are missing

by Restructuring implementation, they now have to implement those plans 46 of the school are in Baltimore City Some of the schools have been in restructuring for a number of years 9 are in Prince George’s County, 1 is left in the Edison Partnership, that school met AYP last year and so we’re looking forward to them being able to exit next year

Mr Heath said the critical reporting areas are reading, math and the other academic indicator which is attendance or graduation rate All students, 5 race ethnicities and 3 special services, again, some schools are missing for one or two of these cells But half of them are probably missing many and for some of those schools who are struggling, they are missing at all categories, they are missing in their primary race ethnicity, they are missing for economically disadvantaged and they are missing for LEPs A lot of schools are missing four cells in readingand four in math

Ms Bell asked if anything jumps out that is consistent; i.e., mobility, for instance? Mr Heath thinks that would be a long discussion He feels the mobility of staff have always been a challenge, maybe more

so than the mobility of students The experience of staff and a lot of those schools who are showing at 100 percent, remember we saw 100 percent in reading and math, we still have staff that’s been there 15, 20,

25, 30 years A lot of the schools were in restructuring implementationwill have staff, 1, 2, 3, 5, 10 percent who have been there more than 5

or 6 or 10 years, a tremendous number of new teachers, a tremendous number of fully certified teachers So big staffing issues typically in those schools

Mr Heath said in a quick scan of the middle schools that are the deep end schools, frequently the percent of classes not taught by highly qualified teachers will range in the 85 percent range Just

extraordinary levels So mobility is a part of that and the other part is just frequently that’s where the least qualified staff are placed

Ms Bell stated the thing is, you can’t move them and if they don’t getcertified, you’re going to be without them

Dr Grasmick said the other issue, and we’ve spent so much time talking about it, are principals and the competencies of the principals But she just wanted to say to the Board something that is obvious, for

every school that has every demographic consideration, you will find a school with that same match in demographics that is doing very well.

Dr Pieffer spoke of requirements of schools in school improvement year one School of choice has to be offered to Title I schools in school improvement year one If in school improvement year two, youhave got choice supplemental services If a school has failed four years in a row or more, there will be corrective action Restructuring with State involvement, one of the following must be done if they missthe AYP in the following year, then it will go into restructuring

implementation It was emphasized that once in school improvement, you exit by meeting the targets for two consecutive years

Regarding high school and school systems, roll out will be in a couple

of stages in the middle of August with the geometry results which were

on the same time table as high school assessments and there will be graduation rates So schools which are not making adequate yearly progress will be able to be identified in August and into the fall

Dr Peiieffer discussed the issue of appealsappeals issues Last year a number of appeals were due to coding and data errors and those are being identified Medical exemptions is a new item this year If a students haves a serious medical problem, they can now be exemptedwithout filing an, instead of an appeal Thirdly, the modified Marylandschool assessment to be implemented next year, in advance of that a simulation of the impact of that will be undertaken

Dr Baglin stated all special education students have to participate instate-wide and district-wide assessments which is required by the Individials with Disabilities Education Act and No Child Left Behind

100 percent of the results must be included However, not all children can participate at the same level, so 1 percent who test proficient can

be included in an alternative assessment

Second group approved is to target the 1 percent who with significant interventions, 2 percent of those that do test proficient would be able to

be included in the modified assessment process Schools will be targeted who have issues with students with disabilities contributing to the school not making AYP There is a summer institute that targets assessment issues and how schools can improve students with

disabilities’ results on assessment and how they can look at training their personnel Longitudinal data was collected from students

identified in the infants and toddlers program all the way through in terms of achievement, to identify interventions and settings most effective for improving results for students

A change with IDEA is Early Intervening Services which must be 15 percent of funding from local school systems has to be set aside to focus on student achievement prior to referral for special ed, which is special ed money, but must be set aside by school systems with history

of over identification

Dr Baglin gave an overview of modified assessment Any

technicalities issues will be taken up with Mr Heath This will be in reading and math in grades 3 to 8, and grade-level content standards will be looked at and somewhat modified by narrowing the focus and dealing with issues of complexity of the material Accommodations will be available to students with an IEP for the modified assessment

Dr ieffer stated the assessment was to be ready by ’05-’06

Dr Baglin stated that all special education students are required by federal law to participate in statewide and district-wide assessments under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and under No Child Left Behind She stated that 1% of all students, specifically those with severe cognitive disabilities, are tested with an alternative assessment—the Alt-Maryland School Assessment—and can achieve aproficient score using this alternative test

New flexibility recently issued by the United States Department of Education permits the use of an additional test for students who are not

as severely cognitively disabled as the students taking the

Alt-Maryland School Assessment Federal guidance advises that states cancreate a modified assessment based on modified standards for disabled students who receive fairly intensive services but are still unable to achieve existing testing standards Maryland has received permission from USDE to develop a Modified Maryland School Assessment for testing as early as the spring of 2006 Federal laws limit participation

in this test to an additional 2% of all students This means that a total

of 3% of students can take alternative or modified assessments and canachieve proficient scores This flexibility ensures students have access

to tests that are appropriate to their needs and disabilities

Dr Baglin gave an overview of the modified assessment plan This assessment will be in reading and math in grades 3 through 8

Existing grade-level content standards will be examined, and it is expected they will be modified in accordance with federal guidance Accommodations will be available to students with an IEP that

specifies that the modified assessment is appropriate for them The assessment is planned for the 2005-2006 school year

Dr Pieffer said Maryland is the only state doing the appeals

approach After looking at the original flexibility offered by USDE, it did not help any schools not making adequate yearly progress because

of special education subgroups With the breakthrough of the 2

percent test, there is now a way to make the measurement of adequate yearly progress for special education subgroups more accurate and it is perceived to be a lot fairer by having the appeals approach The LEAs have the opportunity to look at the rubric by which measurement individualized education programs for each student and other states will be trying to figure that out this next year

Dr Pieffer said two reasons special education subgroups are not adequate yearly progress is, one, in the past the measurement may not have been as adequate as was hoped had this measurement been in place Two, instructional improvements have to be made with all subgroups, which is equally true with special education groups as any

As a time table, the appeals process will be finished up by the middle

of July and work through last few of those by the end of July In early

to mid August the geometry graduation rates will be gotten in high schools, then AYP, and will finish up high schools and do school systems in the fall, whenever the standards come in for the English, too

Mr Tufaro asked Dr Grasmick as a follow up to the Board meeting, can the Board be given recommendations on what has worked and what hasn’t worked in schools with similar demographics and from a policy point of view, both at the State and local levels, what can be done to make significant improvements in the areas that require the most help? Dr Grasmick said his recommendation is being pursued and it is an excellent recommendation

Mr Disney said Dr Pieffer made a key comment in that this

continues to evolve TAPE OFF

Recommendations by Achieve, urged them to embed the inquiry and science processes/skills in earth space, life and physical science

content

Ms Stack extended A special thanks was given to MaryAnn

Breartdon for all of the time and enegy given to development of the science curriculm giving up her entire life, as did the whole science team, and she came and for coming back to MSDE after being gone for many years to lead the science team She also gave special thanks

to the members of the science team

In response to questions raised by Board members concerning the rigorand currency of the standards embodied in the proposed curriculum,

Dr Grasmick suggested that the Board be provided with the list of national reviewers and their affiliations She also suggested that the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education be invited to to enlist any of its corporate members affiliated with any endeavors relating to science to review the VSC It was also suggested that the business community be incorporated into efforts to provide teacher professional development in the Science VSC Professionals such as practicing scientists, engineers, and so on, willing to come to classrooms to help, would offer great pools of knowledge which need to be tapped into.

The science team developed a plan to respond to the feedback from Achieve, while incorporating feedback from the district visits, with emphasis on critical science ideas and concepts

Also an important part of the plan is to make sure linkages among the skills processes and technology were clear to teachers who will be using the plan

Ms Bell suggested considering incorporating the business communityfor teacher development If they stay in education area, it will put a ceiling to knowledge She feels the practicing scientists, engineers, and so on, willing to come to classrooms to help, would offer great pools of knowledge which needs to be tapped into

Mr David Tufaro incorporate real life with the sciences re issues like the homes we live in, how they relate to the environment, because of the situation where environment against the real world, home builders against environmentalists, but doesn’t need to be the case Also issues

of energy sources and how they relate to science and environment to bring a balance Secondly, the area of ethics, when we move into advanced areas of bioscience, it’s a great opportunity to have dialogue and have children participate in discussions

Upon motion by Mr Butta, moved by Ms Bell, seconded by Mr Williamson, and with unanimous agreement, the State Board approved the acceptance of the science curriculum, the Voluntary State

Curriculum (In Favor – 101)

Ms Stack said the Social Studies Task Force is also taking a look at the role of museums, historical sites and other organizations and their impact on quality social studies programs What impact to both the on-site experiences and the programs and materials that are shared with students at their school site, what affect do they have on the social studies instruction What exists to support the preparation of teachers How to support teachers once in teacher role to make sure teachers are ready to provide the best quality instruction for the students.

The Task Force plans to issue its findings and recommendations to the State Board in one year

Dr Grasmick introduced Dixie StackDr.John Smeallieealy, Director ofCurriculum and Instruction, Division of Instruction; and Dr Peggy Burke, Co-Chair, Social Studies Task Force and Executive Director, State Humanities Council, Assistant State Superintendent, Division of Certification and Accreditation, to discusto discuss the update of the work of the Social Studies Task Force proposed guidelines for implementing approved alternative preparation programs adopted by the Professional Standards and Teacher Education Board.Dr

Grasmick recommended that the State Board adopt the Alternative Program Guidelines as approved by the Professional Standards and Teacher Education Board (PSTEB)

Dr Grasmick recommended that the State Board adopt the Alternative Program Guidelines as approved by the Professional Standards and Teacher Education Board.(PSTEB)

Dr Smeallie said the the proposed guidelines are an outgrowth of the work of the Conference Committee convened by the Maryland State board of Education and PSTEB to consider differences in proposed regulatory provisions pertinent to Maryland’s Resident Teacher

Certificate Mr John Sealy spoke about possible expansion and rigor

in Maryland’s Resident Teacher Program Earlier this month the Professional Standards and Teacher Education Board considered the proposed guidelines that were developed as a result of the work of the Conference Committee and, in fact, the Professional Standards Board adopted the guidelines Proposed sequence of events would be

following the adoption of these guidelines, which are comprehensive inscope and pertain to preparation programs, then for the State Board andthe Professional Standards Board regulations that would govern the Resident Teacher Certificate

Mr Sealy said particularly Recommendation Number 1, The

guidelines are premised on the Conference Committee’s belief

indicating that all programs for teacher preparation in Maryland

shouldshall be based on a common set of standards and experiences The Guidelines are designed to consistent with this, to move the alternative preparation programs to a second-tier status, not in name but perhaps in spirit, of a less-than- rigorous program compared to our traditional teacher preparation This now elevated alternative

preparation programs to the same level as traditional teacher

preparation programs

The other element is a reflection of work done over the last several years at the national level regarding enhancing mobility Maryland has

a national grant focused on enhancing mobility among states

The National Advisory Committee a few months ago conformed to this element and that is to take a look at more flexibility with regard to preliminary requirements As an example, the allowance of a

candidate to present approved tests from other states in the area of basic skills and/or content and not have to take a second repetitive test

in Maryland

The other is, relying on grade-point average as a requirement at the Bachelor’s level, to look beyond the Bachelor’s level and allow an individual to present a concentration or major or the equivalent of same

in an area aligned with the certification That could be either a

Bachelor’s or a post-Baccalaureate work or a combination of the two Key features of the Guidelines drafted and presented are the adoption

or addition of an internship prior to residency Additional features