Maryland Projects Year 2
2007-2008
Support to the Maryland School Improvement Working Group
Maryland has a pre-existing State Committee, called the School Improvement Working Group (SIWG). The SIWG is made up of state education agency (SEA) directors and staff members from across programs and divisions including Title I, Title III, Special Education, Math, Reading/English Language Arts, Literacy, Professional Development, Curriculum Development, Assessment and Accountability, Comprehensive Planning and School Support, Migrant Education, Science, and Career Technology.
Among the roles and responsibilities of the SIWG is the design and coordination of the technical assistance the SEA provides to districts and charter schools identified as in need of improvement. MACC staff members are a part of this team and consult with group members to create annual technical assistance plans aligned with state priorities.
In Year 2 MACC used the "MACC Survey of SEA Practices that Promote Systems of Support for Districts and Schools" to conduct an initial assessment of key SEA staff's knowledge of these practices and resources, and from there, tracked changes in the knowledge of SEA staff that supported internal cooperation.
MACC developed this survey to assess the needs of the states relative to the three MACC goals and to establish baseline data on state practices that assisted in planning technical assistance activities and tracking state progress toward meeting those goals. Technical assistance to Maryland was determined in part by analyzing the needs revealed by the survey.
Maryland AMAOs (Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives)
As Maryland made the transition from using the IDEA Proficiency Test (IPT) for measuring annual achievement gains in English proficiency to the new Language Assessment Scales (LAS) Links, federal reporting requirements called for a comparison of scores from year to year. (For Year 3, the current state-defined AMAOs will need to be reconfigured to correspond to the LAS Links.)
MACC assisted in this process of reconfiguring and comparing progress and attainment. MACC also supported MSDE by reviewing the standards document, assisted with aligning the new ESL standards to the state content standards, and reviewed teaching/scaffolding instructional tools such as the Math links that are being developed for sheltered instruction ESOL teachers and for classroom teachers who have ESOL students.
Maryland Migrant Needs Assessment Project
In year 2, MACC worked with the MD MEP with the completion of its Comprehensive Needs Assessment (CNA). This phase included the writing of a service delivery plan to guide the Maryland MEP for a three to five-year period.
Using Data to Enhance Professional Development for Coaches
Through Maryland’s Governor’s Academies, MSDE developed a professional development system designed to provide in-depth and ongoing professional development to middle and high school teachers working in schools in need of improvement.
MACC supported MSDE’s efforts to continually refine the coaching component of the Governor’s Academies. MACC worked with MSDE to provide the resources and training necessary to enhance and clarify the role of coaches in MD.
Maryland Middle School Initiative
The MSDE convened a Middle School Steering Committee to review the previously written major works on improving middle school achievement, to establish action research groups to put promising practices into effect, and to report best practices back to the SEA so they could be established in all Maryland middle schools.
To assist the MSDE in their efforts, MACC drafted a document synopsis that highlighted the key findings across three or four seminal works on middle school achievement. MACC also facilitated the steering committee, planned the meetings, set the agenda, and facilitated follow-up meetings and activities in an effort to move the work of the steering committee forward.