Maryland Standards
Maryland's State Department of Education has developed content standards for English/language arts, math, science, and social studies. Maryland Content Standards specify what students from kindergarten through 12th grade should know and be able to do.
Maryland Assessments
All students in grades 3-8 and students who have taken 10th grade English and Geometry (up though 2005) or Algebra I (beginning in 2006) are required to take the Maryland School Assessment (MSA) in reading, math, and eventually in science. This test has replaced the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP). This multiple-choice and short-essay question exam will demonstrate how well Maryland children have learned the reading and mathematics skills specified in the Maryland Content Standards.
Maryland's students are also required to take Maryland High School Assessments (HSA). The HSA contain multiple-choice questions and questions requiring written responses. These questions are based on the content outlined in Maryland's Core Learning Goals. The HSA are presently offered in four core subjects: English 10, government, algebra/data analysis, and biology. Students take each test whenever they complete the course.
Beginning with the graduating class of 2009, all students are required to earn a satisfactory score on the HSA in order to earn a Maryland High School Diploma. Specific details about fulfilling this requirement can be found on the High School Assessment Fact Sheet
Maryland Curricula
Maryland's Voluntary State Curriculum (VSC) defines what Pre-K through eight grade students should know and be able to do in four content areas: Mathematics, Reading/English Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies. In addition, the Voluntary State Curriculum defines what students should know and be able to do in 10th grade Reading. The VSC provides alignment between the Maryland Content Standards and the Maryland Assessment Program.
An increasingly common practice in Maryland is the hiring of "turnaround specialists" for schools undergoing restructuring. Their purpose is to improve classroom instruction and to compensate for the frequent inability of principals to effectively intervene in instructional matters. However, the success of specialists has been mixed. The need has been expressed for training and professional development for existing school leaders, rather than transient specialists, in order to build strong and permanent instructional leadership capability. Average achievement gaps across the state, in spite of recent reductions, are exceedingly wide, particularly in impoverished urban areas. State leaders recognize a need for technical assistance to train state support teams on the concepts and specialized strategies for effective teaching of low-performing student groups, particularly ELLs in areas such as mathematics and science.