6
The Tide
OPINIONS
February 2013
Black & Gold Do Maryland schools deserve to be ranked best in the nation?
G
Maryland schools deserve this honor There are still obstacles to overcome by Rachel Post and Yueyang Ying Maryland schools strive for excellence and once again, they have delivered! Maryland schools have just captured the top spot in Education Week’s “Quality Counts” ranking. This success is not due to mere luck. For five consecutive years, Maryland schools have proved themselves victorious in the “Quality Counts” ranking because of stellar teachers, test scores, and curriculums.
consistently improving. Since the start of this century, Maryland’s average scores in mathematics, reading, science, and writing have been continuously increasing year after year. Moreover, our scores have been increasing at a higher rate than other states. Maryland’s ever-changing standards of education exemplify why our state deserves such high recognition. Our strong and progressive educational policies, solid Board of Education, and centralized state curriculum help Maryland lead the country in academics. Beginning in June 2011, Maryland
PHOTO BY EMILY MA
Richard Montgomery has been awarded the Blue Ribbon in Education Award. In 2012, six other schools across Maryland were also honred by this prestigious award. Education Week determines a school’s overall quality by rating peer relationships, safety and security, and disciplinary policies and practices. The newspaper also takes into account a school’s positive environment since a positive environment strongly contributes to the academic excellence of a school. As the only state in the nation to receive an overall score of B-plus, Maryland surpasses the national average of 76.9 percent by more than 10 points and scores well ahead of many other states. Massachusetts, the state that received the next highest score, is more than 3 points behind Maryland. In 2010, Race to the Top awarded Maryland a portion of the federal government’s $4.3 billion education funding. With a goal of education reform, our state has taken advantage of the funding to implement higher standards for students and educators and to improve teacher evaluations. As Maryland students, we see that our teachers are well qualified in the classroom every day. In order to teach, teachers must fulfill the required passing score on the teacher qualification test, the Praxis. According to the Educational Testing Service, Maryland sets one of the highest requirements in the country, ensuring that we have top-notch teachers. Maryland’s superior education is also demonstrated through academic standards of assessment. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a report generated by the National Center for Educational Statistics, shows that Maryland’s fourth and eighth graders consistently score above the national average in math and reading. Even more significantly, Maryland scores are
B
Black
has begun to move from the current state curriculum to the Maryland Common Core State Curriculum, a set of new and more rigorous standards that will lead to even greater academic achievements. The new Common Core Standards clearly define a student’s expectations in both core subjects and auxiliary subjects. For example, beginning with the 2013-14 academic year, a more demanding Algebra
“Maryland schools have proved themselves victorious because of stellar teachers, test scores and curriculums.” I course will be put into effect. This course will be based on the new Common Core standards and will be the same for every Marylander enrolled in the course. Parents will also have access to these standards and will know exactly what is being taught. Most importantly, the new course focuses on the depth of learning rather than the superficial knowledge of facts. This new technique will help students transition between high school and college without a need for remediation. Our evolving curriculum not only ensures that students stay afloat in today’s changing society, but also illustrates the collective state effort towards providing the best education possible. It comes as no surprise that Maryland continues to be a leader at the forefront of education. Maryland schools have a positive atmosphere and well trained teachers. Our schools have already been ranked as #1 by Education Week four times, have students who perform well above average on standardized tests, and are also moving ahead to implement a new and even more challenging curriculum. Mayland schools have truly earned this honor becase they continue to strive for and successfully provide their students with the best educational experience in the nation!
by Jennifer Zhang As students at Richard Montgomery High School, we see firsthand how Maryland schools are a fantastic learning environment. However, despite their high rankings in Education Week’s “Quality Counts 2013” assessment, Maryland schools was merely given a “B plus” rating. Although Maryland schools have ranks of great distinction, our schools still have some serious problems that need to be addressed. The widening achievement gap is the most troubling problem for Maryland schools. Judy Jenkins, the director of the curriculum for the Maryland Department of Education, acknowledged that, “In terms of eliminating the achievement gap, we still have much work to be done.”
“A new advocacy group, MarylandCAN, denounced Maryland as one of the worst performing states in terms of the achievement gap.” Only a week after Maryland was named the premier state in the nation for public education, a new advocacy group, MarylandCAN, denounced Maryland as one of the worst performing states in terms of educational achievement gaps. According to the results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), Maryland’s difference in scores of low-income students and those of wealthier classmates on the 8th grade state math test is the second largest in the country. On a corresponding 8th grade English test, statistics show that only 18% of African American eighth graders scored proficient or higher compared to the 56% of the white students. What is even more troublesome is that this performance gap is more than two times greater than it was two decades ago. In the words of Curtis Valentine, a former teacher and the current executive director of MarylandCAN, “we have a lot of be proud of in Maryland when it comes to educating our kids… [but] we struggle to serve all Maryland students.” In addition, Montgomery County’s 2008 report on the achievement gap found that major racial gaps existed in suspension rates and in gifted and special-
Gold needs student classification. Although the Gazette maintains that the Montgomery County school system has been working hard in order to close the performance gap between certain “subgroups of students, such as black and Hispanic students and their white and Asian peers,” there is still much ground to cover. Not only are there significant racial achievement gaps, but there are also complaints that Montgomery County’s new math curriculum does not address the needs of advanced students. Alison Friedman, a frustrated parent whose son is three levels above state math standards, said, “[Maryland teachers are] never going to pay attention to the [advanced] kids who need more enrichment”; instead, she claims that teachers put greater effort into helping struggling kids. Although Erick Lang, MCPS’s associate superintendent, maintained that “[the county is still] trying to figure it out, and it’s on us,” the fact of the matter is that the new math curriculum hinders the intellectual development of mathematically advanced children. The NAEP, ranks Massachusetts’ schools as number one in terms of public school achievement, but ranks Maryland as
“There are complaints that Montgomery County’s new math curriculum does not address the needs of advanced students.” number six. As different institutions have different methods for determining what makes a great school system, it is unclear whether or not Maryland’s schools are, in fact, the best in the country. Although Maryland schools are certainly excellent, it is clear from NAEP’s report that the quality of public education in other schools may be even better. In order for Maryland schools to truly be great, they must confront formidable issues that have yet to be addressed.
PHOTO BY SHARIKA DHAR .
The International Baccalaureate program in various schools in Maryland tend to have an uneven racial distribution in their student bodies that widens the achievement gap.