Issue Position: Education Initiatives Targeting Achievement Gap

Issue Position

1. Early Education: Expand Access to Pre-Kindergarten

Early Education Programs to Include Full Day Pre-Kindergarten for Four Year Olds -- Phase in expansion to ensure capacity, scalability and quality.

Cognitive development begins at birth, and gaps in achievement begin well before children enter kindergarten. Effective early care and education programs for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers can help close the achievement gap. In fact, quality pre-kindergarten programs are estimated to produce long-term cognitive effects equivalent in size to one half or more of the achievement gap between minority and white children or low-income and other children through the end of high school (Camilli et al., 2010)[i]. Given the overwhelming evidence in support of early education as a means to closing the achievement gap, it is essential that we increase access to the current pre-kindergarten program in Maryland. To begin, that means extending the program from a half-day to full-day program. The inability of many working families to take advantage of a half-day program has limited the number of families in Maryland who access Maryland's current program. Additionally, the current program is open to families with household incomes at or above 185% of the 2013 federal poverty guidelines meaning many families who are unable to afford pre-kindergarten programs but who would benefit from the program are not eligible to participate. In 2015, we will expand eligibility to families with household incomes at or above 300 percent of the 2013 federal poverty guidelines which is currently $70,000 for a family of four. Consistent with the MSDE Pre-K business plan published in 2009, we anticipate this expansion in the first year will cost approximately $20 million dollars (based on 2008 dollars.). After 2015, so long as rigorous data analysis supports successful expansion Doug would seek to increase access to the current pre-K program in stages to ensure that we maintain standards and rigor as we increase the scale of the program across the state. This implementation would also be accompanied by increases in early pre-kindergarten professional development resources to increase the number of qualified and trained early childhood educators in Maryland. This is critical to ensuring the availability of skilled early childhood education workforce to support the centers offering pre-kindergarten outside the public school system in accordance with the benchmark requirements set forth by the MSDE.

2. English Language Learner Education Grants to Support Family Engagement Programs and Strengthen Limited English Proficiency Instruction Across Subjects

Engaging families in schools and developing parents' advocacy skills, especially during pre-kindergarten and elementary school, has been shown to have a significant impact on student achievement. Cultural barriers and language literacy challenges often create obstacles to effective family engagement in schools, impacting student achievement among those families. This is especially true for Maryland's growing Hispanic population. This year's Maryland State Department of Education yearly progress report documents a widening achievement gap between white and Hispanic children in reading and math. At least some portion of this gap can be attributed to the unique language challenges faced by some Hispanic families. To address this unique challenge, we are proposing targeted achievement grants to incentivize schools to develop outreach and training programs for families facing language literacy challenges that impact their ability to be actively engaged in their children's schools, to advocate on their children's behalf, and to become parent leaders. To be effective however, this outreach should be driven by school leadership and applied across subjects and instructional teams -- not reserved for only those teaching ESOL classes. Targeted grants will provide support to school leaders and principals to develop school-wide engagement plans that meet the needs of their students using best practices from the field.

3. Open Maryland Portal -- Linking Data from Birth to K-12 Across Agencies

Earlier this summer we unveiled plans to overhaul the availability of volumes of data that state agencies generate across departments. Our proposed OPEN MARYLAND portal would consolidate existing databases across agencies into one user-friendly, easily navigated portal that would allow visitors to generate custom reports detailing government expenditures and performance across entities and programs. In the area of education, Maryland's early leadership in developing a student data tracking system once a child has entered the public school system to enable long-term monitoring, evaluation and reporting of services has been significant. However, the most profound interventions to support early learning begin shortly after birth and this points toward collecting data before kindergarten. Additionally, as the case study by the National Conference of State Legislators aptly notes, while the Maryland system has vastly improved research analysis, there are additional connections needed to ensure robust coordination and monitoring of interventions across state agencies. Closing the achievement gap requires better coordination and sharing of data across state agencies and departments. For example, when a child is given three hearing and vision screening tests as mandated by state law, there is no mechanism in place to monitor that follow-up care and treatment is provided. While maintaining and protecting the privacy of citizens, we will develop a section of the OPEN MARYLAND Portal link healthcare and human service programs to early childhood programs to allow for greater accountability and planning. Using technology to monitor interventions can be powerful and will allow for more robust analysis of the most effective interventions and coordination of state programs and social services.

4. Governor's Teacher Corps

The single biggest in-school factor in student achievement is the quality of the teacher in the classroom with supportive school leadership. In our high-risk schools, retaining and empowering our exceptional teachers to share their insights and mentor our new recruits is essential. We will work with partners in higher education, graduate schools, the teachers union, and local school systems to create a Governor's Teacher Corps. Selected teachers will receive mentorship and professional development support. We will pair new teacher recruits in our high-need elementary schools with exceptional teacher mentors for a period of three years. Participants will receive coaching, training and professional development instructional resources and will be incentivized with loan assistance provided recruits attend Maryland universities. Additionally, veteran teachers will qualify for fast-track accumulation of retirement benefits to reward their service leadership.

5. Expand Learning Bridge Programs

After-school and summer breaks are opportunities for bridging gaps in learning. Without quality instruction and support, these times outside of school are missed opportunities to support children who are falling behind. Expanding on successful models of Summer Bridge Programs in Title I schools and Judy Centers, we will work with Local Early Childhood Councils and Family Networks to form partnerships with providers in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector. These partners will work collaboratively to ensure all young learners have access to high quality after-school, summer, and Saturday school offerings. Aligned with the Common Core standards, these programs will reinforce lessons and concepts while preparing students to bridge into the next grade level.

6. Maryland Matters Volunteer Corps

We will launch a volunteer corps to enlist Marylanders to support our families and children most at-risk of falling behind. Maryland Matters will identify service providers and networks of agencies and nonprofits that provide early education and pre-kindergarten programming to families with young children and connect them to volunteers ready to assist with coaching and support. Under supervision and in coordination with the existing infrastructure of effective nonprofit providers and local agencies, volunteers will directly support families, providing resources and connecting early childhood learning resources. Utilizing existing resources developed by the Maryland State Department of Education, volunteers will be rigorously trained to extend the reach of established service organizations across the state. The volunteer network will build upon lessons learned from service learning programs and volunteer programs used to support "Aging in Place' communities. In particular, Maryland Matters volunteers will play a key role in supporting the needs of our expanded pre-kindergarten program.

Possible Funding Options

1. Almost a year ago, voters went to the polls to approve the expansion of gaming in Maryland with the promise and hope that funds would be used to support early childhood education programs. However, citing budget challenges, the provision of the bill designating funds for the expansion of early education was removed. Now gambling revenue will be used to fund only pre-existing obligations under Thornton to the Education Trust Fund, obligations that we would have had to satisfy using general fund. Gambling revenue will not be used to expand education programs beyond anticipated obligations. Any gambling revenue above and beyond that obligation will be divided using a percentage formula among the various gambling vendors as well as the Horse Racing Purse Account -- an account to support horse training and Maryland's prized horse racing industry. At present 7% of that additional revenue will go to the horse racing purse account with a cap of $100 million dollars. The estimated amount to be put in the horse racing purse account in 2014 is $72 million. If we were to cap that account at $50 million, instead of $100 million, and designate any additional funds beyond that to early education programs, in one year alone we would have another $22 million for early education. While I value the historic contributions of our horse racing industry, I also value Maryland children and if we can provide $50 million in support of horse training, we certainly can spare $22 million to educate our children. In fact, research demonstrates a significant return on public investments in educating children well before they enter kindergarten.

2. The testing regimes that have been introduced through federal mandates and the No Child Left Behind Act have a significant price tag for the Maryland State Department of Education -- $50 million to be exact. Current testing does not assess achievement in relation to the newly adopted Common Core Standards. Moreover current curriculum and instruction do not track the Common Core Standards. The result is that both kids and teachers are being evaluated and measured via a test that doesn't track Common Core Standards. Some states have sought waivers from the Department of Education to allow them time to develop curriculum that teaches to Common Core Standards, as well as provide teachers with the professional development and training needed to teach to those standards. Why spend monies testing children on measures that no longer correlate to our education standards and why evaluate teachers based on the results of tests that do not reflect the standards we have adopted. Why not use the $50 million for some critical investment in interventions to help close the opportunity gap such as expanding early childhood education professional development. Obviously, this savings is not a permanent funding source as the waiver is temporary and we should develop a new testing regime with all due speed but even a one time injection of $50 million can have a significant impact.

3. Finally, when it comes to education we can be much more effective in coordinating purchases across the 24 local education agencies. By providing opportunities and a voluntary system for coordinating purchases we can negotiate better prices, reduce our unit costs and increase savings for our local jurisdictions, which are also strapped for monies. From supplies to equipment, we can and should be more efficient.

[i] Camilli, G., Vargas, S., Ryan, S., & Barnett, W.S. (2010). Meta-analysis of the effects of early education interventions on cognitive and social development. Teachers College Record, 112(3), 579-620.

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