School Improvement

On July 1, 2008, the Maryland State Department of Education received approval from the U.S. Department of Education to implement a Differentiated Accountability pilot proposal that allows Maryland to distinguish between schools in improvement that need substantial help and those close to meeting achievement goals. This implementation affects the nomenclature and interventions that pertain to schools in improvement based on the 2007-08 school year testing.

Maryland has two stages (i.e. phases) of school improvement— Developing Schools and Priority Schools—that correspond to the current “school improvement” process (School Improvement Years 1 and 2 and Corrective Action) and “restructuring” phase of school improvement (Restructuring Planning and Restructuring Implementation). (See Table 1.)

Table 1. New School Improvement Stages for Maryland

NCLB SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT (Previous way)	NEW SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT STAGES
Year 1 Year 2 Corrective Action	Developing Stage (initial interventions)
Restructuring Planning Restructuring Implementation	Priority Stage (more intensive interventions)

School Improvement Stages. Schools enter into school improvement and progress from Developing Schools to Priority Schools based on whether they met their performance targets, as described below.

There are two pathways under differentiated accountability that schools may follow: Comprehensive Needs Schools and Focused Needs Schools. All schools enter school improvement through the Developing Schools stage and will be classified as either Developing Comprehensive Needs Schools or Developing Focused Needs Schools. Schools in improvement include four categories of schools:

• Developing Comprehensive Needs Schools
• Developing Focused Needs Schools
• Priority Comprehensive Needs Schools
• Priority Focused Needs Schools.

Table 2 illustrates how the traditional NCLB designations compare with the differentiated accountability designations. Schools that were not in school improvement under NCLB are Achieving Schools under differentiated accountability. This includes schools meeting AYP, schools failing AYP for one year (labeled ‘Alert Schools’ under differentiated accountability), and schools that have exited school improvement.

Schools that were in School Improvement Years 1 and 2, or Corrective Action under NCLB will be categorized as Developing Schools under differentiated accountability and can follow one of two pathways—comprehensive needs or focused needs.

Schools that were in Restructuring Planning or Restructuring Implementation under NCLB are Priority Schools under differentiated accountability and can follow one of the two pathways.

Table 2. Comparison of Current NCLB Categories with Proposed Differentiated Accountability Designations

Years Not Achieving AYP	NCLB Designation	Differentiated Accountability STAGES	Differentiated Accountability SCHOOL PATHWAYS
0	Schools not in School Improvement	Achieving Schools Meeting AYP Alert Schools Exited Schools	Achieving Schools
1
	Schools in Improvement		Compre- hensive Needs Schools	Focused Needs Schools
2	School Improvement 1	Developing Stage (initial interventions)	Developing Compre- hensive Needs Schools	Developing Focused Needs Schools
3	School Improvement 2
4	Corrective Action
5	Restructuring Planning	Priority Stage (later interventions)	Priority Compre- hensive Needs Schools	Priority Focused Needs Schools
6	Restructuring Implementation
7+

Schools in the Developing Comprehensive Needs Schools stage of school improvement will progress to the Priority Stage based on academic performance and number of years in school improvement. A school that is able to improve its performance level so that it achieves AYP in any one year will remain in the Developing Comprehensive Needs Schools category. If it achieves AYP a second year, then it exits school improvement. If it fails to achieve AYP a second year, it remains a Developing Comprehensive Needs School. After three consecutive years of failing to achieve AYP, the school will be re-designated a Priority Comprehensive Needs School.

Schools in the Developing Focused Needs Schools stage may progress to the Developing Comprehensive Needs Schools stage if school performance declines and the school then meets the criteria for the Comprehensive Needs Schools category. Any school entering Priority status will be examined to determine if it should be placed in the Priority Focused Needs category. If there is evidence that such a school now has broader needs, then it will be placed in the Priority Comprehensive Needs Schools category.

School Improvement Pathways:
When schools fail to achieve the Annual Measurable Objective (AMO) in the same reported area for two years and move into the Developing Schools stage, they will be divided into two pathways, pending the extent and kind of failures.

Comprehensive Needs Pathway. Schools that meet one or more of the following criteria will be placed in the Comprehensive Needs Pathway:

• Fails to achieve the AMO for the All Students group for reading or mathematics, or
• Fails to achieve the AMO for three or more AYP subgroups for reading or mathematics;

Focused Needs Pathway. Schools that meet the following criteria will be placed in the Focused Needs Pathway:

• Achieves all AMOs for the All Students group in reading and mathematics, and
• Fails to achieve the AMOs for reading and/or mathematics for no more than two subgroups, or
• Fails to achieve the AMO for the other academic indicator, or
• A school with a population consisting of 100% of students from a special services population, regardless of the number of cells it fails, will enter the Developing Schools stage as a Focused Needs School. However, if, after two years, the school does not show improvement toward achieving AYP, it can be re-designated a Developing Comprehensive Needs School.

To review the entire document on Differentiated Accountability, please go to www.marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/programs/esea.