School Improvement in Maryland

Instruction

Teaching and Learning

Designed for teachers, these pages contain instructional strategies, voluntary state assessment by grade level and standard, assessments, rubrics, toolkit resources and key MSDE contacts for the four content areas.

IN THIS SECTION:
  • Grade level VSC
  • Public Release and Sample Assessments
  • Toolkits
  • PDFs of Grade Level State Curriculum and Tools

Common Core State Standards

The State Board adopted the Common Core State Standards in June of 2010. Maryland is currently revising and aligning the current State Curriculum to the Common Core.

IN THIS SECTION:
  • Fact Sheet
  • Video of Mary Cary explaining Maryland's process
  • English Common Core State Standards
  • Mathematics Common Core State Standards


Professional Development

A comprehensive and inclusive approach to planning professional development which meets teacher learning needs and contributes to improved student learning.

In This Section:
  • Prof Dev Standards
  • High-Quality Prof Dev. Survey

"Teachers are at their best when they are actively engaged in high quality learning opportunities themselves."

Nancy S. Grasmick, State Superintendent of Schools

Teaching Maryland Standards

State Curriculum

The State Curriculum defines what students should know and be able to do at each grade level.

TOOLKITS

The Toolkits provide teachers with tools to help them better understand, teach, and assess the State Curriculum tested on Maryland School Assessments and the Core Learning Goals tested on the High School Assessments.

TOOLS INCLUDE:
  • Clarifications
  • Lesson Seeds
  • Sample Assessments
  • Public Release Items
  • and others

EARLY CHILDHOOD INITIATIVES

MSDE has established a number of early childhood initiatives which promote school readiness and student acheivement.

Students with Disabilities

MSDE has created a number of resources to provide information to parents and to support the achievement of students with disabilities.