Maryland appears likely to compete for a large pot of federal dollars that could require the winner, or a consortium of winning states, to adopt wide-ranging changes to what is taught in the classroom and measured by tests.
The economic stimulus package includes $5 billion for states that want to raise academic standards, create databases and adopt new assessments. U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a recent teleconference with news media that he wants to "invest in a small number of states that are willing to challenge the status quo."
That came days after he discussed the stimulus package with Gov. Martin O'Malley and the governors of Georgia, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia at the National Governors Association conference. The next day, O'Malley urged the Maryland State Board of Education to work toward many of the measures that are being pushed by Duncan.
Giving priority to the governor's request, the board will hold a special meeting on Wednesday to discuss his goals. O'Malley said Maryland has an opportunity to make the state's public school students competitive on an international level. What that might mean in the classroom is unclear, but it could include changes to curriculum, teacher training or the sequence of courses for students.
Maryland, which recently received two first-place rankings for the performance of its schools, would have to draft a proposal and could consider joining with states such as Virginia to apply for the competitive grants. Duncan said he would move quickly to disburse the $5 billion "race to the top" grants by requesting proposals soon and moving to the selection process by the end of the summer.
The federal dollars are expected to go to states that improve standards, which are written to reflect what should be taught in classrooms. In Maryland, teachers are required to teach to the standards because their students will be tested on that material on the Maryland School Assessments.
National education experts have looked at the wide variations among state standards and have called for greater consistency. With nearly every state giving students a different test, results in Iowa or Virginia cannot be adequately compared with those in Maryland or Massachusetts. The Fordham Foundation recently issued a report that says that a school considered failing in one state might be doing fine if it were in a different one.
