Schools In Maryland

Would you put the least-experienced principals and lowest-paid teachers in Maryland's most troubled schools and expect the students there to succeed? Of course not. And yet, as Maryland State Board of Education President Dunbar Brooks recently pointed out, Maryland has many "high-cost" and "low-cost" schools that largely reflect the race and socioeconomics of the student population. In fact, these disparities have existed for a long time and remain severe, based on several studies completed by Advocates for Children and Youth.

A team from Maryland has not reached the Division I women's lacrosse final four since 2003. That would hardly seem a lengthy drought by most standards, but lacrosse standards are pretty high around here. After all, the University of Maryland has won nine NCAA championships and gone to the final four 16 times in the 26-year history of the tournament. Loyola has been in six final fours. Now that the final four is back in Maryland this spring - at Towson's Johnny Unitas Stadium on Memorial Day weekend - can a Maryland team get back into the semifinals?

Amy Milauskas and Carol Tortella want to do more for the environment than hang up public-service announcements and oversee traditional recycling campaigns. The two Wilde Lake Middle School teachers were among nearly 40 Howard County educators who attended a training session offered this week by the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education on how schools can join its Green School Recognition program. Ten Howard County schools are members of the program, which encourages schools to adopt more environmentally friendly practices and infuse environmental content into the curriculum.

Some of the methods used to improve failing schools in Maryland have not worked, according to the Center on Education Policy, a Washington-based research group. In a new report, the center concludes that one of the most common options - a turnaround specialist - is often ineffective. The same seems to be true of wholesale staff replacement, another increasingly popular solution. There's nothing easy or quick about fixing failing schools. But at a time of decreasing financial resources, thoughtful planning and careful monitoring are critical.

River Hill High and Burleigh Manor Middle were honored by the U.S. Department of Education as two of seven No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools in Maryland and two of 287 in the country. The National Blue Ribbon award recognizes academic excellence or major gains in achievement. Clarksville Middle School was a winner of the award last year. River Hill and Burleigh Manor will be recognized next month at a ceremony in Washington. "Their selection is very exciting," said Patti Caplan, county schools spokeswoman.

As reported Sept. 27, 1942, in The Sun: The high school students of Maryland and their 6,000,000 cohorts in the nation who will answer the President's call to mobilize for victory can see a preview of their share in the war effort at The Ellicott City High School. Starting a Victory Corps there will be only a matter of form. Every one of its 274 students is already participating in wartime service. Boys belong to the State Guard, the Maryland Minute Men or the Naval Militia. In apple orchards they are replacing men called to the armed forces.

Like most educators, Adrienne Taylor is looking for ways to improve test scores, attendance and discipline at her school. She thinks she has found a key in a program that stresses positive behavior. Taylor, principal of Belle Grove Elementary School in Anne Arundel County, is among about 3,000 educators in the state who this month are learning new ways to improve their schools through the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports program. Proponents say PBIS can have a measurable impact on a school.

American youths are so out of shape and childhood obesity has reached such alarming proportions that almost anything schools can do to encourage more physical fitness is welcome. So an effort by Maryland's General Assembly to require more school time for physical education deserves consideration - though it's too bad it takes a state law to get schoolchildren hopping, jumping and running around. In fact, good physical health, which is a product of exercise, contributes to academic performance.

Timothy Viverette selected a small container of Cheerios and a pint of milk, and grabbed a spoon and a napkin. The Magnolia Middle School seventh-grader took his breakfast back to his desk and began eating. "Last year I didn't eat breakfast and I would always be starving by lunchtime," he said while opening his milk carton. Breakfast has undergone a makeover at the Joppa school. Starting this year, the school began offering the Maryland Meals for Achievement Classroom Breakfast Program, which provides free breakfast in the classroom to students as a way to improve academic performance and attentiveness.

Results released this week show that every pupil at Summit Park Elementary School in Baltimore County passed either the reading or math portion of the Maryland School Assessment - a success rate matched by few schools in Maryland. All 164 of the school's third-, fourth- and fifth-graders scored proficient or higher on at least one part of the test. All but three pupils passed both the math and reading exams. Educators at the school - located less than a mile north of the Baltimore City line and just east of Greenspring Avenue - attribute the strong performance to an all-around commitment to education from teachers, parents and pupils.