Maryland's attempts to turn around worst schools have largely failed
Maryland's attempts to turn around its worst schools in the past several years have largely failed, according to a report by a Washington-based nonprofit education research group. Of the 76 schools labeled failing for at least five years, only 12, or 16%, have improved significantly since 2004, the Center on Education Policy (CEP) found. "Even in an advanced state like Maryland, that has tried to deal with these problems for a decade ... we just don't know what to do," said Jack Jennings, president of CEP. The most commonly tried solution—bringing in a turnaround specialist—usually doesn't work, the report said. And a newer option, replacing the teaching staff, has caused disruption but hasn't gotten results. Maryland is to be commended, Jennings said, for learning from what doesn't work and changing its strategy so that it no longer allows turnaround specialists as an option. The lesson for other states around the nation, he said, is "that we ought to be humble ... that it is a long, hard slog to bring about change, and it is something we just have to keep working at." CEP took a close look at Maryland because it is one of a handful of states that began a comprehensive testing program in the early 1990s, before the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) made that mandatory across the nation.
Some school staffs where there was improvement told the CEP researcher that NCLB is focusing on the wrong issues. They say it wasn't the changes they were forced to make by the state, but other fixes they initiated that made the difference, such as providing tutoring after school and on Saturdays, changing curriculum, or providing more training for teachers. And they say that family and socioeconomic issues outside a school's influence can hinder its success. State officials largely agree with the report. Ann Chafin, an assistant superintendent in charge of restructuring schools, said she believed the most popular choice among the options used to be putting in a turn-around specialist, usually a retired principal or someone from the district with expertise in running schools, to help the principal improve the school. Those choices have failed in most cases, Chafin believes, because the schools have deep-rooted problems reaching back many years. State officials say they believe that replacing staff at two schools, Annapolis High and Woodlawn Middle, could prove beneficial even though it caused problems initially. Annapolis High decided to restructure voluntarily, a year before it might have been required to by the state.
Baltimore Sun By Liz Bowie
[Editor’s Note: The CEP report is below. Information on past findings regarding NCLB restructuring is available at the second link.]
CEP report on Maryland restructuring
NSBA School Law pages on restructuring