What's New: School Improvement in Maryland

A monthly update highlighting selected instructional resources recently placed on mdk12.org.

Analyzing Your HSA Results

The new status model HSA data is now online with explanations of the status model and additional graphed data including benchmarking results. http://mdk12.org/data/index.aspx?Nav=1.5

Voluntary State Curriculum Renamed State Curriculum Toolkit

The Maryland State Board of Education acted on the superintendent’s request to rename the Voluntary State Curriculum as the State Curriculum and granted permission to publish revised COMAR language for each of the affected curricular areas at the July board meeting. The request was supported by the following rationale: “Because the Voluntary State curriculum and the state assessment system de facto create a required set of skills and knowledge for all students, the name should be changed from the Voluntary State Curriculum to the State Curriculum. http://mdk12.org/instruction/curriculum/index.html

Science State Curriculum Toolkit

The Public Release Items are now available in the Science State Curricuum Toolkit. By clicking on a specific grade level under the science standards, you can see which objectives have a PR item.

view THE TOOLS FOR EACH SCIENCE STANDARD:
1.0 Skills and Processes	4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8
2.0 Earth/Space Science	4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8
3.0 Life Science	4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8
4.0 Chemistry	4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8
5.0 Physics	4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8
6.0 Environmental Science	4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8

Reading State Curriculum Toolkit

New resources have been added to the Reading Toolkit including a new clarification tool that illustrates how a teacher might teach a specific objective in the classroom. Click on the link below to see an example of how to teach the following objective: "Identify and describe the setting and the mood and explain how the setting affects the characters and the mood". http://mdk12.org/instruction/clarification/reading/grade5/3A3c.html

Introduction to the Classroom-Focused Improvement Process (CFIP)

The Classroom-Focused Improvement Process (CFIP) is a six-step process for increasing student achievement that is planned and carried out by teachers meeting in grade level, content, or vertical teams as a part of their regular lesson planning cycle. This online introduction includes a video overview, a guided process, and worksheets for conducting the process. http://mdk12.org/process/cfip/index.html