Maryland lawmakers pumped about $2.2 billion into Maryland public schools since 2002 to boost performance, particularly among low-income, minority and special education children, but one advocacy group claims at least $500 million was spent on other things.
The nonprofit Advocates for Children and Youth found that $500 million specifically slated for summer school and additional tutoring instead went to schools? general budget items, including deficit reduction, health benefits, salary increases and heating schools.
“Dollar for dollar, we would like to see Thornton translate into something that will help low-performing students and to see it spent how it was intended,” said Terrylynn Tyrell, education director for the nonprofit.
That may explain why scores on an independent national test remained flat despite the increased spending, according to the Center for Data Analysis at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
Yet this year, the special funding total still will increase to $1.3 billion, for a six-year total of almost $3.5 billion.
Reading and math scores for fourth- and eighth-graders have plateaued on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in the past five years, according to the think-tank analysis.
Students are performing better on the state tests, but researchers say national standards are more difficult.
NAEP measures what U.S. students should know, said Peggy Carr, associate commissioner of assessment for the National Center for Education Statistics, which analyzes test data.
“In the industry, this test is the cornerstone,” she said.
“It?s not aligned with any one curriculum, and that?s by design because it represents the basic skills students should know, regardless of what students are taught.”
State schools Superintendent Nancy Grasmick dismisses NAEP scores as inappropriate for measuring achievement of Maryland?s students.
“The NAEP is not aligned to our curriculum,” said Grasmick, noting that NAEP only tests a sample of students.
Between 2,500 and 3,000 students take each fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math test, said Larry Feinberg, assistant director for reporting analysis for the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees NAEP.
Alvin Thornton said he would “love” to hold a commission to determine what it would take to boost achievement to NAEP standards, but acknowledged the money needed would be “much higher.”
In the meantime, teachers and principals continue to be held accountable for students? performance on the state tests, which determine funding.
As a result, state standards demonstrate a “rush to the bottom,” as officials lower the bar to meet increasingly difficult benchmarks for No Child Left Behind, said Bruce Miller, director of the Policy Analysis for California Education, an independent policy research center.
Join the discussion and take our poll in today’s examiNation Baltimore: What do you think of special funding to assist children in the classroom?
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About this series: This is the first in a series of editorials and articles that look at the effects of Maryland’s Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools Act of 2002, which is pumping an extra $1.3 billion into state schools this year. It examines whether students achieved academic excellence as a result of the increase in aid, and how the money impacted Maryland students’ performance on state and national tests. Background: The legislation is commonly referred to as Thornton, after Alvin Thornton, who led the Maryland General Assembly’s Commission on Education Finance, Equity and Excellence leading to the law. According to the Department of Legislative Services, “The task of the Thornton Commission, as expressed in its charge, was to redesign a cumbersome school finance system in order to achieve excellence in public schools through adequate and equitable funding.” Click here for a history of the Thornton Commisson and the reports it created. Methodology: The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis is home to one of the largest collections of privately held public policy databases in the United States. The Center employs the databases to estimate the likely effects of policy changes on key dimensions of everyday life including marriage rates, income growth, educational attainment, and retirement decisions. Shanea Watkins, who analyzed the data for The Examiner, is a policy analyst at the Center for Data Analysis, where she performs social science research in the areas of education, poverty, and family structure. She completed her doctorate in public policy at George Mason University in 2007, where she was involved in research that examined the effects of both school choice and desegregation on academic achievement. |
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Reading the charts: These charts follow the same set of students through grades, and overlay the amount of money spent per student with test results. They are different than the grade-by-grade charts, which show how unique classes of students perform in different years. Each spreadsheet contains a wide range of demographic information for students in the county. Click on the tabs at the bottom of each spreadsheet to view charts for each group. Grade and Cohort MSA Proficiency: The county-by-county spreadsheets analyze the performance of the same set of students over time next to the performance of students on a grade-by-grade basis. Each spreadsheet contains a wide range of demographic information for students in the county. Click on the tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet to view charts for different demographic groups. Click your school district to view the spreadsheet. Allegany County Anne Arundel County Baltimore City Baltimore County Calvert County Caroline County Carroll County Cecil County Charles County Dorchester County Frederick County Garrett County Harford County Howard County Kent County Montgomery County Prince Georges County Queen Anne County St. Mary County Somerset County Talbot County Washington County Wicomico County Worchester County State of Maryland |
