More schools in Maryland are replacing most or all staff when they fail to meet No Child Left Behind’s annual, rising standards, according to a study released Friday.
The number of Maryland schools choosing to replace staff has nearly doubled in the past three years, from five to nine schools, and it will become the most popular method for improving failing schools if the trend continues this year, according to the study by the Center on Education Policy, an independent, Washington, D.C.-based think tank.
“It was initially viewed skeptically by school communities,” said Bill Reinhard, state schools spokesman. “But, as the report says, they’ve sort of come around that this is the way to go.”
Maryland schools that have failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress for five consecutive years must select a plan to overhaul themselves. If the schools fail to meet the mark again, the plan must be started.
The number of schools planning overhauls jumped in the past school year from four to 38, according to the study, the center’s third in three years on Maryland.
The state provides schools limited options to restructure, and the number using the traditional method — hiring experts called “turnaround specialists” who are similar to consultants has dropped in the past three years from 47 schools to 37, the report shows.
Other overhaul options include converting to a charter school or working with an outside school or company.
At Annapolis High School, 40 percent of the teachers and administrators were replaced in the summer of 2007 due to the school’s continued failure to meet Adequate Yearly Progress. The school had a more positive learning atmosphere in its first year with the new staff, with student behavior referrals dropping, student grades improving, attendance rising and enrollment in upper-level courses increasing, the report shows.
Replacing staff, however, comes with a price. The report shows that the Annapolis High restructuring cost about $3 million, straining the Anne Arundel County school system.
Baltimore City had the majority of schools, 53, in Maryland that have started restructuring plans. Prince George’s County had nine.
Local districts choose which route to take for improving their struggling schools, but the state school board must sign off.
