| January 6, 2001 |
Vol. 11, No. 1 |
Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick has
announced that 10 public middle and high schools have been selected as 1999-2000 Maryland
Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence.
"These schools are a testament to the dedication and
collective efforts of teachers, administrators, students and communities," said Dr.
Grasmick. "They are models of high performance throughout Maryland."
The prestigious award means that each school has demonstrated
high achievement in the following areas: Student performance as measured by assessments
and other data-based areas, student focused instruction, school organization, challenging
standards and curriculum, active teaching and learning, parent and community involvement,
professional development opportunities, and leadership and decision making.
Maryland's Blue Ribbon Schools will become part of a state
network of Blue Ribbon Schools working with the Maryland State Department of Education in
school improvement and policy. Winning schools received a Maryland Blue Ribbon Flag, a
State School Board plaque and a $1,000 cash award. Corporate sponsors AT&T and State
Farm Insurance will provide instructional materials and other awards.
The 1999-2000 Blue Ribbon schools will be honored by the Maryland
Legislature on January 20. This year's winners are:
Baltimore City College (Baltimore City)
Bel Air Middle (Harford)
Clear Spring High School (Washington)
Damascus High School (Montgomery)
Middletown High (Frederick)
Plum Point Middle (Calvert)
Richard Montgomery High School (Montgomery)
South Carroll High (Carroll)
Paint Branch High School (Montgomery)
Pocomoke High (Worcester)
Dale
Named Top Superintendent |
Jack Dale, Superintendent of the Frederick County
Public School System since 1996, has been selected Maryland's Superintendent of the Year
for 2000 by the Public School Superintendents Association of Maryland.
Dale was selected on the basis of leadership for learning,
communication skills, professionalism and community involvement.
"Citizen involvement is something I believe in and am
passionate about," he said after being recognized at the recent State Board of
Education meeting.
Governor, State Board Meet on Budget
The Maryland State Board of Education, in a rare
public meeting with Governor Parris N. Glendening, stressed the need to fund the proposed
Academic Intervention Plan which would help students at all levels who fall behind their
peers in the classroom.
The mid-December meeting in Baltimore ended with Governor
Glendening making one commitment-to put $1 million in his FY2001 budget for salary
increases for key State Department of Education employees whose salaries are not equitable
with comparable positions in local school systems. The meeting covered considerable
ground, including the board's proposed $32.7 million plan to recruit and retain teachers.
The discussions led to the state's highest-ranking elected
official, and the board members he appoints, agreeing to make similar meetings a part of
their future schedules.
Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick and State Board
members stressed to the Governor the need to fund the $49 million Academic Intervention
Plan as Maryland prepares to launch the High School Assessments testing program. Starting
with the freshman class of fall 2001, students will be required to pass the rigorous tests
in a variety of subjects to earn a Maryland diploma. Board members told the Governor it
would be difficult to have a testing program which would affect the awarding of diplomas
unless the state provided additional academic help for students not succeeding at grade
level.
Governor Glendening said he plans at the upcoming legislative
session to call for an overall $130 million increase in education spending. He said it
would be difficult to meet requests in full regarding academic intervention and teacher
recruitment/mentoring.
"We are not going to give everything requested,"
Governor Glendening told the Board. "But I think you will see some progress."
Influential Council Named to Advise on Minority Achievement
Some of the most involved and influential people
in the state of Maryland have accepted School Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick's
invitation to be part of the State Department of Education's Achievement Initiative for
Maryland's Minority Students (AIMMS).
The council will advise Dr. Grasmick, who will serve as the AIMMS
chairperson, and the State Board of Education on issues relating to minority achievement.
The council is another aggressive step Dr. Grasmick and the Board have taken toward
closing the gap in educational achievement between white and minority students.
Skipp Sanders, Deputy State Superintendent for Administration,
and Richard J. Steinke, Deputy State Superintendent for School Improvement, will serve as
liaisons between the council and MSDE.
The following are the original members named to the council:
William Blakey, Esquire; Deborah Bostian
(President, Maryland PTA); Dunbar Brooks (Manager, Baltimore Metropolitan
Council); Jacqueline Brown (Coordinator of Academic Support for Howard
County); Steve Burch (CEO, COMCAST); Ella White Campbell
(Community Activist); Benjamin Carson (Professor and Director of
Pediatric Neurosurgery of Johns Hopkins Medical Institution); Anthony Coffield
(President, Associated Black Charities); Dane Coleman (President,
Maryland Association of Boards of Education); Elijah Cummings (U.S. House
of Representatives); Barbara Dezmon (Assistant to the Deputy
Superintendent, Baltimore County Public Schools); Steve Geppi (CEO,
Diamond Comics Distributors); Robert I.H. Hammerman (Chief Judge,
Retired, Circuit Court for Baltimore City); Carla Hayden (Director, Enoch
Pratt Library); Delores Kelley (Maryland State Senate); Ernest J.
Leatherbury, Sr. (Retired Lieutenant Colonel, Maryland State Police); Herbert
Lindsey (President, Maryland NAACP); Roger Lyons, Sr.
(President, Baltimore Uban League); Elfreda Massie (Deputy
Superintendent, Baltimore County Public Schools); Irving McPhail
(Chancellor, Community College of Baltimore County); John Paterakis, Sr.
(Chief Executive Officer, H&S Bakeries); Howard Rawlings (Maryland
House of Delegates); Silvia Rodriguez (Chair, Maryland Commission on
Human Relations); George Russell, Esquire; Elijah Saunders
(Associate Professor , Division of Hypertension-University of Maryland Hospital Systems); Lawrence
A. Shulman, Esquire; and Levi Watkins, Cardiac Surgeon-Johns
Hopkins Hospital.
State Moves to Avert Principal Shortage
State Superintendent of Schools Nancy S.
Grasmick, citing a State Department of Education survey showing that 75 percent of
Maryland's middle and high school principals are expected to retire before 2005, has
announced formation of a task force to recruit principals on all levels and improve their
training.
The timing of a potential principal shortage is of considerable
concern to the state. The freshman of 2001 (the graduating class of 2005) will be the
first whose state diplomas will be contingent upon passing the new high school assessment
tests.
The Maryland Task Force on the Principalship will recommend ways
to improve the preparation and recruitment of principals, and the structure of the
principalship. Michael Hickey, Superintendent of Howard County Public Schools, and
Don Barron, Principal of Montgomery Village Middle School in Montgomery County, will
co-chair the task force of 19 members.
"It's time we recognized that the principal who provides
good instructional leadership-not merely administrative leadership-makes
the biggest difference in his or her school," said Dr. Grasmick. "And the
foundation for this instructional leadership is not only the capacity to analyze and make
connections between state and school performance data, but to provide for this
capacity in each educator."
By 1996, more than 20 studies nationwide documented the profound
effect of the principal on school and student performance. Some studies said active
instructional leadership by a principal is the best indicator of higher student
achievement.
Stenzler Recovering
Yale
Stenzler, Executive Director
of the Public School Construction Program, wants friends and colleagues to know he is on
the road to recovery from December surgery.
"The past weeks have been difficult and demanding," he
said. "Your cards, letters, telephone calls, notes, thoughts and prayers have been
supportive, meaningful and encouraging."
MSDE Bulletin
School & Community Outreach Office
Maryland State Department of Education
200 W. Baltimore Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
Web site: www.msde.state.md.us
Ronald Peiffer
Assistant State Superintendent
410-767-0473
Neil H. Greenberger
Editor
410-767-0486
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