Kelsey Volkmann, The Examiner
2008-03-19 07:00:00.0
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BALTIMORE -

Maryland appears likely to become one of 10 states picked to participate in a federal pilot program that would distinguish between failing schools and those making progress, but not fast enough under federal guidelines.

In the biggest overhaul of the 6-year-old No Child Left Behind Act, U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced Tuesday that she wanted to let some states experiment with ways to differentiate between “under performing” schools in need of dramatic interventions, such as firing teachers, and those that are closer to meeting NCLB’s increasingly difficult test score targets.

“We must make sure educators have the best ways to chart student progress over time, the flexibility to improve struggling schools and more accurate ways to measure graduation rates,” Spellings said at a news conference in Minnesota. “We must make sure that students who need extra help can get it.”

Maryland Superintendent Nancy Grasmick has long called for a revision of NCLB so struggling schools that have made progress are not forced to rehire staff or bring in private operators for schools.

“We are big supporters of accountability, but we do think that this would help,” said Bill Reinhard, Grasmick’s spokesman.

Interested state education departments have to apply to participate, but Spellings said she would give preference to states that have led in reforms. She cited Maryland as one of them.

This so-called “differentiated accountability” will allow states to choose the intensity and type of interventions to match the academic reasons that lead to a school’s identification as a failing school.

Schools, for example, may pay their most-effective and seasoned teachers higher salaries to work in the neediest schools, Spellings said.

Federal education officials hope this greater flexibility will help states do what is necessary to help all students read and do math at grade level by 2014.

Baltimore City schools CEO Andres Alonso said he hopes Maryland can participate in the pilot so nuances between failing and improving schools are made clearer.

He pointed to Sharp-Leadenhall Elementary School, a special education school with 50 students. Teachers helped boost student test scores by 30 percent in one year, but still fell short of federal benchmarks, and the school was forced to hire new teachers.

“This will show the difference between schools that are stalled and those making progress,” Alonso said.

kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com