The report cards were issued in an interactive map on the StudentsFirst website. The organization analyzed three key areas, and several sub-groups,Free insurance info. assessing states ability to 1.) empower parents, 2.) elevate teachers, and 3.) spend wisely and govern well.
Erica Green is an education reporter for The Baltimore Sun, covering the city school system. She is a native of Baltimores Park Heights neighborhood and has covered crime for Chicago Sun-Times and city politics for The Gazette in Frederick. Shes a graduate of Goucher College and has earned a masters degree from Northwestern University. The child of longtime educators, Erica is elated to cover education in her hometown.
The categories reflect and encompass several policy approaches championed by Rhee and that align with the StudentsFirst organizations platform. The organization issued Rhees old stomping ground, Washington D.C., a grade of C+. The highest grades of B- were issued to Louisiana to Florida.
The state also does a poor job, the report card said,Online Education. with empowering parents with information about the quality of their childrens schools--for instance issuing letter grades to schools or notifying parents when their student is placed in the classroom with an ineffective teacher.
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Washington, D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee-- gave Marylands educational policies and reforms a grade of D+ in a state-by-state analysis.
Another blatant union bashing shot by the Ms Rhee and her organization who will be the subject of a Frontline expose tuesday on PBS regarding her DC administrations utilization of teachers changes in test answer sheets. When that was discovered her unwillingness to actually investigate the charges of test tampering is well documentd....I think any educator should give Ms Rhee an F for that.....she is a paid shill for union busting interest groups....dont trust her for a second and this article should have included these cts.
The real issue with these report cards is that they il to measure what matters most to parents, teachers and students, the AFT said.
Maryland received an overall grade of D or D+ in those three umbrella categories. You can see the states full report card by clicking here.
The report cards are silent regarding student achievement, school safety, small class sizes, early childhood education, investments in education, graduation rates or reading instruction.
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The American Federation of Teachers--the second-largest union in the country and the parent organization of the Baltimore Teachers Union--said the StudentsFirst report cards were merely scorecards designed to push the organizations agenda. The AFT also pointed out that their release was strategic to coincide with the convening of 2013 legislative sessions across the country.
The report cards have been met with a mixed reception across the country.
erica.
twitter.com/EricaLG
The AFT also compared the letter grades issued by StudentsFirst to similar report cards issued by other national organizations, like Education Week and the National Assessment of Education Progress.
Maryland scored highest in the sub-category that linked spending money wisely and student outcomes, earning a grade of a B+. But the organization said the state should also look at laws that would initiate governance changes in school districts where resources were mismanaged.
No state aced the exam.
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Most recently, Education Week issued Maryland a grade of B+, and its fourth reigning year as the No. 1 school system in the country.
The organization lauded Marylands efforts to improve teaching, The law online but the state received the worst scores in the areas of using evaluations to fire, layoff or tenure teachers (one of the most controversial trademarks of Rhees administration.)
The organization also gave the state a C+ in providing comparable resources for all public schools, and for its oversight of alternative certification programs.
It also echoed longstanding criticism that the states charter school law is weak, and contributes to a lack of quality choices for milies throughout the state.
A controversial set of national report cards issued this week by StudentsFirst--the advocacy and lobbying organization started by formeducational policieser