MSDE committee advances high-quality instructional-materials frameworks to full State Board

The Education Transformation and Accountability Committee voted to move proposed High Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) framework documents for English language arts, mathematics, science and social studies to the full State Board for consideration on April 30. MSDE staff said the frameworks define what the agency will signal as "high quality" and will underpin the rubrics and teacher-review processes that follow.

MSDE presenters said the framework rests on four design principles — materials should be designed to affirm all students, be grade-level and standards-aligned, include instructional design and educator supports — and that rubrics will specify how reviewers evaluate materials against those principles. MSDE staff said rubric development will begin immediately, with ELA selected as a pilot: rubric drafting and a review-process draft are targeted by summer, reviewer training in the fall and a full review pipeline launch in spring 2025 to review roughly 29 products across content areas.

Phil Lasser, MSDE senior executive director for teaching and learning, told the committee that a recent MSDE district survey and EdReports comparisons show strong adoption in some areas: "96% of our LEAs in Maryland are using some green-rated meets-expectations materials for elementary math classrooms," and about 54% of districts use green-rated ELA materials in K–5, figures staff said demonstrate both progress and room to grow.

MSDE described how it developed the frameworks: a national landscape scan, partnership with organizations such as CCSSO and Student Achievement Partners, and an advisory of national experts and state content directors. Staff named advisory contributors including Peter Ko (math adviser), Rochelle Etienne (ELA adviser), Joanna Yip (English Learner Success Forum) and Jennifer Alexander (UDL adviser). MSDE said the framework will be posted publicly on the MSDE website so publishers, districts and the public can see evaluation criteria.

Committee members focused questions on implementation and measurement. Several members warned that governors of classroom change require more than better materials. A board member identified as Nick said teachers must be supported to use new materials rather than being given "one more thing" to do; MSDE responded that implementation supports, professional learning, coaching and attention to educator "examination of self" are part of the plan. President Crawford asked for district-level adoption charts tied to outcomes (for example, MCAP) so MSDE can target implementation support where adoption has not produced expected results; MSDE said district data exist but are out of date and that a fresh survey is planned for next month.

A board member (identified as Sean) moved to advance the four framework documents to the full State Board; the transcript does not capture a formal second audibly, and staff recorded the committee vote as unanimous. MSDE staff said they will revise the presentation to reflect questions raised and return the frameworks to the full board on April 30.

The committee’s action advances MSDE’s plan to write content-area rubrics, train teacher-review teams and start a review pipeline intended to help districts identify and adopt materials aligned to Maryland standards while expanding support for implementation and multilingual learners.