Maryland education leaders hold charrette to shape ‘Ready for Kindergarten’ flagship strategies

State Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury led a virtual charrette hosted by the Maryland State Board of Education and the Maryland Department of Education to present the department’s strategic-plan work on the "Ready for Kindergarten" priority and solicit stakeholder input.

Choudhury said the department has completed phases 1 and 2 (mission, vision, values and measures) and is now in phase 3: selecting flagship strategies and programs to implement the plan. He framed the work alongside the state "blueprint," calling it "an amazing piece of legislation" that invests across a birth-to-career continuum and embeds policy and statutory requirements, and said the charrette focuses on early childhood (pillar 1).

The superintendent laid out four flagship strategy areas the department is asking the public to prioritize: expanding access to early childhood programs through a mixed delivery system of public and private providers and subsidizing costs for families; expanding early learning hubs (Judy and PADI centers) using a two‑generation approach for family supports; developing age‑appropriate early learning standards; and using assessments to monitor readiness and guide supports for educators.

Choudhury highlighted specific targets and tools discussed during the presentation: a proposed career‑ladder approach and incentives tied to National Board certification for teachers; a blueprint goal to raise starting teacher pay to $60,000; an apprenticeship target of about 45% of graduates (baseline noted as 7%); and use of two assessment tools — an early learning assessment for pre‑K settings and the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA) used at school entry. He noted KRA demonstrating‑readiness results vary widely across systems, from as high as 73% to as low as about 31%.

On program quality, Choudhury said Maryland’s quality rating and improvement system (Maryland ExCELS) needs updating; he cited 2022 baselines showing less than 12% of participating providers at ExCELS levels 4–5 and discussed incentive bonuses and design challenges that can create unequal paths for family child care versus larger centers. He also described planned evaluation steps, including a validation study of the QRIS after any updates to assess whether ExCELS ratings align with child outcomes.

The department encouraged broad public engagement: it has run roundtables, listening sessions, data walks and a statewide survey with a goal to reach tens of thousands of responses. Choudhury said some ESSER funds were used to accelerate launches of Judy centers and PADI centers and that counties are submitting blueprint implementation plans for review.

The session concluded with a participant ranking exercise via Slido; the top two strategies shown on screen at the close were developing early learning standards and increasing access through a mixed delivery system. Facilitators posted links to the strategic plan website and the public survey for further input.

Next steps: MSDE will continue stakeholder engagement during implementation, pursue proposed system upgrades (ExCELS and early learning standards), and evaluate measures including a planned QRIS validation study.