Maryland education leaders present college-and-career strategies, seek public input

Maryland education officials on Tuesday evening presented draft flagship strategies for Priority 4 of the state strategic plan — Ready for College and Career — and invited stakeholders to rank which approaches should be prioritized.

Dr. Diane Collins, deputy superintendent for teaching and learning, opened the virtual charrette on behalf of the Maryland State Board of Education and the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), outlining a three-phase strategic-plan process and describing how Phase 1 (mission, vision, values and priorities) and Phase 2 (goals and metrics) informed the proposals now under consideration.

State Superintendent Mohammad Choudhary detailed the priority's core strategies. "The current interim CCR standard is rooted primarily in standardized test scores," he said, and MSDE has contracted the American Institutes for Research to study broader predictors such as course completion, GPA and course sequencing. He said the department is exploring shifting from an "and" approach (requiring multiple test thresholds) to an "or" approach that would allow multiple paths to a CCR determination.

Choudhary proposed four flagship approaches to support the CCR goal: adopt a new evidence-based CCR standard; ensure equitable access to post-CCR pathways (dual enrollment, AP/IB, early college and career-technical pathways); adopt and implement high-quality instructional materials with teacher training; and scale early warning systems and high-dosage school-day tutoring. He cited the Blueprint for Maryland's Future (enacted by the Maryland General Assembly in February 2021) as the legislative framework guiding the work.

On CTE goals, Choudhary said the blueprint sets a statewide target that 45% of graduates earn an apprenticeship or an industry-recognized credential, and that current counts would yield roughly 7% under existing measures, underscoring the scale of the gap the state seeks to close.

The facilitators moved the meeting into a visioning activity led by Lindsay Malig Mayhew, MSDE's deputy director of community engagement, then opened the floor for comments from educators, local-superintendent officials, college partners and parents. Participants repeatedly called for multi-measure CCR determinations rather than reliance on a single standardized-test cutoff. James Altshire, supervisor for CTE in Washington County, warned against "tracking" students into programs and urged that programs be responsive to student choice. Several speakers from rural districts stressed transportation, counselor capacity and family-access barriers as practical challenges.

School counselors and local administrators pressed MSDE for clarity on how new data collection and tracking would be managed without overburdening existing staff. Tracy, a member of a local advisory council, asked that alternate assessments not become punitive remediation that further stigmatizes struggling students.

Organizers reported early ranking results from participants showing the highest preference for "setting a new evidence-based CCR standard that moves beyond standardized tests and ensures equitable access to post-CCR pathways." MSDE urged attendees to complete a follow-up survey at marylandpublicschools.org/survey and said Phase 3 targets and flagship-program details would be released ahead of implementation and continuous improvement work.

MSDE said it will post the presentation materials and recordings on its website; the department is expected to present interim reports from contracted research (AIR) and the final long-term study later in the planning timeline.