Ready At Five &
Maryland State Department of Education
Disparities in levels of student achievement among
groups of students:

Race/Ethnicity & Gender
◦ American
Indian/Alaskan Native
◦ Asian/Pacific Islander
◦ African American
◦ White
◦ Hispanic
◦ Male
◦ Female

Students Receiving
Services
◦ Free and Reduced Meals
(Socioeconomic Status)
◦ English Language
Learners
◦ Special Education

Academic Subject Areas (e.g. Reading,
Mathematics)

Grade Levels

Grade Bands (e.g. Elementary, Middle, High)

Graduation and Dropout Rates

Attendance

The Education Testing Service report, Parsing
the Achievement Gap II (Barton & Coley,
2009) lists factors correlated with school
performance:
◦ School Factors
◦ Home and School Connection
◦ Before and Beyond School

School Factors:
Curriculum Rigor
Teacher Preparation (HQT)
Teacher Experience
Availability of Instructional
Technology
◦ School Safety
◦
◦
◦
◦

Home and School
Connection:
◦ Parent or Guardian
Participation

Before and Beyond School:
Mobility
Environmental Damage
Nutrition
Talking and reading to
children regularly
◦ Excessive Television
◦ Single parent household
◦ Summer achievement
gain/loss
◦
◦
◦
◦



The Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools Act
(also known as Thornton) infused $1.3 billion
dollars into public education over a 5-year
period (2003-2008)
School systems required to develop
comprehensive master plans to address
achievement
Goals of Bridge to Excellence: accelerate
achievement for all; eliminate gaps

School systems have done tremendous work
in this area:
◦ Focus on data
◦ Setting priorities
◦ Managing resources

The are some trends or patterns that prevail
across districts but each faces unique
challenges:
◦ Focus on data
◦ Setting priorities
◦ Building partnerships/developing solutions
◦ Managing resources
80
73
70
60
49
50
44
41
38
40
68
28
28
60
58
55
52
67
35
34
30
24
20
7
10
7
6
6
6
5
4
3
Full
Approaching
/0
9
08
/0
8
07
/0
7
06
/0
6
05
/0
5
04
/0
4
03
/0
3
02
01
/0
2
0
Developing
Remarkable
Progress. 73% of
Maryland kindergartners were fully
ready for school in 2008/09, a 24point statewide increase in school
readiness since 2001/02 and a 5point increase since 2007/08.
More to Do. More than 15,000
Maryland children (27%) need
targeted or considerable support
to do kindergarten work.
71
Increased
Readiness. Maryland’s
children are well-rounded,
showing major improvements in
all seven Domains of Learning.
Kindergartners demonstrate
strongest readiness in the areas
of:
 Physical Development (82%)
 The Arts (75%)
 Social & Personal Development
(71%)
Soc ial & Personal
55
82
Physic al
Development
60
75
The Arts
51
63
Soc ial Studies
32
54
Sc ientific Thinking
24
67
Mathematic al
Thinking
40
62
Language &
Literac y
36
0
20
40
60
01/02
07/08
80
08/09
100
Impressive
Progress. African
American children made
impressive strides (a 32-point
gain since 2001/02) and
narrowed the disparity with
their white peers from 19
points in 2001/02 to 9 points
in 2008/09.
69
African American
37
80
Asian
55
71
American Indian
44
63
Hispanic
Continued
39
78
White
56
0
20
40
01/02
60
07/08
80
08/09
100
focus. While
Hispanic children made
noteworthy gains (a 24-point
gain since 2001/02), only 63%
of Hispanic children are fully
school-ready.
African American
56
39
Progress.
The school readiness
of males of all ethnicities has
increased since 2001/02.
64
27
Asian
59
69
77
Continued
45
American Indian
67
62
38
38
Hispanic
59
54
36
28
White
59
70
74
48
0
20
01/02
40
03/04
60
07/08
80
08/09
100
Attention Needed.
While gains have been made
across ethnicities; there
remains a 10-point gap
between white and AfricanAmerican males; a 5-point gap
between Hispanic and AfricanAmerican males, and a 15point gap between Hispanic
and white males in SY
2008/09.
90
80
76.8
75.8
78.6
79.1
80.5
82.6
83.2
78.3
70
60
54
49
50
44
40
40
48
45
42
36
30
01/02
(2005)
02/03
(2006)
K Language & Literacy
K Mathematical Thinking
03/04
(2007)
04/05
(2008)
Grade 3 Reading
Grade 3 Math
Continued
academic
success. Children who enter
school fully ready to do
kindergarten work in two key
Domains of Learning
(Language & Literacy and
Mathematical Thinking) are
more likely to be proficient
on the Grade 3 Maryland
School Assessment (MSA) in
reading and math.
79
80
74
73
70
67
68
67
65
64
62
58
60
73
60
58
59
58
Extraordinary
gains. Lowincome children (as indicated by
Free and Reduced Price Meal
status) experienced a 31-point
gain in full readiness in the past
eight years.
55
52
50
52
49
Challenges
Exist. 65% of lowincome children are schoolready, compared with 79% of
mid- to high-income children.
48
47
41
40
40
34
This
All Children
Low-Income
/0
9
08
/0
8
07
/0
7
06
/0
6
05
/0
5
04
/0
4
03
/0
3
02
01
/0
2
30
Mid/High-Income
year, more than 7,800
low-income and 7,500 mid- to
high-income children required
support to do kindergarten
work.
75
75
70
70
73
70
65
62
60
60
57
53
55
50
55
49
52
45
49
45
60
60
58
55
49
68
67
40
40
37
37
35
35
30
All Children
Limited English Proficiency
English Proficient
/0
9
08
/0
8
07
/0
7
06
/0
6
05
/0
5
04
/0
4
03
/0
3
02
01
/0
2
25
Tremendous
Progress. English
Language Learners (ELL—
children whose first language is
not English) experienced a 25point increase in full readiness
since 2001/02.
ELL experienced a 22-point
increase in the Language &
Literacy Domain in the past eight
years.
ELL Status Significant Risk
Factor. ELL children are less
likely to be fully ready than
English-proficient children: 60%
of ELL children were fully ready
for school, compared with 75%
of their English-proficient peers.
80
76
71
70
70
73
62
60
60
68
67
57
53
55
49
50
60
58
47
52
43
48
40
30
30
37
36
35
43
30
/0
9
08
/0
8
07
/0
7
06
/0
6
05
/0
5
04
/0
4
03
/0
3
02
01
/0
2
20
All Children
Receiving Special Education Services
Not Receiving Special Education Services
Improvements Seen. 47% of
children receiving Special
Education Services were fully
ready for school in 2008/09,
a 4-point increase from last
year and a 17-point increase
from 2001/02.
Challenges Exist. Children
receiving special education
services did not improve at
the same rate as their peers:
an 18-point difference in
2001/02 widened to a 29point difference in 2008/09.
High-quality
programs are
crucial. Children who were
enrolled in pre-K programs
(75%), child care centers
(77%) and non-public
nursery schools (86%) the
year prior to kindergarten
exhibited higher school
readiness levels than those
who were at home or in
informal care settings (63%)
the year prior to
kindergarten.
77
Child Care Center
45
69
Family Child Care
45
64
Head Start
43
63
Home/Informal
39
86
Non-public
Nursery
67
75
Pre-Kindergarten
47
0
20
40
01/02
60
07/08
80
08/09
100

Evidence Shows that the gaps are closing:
◦ 2009 MSA results show that all subgroups made
progress
◦ MGT study (independent evaluator of Bridge to
Excellence program) shows that increased funding
combined with strong accountability and
comprehensive planning has contributed to the
closing of gaps
◦ Most pronounced at the early grades
◦ Early learning has lasting effects
◦ It is harder to erase early deficits in later years
Closing Achievement Gaps for All Races
100
88.9
90
85.4
Percent Proficient
86.9
80
70
89.8
82.8
77.5
75.9
67.9
74.4
88
75.1
92.2
94.1
92.7
87.7
89.5
80.7
73
70.5
94.4
91.3
93.3
81.3
79.8
78.1
79.6
66.5
70.5
60
57
59.5
64.8
67.3
57.4
50
40
45.1
44.8
30
2003
2004
American Indian
2005
Asian
2006
2007
African American
2008
White
2009
Hispanic
Closing Achievement Gaps for All Races
100
90.8
Percent Proficient
82.9
85.2
80
60
94
94.7
91.6
87.2
90
70
92.7
80.9
74
63.7
55.1
50
48.4
40
40.9
71.2
87.9
77.4
89.6
81.6
84.9
85.5
91.9
79.6
78
74.4
71.8
74
65.8
95.3
76
69.5
64.9
58.4
59.2
51.6
30
2003
2004
American Indian
2005
Asian
2006
2007
African American
2008
White
2009
Hispanic

Gaps closing but still persist:
◦ Statewide patterns prevail
 Minority and economically disadvantaged students
 Students receiving services



100% of students must score proficient by
2014
States and local governments face major
budget challenges
Now, more than ever, stakeholders need to
have meaningful discussions on data-driven
decision making

MSDE Maryland Model for School Readiness

Ready At Five

Maryland Report Card

School Improvement in Maryland

Parsing the Achievement Gap II
◦ www.MDSchoolReadiness.org
◦ www.readyatfive.org
◦ www.mdreportcard.org
◦ www.mdk12.org
◦ www.ets.org/research/pic