Maryland Public Schools Research Articles

Linking homelessness in secondary school to postsecondary and early labor market outcomes in Maryland using a continuum of risk framework

Homeless and low-income students share multiple overlapping risk experiences; however, some studies report little to no observed differences in outcomes between these students. From the cumulative risk perspective, homelessness is perched at the extreme edge of economic insecurity, suggesting that homeless students encounter additional hardships beyond poverty experiences alone. Using a continuum of risk framework, this study leveraged statewide administrative data from a 6th grade cohort of Maryland public school students (N = 52,610) to investigate the association between homelessness and educational and early labor market outcomes, above and beyond the associations linked to poverty. Findings provide support for the continuum of risk in relation to educational outcomes; however, no significant differences were observed in early labor market outcomes, although racial differences were detected. This study underscores the importance of targeted interventions in promoting positive, long-term outcomes, particularly for students who were homeless in adolescence.

The greenspace-academic performance link varies by remote sensing measure and urbanicity around Maryland public schools

Greenspace is increasingly examined as a low-cost way to increase standardized test scores in public schools. However, the evidence for this intervention is mixed. One potential explanation is the variety of ways that greenspace is measured using remotely sensed data. For instance, aggregate measures can be captured from tree, grass, and shrub cover classifications in high-resolution (1 m2) land cover datasets or they can be measured with normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI) values from sensors at different resolutions (e.g., 30 m2 or 250 m2). In the current cross-sectional observational study, we tested the relationship between five greenspace measures and third-grade math and reading standardized tests scores in Maryland public schools (n = 668) around schools and in children's neighborhoods. Low- and high-resolution greenspace measures were highly correlated with each other, but moderate-resolution measures were not. Multivariate regression models revealed positive associations between academic performance and low-resolution NDVI measures around schools and in neighborhoods as well as between performance and tree cover in neighborhoods. These effects were attenuated when an understudied confounder in this body of literature was included: population density as a measure of urbanicity. Grass cover showed associations with performance in models adjusted for urbanicity, but the direction of these associations was negative. These findings suggest that the possible association between greenspace and academic performance is complex and tenuous when examined with observational, cross-sectional study designs in limited geographic regions.

A State-Wide Partnership to Promote Safe and Supportive Schools: The PBIS Maryland Initiative

Schools continue to be an important context for preventive interventions targeting a range of behavioral and mental health problems. Yet competing demands on teachers and shifting priorities in response to federal legislation have posed some unique challenges to prevention researchers working in school settings. This paper summarizes an approach to prevention partnerships developed over a decade and centered on the three-tiered Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) model. A state-wide initiative was formed and led through a partnership between the Maryland State Department of Education, Sheppard Pratt Health System, and Johns Hopkins University, which focused on implementing evidence-based practices and conducting prevention research in Maryland public schools. Drawing on a community-based participatory research framework for developing research partnerships, we highlight the importance of forming and sustaining authentic relationships to support school-based prevention research and implementation of evidence-based programs. We also discuss how these relationships have been used to disseminate PBIS and rigorously test its effectiveness. We describe some lessons learned from the partnership and identify potential areas for future research on the prevention partnership model. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for both researchers and community partners engaged in translational research in school settings.

Maryland Sets a Vision for Action

IN JANUARY, Quality Counts 2002, published by Education Week, declared that Maryland's program of goals and assessments is the nation's best. The report gave Maryland a numerical grade of 98 and a letter grade of A. Just two other systems received A's: New York (97) and Kentucky (94). Last year, Nancy Grasmick, Maryland's state superintendent, charged the Visionary Panel for Better Schools with reviewing the record of Maryland's public schools over the last decade and generating a set of creative ideas to accelerate progress over the coming decade. Seven task groups deliberated on educational issues and developed a set of recommendations. The panel's report -- Achievement Matters Most -- notes that all the recommendations can essentially be boiled down to just one: state and local school systems must align every aspect of education -- educators' preparation and professional development, policy making, testing, curriculum, leaders, and funding -- to support the classroom teacher and student. The details presented below are derived from the task groups' rationales, recommendations, and strategies. Accountability task group. Each school and district should be classified on the basis of both performance and progress, and such designations should be reported publicly. Targets for performance progress for each school and school district (with one- to three-year time spans) should be set, and no school should be considered to be making satisfactory progress if particular subgroups of students are not doing so. Similarly, even if overall achievement is high, no school or district should receive a designation as a high-achieving school or district if there are significant achievement gaps. If any school fails to make progress over a three-year period, progressively more intensive interventions should be provided. Achievement task group. As part of family and community outreach efforts, districts and schools must develop and implement a comprehensive parent and family involvement program and annually evaluate the program's performance with regard to its effect on eliminating achievement gaps. The state board of education should establish an independent oversight body to advise the board and report annually on the progress of schools, districts, and the state in their efforts to eliminate gaps in achievement and resources and the extent to which the annual achievement and resource goals have been met. The state accountability system should be designed to include performance standards for schools that measure the increased access and genuine involvement of historically underrepresented students in high- end programs (e.g., Advanced Placement courses, International Baccalaureate, programs for the gifted and talented, and honors programs). When districts deploy effective, seasoned teachers from schools with low-minority or low-poverty enrollments to schools with high-poverty and high-minority enrollments, these seasoned teachers will need to be aware that the techniques that work well with nonminority students may not be as successful with minority students. Thus district training and ongoing support must be provided for these teachers. Assessment task group. All elements of the state assessment program, including content standards, should be aligned with the high school assessment program. Data from the assessment system should be relevant and timely; disaggregated; supportive of the establishment of the different performance levels, so students can demonstrate high performance as well as acceptable performance; communicated in a user friendly and easy-to-understand manner; and informative, i.e., supportive of the continuous improvement of performance. Leadership task group. Current responsibilities that are noninstructional in nature should be eliminated from the job requirements of principals, and state certification programs and requirements should be revised to reflect directly the responsibilities of the principal's role as instructional leader. …

Stimulant treatment in Maryland public schools.

A statewide school survey was performed to provide naturalistic data on the prevalence of medication administered to Maryland public school students for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to clarify the concern of some state legislators about stimulant treatment for youths. In April 1998, school nurses supervised a survey of all Maryland public school students medicated during school hours for ADHD. The data collected on these students included: type of medication administered, gender, school level, race/ethnicity, special education and Section 504 status, and the specialist of the prescriber. Of the 816 465 students surveyed, 20 050 (2. 46%) received methylphenidate and 3721 (0.46%) received other medications for ADHD. Other major findings were: 1) methylphenidate constituted 84% of all the medication administered for ADHD; 2) the male:female ratio of the medication's recipients was 3.5:1 and 4.3:1 in elementary and secondary school, respectively; 3) black and Hispanic students received methylphenidate at approximately half the rate of their white counterparts; 4) 45% of all students receiving methylphenidate had special education status and an additional 8% had Section 504 status; and 5) nurse practitioners were the prescribers of 3% of the methylphenidate prescribed to Maryland students. This large, population-based, point prevalence study of medication administered to students for ADHD adds new and updated findings on prevalence variations, rates for minority and special education/Section 504 students, and specialty prescriber rates.

Stimulant Treatment of ADHD in Public Schools

A statewide school survey, supervised by school nurses, was performed to determine the prevalence of stimulant medication administered to Maryland public school students for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and reported by Johns Hopkins University Medical Institutions, and the Maryland State Department of Education, Baltimore, MD.

Trends in educational placement and cost-benefit considerations in children with cochlear implants.

To study the effect of cochlear implantation on the use of educational resources by profoundly hearing-impaired children and to determine trends in educational cost vs benefit. Retrospective study and cost-benefit analysis. Outpatient pediatric cochlear implant program in an academic institution (The Listening Center at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md), in collaboration with public schools in Maryland and surrounding states. School-aged children with profound prelingual hearing impairment without other clearly defined disabilities. Thirty-five children with multiple-channel cochlear prostheses and a comparison group of 10 children without implants from 'total communication' programs in the Maryland public school system. Multiple-channel cochlear implantation and at least 1 year of a systematic auditory skill development program at the Listening Center, compared with standard educational management of children with conventional amplification. Classroom placement and number of hours of special educational support used. A correlation was observed between the length of cochlear implant experience and the rate of full-time placement in mainstream classrooms (r = 0.10; P= .04). There was also a negative correlation between the length of implant experience and the number of hours of special educational support used by fully mainstreamed children (Pearson product moment correlation = -0.10; P = .03). Children with greater than 2 years of implant experience were mainstreamed at twice the rate or more of age-matched children with profound hearing loss who did not have implants. They were also placed less frequently in self-contained classrooms and used fewer hours of special education support. A cost-benefit analysis based on conservative estimates of educational expenses from kindergarten to 12th grade shows a cost savings of cochlear implantation and appropriate auditory (re)habilitation that ranges from $30000 to $200000. Cochlear implantation accompanied by aural (re)habilitation increases access to acoustic information of spoken language, leading to higher rates of mainstream placement in schools and lower dependence on special education support services. The cost savings that results from a decrease in the use of support services indicates an educational cost benefit of cochlear implant (re)habilitation for many children.

Publishers' Issue

Abstract Dancing Longer, Dancing Stronger. Andrea Watkins and Priscilla M. Clarkson. Princeton BookCompany, Publishers; P.O. Box 57, Princeton, NJ08534. 1990.218 pp., $24.95. Reviewed by Jane M. Bonbright, assistant professorial lecturer, George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 20052. Adventures in Creative Movement Activities. Marcia L. Lloyd. 1990. Malaysia: Federal Publications Sdn. Bhd. Order copies from National Dance, 1900 Association Drive, Reston, VA22091. 1990. 142 pp., $16.95. Reviewed by Anne Green Gilbert, artistic director, Creative Dance Center, Kaleidoscope Dance Company, 11051 34th Ave., N.E., Seattle, WA 98115. Movement and Dance Education: A Guide for the Primary and Middle School Teacher. Marion North. Princeton book Company, Publishers; P.O. Box 57, Pennington, NJ08534-0057. 1990.206 pp., $19.95. Reviewed by Jean M. Boyd, assistant coordinator, Physical Education and Athletics, Anne Arundel County, Maryland Public Schools, 2644 Riva Road, Annapolis, MD 21401 Sharing the Dance: Contact Improvisation and American Culture. Cynthia J. Novack. The University of Wisconsin Press; 114N. Murray Street, Madison, WI 53715. 1990.258 pp., $14.95 (paper). Reviewed by Luke Kahlich, Executive Director, National Dance Association, 7900 Association Drive, Reston, VA 22079. The Language of the Spanish Dance. Matteo Marcellus Vittucci with Carola Goya. The University of Oklahoma Press; 1005 Asp Avenue, Norman, OK 73019-0445. 1990.288 pp.,$65.OTTO. Reviewed by Laura B. Knox, artistic director/instructor, Hispanic Dance Ole, a company under the umbrella of Southern Danceworks, 2777 Seventh Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35233. Helping Learning-Disabled Gifted Children Learn Through Compensatory Active Play. James H. Humphrey. Charles C Thomas, Publisher; 2600 S. First Street, Springfield, IL 62794-9265. 1990. 156 pp., $29.75. Reviewed by Susan J. Grosse, physical education teacher, Milwaukee High School of the Arts, Milwaukee, WI 53233. Steps of Development: A Guide to Check a Child's Development. Ernst J. Kiphard (translated from German by Anthony Young). Borgmann Publishing Ltd.; c/o Nova University, Institute for Systemic Therapy, Tom Conran, School of Social Sciences, 3301 College Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33314. 1990. 151 pp., $25.00. Reviewed by Janet A. Seaman, professor, California State University, 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90032. Adapted Physical Education for Students with Autism. Kimberly Davis. Charles C Thomas, Publisher; 2600 S. First Street, Springfield, IL 62794-9265. 1990. 126 pp., $29.75. Reviewed by David N. Reams, district specialist for adapted physical education, Dade County Schools, Miami, FL33132. Fundamentals of Track and Field. Gerry A. Carr. Leisure Press, A Division of Human Kinetics; Box 5076, Champaign, IL 62825-5076. 1990. 221 pp., $20.00. Reviewed by Suzi D'Annolfo, Coordinator of K-12 Health, Farmington Public Schools, Farmington, CT 06034. Drugs, Sport, and Politics. Robert Voy with Kirk D. Deeter. Leisure Press; Champaign, IL 1991. 227 pp., $17.95. Reviewed by Laurence Chalip, assistant professor of Kinesiology, University of Maryland, College Park, MO 20742.

Effects of low levels of cadmium and lead on cognitive functioning in children.

Hair cadmium and lead content were related to intelligence tests, motor impairment assessments, and school achievement scores from 149 children aged 5 to 16 yr enrolled in rural Maryland public school systems. Hair cadmium and lead were significantly correlated with both intelligence scores and school achievement scores, but not motor impairment scores. Significant relations with I.Q. were obtained after regressing out demographic factors and were observed, even in children within a normal I.Q. range. Evidence of different effects of cadmium and lead on cognitive development was obtained. Hierarchical regression analyses suggest that cadmium has a significantly stronger effect on verbal I.Q. than does lead and that lead has a stronger effect on performance I.Q. than does cadmium.

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The Legal Basis for Segregated Schools in Maryland

A survey of the problem of the legal basis for the segregation of the different races in Maryland public schools and other state institutions of learning requires an investigation of many sources. These include the decisions of the Court of Appealsof Maryland, which is the State's highest court; and those of all three levels of the United States or Federal courts, which are the District or trial courts, the intermediate Circuit Courts of Appeal,* and the highest one, the Supreme Court of the United States. Both State and Federal constitutions must be consulted; and inquiry is necessary into legislation, including not only state-wide legislation found in the Annotated Code of Public General Laws, but also local legislation for the respective counties, city ordinances, regulations of school -boards, bond issue legislation, and the biennial state budgets enacted by the legislature. The readers of this are familiar with the fairly recent Maryland Court of Appeals case of University of Maryland v. Murray, decided about a decade ago. In this case the University was forced by mandamus proceedings to admit to its Law School persons of all races, lacking any provision for separate or segregated treatment of persons of different races. Under this ruling at the present time some twenty persons are now studying law who could otherwise have been excluded. Because of this familiar ruling, first attention will be given herein to this and other cases which, more or les recently, in the Maryland and Federal courts have indicated that the courts are zealous to guarantee freedom of opportunity to all by carefully scrutinizing state action in denying equal use of the same facilities to members of all races. The essential theme of these cases is that unless the State provides equal and separate accommodations for different races, it must admit all to the sole facilities it may have provided. A subsidiary-theme concerns the actual equality of separate facilities if allegedly provided. These cases, of course, assume that a state has the constitutional power to provide separate facilities if they are truly equal in scope. Beyond that, the main theme of this paper will be to scrutinize the extant legal materials of Maryland to see what is the true legal basis therein of the segregation of the races in the public schools, to. the extent to which it is actually practiced; to inquire whether that segregation is compulsory or optional under present law; and to note the amendment or repeal of what laws would make the segregation policy more certainly optional or perhaps even terminate it. If the latter were so then the equal use of all facilities by the same races would be mandatory. After discussion of the case law of the subject will come, in that order, a treatment of the constitutional provisions, of the local legislation for the