The plight of the Blueprint: a deeper dive

It’s back to school and high hopes. Teachers will work tirelessly — but they won’t get the help they deserve from the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future

I wrote in July about the discouraging test scores of Maryland schoolchildren and deteriorating hopes for the success of the Blueprint. I have been criticized by some (applauded by others) for my gloomy warning signals.

Let me further explain.

At first, there were widespread loud cheers for the Blueprint’s development. And deservedly so. The ambition of the Blueprint far surpasses any other state’s school reform efforts.

And significant progress has occurred on preschool enrollments, reduced teacher vacancies, growth in dual enrollments in college courses, more teachers earning National Board Certification, and the huge increase in community schools.

Nonetheless, over the past five years or so, sharp criticism has accelerated. For the most part, the disillusionment has focused on the Blueprint’s unrealistic expectations — too much to do and too little time and money to pull it off.

Still, Gov. Wes Moore and the General Assembly keep kicking the Blueprint can down the road.

The Blueprint Accountability and Implementation Board also has substantial sway to put in motion a plan for course correction. But it’s come up short.

This failure is evident in the recent update of its Comprehensive Implementation Plan (CIP). The CIP is supposed to hold the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) and 24 local school districts (LEAs) accountable for effective implementation of the Blueprint. Yet. the CIP neglects the Blueprint’s most fundamental flaws: manageability and credibility.

Manageability

Manageability (sorry for the clunky term) is more essential to Blueprint implementation at this point than more funding.

Unfortunately, the Kirwan Commission (on which I served) and the General Assembly in enacting the Blueprint did not pay close enough attention to the fact that MSDE and the 24 LEAs could not possibly effectively implement such a massive and unprecedented array of tasks.

Consider the length, breadth and depth of Blueprint expectations. Approximate page counts are staggering: the Blueprint law (236); the CIP (192); and “Implementation Considerations” in the CIP (233). Further, the CIP includes over 600 tasks and sub-tasks that MSDE and LEAs must do.

The Public School Superintendents’ Association has counted 179 reports that local districts must provide under the Blueprint and other related state or federal legislation.

The Blueprint Coalition, of about 40 organizations and individuals (me included), has repeatedly pointed out a persistent and widening gap between stated goals, required actions, and the status of implementation.

In other words, the Kirwan Commission and the General Assembly bit off more than state and local educators could chew — despite whole-hearted efforts all around.

Credibility

The Comprehensive Implementation Plan is not a true plan. It lacks basic and vital accountability measures.

For example, the CIP  calls for AIB “to … create a timeline for implementing the Blueprint.” Such timelines don’t generally exist.

What’s more, the CIP largely ignores the gaps between CIP goals and actual implementation so far. To illustrate, the CIP sets an expectation that “All third-graders are reading on grade level by FY 2027.” However, given the current data in which only about 30% of third graders are reading on grade level, the chances are nil that all third-graders will be reading on grade level by 2027 — or even when the Blueprint sunsets in the early 2030s.

The Blueprint Coalition has noted that the CIP lacks a credible assessment of whether implementation is actually occurring as promised.

Recommendations

• The governor and General Assembly must require realistic, manageable goals aligned with available resources.
• The AIB should revise the CIP to set timelines and address areas where implementation is significantly lagging.
• The AIB should begin to provide annual reports, overdue under the Blueprint, that assess Blueprint progress, including whether funding is adequate.

In fairness, the AIB, like MSDE and LEAs, has been given unrealistic duties that are beyond its own resources and authority. It has performed admirably, but it lacks the powers of the governor and General Assembly. Still, it could do more.

And the governor and General Assembly could do much more.

Course correction is overdue.