Maryland Schools

    Maryland spent over $8.2 billion on education in the 2005-06 school year, spending more than $9000 per student enrolled in K-12 schools. This did not include federal NCLB funding, which is earmarked for specific schools and districts.
In 2006, Maryland continued its trend of leading the nation in students in Advanced Placement (AP) classes and passing AP tests. The state had over 11,000 students enrolled in AP classes, an 11% increase from 2005. Maryland’s 2006 ACT and SAT scores also were higher than the national average, despite both standardized tests adding a new writing section.

Because of Maryland’s low class sizes (averaging 15.8 students per teacher) and high test scores, Maryland was ranked at 19 out of 50 states in Morgan Quinto’s “Education State Rankings 2005-06”.

In the 2004-05 school year, almost 74% of Maryland schools made the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requirements for that year. NCLB’s goal is to have 100% proficiency in Math and Reading at grade level for all grades by 2014. As part of NCLB, schools are required to publish an “Adequate Yearly Progress” report each year. Almost 22% of students in Maryland attend schools labeled “Title I.” Title I schools are schools whose main focus is on increasing test scores and are usually located in low-income areas. To help improve test scores, Title I schools receive federal funding for better teachers, after school tutoring, and other programs. Students attending Title I schools are also given free or reduced-price lunches as part of NCLB.

For more information on Maryland’s AYP for the 2005-06 school year, or information on a specific school, visit http://www.marylandpublicschools.org/msde