School Improvement in Maryland

How does Maryland implement Adequate Yearly Progress?

“Building on a nationally recognized accountability system, Maryland has developed an accountability system that complies with all requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The State's system holds schools, school systems, and the state accountable for adequate yearly progress of all children enrolled for a full academic year and focuses on the goal of having 100% of students at proficient levels by school year 2013–2014.” [Audio - Maryland's Accountability System]  —Ronald Peiffer, Former Deputy State Superintendent for Academic Policy

Maryland's Consolidated Accountability Plan (Workbook revised May 2009) (PDF)

Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is designed to measure the continuous improvement each year toward the NCLB goal of 100% proficiency in 2014. Maryland has set Annual Measurable Objectives (AMO's) that all students and the eight subgroups identified in NCLB also need to meet. The intent, therefore, is to ensure that schools direct their instructional improvement efforts toward historically low performing subgroups and, by extension, all low performing students. The goal of 100% proficiency ensures that all students, not just low performing students, are expected to continuously progress.