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Md. state board to release results of contentious exams

By Kate Ryan

WASHINGTON — For the first time ever, the Maryland State Board of Education will release data on a controversial set of exams that drew widespread parental concern.

The state school board will discuss results of the English 10, Algebra I and Algebra 2 PARCC exams, part of the state’s Common Core curriculum.  Results for earlier grades will be released in December.

This year’s results won’t be used to assess school or student performance. Instead, this is a so-called “baseline” year; teachers and students are getting adjusted to the new tests.

Students and parents have been advised not to worry about possibly disappointing results. The exams are supposedly more rigorous, so dips in scores are anticipated.

Students in 11 states and D.C. took the PARCC assessments in the 2014-15 academic year.

Also on Tuesday, the state board will discuss the vacant superintendent position. Lillian Lowery, who held the job since her appointment in 2012, resigned abruptly in August.

The superintendent is hired by the state school board. Five new members were appointed to the 12-member board by Gov. Larry Hogan.

How Randolph-Macon Academy is prepping for in-person classes

By Neal Augenstein
"Male on the hall," calls out retired Air Force Brigadier General David Wesley as he gets ready to enter the mostly empty girls' dormitory at Randolph-Macon Academy, in Front Royal, Virginia. After hearing the acknowledgment from a female supervisor on duty, Wesley swings open the door, ready to demonstrate how the private boarding school intends to open safely, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Gen. Wesley — who introduces himself as "Dave" — is the head of school at the academy, which sits atop a hill in Front Royal, Virginia. "If you see it on the web page as 'President,' it just means I'm the principal of the high school."
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