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State Board holds public hearing on proposed math policy; public commenters split on grouping and acceleration
Summary
At a Feb. 20 public hearing, parents, educators and advocates offered divergent views on the State's draft math policy: some urged preserving flexible, early homogeneous small-group instruction and acceleration options; others pushed for equity-focused, grade-level instruction, tutoring and open-source curricular supports.
The State Board of Education convened a public hearing on Feb. 20 to gather comment on a draft preK'12 mathematics policy. Testimony from parents, teachers, advocates and student groups revealed broad agreement on raising math outcomes but significant disagreement over instruction models for early grades, grouping, and acceleration.
Speakers favoring flexible small-group instruction said purposeful homogeneous grouping and early intervention are necessary to address widely differing incoming readiness levels. A Baltimore County kindergarten teacher serving a high-poverty school told the board purposeful homogeneous grouping lets teachers “maximize repetitions” for students who need it and avoid a one-size-fits-all approach that leaves students behind.
Others urged the board to prohibit rigid, exclusionary tracking while expanding tiered interventions. Commenters including statewide teacher and student-advocacy organizations welcomed the policy’s emphasis on grade-level access and high expectations, recommended robust professional learning, and asked MSDE to publish guidance before the policy is finalized. The Maryland Out-Of-School Time Network and other speakers recommended expanding tutoring, summer math programming and peer/near-peer tutoring and urged investment in open-source curricular resources.
Board members said they would collect written comments and revise the draft. MSDE staff said a revised draft will be posted on March 4 and the Education Policy Committee will discuss it in March; the department said the goal is a final consideration by the board in March if committee work permits.
Ending: The hearing revealed consensus on the policy goal of improved math outcomes but a lack of agreement on how best to structure early instruction. MSDE said it will incorporate public feedback into the March 4 draft and pursue further committee review.
