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Superintendent announces districtwide PSAT administration Oct. 8 and proposes calendar change
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Bedell told the board the district will administer PSAT/NMSQT assessments to all 11th graders and PSAT 8/9 to ninth graders on Oct. 8, and outlined a proposed calendar change that would replace several early-dismissal student days with staff work days.
Superintendent Dr. Bedell told the Anne Arundel County Board of Education on Oct. 1 that the district will administer the PSAT to all 11th-grade students and the PSAT 8/9 to all ninth-grade students on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, free of charge.
"We will be administering the PSAT to all 11th grade students and the PSAT 8/9 to all ninth grade students free of charge one week from today on Wednesday, October 8," Dr. Bedell said. He noted the district administered more than 10,300 of these assessments the prior year but that participation among freshmen and juniors was below 80%.
Because of the testing schedule, Dr. Bedell said high school schedules will be adjusted for that day: students not taking the assessment will begin school 3 hours and 30 minutes later than students taking the test; morning sessions at the Centers of Applied Technology will be cancelled and afternoon sessions will operate as normal. Families were directed to aacps.org/testing for details.
Dr. Bedell also outlined a proposed change to the current-year school calendar, saying the district is considering eliminating two early-dismissal student days at the end of the second, third and fourth marking periods and, instead, converting those to full student days followed by staff work days on which students would not attend. The superintendent said the change is possible because legislation passed by the Maryland General Assembly allows districts to count minimum seat hours rather than the number of school days for purposes of compliance.
"We believe these changes would minimize disruptions in learning and eliminate the early dismissals so many families have complained about," Dr. Bedell said. He said the district also plans to provide dedicated professional development time and allow teachers more time for end-of-marking-period grading.
A public survey on the proposed calendar change was open through the day of the meeting; Dr. Bedell said he would review survey results and, if warranted, provide a recommendation to the board at the next meeting for possible board action by Nov. 5.
Dr. Bedell also provided updated vacancy numbers: teacher assistants were reported at 18 vacancies (down from higher numbers earlier in the year), vehicle drivers down to 2, and food service worker vacancies down to 77 from 119 the prior year.
Why it matters: Universal PSAT administration affects test access, college-readiness data and scholarship eligibility. A calendar change would change parents’ and staff schedules and is subject to board approval.
Next steps: Families were directed to the district website for testing information; the superintendent will provide a calendar-change recommendation to the board after reviewing survey results, and the board could vote at the next meeting or on Nov. 5 if staff recommends moving forward.
