Strategic Plan Scorecard

I’m honored to have the opportunity to serve you for a second term on the Board of Education of Anne Arundel County and am grateful for your trust. I fully commit to continue serving as I have, putting students first and foremost in all decisions and working to ensure that all students belong so that they can grow and succeed regardless of how they show up.

I am also delighted to resume my monthly column and am grateful to the Severna Park Voice for the opportunity to connect with constituents in this way. This month, I want to spotlight the new 2024-2029 strategic plan scorecard that was first showcased during a board workshop in November.

What will soon become the gold standard in school system transparency, the strategic plan scorecard was designed in alignment with both the Every Student Succeeds Act (federal) and the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future (state) laws, which will allow stakeholders to track the school system’s progress toward the goals of the strategic plan. The scorecard contains items corresponding to goals in each of the five priority areas.

I will provide a brief overview of each section of the scorecard below. Where applicable, goals are disaggregated by the following classifications of students — Black/African American, Hispanic, multiracial, white, special education, multilingual learners, and economically disadvantaged. More information and the scorecard itself can be found at www.aacps.org/strategicplan.

Achieving Academic Excellence — Ensuring that all students are exposed to high academic expectations, rigorous curriculum, and an engaging learning environment to meet individual needs and continue to grow.

• Goal A — Increase the percentage of students reading on or above grade level by the end of second grade for all student groups as measured by DIBELs diagnostic assessment.
  
  
• Goal B — Increase the percentage of students meeting or exceeding proficiency on the national/state standards in English language arts (ELA), math, science and social studies for all student groups as measured by MCAP state assessments.
  
  
• Goal C — Increase the percentage of multilingual learners making progress toward attaining English language proficiency as measured by the WIDA ACCESS Assessment.
  
  

Future Readiness and Transitional Preparedness — Ensuring that all Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) students are prepared to grow and prosper as they move through the system and successfully transition from the school system to adulthood.

• Goal A - Increase the percent of students ready to transition to kindergarten for all student groups measured by the kindergarten readiness assessment.
  
  
• Goal B - Increase the percentage of students who access and demonstrate success in career and technical education (CTE), cultural arts, Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), or dual enrollment programs (as defined by MSDE) for all student groups.
  
  
• Goal C — Increase the percentage of students who graduate from high school in four years for all student groups.
  
  

Investing in Our Staff - Ensuring a diverse and highly effective staff at all levels and positions.

• Goal A — Increase the retention of instructional and non-instructional staff.
  
  
• Goal B — Increase the number of diverse employees to reflect the diversity of students in the district.
  
  
• Goal C — Increase the percentage of Nationally board-certified teachers and ensure an equitable distribution across all schools.
  
  

Supporting the Whole Child — Ensuring the social, emotional, mental, physical and behavioral health and well-being of all students.

• Goal A — Increase student and family awareness of, access to, and use of available social, emotional, behavioral and mental health supports.
  
  
• Goal B — Increase the percentage of students not chronically absent for all student groups.
  
  
• Goal C — Increase behavioral health supports in schools by reducing the staff-to-student services ratios.
  
  

Building and Sustaining Our Future — Ensuring the safety, security and upkeep of all district facilities and the efficient and equitable management/allocation of district resources.

• Goal A — Ensure that all AACPS facilities are secure and are fully equipped with modern infrastructure and maintenance practices to create a clean, safe environment for students and staff.
  
  
• Goal B — Equip all AACPS students with learning spaces that are appropriate to the needs of the students and that have the technology and other resources necessary to support modern learning environments.
  
  
• Goal C — Ensure equitable and transparent funding and resource distribution that meets the needs of each student. Measured by the percent funded in each blueprint category.
  
  

As always, I can be reached at dschallheim@aacps.org and 443-534-2660.