At the Aug. 28 meeting of the Maryland State Board of Education, the following actions were taken:
• Granted “Permission to Publish” proposed amendments to COMAR 13A.03.02.09 Graduation Requirements for High School Students. These amendments are required to reinstate the Government High School Assessment (HSA) as a graduation requirement for students entering ninth grade in the 2013-2014 school year. During the 2012 General Assembly session, legislation was passed to reinstate the Government HSA to support the teaching and engagement of students in the area of government and civics.
• Granted “Permission to Publish” proposed amendments to COMAR 13A.12.01.02 Definitions, 13A.12.01.06E Advanced Professional Certificate, and 13A.12.01.11 Renewal. The proposed regulation creates a new fourth option that can be used to obtain an Advanced Professional Certificate (APC). The new option will open in School Year 2016-17. From School Year 2013-14 going forward, if a teacher is evaluated as highly effective in 3 of 5 years of teaching, an APC can be obtained. All previous paths to an APC remain open.
• Approved the use of three new Educational Testing Service PRAXIS II assessments for assessing content knowledge for Maryland teacher certification. he names and test codes of the three new assessments are as follows: Music: Content and Instruction (0114); Environmental Education (0831); and Mandarin Chinese (5665). These tests will be used to validate that teacher candidates have entry level skills to begin their professional careers.
• Granted “Permission to Publish” a proposed amendment to COMAR 13A.08.07.03-1 (AMEND) Enrollment Process for Children in State Supervised Care. The proposed amendment establishes that the school system in the county that initially sent the student to live in a different county (sending school system) has and retains the responsibility of documenting residency of the parents or guardians of a Child in State Supervised Care.
• Adopted a proposed amendment to COMAR 13A.05.09.02 Programs for Homeless Children. This amendment adds certain children in the custody of the Department of Juvenile Services to the definition of “child awaiting foster care placement” so that these children will be considered homeless students under COMAR 13A.05 .09.02B(4) and entitled to the same school stability provisions set forth in the McKinney-Vento Act of 2002 as other homeless students.
• Approved The Annual Capital Budget, Five-Year Capital Improvement Program, and the County Library Capital Grant Program Request for submission to the Maryland Department of Budget and Management, Office of Capital Budgeting.
Note to non-Maryland residents: “COMAR” refers to the Annotated Code of Maryland.
