An evaluative study of the school improvement process in Prince George's County Public Schools, Maryland

The problem. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the school improvement process in Prince George's County Public Schools. The study sought answers to the following six questions. During the period of implementation of the Comer Process and the School Improvement Program, to what extent is high school attendance and dropout rate meeting or exceeding state standards? To what extent do Scholastic Aptitude Test scores meet or exceed state standards? During the period of implementation of the School Improvement Process, to what extent are students meeting or exceeding state standards on the Maryland Functional Tests in reading, mathematics, writing, and citizenship? During the period of implementation of Effective Schools Process and Comer Process, to what extent are elementary schools meeting or exceeding state standards for student attainment and attendance? During the period of implementation of Effective Schools Process and Comer Process, to what extent are students in meeting or exceeding state standards in reading, writing, language usage, mathematics, science and social studies? To what extent do school improvement projects/programs impact student performance? Methodology. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate data from the Maryland State Performance Report. The student performances on the Maryland State Performance Assessment Program, Maryland Functional Tests, as well as student dropout rate, attendance, and attainment, were compared to state standards. The student performances in the Authentic Teaching Learning and Assessments for all students (ATLAS) school, Milliken II schools, and a university high school program were compared with the average student performance in Prince George's County Public Schools. Results. The findings indicated student performance in Prince George's County Public Schools did not meet or exceed state standards in most categories. The ATLAS project student performance was below the average of Prince George's County Public Schools. The Milliken II High Schools performed below state standards on most categories. The university high school met or exceeded state standard percentage in all categories except attendance. Conclusion. The School Improvement Process in Prince George's County Public Schools has not made a positive impact on student performance, despite the plan's stated primary goal: "Student achievement will meet or exceed state standards." The evaluation of the School Improvement Process in this study was made solely on the basis of the failure of student performance to meet state standards in most categories.