On October 1, 2007, the Governor's Executive Order 01.01.2007.20, the Council expanded to include two additional state agencies: the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation and the Department of Business and Economic Development. Historically, the Maryland Partnership for Teaching and Learning, PreK-16 was an alliance of the Maryland State Department of Education, the Maryland Higher Education Commission, and the University System of Maryland. The chairmanship of the group rotated among the three institution heads. This voluntary collaboration is critical to the creation of a community of learning that strives for all of its members to achieve the highest levels of excellence throughout all levels of education and in the workplace.
Until October 1, 2007, the PreK-16 Leadership Council consisted of corporate, civic, and public and private education leaders who advised, counseled, reinforced, communicated, and supported an agenda to improve student achievement. To facilitate the direction of the Leadership Council, a PreK-16 Workgroup comprised of members of the above-described constituencies met regularly to share cross-institutional information, seek solutions to articulation issues, and collaborate on promising practices that improve student achievement.
Maryland’s Partnership is recognized nationally for its voluntary, inclusive organizational structure. It was one of the first states to establish a PreK-16 Partnership (now Governor's P-20), and it remains one of the more active partnerships in the entire nation.
State Wide Goals:
- Enhance student access to post-secondary education, especially for disadvantaged and minority students, by aligning high school expectations with college admission requirements.
- Improve the quantity and quality of teacher candidates (and current teachers) so that every classroom has a highly qualified teacher.
- Strengthen communication and collaborative decision-making among the three organizations.
Here is the full text of the original 2002 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between MSDE, MHEC, and the USM. The new 2008 MOU still fulfills its primary mission of providing leadership to and building links among schools, school districts, colleges, universities, businesses, parents, students, and communities to promote excellence in teaching and learning. The new Governor's P-20 Leadership Council of Maryland will also incorporate a needed economic competitiveness and workforce component into its mission.
Strategies for Achieving PreK-16 Goals:
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Engage higher education faculty with PreK-12 teachers in designing assessments of the Core Learning Goals for high school graduation
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Engage faculty across two-and four-year institutions in developing clear and consistent expectations for undergraduate education (English Composition and Mathematics were the first to be addressed)
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Extend the current capacity to share and use the data on student achievement, from preschool through college
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Address the State’s teacher shortage by supporting policies that build capacity in shortage areas.
Highlights of P-20 Achievements
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