The 2024 Session is about to begin, so I am bookmarking data sources I frequently use to write fiscal and policy notes for the Maryland General Assembly. I am doing this to find the sources easily during Session, and I will add sources as I remember them.
I like playing with data to see what I might learn.
For this graph, I looked at data published by the University System of Maryland for the University of Maryland, College Park, about the number of applicants and the acceptance and enrollment rates. This graphic shows only Maryland residents. Looking at it this way, you can see that the number of applicants who applied and weren’t accepted and the number of students who enrolled almost doubled from 2008 to 2023. Almost doubled might be slightly exaggerated, but it is a good way to think about it. I wonder if that is the case for institutions that aren’t the flagship.
The data for students completing the University System of Maryland (USM) entrance requirements and immediately enrolling in college shows significant variations across different local school systems. Howard County had the highest enrollment rate, at 80%, followed closely by Frederick County, at 70%. On the lower end, Caroline County had an enrollment rate of 35%, while Kent County had a rate of 39%. This indicates a strong tendency for Howard and Frederick counties students to pursue higher education, whether within the USM, other public four-year institutions in Maryland, community colleges, private four-year colleges in Maryland, or out-of-state institutions.
Career and Technology Education (CTE)
For students completing the Career and Technology Education (CTE) requirements, immediate college enrollment rates varied widely. Frederick County had the highest enrollment rate at 36%, followed by Howard County at 32%. Anne Arundel, St. Mary's, and Washington counties had the lowest enrollment rates, all at 10%. It's important to note that CTE students may be more likely to pursue employment, apprenticeships, or other post-secondary opportunities directly related to their technical training rather than enrolling in college immediately.
USM/CTE Combined
The students completing the requirements for both the USM and the CTE programs showed strong enrollment rates, with Howard County leading at 84%, indicating that students completing both requirements are highly likely to continue their education. Baltimore City had a rate of 40%, which, while lower, still demonstrates a significant inclination towards further education compared to standalone CTE programs.
Comparative Observations Between High School Programs
Comparing the different high school programs, USM programs generally have higher immediate enrollment rates than CTE programs alone. The average enrollment rate for USM programs is significantly higher, with many counties achieving rates above 50%. In contrast, CTE programs often have lower enrollment rates, with several counties showing rates below 20%. The USM/CTE combined programs tend to perform better than CTE alone but slightly lower than USM programs, suggesting that combining career and technical education with a focus on university education can enhance overall enrollment rates but still face some challenges.
Additional ObServations
Overall, the data reflects significant disparities in immediate college enrollment rates across different local school systems and between students completing various high school program requirements. Howard and Montgomery Counties consistently showed high enrollment rates across all program types, while Somerset and Worcester Counties showed some of the lowest rates. This underscores the importance of robust support systems and educational resources in encouraging further education. Additionally, the data highlights the need for targeted interventions in counties with lower enrollment rates to ensure all students have equitable access to higher education opportunities.
Overall, the data reflects significant disparities in immediate college enrollment rates across different local school systems and between students completing various high school program requirements. Howard and Montgomery counties consistently showed high enrollment rates across all program types, while Somerset and Worcester counties showed some of the lowest rates. This underscores the importance of robust support systems and educational resources in encouraging further education. Additionally, the data highlights the need for targeted interventions in counties with lower enrollment rates to ensure all students have equitable access to higher education opportunities.
More of me playing around with data and publishing it to try to remember what I read. I put these maps on the same scale, with 20% being the lowest and 73% being the highest. Data was not available for Dorchester County.
Disadvantaged Graduates
The map for disadvantaged students’ immediate college enrollment rates from various local school systems in Maryland for the cohort year 2021-22 reveals significant disparities. Among the local school systems, Howard County had the highest enrollment rate at 45%. Following Howard County, Frederick and Harford counties had notable enrollment rates of 38%. On the other end of the spectrum, Worcester County had the lowest enrollment rate at just 20%, with Somerset County close behind at 22%. Larger school systems like Baltimore City and Prince George’s County showed relatively low enrollment rates at 31%. This data highlights the challenges faced by disadvantaged students in accessing higher education immediately after high school graduation, with enrollment rates generally lagging behind those of their non-disadvantaged peers, which is shown below. Overall 34% of disadvantaged graduates enrolled immediately after high school.
NoT disadvantaged Graduates
The map shows the immediate college enrollment rates for high school graduates from various local school systems in Maryland for the cohort year 2021-22, segmented by economic status and focusing on those who are not disadvantaged. Among the local school systems, Howard County had the highest percentage of high school graduates enrolled in college immediately, with a rate of 73%. Montgomery County followed with a 69% enrollment rate. On the other hand, Somerset County exhibited the lowest enrollment rate at 27%, significantly lower than the state average. Other notable observations include the relatively high enrollment rates in Frederick and Harford Counties, both at 61%, and the lower-than-average rates in Prince George's County at 43% and Baltimore City at 45%. Overall, the state average enrollment rate for not disadvantaged students was 58%. This data highlights the disparities in immediate college enrollment rates across different local school systems in Maryland.
Overall OBServations
Overall, the data reflects significant disparities in immediate college enrollment rates across different local school systems and between disadvantaged and not disadvantaged students. Statewide, the enrollment rate for not disadvantaged students was 58%, while disadvantaged students had a lower rate of 34%. Howard and Montgomery Counties consistently showed high enrollment rates for both groups, while Somerset and Worcester Counties showed some of the lowest rates. The substantial gap in enrollment rates between disadvantaged and not disadvantaged students across nearly all local school systems indicates a widespread issue that needs to be addressed to ensure equitable access to higher education opportunities for all students in Maryland.
Statewide of the 2021-2022 cohort, nearly half (49%) of Maryland public high school graduates immediately enrolled in college. Howard County Public Schools had the highest percentage of graduates immediately enrolling in college at 68%. Somerset County Public Schools had the lowest percentage of graduates immediately enrolling in college at 25%.
I have been busy with work, but now I have a pocket of time to dig into reading reports again. So you might see a few posts from me.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the official application for financial assistance for postsecondary education from the federal government. States, individual colleges and universities, and private scholarship programs use this information as well. Financial aid includes grants, educational loans, and work-study programs.
During the 2023 session, Senator Ellis put in a bill (Senate Bill 127) to require the Maryland Longitudinal Data System (MLDS) Center to report specified student FAFSA data to the Maryland General Assembly. MLDS must disaggregate the information by county and other student subgroups. I wrote the fiscal and policy note for the the bill. The bill was enacted as Chapter 688 of 2023.
FAFSA Completion for Maryland Aid
This first map shows the FAFSA completion rates by high school graduates by February 28, 2022. FAFSAs completed by this date are in time for consideration for the March 1 deadline for Maryland State financial aid. The map shows that Howard County Public School System has the highest FAFSA completion rate, at 57%, while Allegany County Public School System has the lowest, at 30%.
Due to federal data suppression requirements, the U.S. Department of Education does not report some FAFSA submissions and completions at the school level. The total is underreported since these data are used to calculate the overall local school system completion rates.
FAFSA Completion FOr Fall Enrollment
By fall enrollment, high school graduates from Howard County Public School System and Kent County Public School System have the highest FAFSA completion rates at 68%. While Dorchester County Public School System and Washington County Public School System have the the lowest FAFSA completion rates at 47%. Between February and August, the Allegany County Public School System had the highest percentage increase in FAFSAs completed (75%). While Howard County Public Schools, which had the highest FAFSA completion rate in February, had the lowest increase in FAFSAs completed (25%).
In November 2023, the U.S. Department of Education released new data about bachelor’s degree completion rates for transfer students. I have been interested in transfer students for years and it is a topic that I want to better understand. I use this blog to remember the data I read about and capture my initial thoughts. It is also a place for me to explore using data visualization tools.
DYAD
The researchers defined a dyad as a pair of institutions consisting of a public community college and a public or private four-year institution. The data only includes pairs where at least 30 students enrolled in the community college in 2014 and at least 30 students transferred and graduated from the four-year institution in at least 8 years. Nationally they identified 385 dyads, of which 8 were in Maryland.
Success of DYADS
Montgomery College belongs to four of the eight dyads in Maryland, showing that Montgomery College has a robust transfer program.
Maryland’s most successful dyad is students who transferred from Wor-Wic Community College to Salisbury University; 10% of students who transferred using that pathway graduated with a bachelor’s degree. Nationally, there were only 18 dyads with completion rates of more than 10%. The most successful dyad, Tri-County Technical College X Clemson University, had a completion rate of 20%. Kapiolani Community College X University of Hawaii at Manoa had a completion rate of 16%. Followed by four dyads with a completion rate of 13%, four dyads with a completion rate of 12%, and eight dyads with a completion rate of 11%.
Size of Transfer Programs
In addition to the completion rate of students transferring in a dyad, it is interesting to examine the size of a dyad program because in my mind a truly successful dyad will have both a high completion rate and be the "right" size. What the "right" size is I'm not sure of yet, but of a size that shows that is sufficient to support the continued transfer of students and meets the needs of the students.
The largest number of students transferred from the Community College of Baltimore County to Towson University (2,282). It looks like all transfer students from Montgomery College who transferred to a four-year institution are counted in all four Montgomery College dyads, since the number of transfer students in the denominator is 1,856 for all four dyads. This is not something I fully understood when first looking at the data. If this is true, Montgomery College has a very high total completion rate of nearly 17%.
I experimented to make a chart showing both the number of students who transferred to a four-year institution and the number of students who completed a bachelor's degree. I sorted it by percentage of students who completed a bachelor's degree. I believe the chart works fairly well at illustrating all the data, and it helped me see the potential issue with the Montgomery College data at the same time.
I continue to explore using AI in the context of education policy. Today I asked AI for a list of 10 influential books about education policy. Since I focused on environmental policy, not education policy in graduate school I have not read very many books about education policy outside specific topics. From this list, it seems like I have some reading to do during this interim. I have read articles by many of the authors listed, but I have not yet read most of these books. Out of this list, I have read books number 6 (The Global Achievement Gap by Tony Wagner) and 7 (Why Knowledge Matters by E.D. Hirsch Jr.). I have also read Most Likely to Succeed by Tony Wagner.
Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools by Diane Ravitch (2013)
A critique of education policies in the United States and argues for a more equitable and democratic approach to education.
The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education by Diane Ravitch (2010)
Critiques the rise of market-based education reform policies, such as high-stakes testing and school choice, and argues for a return to a more traditional, community-based approach to education.
The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America by Jonathan Kozol (2006)
Explores the continued segregation of America’s public schools and the ways in which low-income students and students of color are denied equal educational opportunities
Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools by Jonathan Kozol (1991)
A study of the disparities in education funding and resources between affluent and impoverished schools in the United States
The New Education: How to Revolutionize the University to Prepare Students for a World In Flux by Cathy N. Davidson (2017)
Argues for a radical redesign of higher education that focuses on project-based learning, collaboration, and interdisciplinary approaches to better prepare students for a rapidly changing world
The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need — and What We Can Do About It by Tony Wagner (2008)
Examines the gap between traditional school curricula and the skills that students need to succeed in the modern global economy, and offers suggestions for how educators can better prepare students for the challenges of the 21st century.
Why Knowledge Matters: Rescuing Our Children from Failed Educational Theories by E.D. Hirsch Jr. (2016)
Argues for a curriculum that emphasizes foundational knowledge across subject areas, as well as the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills, to ensure that all students have access to a well-rounded education.
The Testing Charade: Pretending to Make Schools Better by Daniel Koretz (2017)
Exposes the negative consequences of high-stakes testing on American education and argues for a more honest and equitable approach to student assessment.
The Beautiful Struggle: A Memoir by Ta-Nehisi Coates (2008)
A memoir that explores the author’s coming-of-age in Baltimore during the 1980s and 1990s, and his experiences navigating a flawed educational system while seeking to define his own identity and values
Teaching as a Subversive Activity by Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner (1969)
a seminal work that challenges traditional models of education and encourages teachers to engage their students in critical thinking and questioning of authority.
I have been very busy recently. But today I decided to play around with the new AI software to see what type of information it can give about education policy.
With the Supreme Court set to hear arguments about President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan today, I have been thinking about education court cases.
So I asked: “What are the top 10 Supreme Court cases related to education?”
Here are ten Supreme Court cases that have had a significant impact on education in the United States:
Brown v. Board of Education (1954): This landmark case declared that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, paving the way for desegregation efforts throughout the country.
New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985): This case addressed the issue of students’ Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures in the context of school searches.
Plyler v. Doe (1982): This case established that states cannot deny education to undocumented immigrant children.
Grutter v. Bollinger (2003): This case upheld the use of affirmative action in college admissions as a way to achieve diversity.
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988): This case clarified the extent of a school’s authority to regulate student speech in school-sponsored activities, such as school newspapers.
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002): This case upheld the constitutionality of school voucher programs, which allow public funds to be used for private school tuition.
Overall, I think these are solid picks, but I will have to do more research to decide if these are my top 10 picks. I think that generating a list of topics to research more deeply is an appropriate use of this technology, although I would have to carefully check any summaries.
I have been curious about the teacher pipeline in Maryland. So I did what I do when I have a question, I started looking for the available data.
So, I looked at the data published by the Maryland State Department of Education on the prior experience of new hires. According to the data, 58% (2,513) of newly hired Maryland teachers are new to teaching, 19% worked in another state (or the District of Columbia or Porta Rico) just prior, 13% worked in another Maryland county, 9% worked in a Maryland nonpublic school, and the remaining worked in another county or at the SEED School. This data set does not have information about the preparation of new teachers, so I do not know if they received their teaching training at a Maryland institution of higher education or in another state or country. When I have time I will look at other sources of data.
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