Appointed members: William Tilghman,
1977; Mrs. William F. Robie, 1978; Mrs.
Edward Satterthwaite, 1979; James A.
Avirett, 1980; Grace Slocum, 1980; An-
nie T. Reid, 1981.
The Maryland Advisory Council on Li-
braries was created by Chapter 770, Acts
of 1971 to gather information pertaining to
the needs of libraries throughout the State,
render advice for consideration by the Divi-
sion of Library Development and Services,
the State Superintendent of Schools, the
State Board of Education, and the Governor
and engage in other activities to promote
continued improvement of library services
in the State.
The Council consists of eleven members,
all of whom must be residents of the State.
The Governor appoints seven of the mem-
bers for terms of five years, but no member
may serve more than two consecutive terms.
Of the appointed members, one must be a
library trustee, and one a professional li-
brarian. Five members represent the general
public, but each must be knowledgeable in
library and public affairs. The remaining
members must be the Chairman of the
Council on Higher Education, the President
of the Enoch Pratt Free Library Board of
Trustees, the President of the Maryland Li-
brary Association, and the Dean of the
School of Library and Information Services
of the University of Maryland or their des-
ignated representatives. The Governor des-
ignates the Chairman while the Council
members select the Vice Chairman. The
Assistant Superintendent for Libraries of
the State Department of Education acts as
Secretary to the Council.
Funds for the Advisory Council are pro-
vided in the budget of the Division of Li-
brary Development and Services of the
State Department of Education (Code 1975,
Repl. Vol., 1975 Supp., Art. 77, sec. 167).
DIVISION OF RESEARCH,
EVALUATION, AND INFORMATION
SYSTEMS
The fundamental purpose of the Division
of Research, Evaluation, and Information
Systems is the improvement of the public |
educational enterprise by the application of
modern techniques in the collection, analy-
sis, and utilization of experimental and op-
erational statistics and information. The
Division provides services for and works
cooperatively with the other divisions of
the State Department of Education, the local
school systems, the University of Maryland,
the Federal Government, professional asso-
ciations, and other interested organizations
and individuals. Services include assistance
in defining areas of investigation, identifying
relevant data, designing appropriate data-
gathering instruments and procedures, and
processing, analyzing, and interpreting data.
On the basis of the findings, existing prac-
tices may be evaluated and programs for
educational improvement may be imple-
mented. The Division maintains a bank of
educational data which may be drawn upon
in connection with these services. The spe-
cific services performed by the Division
depend upon the special needs of the recipi-
ent, as well as the resources of the Division.
The work of the Division falls into five
general categories. Regardless of category,
there is overlapping cooperation and respon-
sibility among the staff members. The fol-
lowing are the major functions of the Divi-
sion: research and evaluation services,
information services, planning services, and
operation of the Maryland Accountability
Program (Code 1957, 1975 Repl. Vol.,
1975 Supp., Art. 77, sees. 8, 17, 20, and
28A).
DIVISION OF SPECIAL EDUCATION
The Division of Special Education pro-
vides administrative, programmatic, and
technical leadership to assist local education
agencies in offering free public education to
all handicapped children and youth. Ad-
ministratively, these services include the
provision of program planning, fiscal consul-
tation to local education agencies, the eval-
uation of educational programs within
institutional and day care centers, the eval-
uation and placement of students in non-
public settings, and the administration and
monitoring of substantial funds under Title
1 of the Elementary and Secondary Educa-
tion Act. Programmatically, the Division |
