WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER, Governor

No. 22

(House Joint Resolution No. 16)

A House Joint Resolution concerning

Education - Accountability Criteria - Classroom
Instruction and Student Performance

FOR the purpose of requesting the State Board of Education to
define the major elements of accountability for evaluating
classroom instruction and student performance and for
documenting significant accomplishments; and requiring the
State Board of Education to submit a certain report to the
Governor and General Assembly.

WHEREAS, In enacting Chapter 85 of the Acts of the General
Assembly of 1984, the Legislature provided the largest 5-year
increase in State aid to public schools in the State's history;
and

WHEREAS, The General Assembly believed that an
accountability program was essential to the success of this
5-year State aid program; and

WHEREAS, The General Assembly established the Accountability
Task Force to monitor the use by local boards of education of
"additional State education aid" and "compensatory education
funds" as provided under § 5-202(b) and (e) of the Education
Article, respectively, and to ensure that the use of these funds
resulted in measurable improvements in classroom instruction and
student performance; and

WHEREAS, These funds, commonly known as Civiletti funds,
represent a very small portion of the total funds expended on
education; and

WHEREAS, Monitoring the use by local boards of education of
its Civiletti funds is an inadequate means of measuring
improvements in classroom instruction and student performance;
and

WHEREAS, It is necessary to consider and evaluate the use of
all State aid provided to public education in order to determine
if local boards of education are accomplishing the goal of
improving classroom instruction and student performance; and

WHEREAS, In its 1986 annual report, the Accountability Task
Force recommended that the State Board of Education increase its
attention to the criteria, standards, and measures for evaluating
classroom instruction and student performance; now, therefore, be
it

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