More testing. More security. Some teacher shortages. And lots of talk about the millennium.
More than 850,000 students will find that -- and more -- as they return to Maryland's 1,357 public schools for the 1999-2000 school year.
Students in 16 of Maryland's 24 school systems return to classes tomorrow, including Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll and Howard counties.
Four districts began last week, and the other four open between Wednesday and Sept. 8, including Harford County on Thursday.
Changes big and small can be found throughout the state's schools: new tan-and-red school uniforms at Hampstead Elementary School in Carroll County; police officers permanently assigned to seven more Baltimore County high schools; the end of a decade-long practice by Frederick County's school board of sending congratulatory letters to black honor roll students but not white ones.
The state's pupils begin a school year in which, as a group, they are all but guaranteed to fall short of the achievement goals set by the state eight years ago for this coming spring.
A greater number of students will find themselves in smaller classes to learn how to read, and more teachers will be better trained in reading instruction.
And two of the state's largest systems -- Montgomery and Prince George's counties -- will begin with new superintendents, while Baltimore and Howard counties will be busy searching for replacements for their retiring leaders.
But for students like Tiffany Kelly, 14, the first day of classes has nothing to do with policies.
It's about new schools and making new friends, navigating unfamiliar hallways and hoping that Algebra 2 isn't as hard as it sounds.
It's about trying to fit in.
"I don't know anyone here because I went to a middle school, so I hope I have friends," says Tiffany, who will start tomorrow as a freshman at Randallstown High School. "I'm a little nervous about it."
Like most of her fellow freshmen, she has scoped out her class schedule in order to locate the classrooms on her school map -- though she still worries about finding them.
"Every class is on a different floor, up and down, up and down," Tiffany says. "I don't need that much exercise in school."
With memories of last spring's massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., still fresh, all 24 Maryland districts start 1999-2000 with a far stronger focus on safety.
"For students and all of the citizens of Maryland, school safety is a very important topic," says state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick. "We must take the appropriate steps and precautions."
Crisis plans required
Every school in the state is now expected to have its own crisis plan, regularly practiced and ready to be activated in case of a shooting or other disaster. The Maryland State Police are gathering aerial photos of every school in the state.
"We need to get students involved, to give them a voice in security," says 11-year-old Jonquil Patterson, a seventh-grader at the Stadium School in Baltimore. "We're worried about safety, too."
A school safety summit for students has been planned for the fall, with one of the featured speakers to be Littleton's superintendent of schools -- a former Maryland educator.
Last week in Anne Arundel County, school officials, police, parents and students rehearsed one Pasadena school's plan with a drill involving students supposedly armed with automatic weapons.
Even such rural systems as Allegany and Washington counties increased safety precautions when they opened last week, with local police stepping up routine patrols.
Washington County's superintendent ordered all school employees to wear identification badges this fall and is considering doing the same for students.
"It's a community problem, not just a school or law enforcement problem," says Col. David B. Mitchell, state police superintendent. "We all need to work together on this."
Shortage of teachers
But school safety isn't the only concern of educators this school year. They're also worried about whether the state will have enough teachers.
This summer marked the most difficult teacher-hiring period in about two decades, with even wealthy suburban school systems -- typically flush with applications -- scrambling to fill openings.
By the end of last week, Baltimore City had the most unfilled positions -- about 130 -- of any area school system. No districts expect any opening-day classes to begin without teachers. Instead, they'll turn to retired teachers, substitutes and -- if needed -- central office administrators.
In the coming years, the shortage is expected to get worse, particularly as the state's baby-boom generation teachers approach retirement. Almost a third of Maryland's 51,000 teachers have more than 20 years in classrooms.
Aggravating the teacher shortage, enrollment in Maryland's schools is projected to increase by almost 2 percent over the next four years, with the bulge of growth moving from elementary schools to middle and high schools. That shift will increase the need for hard-to-find teachers qualified in such subjects as foreign languages and advanced math and science.
The expected shortage has local, state and national educators scrambling for both short- and long-term fixes: signing bonuses for new teachers, better marketing and higher salaries to attract high school and college students into education, and more mentoring of beginning teachers to keep them from quitting.
"I wish I could give you a quick-fix solution to the teaching shortage, and then do a rain dance to fix the drought in Maryland," says Bob Chase, president of the National Education Association, the largest organization of teachers unions. "There just isn't one answer. It's going to take a lot of hard work."
Part of the answer, Chase says, lies in improving the working conditions for teachers -- including smaller class sizes.
That's happening in more Maryland school systems this year, particularly in the first and second grades to boost early reading skills. Federal funding will add 381 more teachers to the state's class-size reduction effort.
The state's continued focus on reading also means more well-trained reading instructors in classrooms this year. Middle and high school teachers are required to take courses in reading instruction for the first time, and more local systems are holding classes in reading instruction for their teachers, too.
"Reading is the fundamental skill upon which all formal learning depends," Grasmick says. "It still needs to be our top priority."
Reading help at home
Last week, the state announced a new program to help parents support reading at home. Teachers will be able to assess students' reading skills and give parents specific home activities to address their children's reading weaknesses.
The continuing push to improve reading achievement comes at a critical time in Maryland's much-heralded school reform effort.
When the state began its annual Maryland School Performance Assessment Program exams in 1991, educators said the goal was for 70 percent of all third- , fifth- and eighth-graders to score at a satisfactory level by spring 2000.
While the state's overall average has improved more than 12 percentage points since 1993, only 44 percent of students are reaching the satisfactory mark -- making hitting the 70 percent standard by 2000 all but impossible.
This spring, the state for the first time will begin requiring the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills for all second- , fourth- and sixth-graders -- exams being administered by many local school systems. Unlike the state exams, which provide only school-by-school results, these tests give parents individual children's scores and allow those scores to be compared with others around the country.
For school systems across the state, these test results are a big part of what validates their work -- especially for those like St. Mary's County that have moved their Maryland test scores to near the top of the class.
"We have always had a good school system," St. Mary's Superintendent Patricia Richardson told her teachers at a back-to-school celebration last week after entertaining them with a piano duet of "America the Beautiful." "Now, we have a great one."
The assembly in a stuffy gymnasium at Leonardtown High School also confirmed that the language of the millennium is sure to invade education. Almost every speaker made at least some reference to the year 2000.
"This is the school year that straddles two centuries," said Julie Randall, president of the St. Mary's Board of Commissioners. "What an exciting year for everyone in education!"