(a) In this section, "Program" means the Expert Review Team Program. (b) The Department shall establish, administer, and supervise an Expert Review Team Program. (c) The purpose of the Program is for teams of expert educators to: (1) Conduct interviews, observe classes, and use other data to analyze the extent to which the Blueprint for Maryland's Future is being implemented; and (2) Collaborate with school-based faculty and staff and local school system staff to: (i) Determine reasons why student progress is insufficient; and (ii) Develop recommendations, measures, and strategies to address the issues identified by the Expert Review Team. (d) (1) The Department shall select highly regarded Expert Review Team members for the Program, who reflect, to the extent practicable, the geographic, racial, ethnic, linguistic, and gender diversity of the population of public school students, from the following groups: (i) Teachers who are represented by teachers' organizations that, for purposes of collective bargaining, represent a majority of teachers in the State or in a local school system; (ii) School leaders; and (iii) Other individuals who have expertise directly relevant to the purpose and duties of the Program. (2) After the career ladder under Title 6, Subtitle 10 of this article is well established throughout the State, the Department shall select Expert Review Team members from expert teachers and principals who are in senior positions on the career ladder. (3) To the extent practicable, a teacher who visits an elementary, middle, or high school as a member of an Expert Review Team shall have experience working in or knowledge of the type of school being visited. (e) Each member of an Expert Review Team shall be thoroughly trained by the Board on the Blueprint for Maryland's Future and its rationale, including detailed information on the way similar systems work in top-performing school systems in the world. (f) (1) During a school visit, an Expert Review Team shall: (i) Conduct comprehensive in-school investigations of the causes of poor student performance; and (ii) Make recommendations to the following entities on the measures needed to improve the performance of low-performing schools and correct identified problems: 1. Principal and county superintendent; 2. School faculty; 3. County boards of education; and 4. The community. (2) An Expert Review Team may, in the course of its work under paragraph (1) of this subsection: (i) Perform evaluations of behavioral health services provided in a school; and (ii) If the Team determines that poor student performance is due, in part, to missing or inadequate behavioral health services, make recommendations to the appropriate entities to correct the identified problems. (3) After a school visit, an Expert Review Team shall submit a report to the Department within the time period, in the manner, and including the information required by the Department. (g) (1) Beginning on or before July 1, 2021, and each July 1 through 2030, the Department shall develop and submit to the Board for approval a plan to deploy the Expert Review Teams in the following school year. (2) (i) Beginning on July 1, 2023, the Department shall send Expert Review Teams to at least 10% of public schools in at least three different local school systems each year. (ii) An Expert Review Team shall be sent to every residential facility in which juveniles are educated in accordance with Title 9, Subtitle 6 of the Human Services Article by the end of the 2025-2026 school year. (iii) An Expert Review Team shall be sent at least once to every public school in the State by the end of the 2030-2031 school year. (3) (i) The Department shall, in accordance with an approved deployment plan and subject to the provisions of this subsection, send an Expert Review Team to: 1. Each school determined to be one of the lowest performing schools in the State once each year; 2. Schools determined to be lower performing schools in the State on a regular schedule but not every year; 3. Schools determined to be the highest performing in the State; and 4. All other schools at intervals determined by a randomized selection process. (ii) The lowest and highest performing schools shall be determined by: 1. A. The overall performance on State assessments; and B. The performance of subgroups of students on State assessments; or 2. Based on data produced by the data monitoring system established under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. (4) Beginning on July 1, 2025, a school that has not been selected for review by an Expert Review Team may submit a request to the Department for a review. (5) The Board may request that the Department send an Expert Review Team to a particular school. (6) Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, the Department shall send an Expert Review Team to a school or a group of schools in the same immediate area in which students continue to demonstrate learning loss that began in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic for the purpose of determining the reason that the learning loss continues. (h) During the period from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2025, the report and recommendations of an Expert Review Team shall be advisory only and may be used by a school and local school system to strengthen the school program and the management of the school and local school system. (i) (1) (i) Beginning on July 1, 2025, the report and recommendations of an Expert Review Team shall be used by the Department as the basis for a recommendation to the Board under § 5-405 of this subtitle as to whether to release a portion of the annual increase in funding for the upcoming school year because the school and the local school system have developed a satisfactory plan for the use of the funds consistent with the Expert Review Team's recommendations. (ii) In fulfilling its duties under this subsection, an Expert Review Team in the Program may make recommendations on: 1. Requiring State action in accordance with § 7-203.4 of this article; or 2. Pairing the school with a higher performing school with similar demographics from which the school leadership collaborates and shares expertise for the benefit of faculty and staff. (2) If the Board determines that all or a portion of a school's annual increase in funding should not be released due to an unsatisfactory plan, the Department shall work with the school and local school system to develop a satisfactory plan to allow release of the withheld funds.
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