30 Years of Baltimore Curriculum Project Students, Stories, and Successes
Laura Doherty President and CEO, Baltimore Curriculum Project As we begin 2026, I’m filled with gratitude and pride for all the people who have contributed to making the Baltimore Curriculum Project (BCP) what it is today. From our founder, Dr. Muriel Berkeley, to the early support of Bob Embry of The Abell Foundation, their vision […]
Nurturing Student Success in Math: BCP’s Math Pilot
What’s on the mind of all educators nationwide? The post-pandemic decline in students’ math ability. Last December, the National Assessment of Educational Progress reported that U.S. students are “failing to meet even the lowest level of achievement in math,” and the gap is widening. Closing this critical gap in mathematical skills, confidence, and success has […]
The Benefit and Impact of Charter Schools
The history of charter schools in Baltimore City is part of a broader narrative about school choice and equitable access to education. In the early 2000s, Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) implemented a high school choice program, allowing incoming ninth graders and their families to select the city high school they wished to attend. […]
BCP’s History with Direct Instruction and NIFDI
When I was a graduate student in Special Education and Rehabilitation at the University of Oregon, the direction of my life changed when I met Jerry Silbert, one of the leaders and program authors of the four-decade Direct Instruction (DI) movement with the National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI). In 1996, BCP, in partnership with […]
Improving Math Proficiency and Success at Baltimore Curriculum Project Schools
Everybody can be good at math. I’m a former middle school math teacher and know that many people feel like they’re not good at math. But if it’s taught well, everybody can be good at math. As a partner with Baltimore City Public Schools and as Maryland’s largest and oldest charter school operator, Baltimore Curriculum […]
Why School Attendance Matters
We know we can teach every child. However, we cannot teach a child who does not come to school. Yet, nationally and in Maryland, student attendance continues to be a challenge for schools, “a hidden educational crisis,” so dubbed by the U.S. Department of Education. At the Baltimore Curriculum Project (BCP), school attendance is one […]
The Science of Reading & The “Reading Wars”
There’s been a battle for years over how children learn to read and the best way to teach them to read. These “reading wars” have heated up again since the pandemic and the post-pandemic learning loss facing our nation. While Maryland students have made impressive strides in English proficiency, as evidenced by the 2023 Maryland […]
What’s Ahead for BCP From our Board Members
We’re proud of the Baltimore Curriculum Project’s (BCP) deep roots in Baltimore and its public school system. Before we opened our first three neighborhood conversion charter schools in 2005, we had nearly a decade under our belt working with Baltimore City Public Schools by introducing and supporting the research-based, proven Direct Instruction reading program in […]
Helping Students Master Mathematics
I love math and love teaching math. I taught math at an elementary/middle school in Chicago and at the Baraka School in Kenya. What I really love are fractions, especially when cooking and doubling recipes. Fractions are handy, tangible and practical. The recent data from the 2022 Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP) scores for Maryland […]
Hampstead Hill Academy’s 8-Year Recharter
Hampstead Hill Academy (HHA) recently received an eight-year renewal term as a public charter school. The unanimous vote on February 23, 2023, by the Board of School Commissioners, Baltimore City Public Schools, is an incredible accomplishment for HHA students, faculty, staff, parents, and its proud principal, Matt Hornbeck. It’s also gratifying to the Baltimore Curriculum […]