The Division is responsible for one office and three branches: Office of Comprehensive Planning and School Support, Youth Development Branch, Program Improvement and Family Support Branch, and Student Services and Alternative Programs Branch.

Office of Comprehensive Planning and School Support
The Office is responsible for providing leadership, evaluation, and technical assistance to local school systems in the implementation of programs and initiatives to improve teaching and learning for at-risk students and low-performing schools. These programs include the Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools program, the Ed-Flex Demonstration Program, and the State-funded Nonpublic Textbook Program. The Office also provides research and evaluation support for federal and State education programs housed in the Division and across the agency.  Under the Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools program, each school system is required to submit to MSDE a five-year comprehensive master plan, to be updated annually, designed to improve achievement for all students and eliminate achievement gaps among groups of students.

Youth Development Branch
The Youth Development Branch provides leadership, direction, coordination, supervision, and support for the Twenty-First Century Community Learning Centers program, Maryland Student Service Alliance (MSSA), Character Education Office, Maryland Association of Student Councils, and the Maryland Chess program.

Program Improvement and Family Support Branch
The Program Improvement and Family Support Branch helps support local school systems and schools that have high concentrations of children from low-income families.  This support includes planning, operating, and evaluating, programs for educationally disadvantaged students.  The Branch is responsible for the federal Title I program - Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged.  Under Title I, specialists oversee the Maryland Parent Advisory Council (M-PAC), Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY), Family Reading Plan, Take 15 for the Family, as well as the Even Start Family Literacy Program.  In addition, migrant students are provided summer learning opportunities, neglected and delinquent students are being served in State institutions, middle school teachers are being served through the Increasing Proficiency for All Students (I-PAS)/Challenge Initiative, and homeless children receive support through the McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program.

Student Services and Alternative Programs Branch
The Student Services and Alternative Programs Branch (SSAP) is responsible for providing leadership and technical assistance to local school systems with the implementation of programs and initiatives to facilitate the emotional, mental, social, and physical health of all students. These programs and initiatives include guidance and career development, school psychology, pupil personnel, school social work, school health services, safe and drug-free schools, dropout prevention and alternative programs, home instruction, and initiatives to reduce disruption and violence, address at-risk behaviors, and facilitate achievement. The branch works collaboratively with other agencies, community organizations, and stakeholder groups around these initiatives.