Five Anne Arundel schools with students from low-income families dramatically improved their scores in last year’s Maryland School Assessment.
The so-called Title I schools, which receive financial assistance because of the high number of children who are less financially well off, were Belle Grove, Marley, Hebron-Harman, Mills-Parole and Van Bokkelen elementary schools.
Each school received a certificate and a $5,757 financial award for their instructional programs, said school system spokesman Bob Mosier.
At Bell Grove, the third-graders’ reading scores of at least proficient jumped from 60.6 percent in 2006 to 85.7 percent in 2007, according to the Maryland education department.
“Teachers came together as teams. It was good that the veteran teachers could collaborate with the younger teachers,” said Principal Adrienne Taylor, who leads the Brooklyn Park school of about 200 students.
The success of the collaborative effort was evident in the third grade in which a new teacher and one who had just moved from Texas taught last year, she said.
Mills-Parole, an Annapolis school with nearly a 100 percent minority enrollment, saw many scores improve, including the Hispanic population, said Assistant Principal Geoff Casey.
In 2006, only 70 percent of Hispanic fourth-graders scored at least proficiently in math, but on the 2007 test, 100 percent of fourth-graders met this mark, according to state data.
With the financial award, Belle Grove proposed expanding its science department because the feeder school is North County High School, the county’s new Science, Technology, Engineering and Math magnet school, Taylor said.
Other proposals would be to purchase nonfiction books forclassrooms and interactive technology, like electronic slateboards.
Mills-Parole plans to purchase additional technology equipment, Casey said.
Principals at the other schools could not be reached for comment.
