Scores on Maryland’s reading and math assessments rose slightly this year for elementary and middle school students in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, according to data released Wednesday by the state’s education department. Nearly 90 percent of Montgomery County’s third-graders passed the Maryland School Assessment reading exam, alongside 79.1 percent of third-grade students in Prince George’s County — a 4.4-point increase for Prince George’s, and one of the largest jumps statewide.
Math scores and reading performance in the older grades increased as well, and Panorama Elementary in Temple Hills was one of four schools honored by Maryland for making big-enough strides to move off the state’s list of schools needing improvement.
| Making the grade | ||||
| Students scoring proficient or advanced on 2011 Maryland School Assessment | ||||
| 3rd-grade reading | 3rd-grade math | 8th-grade reading | 8th-grade math | |
| Maryland | 85.1% | 86.3% | 82.7% | 66.0% |
| Montgomery | 89.3% | 88.9% | 89.2% | 74.7% |
| Prince George’s | 79.1% | 78% | 70.8% | 43.7% |
“While there is still much more work ahead, I am proud of the progress we are making in our school district,” said Prince George’s Superintendent William Hite Jr. “Not only are we increasing our overall performance, we are reducing gaps in achievement between African-American and white students as well as our Hispanic and white students.”
Both counties touted the shrinking achievement gap between black and Hispanic students and their typically higher-performing white and Asian peers, although the state did not officially report racial trend data because of changes in how students self-reported that information.
“I am pleased with the steady growth in proficiency on the [Maryland School Assessment], particularly by our African-American and Latino students and students receiving special services,” said Christopher Barclay, president of Montgomery County’s school board.
The percent of Hispanic and African-American students who scored “proficient” or “advanced” on the third- and eighth-grade math and reading exams rose across the board, although a gap remained; white and Asian students scored just a few points better on some tests, but more than 30 percentage points higher than minority students in subjects like eighth-grade math. The county has been fighting to close the achievement gap as the area has diversified, economically and racially, in the past 10 years.
Prince George’s County saw similar gains, although one-third of its public schools are on Maryland’s watch-list; of the 66, 18 are new this year. Montgomery County has 24 schools — just 12 percent of the system — on the needs-improvement list; 14 were added Wednesday.
Statewide, 85.1 percent of third-graders and 82 percent of eighth-graders passed the reading exam. On the math test, 86.3 percent of third-graders and 82.7 percent of eighth-graders demonstrated proficiency. Students in grades three through eight take the Maryland School Assessment.
Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, all students must score in the proficiency range by 2014 — a rule state and local officials decried even as they celebrated their gains.
“Penalizing schools despite a record of progress and achievement is counterproductive from an educational standpoint,” said retiring Maryland Superintendent Nancy Grasmick, noting that many schools are struggling to get their special-education and non-native English speakers up to speed.
Barclay said he was “concerned that many excellent, high-performing schools will be labeled failing” under current federal benchmarks, but acknowledged that “MCPS has room for improvement. We must continue to focus on ways to help schools meet current federal standards and ensure that students are prepared for college and the workplace.”
