Three schools fall short of state goals

Elementary grades all meet assessment test targets

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

The Maryland State Department of Education released Tuesday the pass rates from the Maryland School Assessments for elementary and middle schools, along with determinations of which schools made what is deemed adequate yearly progress.

Schools can meet adequate yearly progress goals by increasing assessment test scores year to year, and these benchmarks have become a major focus for teachers. Passing rates must increase for the overall school as well as various subgroups based on race and special services received.

Under the federal No Child Left Behind requirements, all students must score at the proficient level or higher on state tests by 2014 or school may face consequences that include replacing all or most school staff related to the school's failed goal, contracting with a management company to operate the school and implementing other restructuring actions.

"Once again, we are pleased that the overall number of students moving from basic to proficient, and from proficient to advanced, has increased," Superintendent Michael Martirano said in a press release. School officials did not return calls by deadline Tuesday for more details.

Spring Ridge Middle School was placed on a list of schools needing corrective action two years ago after failing to meet all of its goals for five years in a row. The school met all of its goals for the first time last year, but failed to meet them this year.

Resources, including money, extra staff and new programs, have been poured into Spring Ridge over the last few years. This year the school missed goals in four subgroups. African-Americans, low-income and special education students did not meet the reading goals, and special education students also did not meet math goals.

Generally, though, passing rates for all students at Spring Ridge did increase from the previous year. Sixth-grade scores topped an 80 percent pass rate for the first time and math scores jumped five to nine points in each grade.

Margaret Brent Middle School did not meet either its reading or math goals for special education students, which caused it to not meet progress goals. The school had also failed to meet its goals for special education in 2005 in both reading and math and in 2003 for reading.

Leonardtown Middle School also struggled with its special education scores this year, failing to make its reading goal for that subgroup of students. Leonardtown Middle previously missed that goal in 2007 and 2003.

Last year was all elementary, middle and high schools in St. Mary's reached the state goals in all categories. High school data has not yet been released this year.

Each spring for six years schools have held pep rallies and other events to energize students in grades 3 through 8 who must take the state tests, which have no direct bearing on student grades but are used to evaluate the work schools and even teachers do. The tests track performance in math and reading for grades at each elementary and middle school in the state.

The county once again exceeded state averages this year in both reading and math for all grade levels tested, except seventh grade reading, which was just a fraction of a percentage point behind, according to data released Tuesday.

Middle school math scores in St. Mary's particularly shine when compared to state averages. The eighth grade pass rate in the county is 80.3 percent compared to the state average of 67.2 percent and sixth and seventh grade scores are also nearly 10 points higher than the state.

Since 2003, four of the county's elementary schools and all of the middle schools had at one point failed to meet some of the state goals. As the bar rises each year, it can be harder for schools to maintain their pass rate goals. "We continue to see growth at most grade levels, even as proficient/advanced percentages climb into the high 80's and low 90's," Martirano said in the release. "We recognize that as we get closer to the goal of 100 percent of students earning proficient or advanced, gains will be smaller and more challenging — but we are dedicated to continuous improvement."

Many grade level scores dropped at the elementary levels this year. Benjamin Banneker Elementary School, which tends to post relatively high scores, fell in reading for grades three, four and five and math in grades four and five. The school still managed to meet overall goals based on subgroup scores.

Scores at Green Holly, Greenview Knolls, Park Hall, Ridge, Town Creek and White Marsh elementary schools dropped in four out of the six grades, although they, too, did make overall goals.

All elementary grades posted scores in the 70 percent pass range or higher except for fifth-grade students for math at the Chesapeake Public Charter School and third-grade reading and fifth-grade math at Park Hall Elementary School, where scores were in the mid-60s.

Other schools that have not met their target scores in past years include George Washington Carver Elementary School and Lexington Park Elementary. Carver dipped in all of its reading scores and in fifth grade math this year, but succeeded in meeting subgroup scores and overall goals. Lexington Park remained relatively constant in its scores, except for third and fourth grade math which saw double-digit drops. However the schools reached its goals for the year.

Overall elementary and middle school scores in St. Mary's were higher than state averages, especially middle school math, which topped the state average by nearly 11 percentage points. However, St. Mary's scores were lower than Calvert public schools by several points.

Mechanicsville Elementary School third graders were the only grade to post a 100 percent pass rate, which they posted in reading.

Federal law charts the progress of the overall student population in the grades tested, as well as that of students receiving any of three categories of special services: free and/or reduced-price meals, special education and limited English proficient. It also charts progress of students in five racial subgroups: American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian/Pacific Islander, African-American, White, and Hispanic.

jyeatman@somdnews.com

How St. Mary's has scored overall

Percentage of St. Mary's County students scoring proficient or better on the MSA for the past six years

Reading 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Grade 3 71.3 75.9 80.8 83.6 86.0 88.8

Grade 4 77.4 82.4 82.7 89.5 91.1 88.6

Grade 5 73.3 78.0 80.1 80.7 90.0 91.0

Grade 6 68.9 72.5 73.4 80.3 82.8 86.5

Grade 7 69.6 68.3 76.9 76.1 85.2 83.0

Grade 8 64.8 73.0 69.7 75.8 80.0 82.6

Math 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Grade 3 76.0 79.2 85.1 82.6 87.5 86.6

Grade 4 67.1 74.7 76.2 82.6 91.8 91.9

Grade 5 67.1 74.7 76.2 82.6 86.0 85.1

Grade 6 53.0 63.7 73.0 78.7 83.0 86.4

Grade 7 48.7 55.5 65.1 64.5 76.9 81.5

Grade 8 39.4 46.0 53.2 56.8 70.9 80.3

Source: Maryland State Department of Education

How elementary schools have scored

Percentage of students who were proficient or advanced on the MSA

Reading Math

2007 2008 2009 2007 2008 2009

Banneker

Grade 3 85.5 88.9 86.7 85.5 86.1 91.2

Grade 4 97.2 90.4 88.5 96.2 95.6 90.5

Grade 5 86.0 93.7 92.0 85.0 89.3 87.5

Carver

Grade 3 59.1 74.6 73.8 55.1 72.9 75.4

Grade 4 84.6 82.0 71.1 95.5 76.5 83.0

Grade 5 60.3 82.2 78.4 73.7 82.2 74.5

Chesapeake Charter

Grade 3 * 91.3 95.0 * 95.7 82.5

Grade 4 * 90.0 95.5 * 75.0 86.4

Grade 5 * 94.7 90.0 * 89.5 65.0

Dent

Grade 3 87.7 94.7 96.2 88.8 95.8 88.6

Grade 4 91.9 94.2 92.1 88.5 97.7 94.3

Grade 5 74.7 90.4 95.4 77.0 89.4 95.5

Dynard

Grade 3 87.9 90.8 93.0 93.1 88.2 90.1

Grade 4 93.9 96.4 90.8 87.7 91.1 93.4

Grade 5 85.9 94.4 95.1 78.2 80.3 90.2

Green Holly

Grade 3 73.7 86.2 71.2 70.2 86.2 73.1

Grade 4 78.7 81.6 79.2 88.3 85.7 84.9

Grade 5 68.6 71.7 83.1 81.8 62.3 76.7

Greenview Knolls

Grade 3 88.3 81.7 88.1 78.5 87.1 89.8

Grade 4 87.8 88.9 84.3 90.4 93.3 85.5

Grade 5 77.3 88.5 88.4 79.2 87.2 82.8

Hollywood

Grade 3 87.4 82.4 97.9 86.3 86.7 93.7

Grade 4 91.2 93.4 95.6 93.7 90.1 93.4

Grade 5 95.2 96.2 92.6 89.4 88.6 89.5

Leonardtown

Grade 3 93.4 87.2 94.5 88.0 87.2 92.3

Grade 4 86.9 92.9 94.0 89.9 90.6 95.2

Grade 5 84.4 89.5 91.5 87.7 85.7 85.3

Lexington Park

Grade 3 70.9 82.6 85.7 76.4 87.2 73.2

Grade 4 80.8 89.2 91.8 89.4 87.3 95.9

Grade 5 64.3 90.4 88.8 68.1 90.4 80.4

Mechanicsville

Grade 3 76.0 88.7 100.0 70.0 88.5 98.5

Grade 4 98.1 89.7 94.5 96.2 98.2 98.2

Grade 5 78.3 96.2 93.0 76.6 90.4 89.5

Oakville

Grade 3 87.2 84.4 89.3 92.9 87.5 86.7

Grade 4 88.1 97.1 88.7 86.6 95.6 95.8

Grade 5 88.8 89.2 98.5 91.6 93.8 95.6

Park Hall

Grade 3 66.7 70.5 67.7 75.8 76.7 70.1

Grade 4 76.8 75.0 71.1 81.2 82.8 84.7

Grade 5 76.5 75.6 81.2 75.0 70.0 63.0

Piney Point

Grade 3 92.2 91.7 92.7 89.5 94.8 88.2

Grade 4 95.6 96.3 94.0 96.7 96.3 96.0

Grade 5 83.2 94.1 97.4 91.1 91.1 93.5

Ridge

Grade 3 73.4 83.7 83.8 73.9 83.7 86.5

Grade 4 86.3 94.9 86.8 84.1 100.0 86.8

Grade 5 78.5 90.5 84.2 73.8 83.3 76.3

Town Creek

Grade 3 91.2 95.2 97.4 91.2 92.9 89.5

Grade 4 93.7 98.0 96.9 96.8 96.0 96.9

Grade 5 94.1 96.5 95.8 98.0 96.5 91.7

White Marsh

Grade 3 97.3 93.2 92.9 86.5 95.5 97.7

Grade 4 95.3 97.4 90.9 100.0 97.4 95.5

Grade 5 85.7 95.2 97.3 88.1 92.9 91.9

* -- school was not yet open

Source: Maryland State Department of Education

How middle schools have scored

Percentage of students who were proficient or advanced on the MSA

Reading Math

2007 2008 2009 2007 2008 2009

Chesapeake Charter

Grade 6 * ** 90.0 * ** 85.0

Esperanza

Grade 6 79.8 85.4 89.3 78.2 88.6 89.8

Grade 7 74.2 89.4 88.0 62.4 80.0 82.7

Grade 8 80.7 78.2 83.4 58.8 71.2 83.0

Leonardtown

Grade 6 81.0 89.4 93.0 82.1 89.7 92.0

Grade 7 81.0 87.6 86.6 72.2 78.5 86.7

Grade 8 78.3 87.2 89.1 59.8 73.3 83.1

Margaret Brent

Grade 6 84.5 80.4 84.0 82.6 80.7 83.5

Grade 7 81.0 88.0 79.6 74.4 81.3 81.0

Grade 8 78.6 78.5 83.3 62.8 70.5 81.1

Spring Ridge

Grade 6 76.6 76.6 81.0 71.6 74.4 81.5

Grade 7 66.4 74.2 78.4 46.2 66.1 75.6

Grade 8 64.9 75.3 73.0 44.7 68.1 73.3

* -- school was not yet open

** -- school did not yet have sixth grade

Source: Maryland State Department of Education