October 23, 1996|By James M. Coram | James M. Coram,SUN STAFF
Carroll high school graduates generally fared better at colleges and universities in the state than their counterparts across Maryland, county school officials said yesterday, referring to a Maryland Higher Education Commission report.
Carroll students entering college in 1994 had higher Scholastic Assessment Test scores, better grades in freshman math and English courses, and higher overall grade-point averages than the statewide average for Maryland freshmen, according to the Maryland Student Outcome and Achievement Report, which was released yesterday.
"The bottom line is that our students were very well prepared and did much better than students in other parts of the state," said Gary Dunkleberger, assistant superintendent for instruction. "It's pretty gratifying."
The Higher Education Commission began compiling reports on Maryland freshmen in 1993, gathering data on the class that entered college in 1991. The reports are intended to help educators examine the relationship between high school preparation and college performance.
The reports compare first-year Maryland students attending in-state institutions.
"Before the reports, we really didn't know how we were doing," Dunkleberger said. "We would hear the extremes -- 'They're doing great' or 'They're flunking out.' Now we have a measure."
Although the state provides statistics on high school graduates attending all 27 Maryland colleges and universities, Carroll school officials used only a portion of the data to measure Carroll students against others across Maryland.
Carroll compared students at eight colleges and universities attended by 10 or more Carroll graduates.
They were: Frostburg State University, St. Mary's College, Salisbury State University, Towson State University, the University of Maryland Baltimore County, the University of Maryland College Park, Villa Julie College and Western Maryland College.
Statistics at institutions with fewer than 10 incoming Carroll students can be skewed, Dunkleberger said. For example, three members of Carroll's 1994 high school class matriculated at Goucher College in Baltimore, and all three achieved grades of 4.0, the highest possible, in their first-year math courses.
By contrast, the two Carroll graduates who entered Morgan State University in Baltimore were a full grade point behind the school average for first-year English students.
The exception to Dunkleberger's 10-student-minimum rule is Carroll Community College, attended by 338 Carroll graduates in 1994. However, the average age of those students was 28, Dunkleberger said, indicating they had entered college 10 years after high school and would not provide statistics comparable to those for students entering college immediately after high school.
Dunkleberger did not use any of the state's nine two-year community colleges to help evaluate how well Carroll is preparing its students for college.
Of the 1,449 students who graduated from Carroll high schools in 1994, 637 attended colleges or universities in Maryland and 300 attended college elsewhere.
Although Carroll gets good marks by any measure, Dunkleberger said he is not satisfied.
"As a school system, we are committed to doing better for our young people," he said. "We will use this information to improve so that two years from now, our graduates will do even better."
Pub Date: 10/23/96
