Overall, Baltimore County educators have reason to applaud results on the 2000 Maryland School Performance Assessment Program.
County elementary and middle school pupils improved scores in most subject areas of the MSPAP. As a result, the county has 26 schools - the most in the state - with composite scores that meet or beat the state's testing goal.
FOR THE RECORD - More MSPAP results
The Sun yesterday published the results of last spring's tests at elementary and middle schools in the Baltimore area under the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program. But the test scores for 24 schools, all in Baltimore and Baltimore County, were inadvertently omitted, and results for two city schools were listed erroneously. Here are the MSPAP results for these schools, compared to state and county averages.
The tables show composite index scores over the past seven years.The composite is roughly equivalent to the percentage of students who scored at a satisfactory level on the MSPAP tests. The last column shows the percentage point change since 1994.
Baltimore City elementary schools
'00 '99 '98 '97 '96 '95 '94 Chg
State average 45.3 43.8 44.1 41.8 40.7 39.6 35.3 10.0
City average 20.5 16.9 16.1 13.9 13.5 13.8 11.7 8.8
Ch. Carroll of Car. El/Mid 4.5 4.5 5.1 4.5 4.5 4.1 3.0 1.5
Ch. Carroll Bar. 13.5 16.3 15.2 8.5 8.1 9.5 10.1 3.4
Com. John Rodgers 9.8 8.7 5.7 4.7 4.8 12.2 9.4 0.4
Dal. F. Nicholas 45.9 27.0 29.6 21.8 13.3 17.6 16.1 29.8
Dr. Bern. Harris 24.3 22.5 21.7 16.0 11.4 25.1 14.4 9.9
Dr. Carter G. Woodson 28.2 17.0 10.6 11.5 8.5 21.9 23.6 4.6
Dr. M.L. King Jr. 28.8 6.6 7.8 4.8 6.3 2.5 3.1 25.7
Dr. Pitts/Ashb. El/Mid 24.3 23.5 16.3 16.9 13.4 9.2 10.3 14.0
Fr. Scott Key El/Mid 35.5 30.5 37.9 21.7 25.3 22.0 19.0 16.5
Glenmount El/Mid 26.4 25.7 35.9 35.5 31.4 37.8 47.3 -20.9
Grace./O'Donnell 11.3 10.0 9.0 6.0 6.4 6.0 5.3 6.0
Maree G. Farring 20.3 19.7 17.6 20.2 17.0 17.8 17.0 3.3
Rognel Heights El/Mid 33.5 19.6 16.7 13.3 26.6 33.3 49.5 -16.0
Sam. Col. Taylor 8.9 9.0 6.6 5.6 6.2 3.0 9.3 -0.4
Westside 19.8 19.4 23.6 20.1 17.4 21.0 9.0 10.8
Wm. Pinderhughes 17.9 16.6 11.3 9.5 6.2 10.9 8.8 9.1
Baltimore City middle schools
'00 '99 '98 '97 '96 '95 '94 Chg
State average 45.3 43.8 44.1 41.8 40.7 39.6 35.3 10.0
City average 20.5 16.9 16.1 13.9 13.5 13.8 11.7 8.8
Dr. R.N. Patterson Acad. 8.2 5.8 8.7 6.2 6.2 11.4 7.3 0.9
Hamilton 14.4 15.5 10.1 11.6 11.3 12.2 13.9 0.5
William H. Lemmel 12.5 9.5 4.4 5.3 9.0 6.1 7.1 5.4
Woodbourne Acad. 2.6 6.9 15.3 NA NA NA NA NA
Baltimore County elementary schools
'00 '99 '98 '97 '96 '95 '94 Chg
State average 45.3 43.8 44.1 41.8 40.7 39.6 35.3 10.0
County average 50.9 49.0 49.8 47.9 44.7 44.5 39.6 11.3
Church Lane El/Tech 31.7 31.4 29.0 33.9 30.6 29.6 31.2 0.5
Cromwell Valley El/Tech 70.2 71.4 73.0 67.9 65.2 57.0 NA NA
Featherbed Lane 29.8 29.3 23.1 NA NA NA NA NA
Padonia International 80.7 73.6 71.7 62.6 61.0 55.8 56.8 23.9
Wellwood International 44.3 56.5 51.8 55.2 49.5 51.8 43.1 1.2
Baltimore County middle schools
'00 '99 '98 '97 '96 '95 '94 Chg
State average 45.3 43.8 44.1 41.8 40.7 39.6 35.3 10.0
County average 50.9 49.0 49.8 47.9 44.7 44.5 39.6 11.3
Parkville Mid/Tech 54.6 48.6 51.7 44.4 47.8 48.0 43.0 11.6
S
High scorers such as Summit Park and Fullerton elementaries continue to produce impressive results. And four elementary schools - Riderwood, Hampton, Timonium and Padonia International - earned the highest scores in the state in writing, language use, or social studies for third- and fifth-graders.
"Whenever we see progress, it is reassuring," said Superintendent Joe A. Hairston, who took over as schools chief in July. "Obviously, our teachers are doing an excellent job, and you can't ask for more than that."
A dip in the number of third-graders meeting state reading standards for the second straight year - from 47 percent in 1998 to 46.3 percent in 1999 to 43.6 percent this year - should not result in a curriculum overhaul, said Hairston, who added that he doesn't expect the trend to continue.
Older students - in ninth and 11th grades - scored well on the state's functional exams, which are to be phased out in the next several years to make way for new graduation assessments. The system's high school dropout rate increased slightly, from 2.87 percent of students in 1999 to 3.4 this year; the state considers a dropout rate of more than 3 percent unsatisfactory.
An area that continues to frustrate administrators is the wide performance gap between black and white students. As more black families move to the county, the school system continues to search for ways to help all students succeed academically. Blacks make up about 31 percent of the school system population, up from 28 percent two years ago.
"In the past, there hasn't been any comprehensive, systemic program to close the achievement gap in Baltimore County," said Barbara S. J. Dezmon, who took over recently as director of the Office of Equity and Assurance - formerly the Office of Minority Achievement and Multicultural Education. Among other activities, she plans to review curriculum and instruction to ensure that needs of minority and poor students are met.
MSPAP scores show that blacks lag behind every other minority group in the school system in almost every subject, including reading, mathematics and writing. Black boys tend to do worse on the exam than black girls.
At the third-grade level, 22.6 percent of blacks performed at the state's satisfactory level for mathematics, compared with 56.8 percent of whites.
At the fifth-grade level, 34.3 percent of blacks reached the satisfactory level for reading, compared to 54.6 percent of whites.
In eighth grade, 44.3 percent of blacks performed at the satisfactory level for writing, compared with 63.9 percent of whites.
Critics say that while some progress has been made in closing the gap, it is not enough. An interim report card by the Maryland State Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People gave the Baltimore County school system failing grades for its inability to raise scores of blacks on the MSPAP exams. The Baltimore County chapter of the NAACP is planning a town hall meeting in January to discuss ways to improve scores.
"We would hope that the administration would be forthcoming with a plan and that it has some meat to it," said Anthony Fugett, president of the county chapter. "We know it will take the community to make it work. What we need is for parents and businesses to make it happen."
Baltimore County elementary schools
This table shows composite index scores for Baltimore County elementary schools over the past seven years under the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program. The composite is roughly equivalent to the percentage of students who scored at a satisfactory level on the MSPAP tests. The last column shows the percentage point change since 1994.
'00 '99 '98 '97 '96 '95 '94 Chg
State average 45.3 43.8 44.1 41.8 40.7 39.6 35.3 10.0
County average 50.9 49.0 49.8 47.9 44.7 44.5 39.6 11.3
Arbutus 53.5 49.7 43.7 47.3 38.8 32.4 33.6 19.9
Baltimore Highlands 33.6 33.9 30.5 29.7 34.6 22.9 19.1 14.5
Battle Grove 37.3 39.3 35.0 49.7 32.5 45.1 51.7 -14.4
Bear Creek 53.8 46.3 42.5 40.7 36.0 29.6 28.2 25.6
Bedford 50.6 50.7 52.2 51.7 40.6 34.5 29.0 21.6
Berkshire 37.0 29.8 35.5 35.1 23.7 36.2 30.8 6.2
Carney 66.5 64.9 61.0 54.7 49.5 56.5 44.0 22.5
Carroll Manor 74.5 73.5 69.9 70.8 65.3 60.4 54.3 20.2
Catonsville 61.5 70.9 63.9 60.6 45.2 42.5 41.0 20.5
Cedarmere 62.7 63.4 63.5 54.3 51.2 44.3 42.1 20.6
Chadwick 36.3 31.4 34.7 38.3 34.8 34.8 25.2 11.1
Chapel Hill 52.4 46.4 48.7 43.3 40.7 47.9 41.6 10.8
Charlesmont 47.8 33.3 36.7 36.4 25.6 27.3 21.5 26.3
Chase 40.9 44.0 32.1 23.2 28.6 28.2 30.2 10.7
Chatsworth 72.3 75.6 65.6 67.5 68.9 58.4 NA NA
Chesapeake Terrace 55.0 49.0 43.5 32.9 50.1 56.6 34.4 20.6
