After dipping slightly last year on the annual state achievement exams, Howard County pupils' scores crept up this year, improving their scores by 2.1 percentage points - but not enough to regain the county system's long-standing first-place ranking.
The 44,000-student district had held first place in the state since 1993, but lost the distinction last year to Kent County, an Eastern Shore system with eight schools.
Kent County is still first in the state, beating Howard County by six-tenths of a point. But Howard officials said this year's gains were more important than small differences in statewide rankings.
Results released yesterday showed an average of 61.4 percent of Howard's pupils scored at the satisfactory level on all six content areas of the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program, given to third-, fifth- and eighth-graders each spring.
The state MSPAP goal has been for 70 percent of all pupils to score satisfactorily by this year, but Kent and Howard were the only two among 24 Maryland school systems to exceed the 60 percent level. Fourteen Howard schools reached 70 percent, of 83 statewide.
Last year, Howard's average score dropped to 59.3 percent from its high of 60.1.
The decline became a motivation, school officials said.
"We knew that we could do better and we knew that we needed to do better," said Leslie Wilson, system testing director. "And that dip, it was the first dip we ever had, and it was small, but it did say to us, we can't keep resting on our laurels."
The fine-tuning seems to have paid off.
In third and fifth grades, scores went up in four of the six subject areas. Eighth-graders increased their scores in all six.
The MSPAP tests evaluate proficiency in reading, writing, language use, math, science and social studies. Unlike traditional standardized tests, the tests require pupils to apply their knowledge, often by working in groups and writing essays.
Nineteen of 37 elementary schools posted gains, as did 12 of the 17 middle schools. And Howard County fifth- and eighth-graders showed the top composite scores in the state, scoring 63.5 and 61 percent, respectively.
Third-graders, with 59.9 percent scoring satisfactorily, were second in the state. Kent County third-graders scored 78 percent.
Despite last year's drop, state school officials said Howard's overall performance could be used by other systems as an example.
State schools spokesman Ron Peiffer said Howard has made steady gains since the program began in 1993 - altogether, about 12.3 percentage points.
"That's one of the hallmarks of a program that's doing what it's supposed to do," Peiffer said.
Statewide, the percentage of pupils scoring at a satisfactory level has increased to 45.3 percent.
Howard County Superintendent John R. O'Rourke said the county's increase in scores shows what can happen when teachers, pupils, parents and administrators are focused on the same goal - continuous improvement.
"Although we are pleased with this increase, we are not content," O'Rourke said. "We are determined to get even better."
Howard County elementary schools
This table shows composite index scores for Howard 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 61.4 59.3 60.1 57.6 56.9 56.0 51.3 10.1
Atholton 70.7 63.8 73.4 58.3 63.8 60.4 54.1 16.6
Bollman Bridge 47.6 52.9 54.0 60.9 58.9 49.6 54.7 -7.1
Bryant Woods 45.8 46.8 62.4 57.0 69.0 55.6 50.6 -4.8
Bushy Park 75.3 68.5 72.0 67.3 65.8 64.8 61.6 13.6
Centennial Lane 80.2 76.4 79.5 71.0 65.1 65.1 62.9 17.3
Clarksville 69.0 73.9 70.2 69.6 59.3 55.0 53.6 15.4
Clemens Crossing 67.5 71.5 68.2 64.4 62.5 67.5 60.1 7.4
Dasher Green 41.5 44.8 56.5 44.1 45.6 42.2 39.3 2.2
Deep Run 51.9 47.6 59.2 51.5 51.9 54.0 43.2 8.7
Elkridge 49.7 42.7 52.6 42.6 39.8 42.7 34.5 15.2
Forest Ridge 55.5 54.7 64.6 66.7 60.6 67.0 48.6 6.9
Fulton 64.3 61.1 63.0 NA NA NA NA NA
Gorman Crossing 59.6 66.7 NA NA NA NA NA NA
Guilford 42.3 41.5 49.9 51.5 45.3 48.8 38.5 3.8
Hammond 67.9 72.3 74.7 71.8 63.5 68.6 61.5 6.4
Hollifield Station 73.2 66.8 70.8 NA NA NA NA NA
Ilchester 72.2 61.7 66.3 63.2 NA NA NA NA
Jeffers Hill 59.8 60.3 50.8 45.1 49.1 44.0 46.0 13.8
Laurel Woods 31.3 40.0 35.1 40.0 33.0 39.7 34.3 -3.0
Lisbon 56.8 63.0 61.1 53.9 57.6 49.7 52.9 3.9
Longfellow 67.3 61.5 57.3 51.9 56.0 51.3 56.6 10.7
Manor Woods 81.5 76.5 72.1 69.7 64.8 66.5 NA NA
Northfield 75.6 74.9 74.3 70.4 69.5 60.4 57.6 18.0
Phelps Luck 40.7 43.6 48.5 56.1 37.3 45.7 47.8 -7.1
Pointers Run 79.6 71.3 71.6 67.5 62.8 64.3 55.2 24.4
Rockburn 63.1 54.2 56.9 54.9 59.4 55.2 53.2 9.9
Running Brook 52.1 36.0 40.0 43.2 50.6 39.5 42.8 9.4
St. John's Lane 54.1 60.2 62.2 56.2 52.3 50.4 40.2 13.9
Steven's Forest 60.7 51.3 60.1 54.8 63.7 58.0 38.4 22.3
