Harford County Public Schools' academic performance review shows decline in proficient and advanced Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program scores

Apr. 7—A review of Harford County Public Schools' academic performance at a recent Board of Education meeting highlighted the percentage of students who scored proficient or advanced on Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program tests in English Language Arts Literacy and mathematics in grades 3-8 and grade 10.

The school system reminded board members and parents that the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment has changed compared to previous assessments.

"In [English Language Arts], math, science, social studies in grade 8, as well as government in grade 9, we had major changes from previous MCAP assessments," Supervisor of Accountability Phil Snyder said. "The reason I highlighted that is as we look at prior years, we have to use caution in comparing one assessment to another."

Harford County Public Schools' average rank is 10.1 in English Language Arts and 9.2 in math out of the state's 24 districts, according to a graph presented by Snyder. The data is from the Maryland State Department of Education.

In Maryland, English Language Arts Literacy is tested in grades 3 through 8 and grade 10, according to Snyder.

In the 2021-2022 school year assessment, 51.7% of county students in grades 3 through 5 scored proficient or advanced on the MCAP compared to 44% of students in the state. In grades 6 through 8, 45.5% of students scored proficient or advanced, compared to 43.4% of students in the state; and 56.9% of Harford 10th graders scored proficient or advanced compared to 53% of students overall in the state.

To support teachers and students, the school system offered services, such as countywide institutes, for teachers to discuss reading instruction and the new curriculum. More than 300 teachers participated, according to Supervisor of Reading and English Language Arts Kristine Scarry.

"We offered summer institutes and not knowing ahead of time how much interest or participation we would get," said Scarry. "I was thrilled to see every seat taken. Every ticket sold to come to the institute where teachers [gave] up time to talk about reading instruction."

"It really isn't about the program," said Scarry. "It's about how do we continue to build the capacity of our teachers to meet the needs of students. One might joke that teaching reading is rocket science. It takes a lot to learn all the ways to meet the needs of students."

The percentage of proficient or advanced scores for grades 3 through 5 in Harford County increased despite the major changes to the assessment. However, in the other grade levels, the percentage declined, with the grade 10 percentage unclear.

In math, the decrease in students scoring proficient or advanced emphasized the major changes made to the assessment, school officials said.

For students in grades 3 through 5, 35% of students in the county scored proficient or advance compared to 29.8% of students in Maryland.

"We can see that the scores of the previous assessments and this year's assessment scores are different," said Snyder. "It is something that is statewide. It is a rigorous assessment and there were major shifts in the assessment overall."

For students in grades 6 through 8, not including middle school students who took algebra 1 or geometry, 14.7% scored proficient or advanced while the overall percentage in Maryland was 13.3%.

Middle schoolers who took the algebra 1 or geometry assessment are added to the high school math scores, which lowers the scores of high school students scoring proficient or advanced, according to Snyder.

In the county,14.1% of high school and middle school students who took the assessment for algebra 1 or geometry scored proficient or advanced compared to Maryland's overall rate of 14.4%. Algebra 1 and geometry are not offered to all Maryland middle school students.

The math office, much like the English Language Arts office, supports students and teachers in many ways, including countywide institutes, professional development, early dismissal, and department chair meetings. However, a couple of things are unique, according to Supervisor of Mathematics Joanne McCord.

"We revised our course notes for our elementary math teachers to include more information about the context specific lessons that students learn in the progression of moving on to the next grade," said McCord. "In addition, we added some teacher specialists to our Title 1 schools to help teachers plan their lessons."

The school system also has two district level specialists to support non-Title I schools. One specialist focuses on Pre-K through second grade, the other focuses in third grade through fifth grade. Title I schools are those with a high number of students from low-income families.

Acknowledging the change to the assessments, Board of Education President Carol Mueller shared her concerns regarding the test scores.

"The big takeaway from this, at least for me, is that when we compare the districts, we are comparing apples to oranges sometimes," said Mueller. "They don't test the same way we test [in other districts] and the fact that this is a brand new test, you can see across the state all the scores were lower."

Board member Roy Phillips said the numbers leave a lot of room for improvement.

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"The most difficult part about solving a problem is identifying where the primary problem is, and I'm wondering if we have the ability to break it down by school," said Phillips. "If one is school is performing at 80%, another school is performing at 50%, and another at 20%, we should maybe focus our resources at the schools doing 20%. Not to say that 80% is the best, but 20% needs more assistance."

Board member Diane Alvarez said that the school system should look at what aspects of math students are struggling with. Meanwhile, Board of Education Vice President Wade Sewell said another possible factor in low test scores is funding.

"For 11 years straight," said Sewell, the school system struggled with "chronic underfunding. The only thing to change that was COVID-19, when lots of money floated into the system. Keeping that in mind, performance isn't something that can be changed in a week. You're growing the students over a span of years. So, when a school system has to cut positions year after year, it leads to poor performances. Finally, we have a chance to start building it back."

Superintendent Sean Bulson said that "race and equity" need to be factored into the most recent scores. He said that county students are performing in the "middle of the pack," but acknowledged that the scores are not satisfactory.

"For the last three years, we had a chance to grow and invest in staff and bring back support for teachers and students that were cut," said Bulson. "These scores are not good enough. We are not satisfied. I see a lot of great work going on and I absolutely appreciate the work. I'm hopeful about this year's test. I'm a little concerned about the math test because it is still changing but our focus is 90% literacy. I believe we'll continue to see our reading scores improve."

"Another factor is the performance of certain groups of students. We've heard endlessly through COVID-19 that students in poverty and non-white populations struggled more during the pandemic. My concern is that in Harford, it's gotten worse. We need to understand what our students are dealing with. This isn't to make everyone feel better, this is because our data is showing us significant needs. Understand that race and equity is a big part of trying to achieve better results for our students. We have a long way to go."

The presentation is available on Harford County Public Schools website at https://www.hcps.org/boe/ under the March 27 meeting agenda. The next Board of Education meeting is April 17 at 6:30 p.m.