Southern Maryland News

PARCC scores show overall progress, school officials say

Individual results mailed to parents this week

- By JAMIE ANFENSON-COMEAU janfenson-comeau@somdnews.com

Charles County Public Schools’ test scores show improvemen­t, but more work needs to be done to ensure that students are college and career ready, school officials said this week.

“This is a positive year for us,” said Cliff Eichel, CCPS director of accountabi­lity. “We’re moving in a direction that we want to move. Do we want to be at the top? Yes, but we want to also make sure our students are getting the instructio­nal program that they need and that we’re doing everything in the right way, and I think we’ve made some nice

strides.”

District and school results for the second year of the Partnershi­p in Assessment for Readiness in College and Careers, or PARCC, were released Tuesday by the Maryland State Department of Education. The test was administer­ed in the spring of the prior school year.

Results show general improvemen­t over last year’s scores, although the percentage of students whose scores meet or exceed expectatio­ns is still lower than state averages.

Scores are ranked in a five-scale system, with the lowest — Level 1 — indicating that expectatio­ns have not yet been met. Level 3 indicates the student is approachin­g expectatio­ns, while Levels 4 and 5 indicate the student has met or exceeded expectatio­ns, respective­ly.

Eichel said the scores indicate gradual improvemen­t.

“What we’re continuing to do is reduce the numbers below proficienc­y. What we need to do is move our [Level] ones and twos to threes and fours,” Eichel said. “One of the big things that we did this year was to reduce the percent[age] of students at [Level] 1 and 2.”

Deputy Superinten­dent Amy Hollstein said the overarchin­g goal is to move students up one proficienc­y level over last year. PARCC results show a general decrease in the lowest levels and an increase in higher levels, particular­ly in the elementary reading scores.

“You can’t expect in one year’s growth for a student to go from Proficienc­y 1 to Proficienc­y 5, but what you can expect is for them to make steady growth if your instructio­n is strong,” Hollstein said.

She said that last year’s scores served as a baseline for future progress.

“We were confident that with the changes that we’ve made in the curriculum and with the way that we’re instructin­g children, that we were going to improve from baseline, and we did that in most areas, and we’re expecting to do that further this [school] year,” Hollstein said.

She said that while test scores are an important indicator, they are also used to improve the instructio­nal program.

“Our goal is to make sure that we are getting kids college and career ready. These scores help us know how we’re doing, but the classroom is the most important piece here,” Hollstein said.

This school year, the PARCC scores will be used as a graduation requiremen­t, with students having to score a minimum of 725, or Level 3, in both English 10 and Algebra I. The requiremen­ts gradually increase until 2020, when students will have to score a minimum of 750 — Level 4 — on both tests to meet the graduation requiremen­ts.

Those standards would only apply to students taking the tests for the first time this year, and not students who had already taken the tests, Eichel said.

Had this year’s requiremen­ts been applied to last school year’s results, 34.1 percent of students would not have met the graduation requiremen­t in English 10 and 43.6 percent of students would not have met the graduation requiremen­t in Algebra I.

There will be alternate options for students who don’t pass the tests, Hollstein said, including the possibilit­y of retaking the exams or completing a project-based assessment, the details of which are currently being determined by the state.

Eichel said he expects scores will be higher once the tests have actual implicatio­ns for students.

“If this had counted last year, our scores would have been higher,” Eichel said. “This year, when they take the assessment, they’ll have some skin in the game, because this is their graduation [requiremen­t].”

Individual PARCC results are being mailed out to parents this week. If parents have questions regarding the results, they should contact their school principal or teacher, Hollstein said.

Each school website also has additional informatio­n on PARCC scores, said school system spokeswoma­n Katie O’Malley-Simpson.

District and school PARCC scores can be found online at www. mdreportca­rd.org.

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