Maryland, Virginia Results Breakdown
Third-graders in Maryland take the Maryland School Assessment tests in reading and mathematics. Third-graders in Virginia take the Standards of Learning tests in English, history and social science, mathematics and science.
Below are their results for last year; numbers show the percentage of students who reached the "proficient" or "advanced" level. (D.C. school officials could not provide their third-grade test results.)
VIRGINIA
All students: English 71, Math 87, History and Social Science 87, Science 86.
White: English 78, Math 92, History and Social Science 91, Science 91.
Black: English 55, Math 76, History and Social Science 79, Science 73.
Hispanic: English 63, Math 82, History and Social Science 81, Science 77.
Asian/Pacific Islander: English 82, Math 94, History and Social Science 93, Science 90.
Female: English 76, Math 87, History and Social Science 87, Science 85.
Male: English 67, Math 87, History and Social Science 88, Science 86.
MARYLAND
All students: Reading 71, Math 72.2.
White: Reading 81.6, Math 83.3.
African American: Reading 57.5, Math 57.5.
Hispanic: Reading 59.3, Math 63.5.
Asian: Reading 85.7, Math 88.0.
Male: Reading 66.8, Math 71.1.
Female: Reading 75.5, Math 73.5.
Starting Testing In Third Grade
The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires annual testing of all students beginning in the third grade. Why then?
Experts agree that testing of second-graders or younger is not accurate enough to make judgments about student or school performance. As any parent knows, young children grow and develop at different rates. Some develop rapidly and some take longer to reach key milestones. Tests of academic skills at a young age can be used for diagnostic purposes, such as pinpointing individual learning needs, but are not as reliable in assessing schools.
As recently as the 1980s, many states used tests before third grade to see how schools were performing, but stopped doing so when educators and testing experts objected. By 2000, only five states tested students in kindergarten and first grade, and only 11 states tested students in second grade. Federal law now requires every state to test students in reading and math every year from third through eighth grade.
Over the last 10 years states have established standards for what students learn at each grade level and aligned their annual tests with those standards. School districts such as Montgomery County have taken this one step further and created tests that mirror the annual exams but are administered at the end of each semester. These tests are designed to provide progress reports for teachers and parents midway through the school year.
-- Matthew Gandal, executive vice president of Achieve, Inc., a Washington-based nonprofit organization that advocates for raising standards and achievement in the public schools.
