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Schools See Mixed Results on Statewide Tests

By Amy Argetsinger
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 18, 1997; Page M01

The announcement last week of cumulative scores on statewide assessment tests in May presented a mixed bag for Anne Arundel County schools.

Some schools scored higher. Some schools scored lower. But most performed like the county as a whole -- holding steady, with no dramatic change.

Although the percentage of children in Anne Arundel public schools performing at "satisfactory" levels on the Maryland State Performance Assessment Program tests dropped a fraction of a point, school officials shrugged it off as a statistically insignificant "leveling off."

It was an expected development, they said, after years of solid improvement.

But Anne Arundel's "plateau" comes as many other counties continue to boost their scores. When the test was first administered in 1993, Anne Arundel ranked sixth among all jurisdictions; this year, it dropped to 11th.

With 47.1 percent of students meeting state standards, the county is still well above the state average. But despite its respectable performance, Anne Arundel -- like all other counties -- still falls far short of the state's target of having 70 percent of children make satisfactory scores by 2000. Only 52 schools have met that goal.

Yet state officials say Anne Arundel is on the right track to improving student knowledge and analytical skills, which the annual standardized tests are designed to monitor.

"Knowing what's going on in Anne Arundel, I don't have any reason to believe they won't make some gains," said Ron Peiffer, assistant state school superintendent. "It's not just looking at the composite [score]. It's looking at where they went up or down and in which grades."

Since 1993, MSPAP tests have been given to third-, fifth- and eighth-graders every spring to see how well they apply basic knowledge and skills to solve real-world problems. Subject areas include reading, writing, language usage, math, science and social studies.

In general, the Anne Arundel student population showed more impressive gains on math and social studies tests than on reading and writing tests. State officials said the county showed "statistically significant" improvement in third- and eighth-grade social studies and fifth- and eighth-grade math.

Significant losses were in third- and fifth-grade writing, as well as in eighth-grade reading, where 7 percent fewer Anne Arundel students are meeting state standards than were last year.

Eighth-grade reading has been a habitual problem statewide. Only about 26 percent of students in that grade are reading at a satisfactory level, a two-point drop from last year's result.

In Anne Arundel, eighth-grade reading performance has increased a mere 2.8 points -- to a paltry 24.9 percent meeting state standards -- since 1993, a time period during which student achievement has soared in other subject areas.

State and county officials praised a few schools:

Southern Middle School, which actually saw the percentage of eighth-graders scoring satisfactory or better on reading scores rise by 16 percentage points.

West Annapolis Elementary, where more than twice as many students are meeting state standards than in 1993.

Mayo Elementary, which has made steady gains since 1993, one of only 52 schools statewide (and six in Anne Arundel) with composite MSPAP results better than 70 percent.

Others that have made significant gains include Rolling Knolls Elementary, with a composite score of 61.2 percent, up from 27.2 in 1993; and Brock Bridge Elementary in Laurel, with a composite of 45.4 percent, up from 19.6 in 1993.

The victory was bittersweet for Southern Middle. The Lothian school doesn't even have an eighth grade anymore -- crowding forced school officials to move eighth-graders to Southern High School.

But this week, Principal Deborah Montgomery met with the high school's eighth-grade teachers to explain the classroom tactics she believes helped improve scores for students over the last two years. At Southern Middle, she said, teachers work in interdisciplinary teams that coordinate ways to promote reading and writing skills in subjects such as science or math. She also said the school tried to prepare students for the rigors of taking the MSPAP tests, which often take a couple hours -- much longer than the tests the students are used to.

"I would like to think it was all of our school improvement efforts," Montgomery said.

Mayo Principal Victoria Waidner also touted a new interdisciplinary approach to bolster "solid old-fashioned teaching."

But she also credited parents who volunteer and a parents' organization that has helped raise funds for materials and projects not included in the school budget.

"If you want to keep improving, it takes more than the amount allotted," Waidner said.

One notable change in the county after five years: The grumbling that greeted the tests in 1993 largely has vanished among school administrators. Even if their schools didn't perform well, many principals applaud the goals that the state program sets.

"What children have to do on MSPAP is what we all hope our children can do academically," said Rebecca Schou, principal of Annapolis Elementary, where composite scores wavered in the 30th to 40th percentile before dropping this year. In response, she said, the school is offering more hands-on projects and problem-solving activities to improve students' analytical skills.

"Having that high standard of measure certainly has put up a yardstick for us to reach," she said.