By Craig Whitlock
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 10, 1998; Page M1

Howard County students earned the top scores on statewide assessment tests for the sixth straight year as the school system inched closer to becoming the first district in Maryland to reach an ambitious bench mark set by the state Board of Education.

In tests given last spring as part of the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program, Howard schools recorded a composite score of 60.1 percent of its students receiving satisfactory marks. That's an increase of 2.2 percentage points over Howard's 1997 score and the district's biggest one-year improvement since 1995. The school system has raised its scores each year since the tests were first given in 1993.

The Maryland Board of Education has established a goal that 70 percent of third-, fifth- and eighth-graders statewide make satisfactory scores in each subject by 2000.

"We're planning on attaining it," said Stephen C. Bounds, chairman of the Howard County Board of Education. "That's the goal we were given, and we're planning on making it there. Whether we'll actually make it or not, I don't know."

Progress in Howard wasn't uniform. County elementary schools as a group showed significant improvement while middle schools struggled to match their scores of years past.

"I'm very pleased with the results," said Howard County School Superintendent Michael E. Hickey. "The middle school performance was not what I'd like it to be in some areas, but we're working on it."

The Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) tests students' skills in six subject areas: reading, writing, language usage, math, science and social studies. The tests are given each spring to students in third, fifth and eighth grades.

The tests are designed to measure how well each school teaches the state curriculum, rather than to highlight the performance of individual students. Most schools use the results to detect weak spots in how they teach certain subjects.

While Howard retained its No. 1 ranking, other school districts made substantial gains as well.

Howard's 1998 aggregate results were 16 percentage points above the state average – the same margin as last year. Harford, Carroll and Montgomery – the districts that ranked second, third and fourth, respectively – all raised their scores.

Hickey said school officials are prepar

ing "a more intensive strategy" to help about 10 or so schools that have seen their assessment test scores drop steadily in recent years. That report is scheduled to be presented to the school board in February.

"We had some schools which continued to show a decline in performance, and that's a real concern to us," Hickey said. "We're determined to reverse that trend."

Among the schools with the most pronounced drops this year were Owen Brown Middle School (down 12 percentage points), Oakland Mills Middle School (down 11 points) and Talbott Springs Elementary School (down 10 points), according to test results provided by state education officials.

Other schools registered big gains, including Hammond Middle School (18 points), Atholton Elementary (15 points) and Centennial Lane Elementary School (8.5 points).

In general, Howard's elementary schools posted solid improvements on the MSPAP. Of the county's 35 elementary schools, 26 boosted their test scores while results at seven others dropped. Two new schools took the test for the first time.

By contrast, middle schools reported mixed results. Six middle schools improved their scores while nine lost ground.

Middle school students in general struggled the most on the reading portion of the MSPAP exam, said Leslie A. Wilson, the Howard school system's testing supervisor.

The eighth-grade reading test measures much more than a student's ability to read, focusing on critical analysis of reading passages.

For example, the test may require students to read a poem and a sample letter to the editor, and then answer a series of comparative questions.

Howard officials said it is unclear why reading scores in middle school are lower than anticipated.

"We're certainly not making the kind of progress we need to be making at the middle school level," Bounds said. "My questions are going to be largely focused on what steps do we need to take to deal with that lack of progress."