From Harford County Public Schools:
Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) data for elementary and middle school students in each district across the state was released yesterday on Maryland Report Card. These assessment scores set a new baseline for data gathered to determine if elementary and middle school students are on track to graduate ready for college or careers. HCPS students participated in the first full implementation of PARCC this past spring, and results released yesterday show HCPS students scored higher than the state average.
“We are extremely proud of our PARCC results this year,” said Harford County Public Schools (HCPS) Superintendent Barbara P. Canavan. “Transitioning to a new assessment can be daunting for students, staff and families, but our children continue to persevere knowing that they will and can meet the challenge of increasingly high academic standards. Our students are working diligently in our classrooms because they know that they have our steadfast support from their teachers, administrators and school communities.”
PARCC exams are the first assessments aligned to Maryland’s College and Career Ready Standards, which set a higher bar for student learning. PARCC is both a new and different assessment than the previously utilized Maryland School Assessment (MSA).
HCPS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PARCC PERFORMANCE
More than 56 percent of HCPS elementary school students in grades 3 through 5 who participated in the PARCC English Language Arts (ELA) assessment are meeting or exceeding the college and career expectations as compared to the state’s average of approximately 39 percent. Elementary students in grades 3 through 5 are meeting or exceeding the college and career expectations set forth in the mathematics assessment at nearly 45 percent, compared to the state average of 32 percent. HCPS performance ranked first in the state in grade 4 with 58 percent meeting or exceeding expectations on the ELA assessment. HCPS performance ranked second in the state on the ELA assessment in grades 3 and 5.
HCPS MIDDLE SCHOOL PARCC PERFORMANCE
Fifty-five percent of middle school students in HCPS met or exceeded the expectations on the ELA assessment compared to the state average of 32 percent. Students in grade 6 performed the highest in the state at 53 percent on the ELA assessment. In mathematics, nearly 44 percent of middle school students in HCPS met or exceeded the expectations. The mathematics results include students who were enrolled in Algebra I and participated in the PARCC Algebra I assessment. County performance on the grades 6 and 8 mathematics assessment ranked second in the entire state.
PARCC resources for parents and guardians are available on the school system’s website, hcps.org, by clicking the ‘Maryland College & Career-Ready Standards and Common Core’ button on the lefthand side of the homepage. Schools have also posted links to more information on their individual Edline pages. A districtwide call was made to HCPS households last month directing parents/guardians to the online resources.
Individual student reports will be released December 18. Further information regarding the individual student reports can be located at www.understandthescore.org.
Where is the outrage about this terrible test??? The state average for the Middle School ELA test is 32%! If only 32% of the students in Maryland passed this test, the test is horrible. How much taxpayer money and instructional time have been wasted on this useless test?
Agree. Dump these tests!