On Dec. 3, the Maryland State Department of Education updated the Maryland Report Card website to reflect the second year of performance data for every school in the state, including schools in Wicomico County.
The 2019 Maryland School Report Card (MdReportCard.org) provides an enhanced and comprehensive picture of school and school system performance, with new indicators about achievement among student groups, input from students and educators, and information about whether schools have improved since last year. Updated data includes 2018-2019 school assessment results, percentile rankings, Star Ratings, state science assessment results for elementary and middle school students, and indicators of school improvement.
Delmar Elementary, Pemberton Elementary, Westside Intermediate, Northwestern Elementary, North Salisbury Elementary, Pittsville Elementary and Middle, Mardela Middle and High, and Parkside High earned 4 Stars. All remaining elementary, middle and high schools earned 3 Stars. (Schools with only primary grades do not receive Star Ratings because they do not have state assessment data.)
Dr. Frederick Briggs, Assistant Superintendent – Chief Academic Officer, and Karen Parsons, Supervisor of Assessment, will present the 2019 Star Ratings results for Wicomico County Public Schools during the monthly meeting of the Wicomico County Board of Education on Tuesday, Dec. 10 at approximately 1:30 p.m.
“The ESSA Star Ratings released by MSDE Tuesday as part of the 2019 Maryland School Report Card are a reflection of the excellent work being done in Wicomico County Public Schools, and of areas where we will continue to seek improvement to benefit students throughout the district,” Dr. Briggs said. “School principals, with the support of Central Office staff, have already begun to analyze their school data and will be working with team members in their buildings to identify specific opportunities for growth. As schools develop plans to support enhanced academic achievement and school success, details will be communicated to school families.”
Students who took assessments in the spring of 2019 already received their individual home reports from their respective schools. Please feel free to contact your child’s school or Karen Parsons, Supervisor of Assessment and Accountability, in our district Office of Assessment and Accountability, 410-677-4477, for additional information and/or support in better understanding your child’s assessment performance or school’s overall performance rating.
Just as a student report card shows how well a student is performing in different subjects, the Maryland School Report Card describes a school’s performance on the Maryland accountability system. The School Report Card is designed so parents, educators, stakeholders, and others can easily understand how their schools are performing and spark conversations, ideas, and solutions for Maryland schools. Each school’s results can be found on the Maryland Report Card website, MdReportCard.org.
Through this accountability system, elementary and middle schools are evaluated and ranked in the following categories: academic achievement, academic progress, progress in achieving English language proficiency, and measures of school quality and student success. For high schools, the system includes academic achievement, graduation rate, progress in English language proficiency, readiness for postsecondary success, and measures of school quality and student success. New this year to the Star Ratings: scores on the Maryland science assessment, and school climate survey results from teachers and from students. Star Ratings will continue to be released annually for each intermediate, middle, and high school in Maryland.
Dr. Karen Salmon, State Superintendent of Schools, stressed that the new features of the 2019 Maryland School Report Card are significant in charting school improvement and equity, which are two of the highest priorities of MSDE.
“When we unveiled the new Maryland Report Card last year, we envisioned that this tool would evolve to remain relevant and important in school improvement efforts statewide,” Dr. Salmon said. “We hope this will help everyone gain a better understanding of how each school is doing, and provide inspiration about how we can work together to make our schools the best they can be for all students.”
