Harford County Public Schools students at all grade levels have outpaced their peers statewide on standardized tests for the second consecutive year, according to achievement data presented to the Board of Education Monday evening.
The presentation included elementary, middle and high school attendance rates, the percentage of students who met or exceeded state standards on the PARCC math and reading/English-language arts exams, plus the Maryland Scholastic Assessment and High School Assessment science exams, during the 2015-16 school year. School officials presented data on high school students' performance on SAT, International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement tests, high school graduation rates and college attendance, as well.
"We are very pleased with the results and would like to thank our students, teachers, administrators and support staff on having a very successful school year," Susan Brown, executive director of curriculum, instruction and assessment, said.
Students across Maryland began taking PARCC exams during the 2014-15 school year. The test are graded on a scale of 1 through 5, with 4 meaning students meet standards and 5 meaning they exceed standards.
Harford students ranked among the top 10 of 24 school districts, based on the percentage meeting and exceeding standards, and among the top five in quite a few cases – 54.5 percent of fifth graders who took their reading test met or exceeded standards, the highest rank in the state, Angela Morton executive director of elementary school performance, told board members.
Data on student's performance on the most recent PARCC, which was released in late September, showed slight declines in reading scores overall and slight increases in math scores, which was indicated in the data presented to the school board Monday.