Keeping track of how Howard County has fared on the battery of state-mandated tests in recent years hasn't been difficult: County students generally score well on all of them.
This year was no different. Howard ranked first among the state's 24 jurisdictions on the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program, which covers a number of criteria including three assessment tests. The Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills and the Maryland School Performance Assessment Test are administered in the third, fifth and eighth grades, while passage of the Maryland Functional Test is required of ninth graders (although most school systems begin administering it in middle school).
Howard had among the highest scores on all the tests, although the county, like all jurisdictions in the state, failed to meet the rigorous standards in the assessment tests in reading, math, social studies, science, writing and language use. The assessment test results will not count until 1996. Nevertheless, Howard County made slight progress in most categories, and Superintendent Michael E. Hickey expressed optimism about meeting the state's goals.
All combined -- the various tests, plus assessments of attendance and promotion rates -- Howard ranked tops in Maryland for the fifth straight year. The overall report, which had Howard scoring satisfactory or better on all 13 criteria, put the county ahead of its high-achieving bigger cousin, Montgomery County.
An interesting footnote is that Howard scored higher than its neighbor to the southwest even though it educates a slightly higher percentage of students on free and reduced-price lunch programs, and income often correlates to achievement.
A more detailed breakdown by individual schools will be available in several weeks and will shed more light on the system's standing. If there is anything ominous in the results thus far, it is that formerly rural districts that turn into growing suburban enclaves score highest, while older, urban jurisdictions seem to suffer.
The challenge for Howard County as it matures will be to fend off this trend for as long as possible. Whether these are the county schools' golden years or just the beginning of what they can achieve, time will tell.