The majority of Baltimore's first-graders scored above the national median for the second straight year on reading and math tests, while children in the city's troubled middle schools made solid gains this spring in both subjects.
Even with flat reading scores in several grades, school officials said the overall results of national standardized exams for first- through eighth-graders show the system is continuing to make steady progress in its effort to raise pupil achievement.
Scores on the TerraNova, formerly known as the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills, went up in every grade in math.
First-grade performance in reading and math continued to improve, as it did a year ago when the majority scored above the national median for the first time in at least a decade. This year's reading score rose 4 percentile points to the 59th percentile; in math, the score increased 3 percentile points to the 54th percentile.
If a pupil ranks in the 50th percentile, he or she has scored better than 50 percent of all pupils who took the test. As a result, 50 is considered the national median.
"We are on the move in Baltimore," city school board Chairwoman Patricia L. Welch said yesterday at a celebration of the results at school system headquarters. "It's because of good teaching, good support and a belief in the children of Baltimore."
Reading scores were flat in grades two and three and dipped slightly in grade five - a change from a year ago, when gains were made in every elementary grade.
But school officials highlighted improvements in the city's chronically underperforming middle schools, saying that reform efforts undertaken during the past academic year have begun to make a difference.
The city's sixth-graders, for example, though still lagging behind their counterparts across the country, increased their reading score from a year ago by 8 percentile points, to the 30th percentile.
Eighth-graders increased their score in math by 11 percentile points, to the 32nd percentile, over fall 2000.
This was the first year eighth-graders took the TerraNova in the spring; other grades have always taken the standardized test then.
"Our middle schools have really done us proud," said Carmen V. Russo, chief executive officer for the school system. "Imagine what they're going to do next year."
Several schools in the "CEO's district," which were singled out for extra attention and additional resources in an effort to speed improvement, posted significant increases in reading and math in some grades. Officials had not yet evaluated, however, whether that district performed better overall than the city as a whole.
Westport Elementary-Middle School, a CEO's district school being run by Victory Schools, a private, for-profit company, had mixed results. But scores for grade one were particularly disappointing, with a 25-point drop in reading and a 3-point decline in math from a year ago.
Citywide, Baltimore schools have made remarkable progress on the national exams since 1997, when the city and state launched a landmark partnership to overhaul a school system in dire academic straits. In exchange for giving up partial control of the schools, the city got a pledge for more than $250 million in new state aid over five years.
The bulk of it was put toward elementary reforms, including reducing class sizes, establishing a districtwide curriculum and giving teachers more training in reading and math. The school system also expanded pre-kindergarten and kindergarten programs.
Slowly but surely, the efforts have paid off: Since 1998, the first-grade TerraNova reading score has climbed 34 percentile points, while the third-grade math score has increased 22 percentile points.
"That's the heart and soul of this announcement today," state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick said yesterday. "Not a singular year where things look good, but sustained progress over time."
City school board member Sam Stringfield praised state legislators for providing the school system with the extra funding, as well as for agreeing to provide millions more. The so-called Thornton legislation passed by the General Assembly during the last session calls for a $1.3 billion increase statewide in public education spending over the next six years, and includes a large boost for Baltimore.
"We should say they are getting a return on their investment," Stringfield said.
This year, 70 of 112 elementary schools increased their first-grade reading score, while 38 slipped and four stayed the same. The percentage of schools with first-graders scoring above the 50th percentile in reading increased to 67 percent from 57 percent a year ago.
First graders at Elmer A. Henderson Elementary scored at the 85th percentile in reading and the 89th percentile in math.
Principal Jamie M. Brown attributed the math score - the city's highest for that grade - to a combination of factors, including unusually small class size, an instructional-support teacher solely for math, daily monitoring of and immediate feedback to teachers, and a range of remedial programs before school, after school and on Saturdays.
"With success, it breeds success," Brown said. "So children just feeling good about the fact that they were getting good grades just pushed it along."
Lakeland Elementary/Middle School was recognized as one of the most improved schools in reading: During the last two years, its sixth-grade score jumped 26 percentile points, from the 23rd percentile to the 49th percentile.
Lakeland's first-graders also did well this year, reaching the national median for the first time. Jacqueline Ferris, the principal, said all-day kindergarten has helped prepare children better. A phonics-based reading curriculum, after-school programs and an 18-to-1 pupil-to-teacher ratio in the early grades has made a difference - as has good old-fashioned teaching by her staff, she said.
"So many of them go beyond the call of duty for everything," Ferris said. "Kudos to them."
School officials will use the latest test results to help determine how well certain initiatives are working as the district continues its reform drive. Two models that have generally been successful are Achievement First, which emphasizes literacy, in-classroom teacher training and support for principals, and Direct Instruction, which takes a tightly scripted, drill-heavy approach.
Mary E. Yakimowski, the system's chief of educational accountability, said nine of the 10 schools in the CEO's district showed overall gains on the Total Battery - a combination of reading, language arts and math scores. The average gain in reading across all grades in the special district was 2 percentile points, while the average gain in math was 4 points, she said.
One school in the CEO's district, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Elementary, saw its reading scores drop in every grade and its math scores drop in every grade but third.
Russo said she would have liked to see larger overall gains in her district, particularly in reading, but that she considered the first year of the three-year effort a success.
"It's only one year. It takes time for new staff and principals to gel," she said. "I would have liked to see higher, but I still think that we have made a wonderful start."
Sun staff writer Liz Bowie contributed to this article.
Biggest increases
Schools with greatest gains in median percentile scores on the TerraNova reading tests. National median is 50.
Grade...School...'02...'01...Chg.
1...Collington Square...80...25...55
2...Lafayette...56...26...30
3...Bay Brook...66...29...37
4...Bay Brook...39...17...22
5...Midtown Academy...76...54...22
6...Lakeland...49...21...28
7...Guilford...41...27...14
Schools with greatest gains in math. National median is 50.
Grade...School...'02...'01...Chg.
1...Harriet Tubman...65...24...41
2...Grove Park...64...24...40
3...Belmont...54...24...30
4...Midtown Academy...63...35...28
5...Lafayette...62...25...37
6...Arundel...33...9...24
7...Violetville...58...37...21
Eighth grade is not included because comparative scores from spring 2001 are not available.