The last round of state tests showed Baltimore's third-graders slipping for the first time in five years, while the first set of scores from new rigorous high school exams underscored the large gap that separates the city's most selective high schools from its underperforming neighborhood ones.

The scores on the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program, which the city had worked so hard to increase in the past several years, were not a disappointment, despite a 2-point overall decline, said Chief Executive Officer Carmen V. Russo.

"I would have been disappointed if we went down and the state hadn't gone down, but we followed the state," she said.

Many of the system's citywide high schools -- with entrance requirements that weed out underachievers -- ranked among the region's best on the new high-stakes exams, which were given mostly to ninth-graders last winter and spring in five subjects. Passing the High School Assessments could eventually become a graduation requirement, beginning with next year's freshmen.

Polytechnic Institute ranked among the top 10 in the metro area. City College and the School for the Arts also scored near the top.

But performance by students at comprehensive high schools, such as Patterson and Southwestern, was dismal, with most scoring in the bottom third statewide.

"It's not a big surprise where the data is today," said Mary E. Yakimowski, the system's chief of educational accountability. "Now we know for next year where we need to go. This also substantiates the need for high school reform here."

Russo has been focusing on reforming neighborhood high schools, where low academic performance is a persistent problem.

Although state education officials have not set the pass/fail percentage for the new tests, Baltimore's comparatively low scores serve to reinforce the importance of Russo's efforts, Yakimowski said.

Joe Wilson, principal of City College -- one of the system's citywide high schools -- said he was encouraged by the relatively high scores at his school, but he said that the numbers don't specify what areas within subjects need improvement.

"Right now, we're really not learning anything by the numbers," Wilson said.

Chief Academic Officer Cassandra Jones said high school principals will soon be receiving more feedback about what the scores mean.

In the meantime, officials believe the school system's performance will improve.

"I think that unlike MSPAP ... there's a strong realization among everyone that this [test] is here to stay," Russo said. "I think that what we'll see here over the next two or three years is growth."

Despite a 2-point slide on the MSPAP, city schools fared reasonably well compared with other jurisdictions.

Fifth- and eighth-grade scores in the city went up slightly overall, while the state scores went down. Most encouraging were eighth-grade math and reading scores, which also were up.

But third-grade scores -- in reading and math -- declined sharply, down to levels that haven't been seen since the reform of city schools began five years ago.

The downward trend was consistent with other jurisdictions, and state and local educators questioned whether it represented a true picture of third-grade achievement.

Rosemont Elementary School Principal Sandra Ashe said she would have expected her third-grade reading scores to improve. "I am really surprised they went down," she said.

The low reading score seemed inconsistent with Rosemont's performance in other subjects on the test, including a 40-point increase in fifth-grade science.

Despite such inconsistencies, most schools with a record of increases continued to do well. And many schools that had been doing poorly continued to do so unless there had been a change in the principal or in teaching.

While Russo agrees with some educators that the results might have puzzling discrepancies, she believes MSPAP is a valuable tool for principals to use to analyze what teaching methods worked.

"I don't believe the ... principals will disregard this because it is the last year," Russo said. "I would look at it as another way of diagnosing."

The slight increase in eighth-grade scores overall were dampened by decreases in reading and math. But they were early signs that a focus on improving middle schools might be working.

Winston Middle School Principal Eldon Thomas said the school has been looking forward to the scores. A focus on writing this year, she said, paid off. Pupils were required to write in every subject and to keep journals. In addition, she said, she had a stable staff.

"We got all of our students to feel good," she said. "We made them believe in themselves."