Four schools don’t make improvement benchmark; some grades at three elementary schools ace tests

After two years in which every public elementary and middle school in the Bowie area achieved annual improvement benchmarks on the Maryland School Assessments, four schools — Benjamin Tasker and Samuel Ogle middle schools and High Bridge and Yorktown elementary schools — hit stumbling blocks this year.

However, three area elementary schools — Tulip Grove, Heather Hills and Whitehall — saw entire grade levels score 100 percent proficiency on one or both of the tests.

Maryland school officials require public school students in third through eighth grades to take the standardized tests annually. The tests gauge students’ basic proficiency in math and reading. Schools are required to make gains in proficiency toward 100 percent by 2014 as required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

At Benjamin Tasker and Samuel Ogle middle schools, and at High Bridge and Yorktown elementary schools, students in some subgroups did not meet adequate yearly progress levels, according to test results released Tuesday by the Maryland State Department of Education.

At Tasker, students who are in special education and who have limited English proficiency did not make adequate progress in reading, while those in special education and the free and reduced meal program did not make the yearly progress target in math.

Overall at Tasker, the percentage of students passing the math tests dropped from 64.8 percent in 2008 to 64.3 percent in 2009. On the other hand, the percentage of Tasker students who passed reading tests improved from 77.1 percent in 2008 to 81 percent in 2009.

Tasker principal Karen Coley said she would not comment on the scores until she met with teachers to review them.

At Ogle Middle, students in special education did not make adequate yearly progress in reading or math. Overall, students at Ogle improved their pass rate in reading from 83.1 percent in 2008 to 84 percent this year. However, the overall pass rate in math dropped from 76.8 percent in 2008 to 74.2 percent this year.

Principal Kathleen Brady could not be reached for comment by deadline.

At High Bridge Elementary School, not enough of the overall student body met the improvement goal in math, according to state education officials. Overall, 62.8 percent of students in 2009 were proficient in math compared with 68.3 in 2008. Students fared better on the math test, with 69.3 percent passing this year compared to 67.6 percent last year.

“Our special needs students didn’t perform like we would have hoped,” said High Bridge principal Charles E. Eller Jr. One-third of the school’s population is composed of special needs students, he added.

“I think we do a great job; it’s just not reflected in published data,” Eller said, adding that High Bridge’s students with limited English proficiency made high gains in English and math and that in one fourth-grade class all of the students were proficient or better on both tests.

Yorktown Elementary did not make its adequate yearly progress goal because not enough students in special education improved their proficiency in math, said Principal Cheryl Hughes.

“Unfortunately, despite great efforts and wonderful gains, we were one student short of achieving [adequate yearly progress] in mathematics in one subgroup,” she said. “Although this is disappointing, it teaches an important lesson. Educational excellence is about every student achieving at high levels.”

Other student groups at Yorktown made significant gains, including the Hispanic student population, which jumped from 70.6 percent proficiency to 100 percent proficiency in reading, Hughes said. Overall, 88.1 percent of students passed the reading test and 76.9 percent passed the math test at Yorktown.

Each of the schools that missed progress goals this year has missed the goals at some point since testing began in 2003, but not in consecutive years. Schools that miss progress goals two years in a row are placed on the state’s school watch list.

Other Bowie schools that had high pass rates on the tests last year continued to show success.

At Tulip Grove Elementary School, third- and fourth-graders scored 100 percent proficiency in math and reading.

A Heather Hills Elementary School, third- and sixth-graders scored 100 percent proficiency in reading. At Whitehall Elementary School, students in fifth grade scored 100 percent proficiency in reading, and students in fourth grade scored 100 percent proficiency in math.

Last year, Heather Hills and Tulip Grove had certain grades score 100 percent proficiency on portions of the test. Principals from all three schools were not available for comment by deadline.

Other Bowie area schools that made their yearly progress goals include Kenilworth, Northview, Pointer Ridge, Rockledge and Woodmore elementary schools.

Originally published at The Gazette.