Carroll County’s best-in-state math scores are still far lower than pre-pandemic results, according to state data

Carroll County public school students’ standardized test scores in English and language arts have returned to pre-pandemic levels, while student achievement in math continues to suffer, according to results from Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program tests taken between April and June 2022.

“Relative to the rest of the state we did continue to perform very well, so even as we have much to work on, we also have much to build on,” Superintendent Cynthia McCabe said.

A test designed to assess college and career readiness, the MCAP plays a role in determining a school’s star system rating. All students in grades 3 through 8 take the comprehensive assessment, as well as those enrolled in Algebra I, English 10 and history, according to a presentation given to the Carroll County Board of Education at the school board’s March meeting.

Students enrolled in a high school science class, which is designated at the school level but is usually biology, also completed the Life Science Maryland Integrated Science Assessment.

Statewide math results were a third lower than results from the 2018-2019 school year, with a 2022 proficiency rate of 22%, said Kendra Hart, Title I, testing & school performance supervisor. English MCAP proficiency is comparable to pre-pandemic levels.

Only 38% of Carroll County students in grades 3-8 were proficient in math and only 26% of county Algebra I test-takers received a proficient score. Carroll was the best-performing county in Maryland for math in grades 3-8 and the second best in the state for algebra, after Howard County.

“When we analyzed the data, the staff and the CCPS leadership teams celebrate that we have great rankings in comparison to other school districts in our state,” Hart said. “We also understand that we have worked to do — increase overall performance and the number of students who demonstrate proficiency.”

A student can earn one of four scores on an MCAP test: distinguished learner, proficient learner, developing learner and beginning learner. Each student that scores proficient or distinguished is counted toward the school system’s proficiency level. Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Nick Shockney said breaking down the data and comparing state figures with local test results will play an important role in shaping instruction.

Results show diminishing levels of proficiency the higher a student progresses in math, Hart said. While 64% of Carroll County third-graders were proficient in math last year, only 11% of eighth-graders scored proficient in math, which is less than a third of the number of math-proficient eighth-graders in 2019.

Director of Curriculum and Instruction Steve Wernick said math is a skill mastery subject that suffered more from what he called “fragmented learning” amid online instruction during the pandemic.

“Math instruction is very different from language arts or English instruction,” McCabe said. “One of the issues with math instruction is that if you miss one small piece of a building block it’s going to affect you all the way up. You’re not going to be able to build on that knowledge, whereas in ELA it’s a little easier to fill in those gaps as you go up through the different grade levels, and so that’s one of the major reasons why we saw a huge drop in math scores, not only in Carroll County, but around the state and around the nation. It’s much more difficult to fill in those holes in mathematics instruction.”

Carroll County ranks second in the state for English MCAP results for grades 3-8, behind only Worcester County, with a proficiency rate of 60%. Carroll ranks fifth in Maryland for English 10, behind Calvert, Worcester, Frederick, and Queen Anne’s counties, with a proficiency rate of 62%. Data Management and Reporting Coordinator Caleb Yirdaw said English proficiency increased for grades 3-6 but decreased for grades 7-10, compared to data collected in 2019.

School board member Steve Whisler, a former math teacher, said parent engagement may have been a factor, especially amid the pandemic. He said math is a very hard subject for someone who is not a trained math educator to teach, and many parents do not know common core math standards.

“The state was saying ELA bounced back, but math didn’t — this was pretty demonstrative of that,” board member Donna Sivigny said. “These are devastating drops in some areas.”

Emilie Tedeschi, the student representative on the Board of Education, said many students focused on work completion rather than learning amid the pandemic.

School Board President Marsha Herbert said Tedeschi’s perspective was spot-on, adding that an alarming trend of disruptive behavior began when students returned to classrooms but is beginning to diminish in Carroll County.

The county public schools have separate plans to increase student achievement in math and English, Wernick said. The system plans to increase differentiated math instruction, foster collaboration between elementary math resource and classroom teachers, and partner with secondary level instructional consultants. CCPS will also provide professional learning on the science of reading at the elementary level and streamline elementary English intervention resources. Both plans also seek to enhance communication between schools and the central office, and to embed resources for English for Speakers of Other Languages, special education, and advanced academics within the respective curricula.

Herbert said MCAP data would have been more useful if it was released sooner, as test results are nearly a year old.

“Overall, you’ll see in our rankings that we remain high,” Shockney said. “However, our proficiency levels indicate that we have lots of work to do. We’re excited to finally have this data.”