BALTIMORE, Md. — The highest scoring school in Maryland, and the lowest, are about 10 miles apart, both in the Baltimore area.
That's according to the state's newly released report card. Every year, the Department of Education gives schools a rating between 1 and 5, based on factors like academic achievement and student success. For more on the scoring works, click here.
Baltimore County is home to the school with the overall highest score: Eastern Technical High School, which tied with a school in Prince George's County.
But Baltimore City is home to the school with the lowest score - Stadium School.
And of all the schools in Maryland that received just one star, 60% of them are in Baltimore City.
More than half of city schools got 2 stars, and more than 10% of schools had just 1 star. Some of the schools with 1 star are schools for students with special needs.
District leadership is focusing on the improvements that it did see this past year.
"Over 25% of our schools improved. We know that 19 schools have moved from star ratings that were in level 1 up to level 2. And that 18 schools of our moved from level 2 to level 3. So we're excited to see the growth that is occurring," said Dr. Joan Dabrowski, chief academic officer for Baltimore City Public Schools. "We know we've got more work to do, but these results really confirm for us that we're on the right track."
Two schools in the city received a five star rating: Baltimore School for the Arts, and Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. We stopped by "Poly" today and asked Principal Mark Sawyer what other schools can learn from their success.
"The most important thing i could say would be family engagement. [...]The other thing too, is we have always strived ourselves on presenting our children with life lessons as well as academics. In other words, the whole child."
It was that family engagement that he says helped his school improve its attendance rate.
Chronic absenteeism is an area schools across the country really struggled with during the pandemic. Sawyer learned some of those absent students were working jobs during the day to help provide for their families.
"We've put together a great attendance team. And those people are calling parents for students that are chronically absent, they are sending emails, they're sending letters, we're actually doing home visits," Sawyer said.
Across Baltimore, city schools outpaced the rest of the state in the number of schools that improved. The district says it has covid money to thank for that - Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds.
"We've used our ESSER dollars in very strategic ways - high-dosage tutoring, extended learning program opportunities, more summer school opportunities than we've ever had before. Those results, we see that paying off in the star ratings and other data we're looking at."
That funding runs out in 2024.
“One of the hardest things we’re doing right now is looking closely at where we are seeing our investments that have really made a difference, and having to be strategic going forward on what we can fund. So yes, we will be losing ESSER dollars and these will be the decisions we have to make about where we’re going to continue prioritize funding, and where we’ll have to reduce or scale back because those funds are no longer there.”
Statewide, 37% of all schools got a 4 or 5, and 75% of schools got a 3, 4, or 5.
Fewer schools got a 5 star rating compared to last year, down from 215 to 85. On the other hand, fewer schools had 1 star too, down from 39 to 25.
But the department of education says it's tough to compare this year to the last few, because some things were measured differently during the pandemic. Report cards were skipped entirely for two years, and then last year, factors like chronic absenteeism were left out. This year, that measurement was brought back into the fold, and it seems to have had a major impact on schools' overall scores.
“This is a new baseline year for Maryland, in terms of where we are and where we want to be,” said Interim State Superintendent of Schools Dr. Carey Wright. “Due to the difference in calculating results between the two school years, we cannot make perfect comparisons. However, we celebrate those districts and schools that showed success and we will continue to support those that faced challenges.”
Pre-COVID, in the 2018-2019 school year, 189 schools had 5 star ratings, higher than where we are now, and 24 had 1 star ratings, about the same as this year.
Below is the letter Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Myriam Rogers sent to the district community:
Out of 161 BCPS schools with accountability data as outlined by MSDE—
- 19 schools earned a Star Rating of 5
- 28 schools earned a Star Rating of 4
- 70 schools earned a Star Rating of 3
- 42 schools earned a Star Rating of 2
- 2 schools earned a Star Rating of 1
The overall BCPS 2023 Star Rating average is 3.1, which is 0.1 points less than our 2022 Star average of 3.2. Schools across the state saw a decrease in ratings and Interim Maryland State Superintendent Dr. Carey Wright shared [track.spe.schoolmessenger.com] that the chronic absenteeism metric had a significant impact on school ratings across the state. Recognizing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student attendance, BCPS launched a comprehensive plan [track.spe.schoolmessenger.com] to combat chronic absenteeism, empower students and families, and reduce barriers to school attendance. Of the 110 elementary schools* that received a 2023 Star Rating, 16 increased their ratings by one star. Twenty-three elementary schools have 2023 Star Ratings that are one star lower than their 2022 Star Ratings. The majority of BCPS elementary schools (70) have 2023 Star Ratings that are the same as their 2022 Star Ratings.
Of the 27 middle schools that received a 2023 Star Rating, two increased their rating by one star. The majority of BCPS middle schools (20) have 2023 Star Ratings that are the same as their 2022 Star Ratings. Five middle schools have 2023 Star Ratings that are one star lower than their 2022 Star Ratings.
Of the 24 high schools that received a 2023 Star Rating, eight schools have 2023 Star Ratings that are one star lower than their 2022 Star Ratings. The majority of BCPS high schools (16) have 2023 Star Ratings that are the same as their 2022 Star Ratings.
BCPS centers and programs are not included in the results as they do not qualify for Star Ratings.
The Maryland School Report Card continues to provide valuable insights about our schools; however, it is important to understand that it provides a limited view of the work of the system to serve all 110,000 BCPS students. We use multiple and frequent measures of students’ progress to determine if our schools are meeting the needs of all students, and we have a comprehensive strategy for student success that is centered on increasing achievement for all students and providing a variety of pathways to prepare students for college and careers. We have implemented targeted resources and supports for school leadership teams to help them understand and interpret these results and refine their improvement plans. Staff from the Department of Schools, Division of Curriculum and Instruction, Office of Student Support Services, Department of Research, Accountability and Assessment, and the Office of Family and Community Engagement continue to work directly with school teams to address academic growth and chronic absenteeism [track.spe.schoolmessenger.com]. We recently reviewed data from the first quarter and are encouraged by the results and by the continued commitment of our school administrators, teachers, and staff to do the necessary work to reverse the trend of declining academic performance.