HCPSSHoward County Schools Continue to Show Improvement on MSA
July 10th, 2012
The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) 
released the 2012 reading and mathematics Maryland School Assessment (MSA) results today.
HCPSS students continue to achieve at high levels on the MSA. The percentage of elementary students scoring proficient or advanced in reading remained steady – from 94.0 percent in 2011 to 94.1 percent in 2012. The percentage of elementary students scoring proficient or advanced in mathematics increased from 92.6 in 2011 to 93.8 in 2012.
Mirroring state results, the percentage of middle school students who scored proficient or advanced in reading decreased from 92.7 last year to 90.9 this year, while the percentage who scored proficient or advanced in mathematics increased almost two percentage points from 87.3 in 2011 to 89.1 in 2012.
The MSA was first administered to grades 3, 5, and 8 in 2003. Since that baseline year, HCPSS has shown tremendous gains in the performance of students scoring at the advanced level. In 2003, at the elementary level, 33.4 percent of students scored advanced on the reading portion of the MSA. In 2012, that percent increased to 51.5. At the middle level, the percentage of students performing at the advanced level increased from 46.2 in 2003, to 61.9 this year.
HCPSS also realized double-digit gains in mathematics. At the elementary level in 2003, 27.2 percent of students scored advanced; in 2012, 55.7 percent scored at that level. Middle school advanced performance also increased, from 25.8 percent in 2003 to 52.0 percent in 2012.
Changes in the Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs)
Under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, 100 percent of students were required to be proficient or advanced by the year 2014 as measured by performance on the MSA. Annual Measurable Objectives were set for all students and all student groups. Under the new requirement, each school must reduce by one-half the percentage of students scoring basic by 2017. Each school and each student group has its own AMOs that increase in equal increments for the next six years. The change results from provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act Flexibility Waiver that Maryland recently received.
Under the new model, each school has its own targets and must work to strengthen achievement across all student groups. The student groups include students receiving Limited English Proficiency (LEP) services, students receiving Free and Reduced-Price Meals (FARMS), students receiving special education services, and each racial/ethnic group.
In 2012, HCPSS elementary and middle schools showed great progress in increasing the proficiency rates for the majority of student groups in each school, with the vast majority of elementary and middle schools meeting every AMO in reading and mathematics.
Additional information on the performance of HCPSS and individual schools is available at mdreportcard.org . High School Assessment (HSA) results have not yet been released and are expected in early fall.