WORCESTER COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS -

LATEST DATA RELEASE PLACES SPOTLIGHT ON WORCESTER COUNTY STUDENT PERFORMANCE 

Newark, MD, January 26, 2023– The Maryland State Department of Education recently released statewide performance data with Worcester County Public Schools outperforming the majority of school systems in the State across content areas. 

During the State Board of Education meeting on January 24, 2023, State Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury and staff provided an update on student performance on state assessments administered in spring 2022 in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics. These results reflect the new assessment and standard setting that the state has completed over the past year.

Statewide, student performance in ELA demonstrated a return to pre-pandemic performance. In Worcester County, student performance on the spring ELA assessments in grades 3-8 topped all other school systems in Maryland with 64 percent of students scoring as proficient or higher, 20 percentage points above the state average. (See figure below.) A particular highlight in the early grades is Ocean City Elementary School, at which 94 percent of third graders scored proficient or higher, a whopping 74.8 percentage points above the state average, and 87.6 percent of fourth graders reached proficiency, nearly 79 percentage points above the state average. 



At the high school level, 72 percent of Worcester County students taking the English 10 assessment scored proficient, topping the state average by 19 percentage points, and landing second overall in the state, with only three percentage points separating Worcester and Calvert counties. (See figure below.) Snow Hill High School shined on the assessment with 80.2 percent of students reaching proficiency, nearly 27 percentage points above the state average. 



In Mathematics, students statewide fell short of returning to pre-pandemic levels; however, Worcester County once again topped the state by 15 percentage points, with 37 percent of students reaching proficiency. (See figure below.) Snow Hill Elementary School’s third graders bucked statewide trends by showing marked improvement from their pre-pandemic performance with 65.1% of students reaching proficiency in math. Students in eighth grade math across the county also saw improvement from their pre-pandemic performance; in particular, 42 percent of students at Stephen Decatur Middle School reached proficiency, over 35 percentage points above the state average for that assessment.



Similar to scores in earlier grades, student performance statewide in Algebra I experienced a decline, and while Worcester County scores also indicate some decline from pre-pandemic levels, school system performance was still second in the state, behind only Howard County. (See figure below.)



“Yesterday’s results were encouraging,” Superintendent of Schools Lou Taylor said. “We know we still have work to do, but there is a lot to celebrate in Worcester’s performance on these assessments. I am incredibly proud of the hard work and determination of our students, teachers, and leaders, all of whom contributed to Worcester consistently topping the state in student performance.”

The full presentation of statewide scores can be viewed at the 5:10:00 mark on the State Board of Education livestream at https://marylandpublicschools.org/stateboard/Pages/meeting-agendas/2023-2023-01-24.aspx. The source material for the images used above is the document entitled “Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program 2022 Results, Part 2” located on the same webpage. 

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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Carrie N. Sterrs at 410.632.5092 or email at [email protected]