Maryland, Howard County Students' MSA Test Scores Drop

By Michael Theis and Andrew Metcalf

Maryland public school students fared slightly worse this year on standardized assessment tests -- or MSAs -- designed to gauge the performance of schools, according to data released Tuesday by the Maryland State Department of Education.

In Howard County, students in grades three through eight experienced slight declines on the state tests, except for seventh and eighth grade math, where the scores dropped several percentage points.

Maryland school officials blamed the decline in numbers on the transition from the Maryland School Assessment test to the Common Core State Standards, set to be implemented in the 2014-2015 school year.

"We are in a transition period, both in Maryland and throughout the nation," said State Superintendent of Schools Lillian M. Lowery in a media release announcing the test results. "Maryland schools have been implementing the Common Core State Standards in reading and mathematics, but new assessments aligned to the curriculum will not be ready for use until the 2014-15 school year. This misalignment will certainly affect our scores this year and next."

Statewide, an average of just under 78.9 percent of students in grades three through eight earned a proficient score or better on the MSA math and algebra test, a roughly three percentage point drop over the previous year. The same cohort saw an average of 84 percent of students earn a proficient score or better on the MSA reading tests, a slight (two-tenths of a percentage point) drop from the previous year.

The greatest declines in Howard County happened in middle school math. In 2012, eighth grade students were 85.9 percent proficient, while in 2013 that number dropped to 82.1 percent. Results for seventh grade students dropped even more, from 90 percent proficient in math in 2012 to 83.9 percent in 2013. Students in grades three through five were about 92 percent proficient, experiencing declines of about two percentage points.

Schools spokesperson Rebecca Amani-Dove wrote in an email this was due to Common Core math standards not aligning with what's tested on the MSA.

"HCPSS middle schools began transitioning to Common Core math this past year," wrote Amani-Dove. "The content in the new curriculum is not an exact match with what is assessed on the MSA."

Howard County third through eighth grade students averaged about 92 percent proficient on reading. Slight declines (less than half a percentage point) were experienced at each grade level, except grade seven, which rose from 90.6 percent proficient to 92.7 percent.

Supt. Renee Foose, anticipating the reaction to the test results, wrote in a Baltimore Sun editorial last week that Common Core changes have led to a “mismatch between what is taught and what is tested.” She wrote that it’s unfair to teachers who are doing their best to implement Common Core, but also know their performance is linked to MSA results under Race to the Top requirements.

“The message to teachers is absurd: Teach to the future for the sake of your students, but for your own sake be sure your students do better than ever before on yesterday’s tests,” wrote Foose.

“There's a huge disconnect between these scores and the hard work that educators and students did during this past school year," said Maryland State Educators Association President Betty Weller in a statement. "These scores reflect the deep and problematic misalignment between what students are taught and how they're being tested, which will continue for at least the next school year."

"Right now, the MSA is just not providing valuable information for how children are doing or how we’re doing as educators," said Weller. "This disconnect underscores the need to make sure that there are no high stakes attached to student test scores  in teacher evaluations until the tests are valid, tested, and fully aligned with the curriculum taught.”