More than half of Maryland schools have recovered from pandemic learning loss in English, according to test scores released Tuesday that reveal how individual schools fared on the 2023 Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program.
Test scores took a dip in 2021 after a year of remote learning, but many schools this year are seeing the number of students score proficient on state English language arts tests hit or surpass 2019 levels. A Baltimore Banner analysis found that 66% of elementary schools, 54% of middle schools and 70% of high schools reached pre-pandemic proficiency levels in English.
The head of Baltimore City Public Schools said the system hit a milestone.
“We now, as of this year, actually have our highest proficiency levels since MCAP,” Sonja Santelises, the system’s CEO, said about the state test that debuted in 2019.
Data shows that 59% of the city’s elementary schools and 41% of its middle schools are at or above their pre-pandemic English language arts proficiency rates. Three-quarters of city high schools hit or surpassed where they were four years ago.
The city also surpassed statewide recovery in math. A quarter of Maryland elementary schools and a third of middle schools were at or above their pre-pandemic proficiency levels on the state math test. Meanwhile, 47% of the city’s elementary schools and 65% of its middle schools held firm or made improvements.
The city’s test scores, however, are still low compared to the rest of the state. But Santelises saw its recovery as something to be proud of.
“Our pre-pandemic, long-term investments in ELA are paying off,” she said in an interview. “On the ELA grades 3-5, we had 18 schools that earned growth of 10 percentage points [or more].”
The story continues at the Baltimore Banner: Maryland school test scores: Has your school bounced back from the pandemic?
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