2018 Maryland School Report Cards

Analysis of L.H. v. Hamilton County Department of Education

MSDE’s rankings of Maryland elementary, middle, and high schools are now available on-line at http://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/. You may search by school district or individual school to learn how your county and your child’s educational program were rated in areas of:

High Schools

• Academic Achievement
• Graduation Rate
• Progress in Achieving English Language Proficiency (not yet rated)
• Readiness for Post-Secondary Success
• School Quality and Student Success

Elementary / Middle Schools

• Academic Achievement
• Academic Progress
• Progress in Achieving English Language Proficiency (not yet rated)
• School Quality and Student Success

Please view the “percentile rankings” and star system with caution. For example, one school in Harford County earned only 12.1 out of 20 points for “Academic Achievement” (based on proficiency on state tests), and only 14.8 out of 28 for “Academic Progress” (based on multiple academic measures), but still “earned” 4 out of 5 stars, with a percentile ranking of 73. This can be very misleading. As the president of the Maryland State Education Association recommends, don’t just pay attention to the “simplistic star rating…dig deep into the data.”

Future ratings will include results of student and faculty surveys. Unfortunately, there is no reference to compliance with special education procedures and protections, or performance of students with IEPs and 504 Plans.

Hold your local schools accountable for their performance and progress.