School officials in Baltimore City and County say the new school ranking data proves their strategies are working.
But the data also calls for continued focus on chronic absenteeism, language proficiency for non-English-speakers, and social studies support.
Both districts are celebrating signs of progress from this year’s data, leaders said. Baltimore City improved at a higher rate than the statewide average, especially among its lowest-rated schools, The Baltimore Banner reported.
And three Baltimore County high schools ranked among the top four schools statewide.
County Superintendent Myriam Rogers said she is “confident that our system is moving in the right direction.”
“The Maryland report card data provides an important snapshot of our system,” she said in a press conference Tuesday. “We know that there is much more work to be done to ensure that every school in our system is meeting the needs of all of our students.”
Joan Dabrowski, Baltimore City’s chief academic officer, said addressing chronic absenteeism – which refers to students who miss 10% or more school days in a year – will improve overall scores.
“There has been some real huddling around the issue, because we know it is the most important thing that we have to do,” Dabrowski said in an interview with WYPR. “We have to get our students to school so that they can be involved in all this great work that we’re doing.”
