County Schools Near Target on School Progress Index

Data released by the Maryland State Department of Education on Monday shows that Baltimore County Public Schools are on track to meet School Progress Index goals.

School Progress Index replaced Adequate Yearly Progress, a stricter measurement under No Child Left Behind that marked schools as "failing" if they did not meet absolute goals on the number of students passing state assessments. The state was granted a waiver from some provisions of No Child Left Behind, including Adequate Yearly Progress, in May.

The School Progress Index measurement mandates that every school cut the number of students failing state assessments in half by 2017. The state department of education plans to release annual data showing how each school is progressing toward its goal. 

As an overall school system, Baltimore County scored 0.9767 on the initial School Progress Index, with 1.0 signifying that a target has been reached. Elementary schools scored 1.005, middle schools scored 0.946 and high schools scored 0.977.

"Clearly, we are progressing as a system. These new data provide a great opportunity for us to better meet the academic needs of our students," Superintendent Dallas Dance said in a news release. "They provide a wealth of information needed to more accurately diagnose problem areas as well as calibrate our programs to maximize their effectiveness in the classroom. They are one of many pieces of data we will use to improve the educational experience for every child."

The data set also placed schools in different "strands," with 1 representing high-achieving schools and 4 and 5 representing those that require intervention or additional resources.

According to the release, Baltimore County has 51 schools in strand 1, 53 in strand 2, 31 in strand 3, 19 in strand 4 and seven in strand 5.

Data for each indiviual school can be found on Maryland Report Card.