BALTIMORE – Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) students continued a three-year run of improvement in their English Language Arts and math scores on the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP) tests during the 2023-24 school year, outpacing statewide growth in both categories.
In the latest results released by the Maryland Department of Education (MSDE), English Language Arts (literacy) proficiency increased 1.7 percentage points from 2023, more than triple the percentage growth of the state.
Since 2022, literacy proficiency in City Schools has increased more than 5 percentage points. The growth since the beginning of the CEO’s tenure, the 2015-16 school year, has been more pronounced; City Schools literacy proficiency has grown by 13.6 percentage points, outpacing the state’s 8.9-percentage point growth during that same period.
At the same time, math proficiency increased 1.4 percentage points from 2023, almost double the growth of the state year from 2023 to 2024. Since 2022, math proficiency in City Schools has increased 3 percentage points.
City Schools’ focus on the basics of teaching and learning in both literacy and math continues to pay dividends on MCAP and day-to-day outcomes, according to Dr. Sonja Santelises, chief executive officer.
“Our repeated gains in literacy and our ongoing work to boost performance in math are steps in the right direction. We are undoubtedly improving. But there’s still plenty of work ahead,” said Dr. Santelises. “These results reflect the hard work and unified focus of our students, staff, and families. We will keep pushing for more.”
English Language Arts (literacy) performance
City Schools students increased grade-level proficiency in five of seven literacy assessments during the 2023-24 school year.
City Schools had larger increases vs. last year than the state in grades 6, 7, and 10. The largest gain was in English Language Arts 10, where proficiency increased 3.3 percentage points over last year, nearly double the state’s growth of 1.8 percentage points.
City Schools Economically disadvantaged students more than doubled their proficiency growth versus their peers in Maryland in 2024. African-American student proficiency grew more than the rate of their peers across the state.
City Schools has earned increases in the middle grades (grades 6-8) versus the state since 2016. City Schools has outgrown the state in:
Grade 6 – City Schools 16.6 percentage point growth vs. 10.8 percentage points for the state.
Grade 7 – City Schools 16.6 percentage point growth vs. 9.1 percentage points for the state.
Grade 8 – City Schools 13.5 percentage point growth vs. 7.6 percentage points for the state.
Math performance
City Schools saw increases in student proficiency across every grade in math during the 2023-24 school year.
City Schools had larger increases vs. last year than the state in grades 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 with grade 3 showing 2.5 percentage point increase.
The second largest gain was in Algebra 1, where proficiency increased 2.4 percentage points over last year, slightly less than the state’s 2.8 percentage point-growth.
City Schools’ economically disadvantaged students, multilingual students, students with disabilities, and African-American students proficiency grew more than the rate of their peers across the state
Examples of steps to improvement - Literacy
Continued work on strategic implementation of high-quality instructional materials.
Strong focus on the Science of Reading curriculum – including multi-day professional learning institutes for our PreK-5 educators.
Investments in school-based literacy coaching who support side-by-side instructional support for our K-5 teachers.
Examples of steps to improvement - Math
Summer institutes 2023 focused on math content – over 150 teachers participated.
We invested in more school-based math leads and coaches.
Hosted district-wide Family Math Nights to engage parents and families – as part of these events our parents had an opportunity to learn in parent workshops how they could support their student's math learning at home
Offered tutoring and supplemental math instruction to support students working below grade level and needed more time/intervention.