PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — Educators presented Calvert County Schools’ Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP) results, celebrating overall positive growth across grades in both math and English language arts (ELA).
Calvert schools demonstrated growth in five out of seven categories and was ranked first in the state in 10th grade ELA. The county ranked highly in ELA across all grades, and in the top five for elementary school math for all grades tested. With strong ELA results, the goals going forward are to encourage collaboration between grade levels to continue the positive trend.
One point of difficulty, however, is eighth grade math and algebra proficiency. Calvert County is ranked 11th in the state in eighth grade math and eighth in Algebra I. Proficiency drops from seventh to eighth grade math, a trend that’s been consistent since at least 2023.
Board member Lisa Grenis wondered about how Calvert could learn from the counties that are highly ranked in this area, rather than comparing scores to the state as a whole. Joe Sutton, supervisor of secondary mathematics, said they hope to visit these districts and explore options like collaboration between grades in middle schools and implementing math coaches, though he didn’t want to “solutionize” an issue with so many complex factors.
Interim Superintendent Dr. Marcus J. Newsome weighed in on some of the difficulties in achieving grade-wide proficiency when students move away from elementary school and into different types or levels of math courses. Newsome emphasized the importance of measuring individual student progress as well as cohorts — though no states yet had a model to adequately show this growth.
As the county adapts to math policy changes at the state level, these results will continue to inform decisions and courses. See Calvert’s results here:
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