According to new data from the Maryland Department of Education (MDE), Hispanic and Latino students have seen the most significant drops in their math proficiency.
18.7% of Montgomery County’s Hispanic and Latino middle schoolers were proficient in math in 2019, and in 2022 this number dropped to 7.1%. The recently released report card does not show any data from 2020 or 2021.
“Decreases in math scores is a troubling trend nationwide, and the many disruptions last year did not help. Our current budget request reflects investments to address this problem, and MCPS has a plan in the works to overhaul middle school math. We must do better for our students on such a foundational subject, and we will,” Karla Silvestre, President of Montgomery County Board of Education told MyMCM.
The report card sorts results by race/ethnicity. Both Black/African American and Hispanic student group data show lower results compared to the White student group and all students.
Numbers for Latino students showed lower scores across all educational levels. All had at least a 9% drop. Elementary students went down to 19.7% from 30.6% and high school students to 20.4% from 29.8%.
The report grades schools on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, using metrics such as test scores, graduation rates, readiness for college and career, and chronic absenteeism. The current report reveals that in 2022 more than 25% of schools lost at least one star out of five.
Accountability systems and school report cards provide valuable information on the performance of students in a school and key measures and indicators. Differentiating schools provide opportunities to better target resources to accelerate learning for all students in Maryland, according to MDE.
