MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — Activist parents across Maryland are digesting the latest report card on Maryland public schools released Wednesday from the State Department of Education.
In Montgomery County, 13 of the 25 traditional high schools have lost ground in the rankings, and three high schools have been bumped completely out of the top 5-star tier.
The high schools that lost 5-star ratings from the state are Walter Johnson, Bethesda-Chevy Chase and Winston Churchill. All three received 4-star rankings in the state's annual report card.
State Department of Education officials cautioned that the rating system includes new metrics, which include a social studies component for middle and elementary students as well as a return to stricter pre-pandemic standards for absenteeism.
In a written statement, Montgomery County School administrators said “chronic absenteeism at all school levels is a driving force” accounting for the lower rankings. The school system reported the issue is being addressed with an action plan put together this summer.
A spokesperson for the Maryland State Department of Education called the latest statewide report card ranking schools a "new baseline."
"We want to use caution in comparing this year's ratings to last year's because we know it's not an apples to apples comparison," said Raven Hill with MSDE.
Very few Montgomery County schools bumped up in the rankings. Of 198 schools measured, only eight gained a star.
Statewide, 37% of schools earned the top two ratings of four or five stars. The majority of schools maintained their star ratings as compared to the prior school year with 79% of schools awarded three or more stars.
This is the fourth year of School Report Cards and the star ratings system.
Schools earn between one and five stars based on the percentage of points earned across a series of indicators. For elementary and middle schools, the indicators are:
- Academic achievement
- Academic progress
- Progress in achieving English language proficiency
- School quality
- Student success
For high schools, the indicators are:
- Academic achievement
- Graduation rate
- Progress in achieving English language proficiency
- Readiness for postsecondary success
- School quality
- Student success
Star ratings were not issued for the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years. The U.S. Department of Education granted a one-year waiver to the Maryland accountability system for the 2021-2022 school year due to the pandemic, which included adjustments to the student progress and chronic absenteeism measures.