Baltimore County Public Schools saw growth in student literacy in the latest screening period from September as the district continues implementing a new English language arts curriculum.

The percentage of first and second grade students who tested below the 25th percentile in reading proficiency decreased as they moved up a grade level from the 2023-24 school year to 2024-25, according to a presentation given to the Baltimore County Board of Education by district officials last week.

About 28.6% of first graders in the 2023-24 school year were below the 25th percentile, decreasing to 20.2% as second graders in the 2024-25 school year. For the 2023-24 school year, about 29% of second graders fell below the 25% percentile, decreasing to 23.6% as third graders in the 2024-25 school year. The percentage of students in the same age groups reading at or above grade level also increased during the same time periods.

Data in the school system’s Literacy Strategic Plan shows that Baltimore County students are less proficient than students statewide, however, with BCPS third graders about four percentage points below the state’s average proficiency of 48%. BCPS’ goal is to have 70% of K-3 students reading at the benchmark level by the end of this school year.

The screener is given three times throughout the school year to gauge students’ progress, increasing in difficulty each time.

The school system rolled out a new English language arts curriculum, HMH Into Reading ELA, last academic year, focused on “the science of reading” practice, a research-based method of teaching reading that emphasizes phonics and that has been mandated by Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Carey Wright. The new BCPS curriculum is meant to help increase student achievement in literacy, with teachers receiving professional learning to implement the program, according to an announcement from the district.

On Oct. 22, the same day as the BCPS presentation, the state school board finalized a version of Wright’s literacy policy after months of revisions. The plan aims to identify struggling students faster and offer more support in earlier grades. Originally requiring third graders to repeat the year if they couldn’t read at grade level, the proposal was revised to allow parents a waiver to send their children through to fourth grade.

Third grade represents a critical tipping point for literacy. According to the Maryland State Department of Education’s website, children who don’t read proficiently by that grade are four times more likely to drop out compared to proficient readers.

The growth in literacy in BCPS is similar to the averages seen in Columbus City Schools and New York City Public Schools, which use the same reading curriculum, Jennifer Craft, executive director of literacy and humanities for BCPS, said. However, growth ranges depending on where scores start and where they need to be, she said.

“Our purpose, though, is to get all students reading at grade level, and so our growth might need to be more than what average is,” Craft said at Tuesday’s school board meeting. “So we’re starting to see some of those gains. And what we also know from implementation science is that really year three is the sweet spot of implementation.”

Although there was growth in literacy shown for different ethnic groups, multilingual learners and special education students in some grade levels, school board member Tiffany Lashawn Frempong noted that the gaps in proficiency between some groups widened in the September screener provided by the new curriculum.

Black third graders this year have increased in proficiency by 4% over their scores last year in second grade, while Hispanic students increased eight percentage points and multilingual students by three points. Students with disabilities, however, remained flatly at 26% proficiency. Overall, 59.7% of third graders are proficient in English language arts so far this year.

The presentation didn’t address white students’ results on the Amira screenings. But nearly two-thirds of white students statewide were ELA proficient last year based on their MCAP scores. By comparison, according to Baltimore County’s state-issued Report Card data, about a quarter of Hispanic students scored ELA proficient on MCAP tests last year, below the state average of 31.8%. Black students tested about four percentage points below the state average.

One of the main areas of focus to address the achievement gaps among groups is collaboration with the Office of Equity and Cultural Proficiency when planning professional development for teachers to provide them with support and culturally responsive instruction, said Jodi Wicks, director of English language arts for BCPS. Part of the work is to also ensure that with the literacy coaching and walkthroughs being done at schools, all students have access to grade-level materials and are held to a high standard with the expectation that all students can reach it, ELA Coordinator Pamela Wolff added.

“We know that that is not only an issue for Baltimore County, but that it is an issue nationwide,” Wicks said. “So we are doing everything we can to figure out what are some other ways that we can address that.”

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