As Maryland education leaders announced that high school graduation rates last year climbed to the highest level since 2017, they remarked that other proficiency measures still lag behind data from a decade ago.

On Tuesday, the Maryland State Department of Education said that the state’s four-year cohort high school graduation rate for 2024 was 87.6%. Of the 67,349 high school students in the Class of 2024 across Maryland, 58,965 obtained a high school diploma within four years of enrolling in ninth grade.

According to a news release, the 87.6% rate was 1.8 percentage points greater than the 2022-23 school year, with the largest increases coming from Hispanic students and multilingual learners.

“This is great news for Maryland. When we set high standards, deliver strong instruction, and invest in proven supports, our students show that they will exceed expectations,” said State Superintendent of Schools Carey Wright in a statement. “We will continue working to ensure that every Maryland student achieves their highest academic potential.”

According to the release, Maryland’s five-year cohort graduation rate — the percentage of the 67,868 students who started ninth grade in the 2019-20 school year and graduated by 2024 — was 87.4%, a decrease from 88.2% the previous year.

At Tuesday’s Maryland State Board of Education meeting, a wide range of data also suggests students are beginning to recover from the coronavirus pandemic academically but still lag behind the progress of their peers a decade ago.

Geoff Sanderson, the MSDE Deputy State Superintendent for Accountability, presented data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress — also known as the “Nation’s Report Card.” The data shows Maryland improved on its 2022 rankings across all categories: from 40th to 20th among all U.S. states in fourth grade reading, 25th to 21st in eighth grade reading, 42nd to 39th in fourth grade math, and 42nd to 38th in eighth grade math.

According to the data, 34% of students statewide were proficient in fourth grade reading, 33% in eighth grade reading, 37% in fourth grade math, and 25% in eighth grade math.

Fourth grade proficiency increased upon 2022 levels by 3% for reading and 6% for math, while eighth grade proficiency remained unchanged in both subjects. However, proficiency was down by double-digits across the board for both grade levels and subjects compared to 2013.

The trend of average NAEP test scores since 2013 suggests a widening of the “achievement gap” between students scoring in the top and bottom 10th percentiles, according to Sanderson. This gap has mostly been driven by lower scores among students in the bottom 10th percentile students, while scores of those in the top 10th percentile have remained relatively unchanged.

Wright, who is credited with improving Mississippi’s reading scores during her previous role in the Magnolia State, said improvements among Maryland’s lowest-scoring students are an encouraging sign of progress.

“From ‘22 to ‘24, we bucked the nation with what we achieved,” Wright said.

Demographically, Asian and white students achieved the highest proficiency scores, while Black and Hispanic students achieved the lowest.

Despite this, Black and Hispanic students achieved some breakthroughs relative to 2022 proficiency rates in math. Fourth grade math proficiency increased by 6% for Black students and 11% for Hispanic students, while math proficiency increased for Black and Hispanic eighth graders by 1% and 2%, respectively.

Board of Education members said they still believe too many students are being left behind.

Member Nick Greer, of Baltimore City, expressed concern about a growing gender gap in reading proficiency. Compared to 2022, female students improved by 6%, while boys remained the same in fourth grade reading; girls maintained a proficiency rate 8% higher than male students in eighth grade reading with neither gender improving.

“I’m really worried about boys and young men,” Greer said. “In this country, in this state in general, I think they’re moving in a different direction … And I think we have an opportunity to focus on that work in whatever way we can.”

Board President Emeritus Clarence Crawford applauded the progress but encouraged members to consider that the majority of students are still not reading or solving math problems at grade level.

“If 40% are proficient, 60% of the kids are not. What’s the cost of that?” Crawford said.

Have a news tip? Contact Carson Swick at cswick@baltsun.com.