Maryland, My Maryland

Ashe Schow at Da Wire, A Whopping 85% Of Maryland Students Are Not Proficient In Math After COVID School Closures

A full 85% of students in Maryland are not proficient in math, in large part due to the COVID-19 shutdowns of the past two years.

Fox Baltimore reported that results from recent state test scores revealed the “stunning amount of learning loss,” a prediction the outlet said experts made during the pandemic that has now come true. Fox reported:
. . .
It appears the harm done to students by closing down schools is now apparent, with the scores from the 2021 Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program – the first standardized state tests students have taken since the beginning of the pandemic – showing dire numbers in proficiency.

The test difficulty was even reduced for students, who took a shorter test in the fall that was for a grade level below their current grade. Even that didn’t improve scores.

“In Baltimore City, less than 7 percent of students tested in third through fifth-grade math scored proficient. That means more than 93 percent are not proficient in math. The results for English Language Arts are just as alarming. The data shows 91 percent of students tested in third through fifth grade are not proficient,” Fox reported.

It’s not just Baltimore seeing issues, either. Across Maryland, 81% of students taking the grade three through five tests were not proficient in math, with 76% not proficient in English Language Arts.

For middle schoolers in Baltimore, around 95% who took the seventh- and eighth-grade tests were not proficient in math. The numbers weren’t much better across the state, with 94% not proficient in math at those grade levels.

What this article isn't really saying is how much of the deficit in math and reading is due to the lockdowns and remote learning, and how much is due to the long standing education problems in Baltimore and Prince Georges Counties, two of Maryland's most populous counties.