More News

Several Laurel area principals say they are confident about their students' performance on high-stakes standardized tests that concluded this week.

If the administrators' hunches are right, all of the area's Prince George's County elementary schools could reach state standards for the second consecutive year. This indicates the schools are raising achievement and prevents curriculum and staffing changes that can be mandated upon underperforming schools.

"We did a lot of things to motivate them and give them a lot of hype," said Oaklands Elementary Principal Audrey Briscoe, whose school exited a state watch list last year after reading and mathematics gains. "We've been working really hard to keep a positive attitude."

Whether Oaklands and Maryland's more than 800 other elementary schools are considered proficient is based on the yearly standardized exam the Maryland School Assessment. Students finished the math portion on Wednesday; the reading portion wrapped up a week earlier.

Maryland developed the MSA to satisfy requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which requires states to measure and consistently improve overall student performance.

Over the past year, Laurel area schools have employed a wide range of tactics in pursuit of AYP, from holding pep rallies to get students motivated to enlisting parents to give struggling students extra help.

This year First Generation College Bound, a nonprofit that helps students from moderate- to low-income families attend higher learning institutions, purchased MSA study books for the fifth and sixth grade students at Oaklands Elementary. The South Laurel school also provided three weeks of tutoring to students who narrowly missed proficiency in the past.

Fellow South Laurel school James H. Harrison Elementary has also involved the community, mobilizing parents to tutor students after school four hours a week, Principal Patricia Belgrave said.

"The tutoring has been a big plus," Belgrave said. "I really have to say thank you to the parents."

For Bond Mill Elementary School Principal Justin FitzGerald, the MSA is a chance to make a statement. He's hoping for at least 95 percent of both math and reading test takers to score proficient or better.

"All year long we work hard in classroom at home, and we hope to use this as opportunity to show the state of Maryland what we're capable of," FitzGerald said. "If we reach that reach that 95 proficient goal, we'll throw the biggest party the school has ever seen."

Last year the West Laurel school achieved about a 90 percent proficiency rate on each test.

Deerfield Run Elementary School's reading and math specialists too value small instructional groups, said Principal Thomas J. Tucker, who has set 80 percent proficiency as a minimum target in both reading and math

"We're shooting for a lot higher than 80 percent," he said. "But you never know until you get the scores."

E-mail Timmy Gelles at tgelles@gazette.net.