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Anne Arundel County Public Schools

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Maryland School Assessment (MSA) - Test results - 2005

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Reading

Math

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About MSA
The Maryland School Assessment (MSA) is a statewide test of reading and mathematics achievement which measure basic as well as higher level skills.  The MSA meets requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which requires each state to test how well its students read and do math.  In the future, science tests will be added at the elementary, middle and high school levels... Read more...Download a fact sheet about MSA (pdf)

Student performance on 2005 Maryland School Assessments continues to climb -
Nearly 8 out of 10 students are reading and computing at proficient or advanced levels.

Highlights from 2005 test results:

  • For grades 3, 5, and 8, exceptional growth in reading performance since the MSA’s inception three years ago has been demonstrated by African American and special education students.

  • The number of third-grade special education students reading at the proficient and advanced levels has increased since 2003 from 21.2 percent to 62.4 percent; for African American fifth graders the increase was from 53.9 percent to 69 percent.  “Double-digit” gains in reading were also seen for Caucasian, Hispanic, and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students at the third grade level.

  • At the third grade level, the number of African American students at the advanced and proficient levels in math increased over three years from 53.7 percent to 72.1 percent; the increase for special education students was from 43.5 percent to 57.9 percent, and for Caucasian students from 79.1 percent to 89.5 percent.  Huge gains were made by fifth grade African American students on the math assessments, with an increase from 40.7 percent advanced and proficient to 68.8 percent at those levels.

  • The three-year growth for third-grade special education students reading at the advanced and proficient levels noted earlier represents almost a 200 percent improvement.  Likewise, for eighth grade special education students taking the math assessments, a gain in excess of 340 percent was noted.  Free and Reduced Lunch students at the eighth grade level also made gains close to 200 percent in mathematics.