Report Cards

It's report card time for the public school system, and, of course, the results are open to glass-half-full-half-empty interpretation. The Sun says overall scores are up, and for the first time in the school system's history, every subgroup was able to meet the county's stringent standard of scoring 70 percent proficient in reading. WaPo points out that scores slipped ever so slightly for certain grade levels.

Howard's scores hover around the top in the state and some say gains are harder to achieve when you breathe our exalted air. To that thinking, schools spokeswoman Patti Caplan offers a caution.

"Overall, our performance is still extremely high," Caplan told WaPo. "I think what sometimes people forget is that here in Howard County, we have students who are underachieving as well."

The graphic at the right was prepared by WaPo from data provided by the Maryland State Department of Education. School-by-school results can be found here on the state's Web site.