Five Schools Fall Short Of Fed Standards

The Sun reports on the state's annual report of school progress under the No Child Left Behind Act, saying about 84 percent of all schools met the federal targets. Statewide, Maryland put 169 of 1,129 elementary and middle schools on a list of schools that need improvement, compared with 176 the year before.

Here's what the Sun said about Howard:

Five schools in Howard County - two elementary and three middle - did not meet federal standards this year. The schools are: Bollman Bridge Elementary, Stevens Forest Elementary, Harpers Choice Middle, Patuxent Valley Middle and Oakland Mills Middle.

School system officials said that there are plans to redirect additional support to them. "There are forces in place with curriculum [department] to deal with the schools," said Portia White, Howard County's coordinator of testing. "This system has rallied around these schools and has put the [measures] in place to help them succeed next year."

Superintendent Sydney L. Cousin said there was no need for alarm.

"All of these schools have successfully met our local standard of having 70 percent or more of their students scoring at proficient or above in both reading and mathematics," Cousin said.


In a release, Howard school officials said 53 of 58 elementary and middle schools in Howard County met Adequate Yearly Progress standards, as defined under the federal law.