News Release: PGCPS Black Students, English Learners and Economically Disadvantaged Students Outscore Peers Across Maryland in Many Instances

October 13, 2023
For Immediate Release

CONTACT:
Office of Communications
301-952-6001
communications@pgcps.org

UPPER MARLBORO — Results from the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP) for the 2022-23 school year show Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) students demonstrate growth overall in both English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics.

In ELA, students exceeded pre-pandemic performance across all grade levels, with Black and Hispanic students outperforming the state and scoring significantly higher than their peers across all other Maryland school districts.

English learners and those from economically disadvantaged families also outscored students with similar backgrounds across Maryland in ELA.

In mathematics, PGCPS students saw improvements from SY22 to SY23 across almost all grade levels, with Black students demonstrating math proficiency at a rate similar to their peers across the state. However, black students from economically disadvantaged families scored higher than their counterparts in the rest of Maryland.

“More than half of the 50 Maryland schools showing the greatest improvement in ELA are in Prince George’s County — proof that our students are trending in the right direction,” said Superintendent Millard House II. “Data also shows that nearly 25 percent of our students are just on the cusp of proficiency, which speaks to the effectiveness of post-Covid interventions and instruction.”

MCAP results also brought good news for PGCPS programs that support students with special needs and English learners: students with disabilities saw increased proficiency in mathematics and ELA in some grades, and even outperformed their peers without disabilities on several assessments. Similarly, exited English learners outperformed non-English learners in ELA and several mathematics assessments.

Of Maryland’s school districts, PGCPS has the greatest percentage of English learners with one in four students speaking a language other than English as primary. Additionally, non-white students comprise 97 percent of the district’s enrolled students, of which a significant number qualify for Free and Reduced-Price Meals.

Learn more about PGCPS’ MCAP performance in comparison to its peers across Maryland, including data analyzed using a multi-tiered approach that factors in the district’s unique enrollment by race, ethnicity, English proficiency and student group.

2023 MCAP Individual Student Reports, which allow families to view their student’s performance compared to peers in their school, county and the state, will be distributed to parents by October 20.

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