Harford County Public Schools (HCPS) students continue to meet the rigorous standards set forth by the state as evident through a variety of measures and assessments.
“We are pleased with our SAT®, Advanced Placement (AP) and Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) results this year,” said HCPS Superintendent of Schools Barbara P. Canavan. “Our staff work tirelessly to support the implementation of multiple assessment measures to evaluate the academic progress of each individual student. I am proud that our students continue to rise to the increasingly high expectations and standards that have been established to prepare them to be college and career ready.”
HCPS SAT and AP Results
In 2016, 58.2 percent of graduates participated in the SAT, as of the January 2016 administration. The new SAT administration began in March 2016, so students who participated after January 2016 are not reflected in this year’s data. HCPS students are outperforming the state and nation on the SAT exam: the HCPS critical reading mean score was 511, compared to 490 for the state and 494 for the nation; HCPS mathematics mean score was 528, compared to 490 for the state and 508 for the nation; and the HCPS writing mean score was 482, compared to 476 for the state and 482 for the nation.
With a focus on rigor at every level, Harford County continues to experience the trend in increased participation and performance in AP courses and exams. During the 2015-16 school year, 3,495 students took at least one AP course, with a combined course enrollment of 6,484, and 3,919 AP exams were administered. Approximately 60.4 percent of the students taking an AP exam scored a 3, 4, or 5.
HCPS PARCC Results
PARCC data for all students in each district across the state was released today on Maryland Report Card.
PARCC exams are the first assessments aligned to Maryland’s College and Career Ready Standards, which set a higher bar for student learning. PARCC results cannot be compared with the previously administered High School Assessments (HSA), which the State used for a decade, because this is both a new and different assessment.
The assessments go beyond the fill-in-the-blank and multiple-choice models of standardized tests by
emphasizing the need for students to demonstrate critical thinking, problem solving, and clear writing.
PARCC assessments are scored by five performance levels, where a performance level of 4 indicates that
the student met the expectations. A performance level of 5 indicates that the student exceeded the
expectations.
During the 2015-16 school year, middle school students enrolled in Algebra I participated in the PARCC
Algebra I assessment and middle school students enrolled in Geometry participated in the PARCC
Geometry assessment. Mathematics PARCC results for the 2015-16 school year for grades 7 and 8
cannot be compared with prior year’s results due to the Geometry assessment being administered for the
first time last year.
PARCC resources for parents and guardians are available on the school system’s website, hcps.org, by
clicking the ‘Maryland College & Career-Ready Standards and PARCC’ button on the left-hand side of
the homepage.
Individual student reports will be released October 14, 2016. Further information regarding the individual
student reports can be located at www.understandthescore.org.
