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PGCPS benchmark data show gains overall but persistent third-grade writing and comprehension challenges
Summary
District benchmark reporting showed about 8% growth over five years across benchmarks but continued weaknesses in third-grade comprehension and student writing; the district plans scoring calibration, revised scoring guides and targeted professional development for writing next year.
Prince George's County Public Schools told the Academic Achievement Committee that while five-year benchmark trends show roughly 8 percent growth overall, the district continues to see persistent challenges in third-grade reading comprehension and student writing and will expand scoring calibration and targeted professional development.
"We have been looking at the growth across our 5 years. We've shown about an 8% growth across all grades and all courses in both reading and math and our benchmarks," said Jamie Bowers, director of testing, research and evaluation, summarizing benchmark trends.
Why it matters: district officials said sustained writing and third-grade reading weaknesses affect state assessment readiness and will require focused curriculum alignment, scoring norming and teacher training to raise student performance on constructed-response items.
The district reported content-specific benchmark concerns: third graders showed a large share of emerging learners on benchmark assessments with about 53 percent classified as emerging at an earlier benchmark and 34 percent at Benchmark 2 (presenters cited increases and year-to-year comparisons while noting some year-to-year variation). Writing performance for third grade was reported at about 27 percent meeting expectations on Benchmark 1 and 35 percent on Benchmark 2. The district plans to hold benchmark scoring sessions to calibrate teacher scoring on constructed responses, revise the scoring guide with exemplars, and provide targeted professional development that aligns curriculum, instruction and assessment with explicit writing instruction.
Committee members asked about student stamina and completion of writing tasks; presenters said they would provide explicit instruction models and scaffolds, ensure weekly data meetings include writing as a focus, and require rubric calibration across teacher teams. The district said it will continue to monitor benchmark scoring and use scoring sessions as professional development.
