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BCPS reports statistically significant gains on Maryland Integrated Science Assessment; staff credit targeted science instruction
Summary
BCPS reported increases in MISA proficiency at elementary, middle and high school levels, with notable gains among economically disadvantaged students and multilingual learners. District staff attributed improvement to targeted instructional supports and professional development.
Baltimore County Public Schools on Sept. 24 reported increases in student proficiency on the Maryland Integrated Science Assessment (MISA) at the fifth-grade, eighth-grade and high-school (LS MISA) levels.
Kevin Conley and Dr. Raquel Jones told the board the district recorded a 2.3-point increase in MISA 5 proficiency over two years, a 5.1-point gain in MISA 8, and a 6.4-point rise in the high-school life-science MISA. Conley said some student groups registered larger gains: economically disadvantaged students improved by 4.5 points in grade 5 and by 6.9 points in grade 8; high-school economically disadvantaged students increased by 10.9 points and multilingual learners by 6.2 points on LS MISA.
Dr. Jones described a targeted approach: the science office and Curriculum and Instruction staff visited top-performing elementary schools, documented classroom practices, and produced an “Elementary Science Expectations” one‑pager to standardize instructional minutes and classroom practice. She said the district found that science had sometimes been de‑prioritized at the elementary level in favor of reading and math, and that switching schedules and providing teacher support helped produce gains.
Board members asked whether staff had set numeric targets and about statistical significance. Conley said the district had not set specific numeric targets for science initially; the recent gains resulted from action-research and targeted supports. He also explained that statistical-significance standards differ for criterion‑referenced assessments like MISA, and staff considered performance over time and by student group to interpret results.
Staff emphasized that school-level results are disaggregated on the Maryland school report card, and they cited several local schools with top rankings in the state for science proficiency. The board thanked staff for focused work and said they look forward to continued progress.
