Charles County reports MCAP gains, expands AP enrollment and doubles AP test participation

Charles County Public Schools officials presented district assessment results and curricular responses to the Board of Education on Sept. 9, saying assessment participation and some proficiency measures rose in 2024–25 and describing steps the district will take to track and support students.

Superintendent Dr. Maria Navarro told the board the 2025–26 school year was “well underway” and that the district “continue[s] to support more than 27,000 students daily.” She highlighted increases in state Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP) participation and proficiency in grades 3–8 and in high-school mathematics courses taken by middle-school students, and said the system will continue “to track and monitor student progress and provide resources to help all students move towards proficiency.”

Why it matters: MCAP and related diagnostics are central to the district’s strategic plan focus on student achievement. Board members pressed staff for details about how the district will identify students who need extra help and how parents will be informed and engaged.

What officials showed and proposed

Kevin Lowndes, chief of teaching and learning, led a data presentation with Steve Roberts, director of accountability, and content specialists. Roberts summarized year-to-year trends in MCAP results and explained the district’s breakouts for elementary, middle and high school assessments. He noted that changes in course sequencing — more students taking Algebra I or geometry in middle school — altered which students took which high-school tests, but that “we’re seeing gains” in multiple grades and subjects.

Kim Huddler, elementary reading content specialist, described a new MTSS (multi-tiered system of supports) implementation using the district’s Synergy student-information platform. “We have collaborated with the Office of Accountability to create something called an MTSS system through Synergy,” she said, and explained the platform will track which students receive tiered interventions and whether those interventions are helping. Huddler said the system will support required parent notifications under the state Ready to Read Act and that teachers will report interventions and progress into Synergy so schools and families can see a student’s intervention history across years.

Roberts and Huddler said the new reporting will include quarterly communications to parents and more frequent progress monitoring in classrooms; Huddler added the district will include suggested at-home activities in automated parent letters when students are identified as below benchmark.

Writing and assessment alignment

Officials told the board the district had identified a testing gap: some students who score highly in diagnostic tools such as i-Ready still fall short on MCAP due to writing performance. Roberts said the correlation analysis showed writing as a frequent weakness for students who have high i-Ready scores but lower MCAP ELA results. Huddler said the district will emphasize writing instruction (for example, informational writing across content areas) and build teacher capacity through targeted professional learning.

Advanced Placement and early college

Roberts reported strong growth in AP course enrollment and exam participation. “From ’22 to ’25 we’ve seen growth in the number of students taking courses, and we’ve doubled in the past two years the number of students actually taking tests,” he said. He also reported that the share of tests earning what many colleges accept as passing (a score of 3 or higher) rose from 49% to 59% year-over-year.

Officials noted a parallel rise in early-college enrollment at the community college and clarified that students in early-college programs typically do not take AP courses because they are earning college credit on campus. District staff said the system pays AP exam fees for students to remove financial barriers.

Standards and calendar changes

Lowndes reminded the board that Maryland will update ELA standards for K–12 and math standards for K–8 next year. He said the state will require 60 minutes of daily math instruction in K–5 and explained the state’s move toward an “integrated” high-school math sequence (two integrated courses replacing algebra/geometry/algebra II in some frameworks). Lowndes said a district committee will review implications for retention and course sequencing and return to the board with a timeline.

Board questions and next steps

Board members pressed staff on several operational items: whether parents will receive quarterly reports at the secondary level as well as elementary (staff agreed they will), whether curricular changes will preserve access to advanced math pathways, and how early identification and collaborative planning will translate to classroom practice. Staff described the recently launched Mastery Connect/Canvas assessment platform and math “lab” schedules intended to provide dedicated pre-teaching and intervention time.

Officials committed to returning with additional details later in the school year: a committee on retention timing tied to new ELA policy, a plan for scheduling 60 minutes of daily math in elementary schools, and continuing updates on MTSS outcomes and AP participation.

Ending

Superintendent Navarro and staff framed the presentation as part of a multi-year effort tied to the district’s strategic plan. They described the immediate priorities as (1) building the Synergy-based MTSS tracking and parent notification system, (2) strengthening writing instruction across grades K–12, and (3) sustaining expanded access to AP and early-college opportunities while monitoring student performance and equity of access.