Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Report Card topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Talbot County report card shows mixed results; Easton Middle drops to 2 stars largely because of chronic absenteeism
Summary
At its Dec. 18 meeting, Talbot County Public Schools staff presented Maryland School Report Card results showing varied school ratings; Easton Middle School fell from three to two stars, a drop officials say was driven mainly by chronic absenteeism, which counts all absences toward the metric.
Talbot County Public Schools staff presented the 2023–24 Maryland School Report Card at the Dec. 18 Board of Education meeting, showing mixed results across the district and a drop in Easton Middle School’s star rating to two stars.
Dr. Einhorn, presenting the report card data, told the board the report card aggregates many measures — academic achievement, academic progress, English-language proficiency, and school quality and student success — into a single star designation. He said the system is derived from the Every Student Succeeds Act and state implementation rules and noted the formulas behind star ratings are complex.
The presentation highlighted that St. Michael’s Elementary, White Marsh Elementary and Chapel (named in presentation) are four-star schools; Easton Middle fell from three stars to two. Dr. Einhorn said Easton Middle saw some gains in English language arts proficiency but not enough in mathematics to offset other measures. The single largest factor in Easton Middle’s drop was the “students not chronically absent” indicator, which accounts for about 15% of a school’s overall rating, he said. He emphasized that the absenteeism measure counts all absences — excused and unexcused — toward chronic absenteeism.
Board members and staff discussed the limits of the current star metric. A board member who had served on the state accountability and assessment task force noted the state is examining assessment and accountability systems and that recommendations for changes to how growth and proficiency are reported have been submitted to the state board. Board members stressed the district will continue to monitor internal data and support Easton Middle through school-improvement work already under way.
District staff said the star rating should not be the only lens for evaluating schools and urged the board and community to examine the underlying measures. Dr. Einhorn pointed to local improvements that do not always change the aggregated star calculation because of how the state’s formulas truncate and convert measures to points.
Officials also described supports the district has layered in to address attendance and students’ social-emotional needs, including school social workers and partnerships with community agencies.
