Yesterday, the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) released a “2017-2018 School Report Card” containing data about your child’s school as part of the requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), signed into law in 2015. This is the first year this school data report will be issued and we wanted to provide you with a basic understanding of what to expect, how your child’s school will use the data it receives, and how to find more information.

Though MSDE will refer to the data as a report card, please note that it bears no relation to the report card that your child receives. Data is reported on the school as a whole and not for individual students.

The report provides a snapshot of how the school is performing based on the ESSA indicators, which include academic achievement, academic progress (for elementary and middle schools), rate of chronic absenteeism, access to a well-rounded curriculum, graduation rates and college and career readiness indicators (for high schools). The report provides insight into areas in which the school is doing well and areas where improvement is needed. The results that our schools receive will provide valuable insights that will be used as a measuring stick for school growth, and as a baseline measure from which to assess improvement in subsequent years.

Information on ESSA can be found the HCPSS website. When the MSDE data is released, a link to the results will be posted on our site.

Please do not hesitate to contact your school administrator or Timothy Guy, HCPSS Coordinator of Assessments, at 410-313-6802 with any questions.