Maryland Releases New Rating System For Schools

Montgomery County students met new performance goals introduced by the state on Monday, which go beyond No Child Left Behind's focus on test scores to measure student growth, graduation rates and progress toward closing the achievement gap for minority students.

But even though Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Joshua Starr said the School Progress Index is an improvement, he said he was still disappointed that scores on the Maryland School Assessments factored heavily into the rating and labeling of schools.

"I appreciate what the Maryland State Department of Education is attempting to do; however, what's not clear to me is the purpose of this approach to accountability," said Starr, who recently called for a three-year moratorium on standardized testing.
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