Maryland Public Schools Rank 2nd Nationally But Washington Post Continues the Negative Spin
By Silver Springer • Feb 12th, 2007 • Category: Business and Economic Development, Government and Politics
Maryland public high school students should raise their heads high as they achieved second place standing nationally. It didn’t make the front page on the Washington Post or even the local TV media outlets like some other rosey reports but that doesn’t make it any less significant. According to the non-profit group College Board, Maryland ranked second amongst states with the greatest percentage of graduating public high school seniors scoring 3 or higher on an AP Exam.
With Maryland counties having populations slightly varying but pretty much in line with next, you could assume that it would take more than one county to skew the results so favorably. But the Washington Post shows disbelief of the study, proclaiming that Maryland’s ranking is viable only because of one county, to quote the article,
“Maryland ranked second in the nation for Advanced Placement achievement in the Class of 2006. Without Montgomery County’s contribution, however, the state would drop out of the top 10.†- Daniel de Vise, Washington Post
Washington Post staff writer Daniel de Vise falls in line with what seems to be a recurring reproach of the few Maryland focused articles in the publication, that were anticipated to be positive but are down played with a negative spin.
“The county was responsible for more than one-third of the 12,273 Maryland seniors with passing AP scores on their transcripts. It produced one-sixth of the 2006 graduates statewide.†- Daniel de Vise, Washington Post
One-third doesn’t equate to the majority of graduating students. What about Howard, Anne Arundel, Frederick, Baltimore and other counties that have been acclaimed to have above average school systems? Howard County alone has the third highest median income in the nation outranking Montgomery County. As the wealthiest majority minority county in the nation and 4th in the state, Prince George’s County has shown improvement in the number of students taking AP tests. Is the second place ranking for Maryland really so hard to believe?
In the same breath saying that Maryland would fall to the middle of the pack without Montgomery, the article claims a contradictory statement.
“Remove Montgomery from the equation, and Maryland drops toward the middle of the pack. In the rest of the state, 17.4 percent of graduates passed one or more AP tests, which would put the state behind Colorado in 11th place.†- Daniel de Vise, Washington Post
Placing 11th out of 50 with your most populous county out of the equation is pretty damn good if you I may say, it’s also not the middle of the pack if you can count. Not only that but the article also notes that Black and Hispanic students outperform the national average for all students. With Montgomery County having the largest diverse population in the region, the ranking speaks volumes in an even higher regard for the school system, unlike some others.
But for the sake of argument couldn’t the same thing be said about many other states? Couldn’t one make the same argument about lower ranking Virginia and Fairfax County, especially with the public school problems that go on in Richmond? “By far the most populous county in Virginiaâ€, at over one million, the county holds the bulk of the population in Virginia’s wealthiest region, Northern Virginia, with a distant second going to Loudon County at over 200,000 in population.
So in conclusion, according to the Washington Post, without Montgomery, Maryland has sub par school system? Washington Post can’t fathom the possibility that Maryland just might be a better state than many people (including themselves) in this area imagine it to be.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE COLLEGE BOARD REPORT
Leading the Nation
States with the greatest percentage of graduating public school seniors having scored 3 or higher on an AP Exam while in high school:
- New York (22.7%)
- Maryland (22.0%)
- Utah (20.8%)
- Virginia (20.7%)
- California (20.1%)
- Massachusetts (19.8%)
- Florida (19.6%)
- Connecticut (19.4%)
- North Carolina (18.0%)
- Colorado (17.9%)
The Most Improvement Since 2000
States with the greatest 2000 to 2006 increase percentage of graduating public school seniors having scored 3 or higher on an AP Exam while in high school:
Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, Washington, Florida
Eliminating Equity Gaps
Alabama, Alaska, the District of Columbia, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia have each achieved the significant milestone of seeing Latino student representation in U.S. public schools in AP courses outpace the Latino student population. California and Texas, states with large Latino populations in U.S. public schools, are within reach of this goal.
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Drop the Hatorade Washington Post.
Maryland has terrible public schools along with the rest of the Country. Even Montgomery County has mediocre schools if you excluded a few select schools, I don’t like when the Post inflates the achievements of Montgomery beucase it puts less pressure on the school system to improve. Its no achievement being ranked 2nd in a nation that has the worst schools in the industrialized world. Kudos to the Washington Post for not inflating the rankings. I think it is a shame that Maryland is not the national leader against a state like New York which is comparatively less educated, poorer, and has a lower quality of life.
^^^You’re missing the point, this isn’t a comparison on a global scale. The point made was why does the post single out the state of Maryland and detract from their standing? That’s unfair; if they had compared Virginia and D.C. or the top 10 states on the list then I would have no problem with the article.
By the way, if Maryland has a medicore school system what does that say about the lower ranking states?
I agree with you and think it’s admirable that MD ranks second in the nation.
I also think that the U.S. public education system is pretty good in most areas. We’re not one of the most powerful countries in the world b/c of luck.
Ssboricua,
Yeah, but you’ve got to admit our continuing failure to properly educate the vast majority of our children WILL eventually lead to the U.S. being held back (haha, analogy!) globally.
It’s like how China can’t get enough oil to run its economy at the speed it wants, and thus it has not achieved the ultra super power status it likely deserves.
The U.S. can’t get enough education to its children, in my opinion.
Twoste,
I agree. It don’t think American society values education as much as it should, especially Liberal Arts. However, all the gringos in Silicon Valley make a good argument that the U.S. is doing alright in Math and Science.
Montgomery County is two school systems: east and west. Anyone with kids in Silver Spring is keenly aware of this. Take a closer look at the huge achievement gap in those AP tests in the lower-income schools and you will see what a bunch of baloney Weast is peddling.
Why? What happens to the kids in Silver Spring?
I’m a product of Silver Spring schools–Blair, Einstein, Blake, Springbrook, Northwood, and BCC all hold kids who live in Silver Spring and they are all great schools. I went to Einstein, and even though the school was among the lower 5 in the county in terms of student wealth (still way above the US’ overall average) it still produces extremely talented graduates who go on to do great things. It even has the IB program now.
Many of the problems some lower-income students have are parental support. The schools try very hard and they definitely deserve to be commended. Where do I go to school now? Ivy League baby–UPenn. Montgomery County schools across the entire county are fabulous. They ALL rank in the top 5% nationally (it may be even higher than that, but I can’t remember exactly) according to Newsweek’s annual high school ratings. There is obviously an achievement gap among some schools in Bethesda/Potomac and the rest of the county, but each school is way above average.
It is also extremely shameful to say that Montgomery County does not try to improve itself. Every year schools try different curricula, schedules, and methods to help its students motivate themselves to achieve more, especially in the “lower-ranking” schools in the northern and eastern sections of the county. Montgomery County Schools are a leader in this respect. School systems across the country follow methods pioneered in Montgomery to improve their own struggling schools.
It is no mistake that Montgomery County lifts the state to #2. When a county holds nearly 20% of the state population, it’s definitely going to hold some significant weight in overall performance. People, be proud of what we have here, and don’t make generalizations or be cynical. I’m a product of the schools which are “bad” compared with the rest of the county and (whoa, not so surprisingly) am amongst a large lot who went on to success in higher education. There’s a reason why people move here.
Hmmm….let’s look at 2006 combined mean SAT scores. Churchill: 1827. Whitman: 1884. Wootton: 1796. Contrast this with Blair (even with the supercharged math and science magnet): 1628. Einstein: 1459. Kennedy (also a Silver Spring school): 1420. Wheaton: 1313. Springbrook: 1549. African American males throughout the county (remember, these are college bound kids if they are taking the SAT): 1347. White males: 1737. How can you be proud of this?
“How can you be proud of this?” The survey shows national statistics. That means that while things here may not be great, things are better than IN OTHER PLACES. I’ve lived in many parts of the U.S. and trust me, the education system here is better…
“I also think that the U.S. public education system is pretty good in most areas. We’re not one of the most powerful countries in the world b/c of luck”
You’re delusional. The equivalent of our high school in foreign nations is better than many of our colleges. America’s graduate institutions are, however, among the best in the world. It is people from those institutions that went on to lead the nation. Not the average Joe with only a high school education. While I believe that most Ivy League schools are far overrated and out of reach to most Americans, even to most Montgomery Countians, everyone in Montgomery County should be given the opportunity to succeed in college. Unfortunately, MCPS does not graduate students ready to go out into the world and compete with the best. All the improvement within MCPS has been helping the worst students, there has been little to no advancement in helping the most promising ones.
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