The share of kindergarten students in the county who can read simple books has risen from 39 to 93 percent in six years, according to school system data culled from reading assessments given each spring. Achievement is so high, and across so many demographic groups, that school officials plan to test future kindergartners on more challenging text.
“This is the collapsing of the gap,” Weast said, speaking to an audience of parents, students and educators at College Gardens Elementary School in Rockville.
The news conference was called partly for the benefit of the County Council, whose members have been examining the superintendent’s record with the achievement gap. Last week, the county Office of Legislative Oversight released a somewhat critical report on the school system’s progress toward erasing performance disparities among students of different demographic groups.
The report found that the gap has narrowed under Weast’s leadership, particularly on tests of reading and math given in the lower grades. Pass rates on the kindergarten assessment ranged from 87 to 97 percent among students of different races. Progress is slower in the middle grades, and the gap has widened on a few high school measures, such as SAT performance and rates of student suspension.