Bowie Elementary Schools Earn Top Reading Scores

Prince George’s County elementary schools in Bowie were among top scorers in reading on the 2012 Maryland School Assessment (MSA), while one showed significant gains in math.

, and elementary schools were the highest scoring elementary schools in the county, with MSA reading proficiency scores at greater than 95 percent for grades 3 through 5.

“These results indicate that we are continuing to move in the right direction,” Superintendent William Hite said in a press release. “Our investments in increasing early reading skills will pay off down the line, just as our work to improve math performance is paying off now.”

Among schools making gains in math last year was , where MSA math proficiency was up more than 11 percent over 2011 with 85.5 percent of students in grades 3 through 5 performing at or above grade level.

According to the press release, MSA testing shows a five-year trend of gains in math and reading test scores, though .

PGCPS officials credit these gains to several improvement strategies, including providing targeted professional development, holding focus groups with teachers to get their input on strategies, performing assessments with students throughout the year to determine if and when interventions are needed, and aligning the curriculum more closely to state standards.