2003-04 Annual Report - Harford County Public Schools

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Successful hiring/retention continue to mark Harford schools One of the goals of the Harford County Public School System is to maintain a highly qualified workforce throughout the system. Leading up to the 2004-05 school year, the system hired 263 new teachers, but almost half – 42 percent – came to the school system with at least one year of experience. Forty-four percent were at least 27 years of age and 35 percent had at least a master’s degree when they were hired. CONNECTION - Christine Roland connects with one of her Biology students at Edgewood High School. For a second consecutive year, the number of teacher applications was up in the 2003-04 recruiting period, reaching 2,383 total applicants compared to a recent historical low of 1,258 in the 1999-2000 recruiting period. According to the Harford County Public School Human Resources Office, much of the increase in applications (858 over the last two years) was traceable to additional recruitment efforts and more college/university visitations over the last few years. The office said that a significant number of the new applications are being submitted by non-certified candidates who are not considered for positions with the Harford County Public School System. The report, given to the Board of Education of Harford County during its November 8, 2004 meeting, showed that the number of teacher candidates continues to decline in the critical areas of mathematics, special education, speech pathology, school psychology, family and consumer science, technology education, and several areas of science. The 2004 recruitment schedule included 72 visits to college/university job fairs/consortiums and college/university visits to states as far away as Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Tennessee; in addition to Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Nineteen of the 72 visits were to historically black colleges and universities. Recruitment and employment of African-American teachers continues to be a highly competitive venture throughout the nation. Twentysix African-American teachers were employed for this school year. Approximately half of the newly hired teachers graduated from non-Maryland colleges and universities. System-wide and school initiatives continue to support new teachers in the local schools. The HCPS turnover percentage continues to be among the lowest in the region with just 7.6 percent of the local teaching staff leaving during or after the 2003-04 school year. Only Frederick, where 7.3 percent of that teaching force left, was the turnover rate lower than Harford’s among school systems in the Baltimore metropolitan area and Cecil County. Almost a third of those leaving the Harford schools did so because of retirement. Another 47 percent of those leaving (103) did so after having taught here for four or less years. About three-fourths of the new teachers employed were female, continuing the percentage of female to males in the teaching ranks of the Harford County Public Schools. Number of Teachers Hired Number of Applications 310 300 290 280 270 2400 2200 2000 1800 260 1600 250 240 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 1400 1200 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Characteristics of New Teachers Experience* Characteristics of New Teachers Age* Characteristics of New Teachers Education* 12% 9% 4% 16% 5% 4% 46% 35% 0.4% 64.6% 58% 17% None 1-4 years 5-9 years 10-14 years 15+ years 29% 20-26 27-36 37-46 57-54 55+ Bachelor’s Master’s Doctorate *Hired for 2004-05 School Year
Harford shows significant progress in statewide testing 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 High School Assessments 2003-2004 English I Biology Government Algebra High School Assessments 2002-2003 - 2003-2004 English I Biology Government Algebra Harford Maryland 2002-03 2003-04 Local student scores rise in all areas; remain above statewide averages Most recent scores in both the Maryland School Assessments (MSA) and the High School Assessments (HSA) show Harford County Public School students improved in every category compared to the previous year, and local scores remain significantly higher than state averages. In the MSA tests, taken by students in grades three through eight and grade ten last March, the average Harford scores were as much as 12.8 percent above state averages for students in all 24 Maryland sub-divisions. More significantly, the county’s 2004 average scores were measurably higher than those recorded by students in grades three, five, eight and ten in 2003 (tests in grades four, six and seven were given for the first time in 2004). Part of the federally mandated No Child Left Behind testing program, all public schools in the nation are required to meet Annual Measurable Outcomes (AMO) – or cut scores in the years leading up to 2013-14, in which all students must pass the Reading and Math exams. In addition, a total of eight sub-groups – including all five of the identified ethnic groups, special education, students in poverty, and those whose primary language is other than English, must meet the AMOs established in order for a school or school system to be declared as having attained Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in a school year. During the current year, five Harford County Public Schools – Aberdeen, Edgewood and North Harford middle schools; and Aberdeen High School and the Alternative Education Center did not reach their AMOs in at least one of the subgroups; though each of those schools met their overall AMO. “We are pleased with the significant progress made by most of our students in the first two years of the MSA testing for third, fifth, eighth, and tenth graders,” said Superintendent Jacqueline C. Haas. “We know the cut scores will be raised annually and we will be challenged to help all our students reach those milestones, but we are confident our young people will rise to the occasion.” Meanwhile, in the state mandated High School Assessments in English, Biology, Government, and Algebra, the average results of the mostly ninth and tenth graders who took the tests last year showed gains of as much as 14.1 percent. And, the gap between the average Harford scores compared to those statewide widened in each of the test areas, increasing to more than 11 percent in two of those areas. 90 80 70 60 50 40 Maryland School Assessments 2003-2004 Math Harford Maryland This year’s eighth graders (or the Class of 2009) will be required to achieve a passing score on each of the English 10, Biology, Government, and Algebra end-of-course exams in order to receive a Maryland diploma. In the English exam given to Harford ninth graders last year, 61.1 percent achieved a passing score compared to 47 percent in 2002-03 (next year, the test will be moved to the tenth grade/English 10). In Biology, 70.1 percent of Harford students passed in 2003-2004, compared to 59.4 percent the previous year. In Government, 71.9 percent of local ninth graders achieved a passing score last year compared to 63.6 percent in 2002-03. Meanwhile, in the MSA testing, the total percentage of local third graders who achieved either a proficient or advanced (passing) score in third grade reading grew from 70 percent in 2003 to 79.6 percent in 2004. Similarly, reading scores for fifth graders improved from 78.5 percent to 78.6 percent in the same two years. Eighth grade reading scores for local students went from 71.2 percent in 2002-03 to 72.2 percent in 2003-04. And, tenth grade reading results grew from 73.1 percent passing a year ago to 80.0 percent passing this past year. 30 Grade 3 Grade 5 Grade Math 8 Math scores grew by comparable scores, from 75.5 percent in third grade for the 2003 test to 81.1 percent in 2004; from 63.8 percent to 74.5 percent in fifth grade; and from 49.1 percent to 50.6 percent in eighth grade. 80 78 76 74 72 70 68 66 64 62 60 Maryland School Assessments 2003-2004 Reading Grade 3 Grade 5 Grade 8 Harford Maryland 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Maryland School Assessments 2002-2003 - 2003-2004 Math Grade 3 Grade 5 Grade 8 2002-03 2003-04 80 78 76 74 72 70 68 66 64 Maryland School Assessments 2002-2003 - 2003-2004 Reading Grade 3 Grade 5 Grade 8 2002-03 2003-04
Page 1 and 2: Harford County Public Schools 2003-
Page 3: The Harford County Public Schools s
Page 7 and 8: • Harford County Public School’
Page 9 and 10: Youngsters get paid to be safe at C
Page 11 and 12: AUTHOR/ADMINISTRATOR - Dwayne ‘Bu
Page 13 and 14: HCPS Educator Hall of Fame Class of
Page 15 and 16: ‘Ginny’ Hinckley is 2004 Math T
Page 17 and 18: CMW’s Rabe is named national awar
Page 19 and 20: Advertisement Joan McVeigh Hayden
Page 21 and 22: Advertisement Planning was complete
Page 23: Being the only two people to help t

2003-04 Annual Report - Harford County Public Schools

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